A hazard is a source of potential harm. A hazard event is another term for emergency.

Some assurance activities examine system-wide risks that span across multiple hazard types, including reviews into the emergency management functions of sector organisations.

Examples of such assurance activities include the Review of 10 years of reform in Victoria’s emergency management sector and the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

All links in the table below will open in a new window.
Publish year Assurance activity Summary Organisation
2023 Report on Government Services 2023 (D: Emergency Management) (External link) A report that includes detailed information on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of service provision and the achievement of outcomes for fire services, state and territory emergency, ambulance and police services. Australian Government
2023 Victoria’s Critical Infrastructure All Sectors Resilience Report 2022 (External link) A report that identifies key emergency risks, interdependencies and resilience improvement initiatives being addressed collaboratively by industry and government across Victoria’s eight critical infrastructure sectors. The report includes activities completed and emergencies experienced between 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022. Climate change, natural disasters and cyber security are some of the top risks highlighted across sectors for the following 12-month period. Emergency Management Victoria
2023 Victorian Emergency Management Strategic Action Plan Update #4 2019–22 - Progress Update 2021 (External link) The SAP is a rolling plan that outlines statewide strategic priorities, with corresponding actions, to support Victoria in achieving its vision of safer and more resilient communities. In its sixth report, IGEM summarises key activities and provides an assessment of implementation progress of nine of the eleven SAP Update #4 actions between 1 January to 31 December 2021, and key developments in early 2022. Inspector-General for Emergency Management
2023 National Defence: Defence Strategic Review (External link) A strategic review that makes observations and recommendations regarding climate change and the sustainability of supporting domestic disaster relief. In response, the Australian Government will work in partnership with states and territories to further develop national resilience response mechanisms. Independent
2023 Improving crisis communications to culturally and linguistically diverse communities (External link) A NSW inquiry report that looks at improving crisis communications to CALD communities, it examines ways to improve channels of communications, and the use of multicultural and CALD community groups and networks to distribute in-language information. The report makes reference to actions taken by the Victorian Government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Independent
2023 Towards resilient communities: data capability and resource mapping for disaster preparedness (External link) A collaboration with experienced members of Australian Red Cross to better understand the challenges and potential of data-driven decision-making for community disaster resilience. Academia
2022 The Cost of Extreme Weather 2022 (External link) A research report that estimates direct costs from extreme weather events are to grow by 5.13 per cent each year and reach $35.24 billion by 2050, directly costing Australian households an average of $2,509.16 every year. The report concludes that if we are to mitigate the rising costs of extreme weather, the federal government should focus more on resilience and future-proofing Independent
2022 Implementation monitoring of 'Review of 10 years of reform in Victoria's emergency management sector' and 'Inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian Fire Season – Phase 1’ - Progress Report - 2021 (External link) IGEM's first progress report on government reform in response to the Fire Season Inquiry and 10 Year Review. In terms of implementation progress against the 139 response actions to both of these reports, 48 actions are now complete, 75 actions are in progress, 10 actions are closed with no further activity planned, and six actions are yet to commence. Inspector-General for Emergency Management
2022 Small Business Natural Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Inquiry Report (External link) The impacts of natural disasters on small and family businesses can be devastating, are difficult to predict, and may be overlooked in preparing disaster plans and in decisions around recovery assistance and support. The Inquiry looked at existing education and engagement practices with respect to promoting small business disaster resilience and made 16 recommendations to Australian Government on how these could be improved. Independent
2022 Navigating the crisis: how governments used intelligence for decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic (External link) An examination of how governments — and the societies around them — mobilised intelligence to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects, it makes recommendations that could improve the ability to organise intelligence for future challenges of all kinds, from pandemics to climate change. Independent