Chair: Mary Barry, CEO, Victoria State Emergency Service

Overview: Over recent years, expectations of the broader community during major emergencies have increased significantly.

These heightened expectations impact not only emergency services, but any organization involved in the delivery or provision of services to communities that have been or may yet be affected.

Building community resilience has long been identified as the best method of directly reducing impacts on communities affected by natural disasters, and of assisting them in the recovery process. This panel will look at specific examples from the insurance, employer and community banking sectors and outline what role they play in building community resilience, and how they see that role evolving into the future.

Speaker 1 - Wendy Sparks

“What is the role of the private/business sector in promoting and enhancing community resilience?”

I believe our role is to facilitate the community’s return to “normal life” or as near to normal as is possible, by ensuring that the disruption to our business activities is minimised, and infrastructure is re-established where it is damaged or lost.

In the case of banking, we can assist customers and communities with access to cash, through their bank accounts or via encashment of hardship relief cheques.  Availability of cash needs to be closely monitored, particularly where roads have been closed, and the usual delivery methods become difficult or impossible to use.

Customers will need information and assurance around accessing their accounts and this can be supported by increasing call centre resourcing and extending operating times of these call centres. We know that cash and credit cards may be lost, or simply out of geographical reach due to the impacts of a natural disaster, and we can assist with speeding up the processes involved in replacement of cards, and making alternative arrangements for transactions.  In certain circumstances, tolerances may be required relating to over limits on accounts, and repayment schedules on loans.

Our staff members are also community members, and this may mean that they are dealing with impacts of the natural disaster themselves, or perhaps they might be volunteering with the emergency response for their community. The bank assists in this process by back filling their roles with staff from other areas of the bank, leaving the affected staff to focus on recovery.

We can use our wide branch network as a collection point for donations for appeals, and other fundraising activities, and finally, our Community Bank model allows communities to help themselves by channelling a share of the profits back into local projects.

Speaker 2 - John Peberdy

“How can insurers better encourage and foster community resilience?”

There are two stages to the Insurer response to community resilience. Both pre and post event response are key factors in ensuring insurers can assist their policyholders.

In the pre-event phase, we look to the importance of:

•                     Verification of the property insured

•                     Adequacy of insurance cover

•                     The importance of Business Interruption insurance for business owners

Following an event, insurers work closely together to deliver assistance to their customers:

•                     Provision of access to insurers from a location near to the loss

•                     Paperless claim lodgement

•                     Early access to a cash payout

•                     Flexibility about time and method of settlement

In addition, I would also touch on the lobbying role of the Insurance Council of Australia in trying to engage with governments on the topic of mitigation strategies, particularly in relation to flood.

Speaker 3 - Mark Stone

Why business has a key interest in building strong communities.

The business sector has an important role to play in promoting and enhancing community resilience: successful businesses and successful communities are inextricably linked. 

Business resilience depends on a number of dimensions:

•                     Those relating to an individual firm and its internal operations, capabilities and strategies. 

•                     Issues relating to the external environment in which a business operates.

•                     The strength of the relationships between business and local and state governments.

Business depends on strong communities to support and nurture relationships between agents (social capital, organised groups, leadership), for economic and human capital, and important sources of innovation, information and entrepreneurship.

VECCI’s role is to build not only stronger, more resilient businesses, but stronger communities as a whole.

Resilience during and after natural disasters and particularly the impact of a major fire is of paramount importance.

We are actively working at local levels, and in our regions, to connect business, decision-makers and the wider community.  Our advocacy efforts are aimed at promoting reforms that accelerate prospects for improved business competitiveness and resilience.  This includes the promotion of policies and programs that:

•                     Refresh and renew physical and social infrastructure.

•                     Improve liveability.

•                     Strengthen workforce education, skills and participation.

•                     Encourage leadership, connectivity and collaboration.

Reduce costs and unnecessary regulation, expanding prospects for new business formation, investment and local employment.

Summary from Chair

As can be seen from the comments from our three panelists building community resilience following an emergency is everyone’s business.  Many organisations such as emergency services, Dept of Human Services, Local Government and not for profit organisations such as Red Cross have a legislated and official role to play before during and after emergencies.  However, businesses such as banks, insurance companies and a variety of small businesses also have a very important role to play in emergency management particularly in assisting communities recover more quickly.  This includes the development and implementation of business continuity plans to assist employees and the community understand how they intend to operate following an emergency or disaster. 

Q&A Session