The Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) develops the Assurance Framework for Emergency Management (the Framework) in consultation with its sector partners.

As the sector’s overarching assurance framework, it supports continuous improvement and promotes a coordinated sector-wide approach to assurance activities such as debriefs, reviews, evaluations, and investigations.

All of IGEM’s assurance activities are guided by the Framework.

 

 

Assurance Framework for Emergency Management

IGEM maintains the Framework in accordance with the Emergency Management Act 2013.

The Framework supports continuous improvement and promotes a coordinated sector-wide approach to assurance.  Guided by the Framework and its four principles, Victoria’s emergency management sector will have a more coordinated, less burdensome and more valuable approach to assurance activities such as reviews, evaluations, monitoring and reporting.

Read the Framework

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Assurance in Emergency Management

Assurance in Emergency Management provides a contemporary listing of select assurance activities mapped against risk and which are relevant to Victoria.

The listings provide access to published assurance reports (issued since the 2009 Victorian Bushfires) to gain valuable insight into assurance in the emergency management sector; and promote greater understanding of observations, findings and recommendations from previous and current assurance activities.

The risk categories used in these listings come from multiple sources including the State Emergency Risk Assessments 2014 and 2020.

The assurance activities and associated risks are not exhaustive, and the listings will be updated quarterly.

Please contact us to request an update to these listings.

Go to Assurance in Emergency Management 

About risks in a Victorian setting

Risk is formally defined as the effect of uncertainty on objectives.

For assessment purposes, risk is often defined as the likelihood that a particular level of impact (consequence) will occur. 

The highest risk emergencies are those that are most likely to happen, and with the highest potential consequences.

A state-level risk assessment assesses risk for the whole state (or territory) rather than some part of the state such as a municipal district or a region.

Find out more about risk and assessment through Emergency Risks in Victoria (External link).

Risks in a global setting

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report (External link) tracks global risks perceptions among risk experts and world leaders in business, government, and civil society.

These annual reports provide a good overview of global risk context across five categories: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Reports (External link) detail contemporary knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts and response.

The reports provide all levels of government with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies

Preparing for an ever-changing risk setting

In the ever-changing risk setting we live in today, it is not only important to understand the current risk setting in Victoria, but it is also critical to understand the emerging risks with potential to have substantial and transformative impact across society.

A recent report from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) identifies seven global megatrends that hold the key to the challenges and opportunities over the next 20 years to 2042.

Understanding and applying these challenges and opportunities in sector activities wherever possible in addition to reflecting on lessons from past events can help the sector to better prepare for, respond to and recover from future emergency events.

 

Annual Assurance Summary

From 2015–19, IGEM prepared an Annual Assurance Summary – The Year in Review highlighting Victorian emergency management incidents of note and significant assurance activities for a particular year.

Each Summary also provided a high-level picture of sector performance, risks and progress against Victoria's emergency management reform agenda.

In April 2021 IGEM introduced a contemporary online listing of assurance activities mapped against risks relevant to Victoria – Assurance in Emergency Management – replacing the Summary.

Read the summaries: