Plan

Businesses can be significantly affected by emergency events, and the impacts can be similar to that of a robbery. Planning for the consequences of an emergency, rather than the emergency itself, will give your business a greater chance of survival.

Emergency management planning can help you identify risks to your business, critical areas of your business and how to best protect them. It also covers continuity and recovery planning to help your business prepare for and survive any emergency situation.

Emergency Management and Recovery Plan

Business Victoria has developed an Emergency Management and Recovery Plan guide and template to step you through the process of creating a solid, well-structured plan tailored to your business.

The plan covers:

• Continuity planning
• Risk management
• Critical business area analysis
• Scenario planning
• Insurance
• Property and infrastructure
• Business as usual planning
• Emergency action plan
• Recovery
• Finances

Business Victoria

Business Victoria has a a range of resources aimed at assisting business owners to plan and manage business disruptions including emergency and illness.

Australian Government Business website

Managing your business in an emergency allows you to prepare for possible risks, take proper actions and recover.

Emergency management is about adapting your business to changes in its environment and being resilient enough to withstand a time of crisis.

There is plenty of advice and support to help you plan for an emergency on the Australian Government's Business website.

Tourism Victoria - Crisis Management

Tourism Victoria's Crisis Management Guide aims to provide essential information to tourism businesses about how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a crisis event, including natural disasters such as bushfire or flood, or man-made events such as a pandemic or chemical leakage.

Other useful information

Floods

Property-Specific Flood Charts

Flood warnings always include a predicted maximum river gauge reading and estimated time of arrival of the peak. Property-specific flood charts, based on data collected in 2000, shows the approximate river gauge height when flooding of the property and floor level is likely to commence.

Find out how to get flood level information for your property, understand how planning scheme overlays work, and keep up to date with planning amendments by contacting the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.

Victoria State Emergency Service - Business FloodSafe

It's not just homes that can be affected by floods, flooding may also be a risk to your business. Think of how much you could lose in stock, equipment and fittings due to a flood, along with the profits you could lose for the days and weeks it might take you to clean up after the flood.

One of the simplest ways to manage the risk of flooding to your business is to create a Business FloodSafe Plan. Being FloodSafe is not expensive or time consuming, but it may help save lives and prevent injuries, and also help you reduce the financial damage that floods can cause.

Learn more at the Victoria SES website

Drought

The effects of drought can be distressing—particularly in agricultural areas and on the environment—and can affect the whole community. So, what causes drought, is it becoming more frequent and how can you track whether your area is affected?

The Bureau of Meteorology has put together some information and a video to provide further understanding around drought.

Bushfire

Country Fire Authority

The CFA website provides information on structural fire safety for your business or premises including caravan park fire safety, emergency plans for commercial properties, the safe storing of dangerous goods and CFA's role in land use planning and Bushfire Management Overlay.

Pests, Diseases and Weeds

Pests, diseases and weeds are a constant risk for primary producers, as they can have a serious impact on agricultural production and market access.

Find more information about the prevention, management and treatment of these pests, diseases and weeds on the Agriculture Victoria website.

Anthrax in Animals

Anthrax occurs in Victoria from time to time.

Agriculture Victoria urges farmers and those working with livestock to be vigilant for anthrax. Prompt reporting of suspected cases may potentially reduce the contamination of affected farms.

Any unexplained sudden deaths in livestock should be immediately reported Agriculture Victoria Animal Health and Welfare staff, to your local veterinarian or to the 24-hour Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1800 675 888.

RSPCA Emergency Planning

It's important you prepare now to ensure your animals are protected from disasters that may place your animals in danger. RSPCA provides emergency planning information to encourage you to not only prepare for an evacuation but implement a practice run through of your emergency evacuation plan.