Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning

Developing and updating an EMP

Schools must develop and maintain their Emergency Management Plan (EMP) using the Online EMP Portal (staff login required) and the plan must be reviewed and approved by the principal at least annually by 1 September of each year and after a significant incident.

When developing an EMP, schools need to consider the full emergency management cycle. This helps make sure the school has the information it needs to prepare for, respond to and recover from an emergency.

The 4 stages of the cycle are:

• Mitigate: Reduce or eliminate the impacts of future emergencies or incidents.
• Prepare: Make arrangements ahead of time to be ready for an emergency or incident.
• Respond: Protect physical and psychological health. Prioritise safety in an emergency.
• Recover: Rebuild and support well-being following an emergency.

Guides

For step-by-step instructions on how to develop or update an EMP, refer to the:

• Emergency and critical incident management planning guide for government schools (PDF)
• After action review facilitator guide (DOCX)
• Guide to developing your emergency management plan for early childhood services and non-government schools (DOCX)
• Joint emergency management planning for shared sites.

Other supports

Schools seeking further support to develop their EMP, including using the Online EMP Portal (staff login required) may contact their regional Manager, Operations and Emergency Management or Emergency Management Support Officer.

Questions about emergency management arrangements and advice from the department may be directed to emergency.management@education.vic.gov.au

Questions about school business continuity and advice from the department may be directed to business.continuity@education.vic.gov.au

Other useful resources can be found on the Resources tab of this policy.