Emergency recovery
Local governments are responsible for managing recovery following an emergency event. The Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale will work closely with the community and responsible agencies to facilitate recovery. Council appoints a Local Recovery Coordinator and has a Local Recovery Plan to guide the recovery process.
Emergencies and disasters may affect the social, built, economic and natural environments within a community. The Recovery Plan addresses each of these areas. Groups may be established within the recovery structure to specifically focus on the impacts on each environment.
The Recovery Plan also sets out guidelines for managing financial arrangements, including donations and the distribution of government financial aid.
View a copy of the Shire's Local Recovery Plan here.
Principles of recovery
Recovery activities in Western Australia are supported by the National Principles for Disaster Recovery.
These principles recognise that successful recovery:
- is based on an understanding of the community context;
- acknowledges the complex and dynamic nature of emergencies and communities;
- is responsive and flexible, engaging communities and empowering them to move forward;
- requires a planned, coordinated and adaptive approach based on continuing assessment of impacts and needs;
- is built on effective communication with affected communities and other stakeholders; and
- recognises, supports and builds on community, individual and organisational capacity.
Communicating in recovery
Effective communications is a key principle of disaster recovery and critical to facilitating community involvement. An affected community has a right to all information relevant to its recovery.
The Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale will:
- Ensure the information is presented in a way that is clear and free of jargon.
- Consult with the community to establish what people actually want to know, i.e. what is happening with recovery, how they can access support and who to contact should they have any questions.
- Ensure our communication is applicable of the audience.
- Respect the community by ensuring communication is culturally appropriate.
- Ensure that information is accessible to audiences in diverse situations, addresses a variety of communication needs and is addressed through a variety of media and channels.
- Reiterate and re-communicate information periodically throughout the recovery process.
- Allow people affected by an emergency to acknowledge and validate their experiences.
Recovery Centres
In the event of an emergency which has an impact on the community, the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale will establish a Recovery Centre to provide assistance to those impacted by the emergency.
The decision of where to establish the Local Recovery Centre will be made by the Local Recovery Coordinator and depend upon the location, extend and severity of the emergency.
The community will be advised of the location of the recovery centre once established via the many forms of communication available to the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale.