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Executive summary The Victorian community’s wellbeing relies on infrastructure to deliver services such as banking, energy, food supply, government services, healthcare, communications, transport and water. Unfortunately, natural and human-induced emergency events pose risks to the ability of infrastructure to deliver these services. The widespread loss of electricity supply in South Australia in September 2016 – often referred to as the ‘black system event’ – demonstrated how disruption of electricity supply can cascade through infrastructure networks to affect road and rail traffic, access to fuel, telecommunications, banking, and emergency services.
The critical infrastructure resilience arrangements In Victoria, emergency risk management arrangements for critical infrastructure resilience (the arrangements) came into effect in July 2015. The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Strategy (the Strategy) states that the majority of Victoria’s critical infrastructure assets are owned and/or operated by private entities. According to the Strategy, while primary responsibility for critical infrastructure resilience rests with infrastructure owners and/or operators, the community expects that government will take appropriate measures to ensure that owners and/or operators are managing their risks and that vital service delivery is not interrupted. The Strategy highlights that building the resilience of Victoria’s infrastructure is the responsibility of government, public and private sector stakeholders working in partnership.
Role of the Inspector-General for Emergency Management Consistent with its function and objectives under the Emergency Management Act 2013 (the Act),1 the Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) monitored implementation of the arrangements, assessed incremental improvements and identified improvement opportunities. IGEM published findings in the Critical Infrastructure Resilience – Implementation Progress Report 2016 and in the Critical Infrastructure Resilience – Implementation Progress Report 2017. The 2017 Report signalled that IGEM would transition from monitoring implementation of the arrangements towards assessing the effectiveness of the arrangements. IGEM has developed an assurance plan for 2018 and 2019 in consultation with key stakeholders. Given the context of the arrangements and given IGEM’s legislated objectives and function, IGEM will consider how the arrangements interact with the emergency management system.2,3
1
IGEM has a function to monitor, review and assess critical infrastructure resilience at a system level under section 64(1)(ga) of the Act. IGEM undertakes this function in accordance with its objectives under section 62 of the Act, which are to provide assurance to the government and the community in respect of emergency management arrangements in Victoria, and to foster continuous improvement of emergency management in Victoria.
2
IGEM understands the emergency management system to encompass fields of activity beyond emergency response operational decision making – as is reflected by the Act and associated legislation and policy. 3
IGEM does not assume that key activities under the arrangements will generate real-time risk status and vulnerability information to be provided for the purposes of emergency response operational decision making. IGEM’s assessments start with information provision explicitly anticipated in the arrangements and, in consultation with stakeholders, consider interactions which may improve performance of the arrangements and the emergency management system.
