All State emergencies are governed under the Emergency Management Act 2004 which provides the authority for the State Emergency Plan. A copy of the Act can be found from the South Australian Legislation website.
State Emergency Plan
The State Government has developed a State Emergency Plan. This details the responsibilities and strategies of State Government to manage significant state emergencies.
Regional Council Approach
The Cities of Holdfast Bay, Marion, Mitcham and Unley have developed a Regional Framework that is designed to provide support to current council systems in place to manage emergencies as well as provide scope for future, ongoing planning and development of improved strategies to prevent, prepare to respond to or recover from emergencies within the community.
SCEMPlan is a Regional based Emergency Management framework that has been developed following consultation with internal and external stakeholders and in conjunction with Emergency Service Organisations. SCEMPlan is a 'live' document, with continuous and ongoing review being required to ensure that it continues to reflect best practice and supports current local arrangements.
Emergency Management Project Work
The four partner councils, Holdfast Bay, Marion, Mitcham and Unley, have undertaken Emergency Management Project work for the past two years, with the assistance of federal funding from the Local Grants Scheme of the Working Together to Manage Emergencies.
The Stage 1 Project focussed on undertaking an Emergency Risk Assessment across the Region, with a large emphasis placed upon community opinion.
The Stage 2 Project has seen a significant increase in the awareness of Emergency Management and its planning across the region.
Stage 2 has also seen the development of
- Regional Emergency Management arrangements
- Emergency Management Training programme for employees
- Creation of online Emergency Management information portal
A final outcome of the Stage 2 Regional Emergency Management Project is the Sturt Community Local Government Emergency Management Planning Forum. This group is tasked with the ongoing planning of Emergency Management arrangements across the region and to maintain the essential link between the partner councils.