Municipal Emergency Management Plan
City of Stonnington
Part A2 - Activation
A2. Activation
A2.1 Context
The State’s emergency management arrangements provide the mechanism for the build up of appropriate
resources to cope with emergencies throughout the State. It also provides requests for physical assistance
from the Commonwealth when State resources have been exhausted.
Most incidents are of local concern and can be coordinated from local Municipal resources. However, when
local resources are exhausted, the Emergency Management Act provides for further resources to be made
available, firstly, from neighbouring Municipalities (on a Regional basis) and then, secondly, on a State wide
basis.
Local Government is required by legislation to provide emergency response and to support communities to
recovery following an emergency.
Response activities are defined as the process of controlling an emergency and of providing for the
immediate relief needs of persons affected by an emergency.
Recovery activities are defined as those assisting persons and communities affected by emergencies to
return to a proper and effective level of functioning.
A2.2 Phases of activation
Response and recovery arrangements should be implemented at the earliest possible opportunity if the effects
of emergencies are to be minimised. The MERO will be responsible for notifying the MRM of the potential need
for recovery services. Together they will consider the recovery needs of the emergency. In some instances the
Regional Recovery Coordinator may inform the MRM of the need for recovery activities.
Although there are no formal phases for response to an emergency, the following groupings of activities may
assist in preparing for and responding to an emergency and subsequently handing over to the MRM.
A2.2.1 Alert
Upon receipt of warning or information that an emergency may occur or affect the relevant area of
responsibility, the organisation must be alerted to ensure its readiness to act. Some of the activities that should
be considered in this phase are:

Warning for key personnel.

Testing of communications arrangements.

Establish flow of information between Municipality and Control/Support Agencies.
A2.2.2 Stand-by
As the threat or the effects of the emergency become imminent, members of the relevant organisation or
sections are placed on stand-by ready to move immediately they are required. Some of the activities that
should be considered in this phase are:
Response

Staff respective Emergency Centres.

Prepare equipment and personnel for immediate action.

Identify assembly areas.
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Municipal Emergency Management Plan
City of Stonnington
Part A2 - Activation
Recovery

Preparing for the setting up of a recovery centre.

Prepare equipment and personnel for immediate action.

Identify recovery centres.
A2.2.3 Action
This is the operational phase of the emergency when Controlling and support agencies are committed to contain
or control the emergency. Some operations may necessitate moving to the ‘Action phase’ immediately without
the ‘Alert’ and ‘Stand-by’ phases being implemented. For this reason, it is mandatory that all organisations
having a role in this Plan be in a state of preparedness at all times. Some of the activities that should be
considered in this phase are:

Mobilise personnel/equipment as requested.

Produce reports on regular basis for higher authorities.

Deploy additional resources as required.

Ensure Casual Emergency Workers are registered.

Ensure Volunteer recovery workers are registered.

Continually reassess impacts.
A2.2.4 Stand Down
Once "Alert", "Stand-by" or "Action" has been implemented, the MERC must declare a "Stand Down". After
consultation with the Control Authority and any other relevant agency, and the MERC is satisfied that the
response to the emergency has been completed, he/she will advise all participating agencies of ‘Stand Down’.
A2.2.5 Hand Over
Whilst recovery will usually commence at the same time as the Response, an official handover to the Recovery
process will be undertaken when the response stand down is declared. Transition from response to recovery
will involve the handover of Rapid Impact Assessment data and status report of clean-up projects undertaken by
the control agency. Refer to Transition Agreement (Part A3.7 of this plan).
A2.2.6 Debriefing Arrangements
A debrief should take place as soon as practicable after an emergency. The MERC will convene the meeting
and all agencies who participated should be represented with a view to assessing the adequacy of the Plan and
to recommend any changes. Such meetings should be chaired by the Chairperson of the MEMPC.
The purpose of the debriefing is to:

Ensure participating agencies understand what happened during the emergency.

Identify problems and highlight areas that were handled well, in order to improve efficiency,
effectiveness and safety of future emergencies.
It may also be appropriate to conduct a separate recovery debrief to address recovery issues. This should be
convened and chaired by the MRM and all agencies and volunteers engaged in the recovery process.
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