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Collaborative emergency management

Emergency services are essential to community safety, wellbeing, and recovery. However, the sector is experiencing critical challenges of climate change, low capacity, complex community needs, and increasing demands. Our research highlights the challenges and the importance of collaboration, capability building, and long-term investment in strengthening emergency management across Victoria.

Strengthening collaboration

Local government plays a critical role in emergency management, bringing place-based knowledge and frontline capability. However, capacity constraints put communities and staff at risk. Collaboration is a key principle of emergency management and is needed to help overcome capacity constraints and respond to events that cross boundaries.

Research with Northern Victorian Emergency Management Cluster investigated: how collaborative emergency management works in practice, and its benefits, challenges and opportunities, through a case study of the 2022 flood event.

Key findings:

  1. Collaboration significantly improved councils' ability to respond during the 2022 flood event and benefitted community health and wellbeing.
  2. Integrated planning between councils and emergency agencies increased preparedness.
  3. Trusted relationships helped staff respond effectively to emergencies and were vital to support staff experiencing burnout and trauma.
  4. Institutional support is needed to strengthen and sustain collaborative approaches.

Report: de Kleyn, L., Fletcher, A., Denham, T., Yazdi, F., & Rickards, L., (2025), Strengthening Collaboration in Emergency Management: A Case Study of the Northern Victorian Emergency Management Cluster, La Trobe University, https://doi.org/10.26181/31261210.

Insights into local government training needs

We provided insights from the research for the Inspector-General for Emergency Management's Review of Local Government Emergency Management Training, identifying significant training needs across rural and regional local government.

Key messages:

  • The extent of training needed during the 2022 flood event highlights a systemic problem of capacity and capability, particularly for rural and regional councils.
  • The Cluster's collaborative approach enabled training across councils, strengthening capacity and capability across the region.
  • More formalised training pathways would help to build emergency management as a career and ease the burden on existing experienced staff who often take responsibility for training others while already stretched.

Report: de Kleyn, L., & Fletcher, A., (2026), Strengthening Collaboration in Emergency Management – A Case Study of the Northern Victorian Emergency Management Cluster: Insights into Training, La Trobe University, https://doi.org/10.26181/32871134.v1

Policy recommendations

Collaboration is a core principle of emergency management; however, it requires deliberate support and investment.

Key recommendations include:

  1. Legislation and policy that set the agenda and promote collaboration including existing regional collaborative arrangements.
  2. Effective policy instruments including stable, flexible, adequate, and administratively streamlined funding that is aligned with roles and responsibilities, distinct capacity and capability of organisations, and local needs.
  3. Processes within and across organisations that integrate emergency management as business-as-usual, facilitate collaboration, strengthen knowledge sharing, and deepen relationships of trust.
  4. Training to build capabilities and contribute to the development of emergency management as a career.
  5. Fit-for-purpose tools including for climate risk assessment.
  6. Centring climate change and recognition of unique local needs in policy, and practice.

These recommendations require reform built on participatory processes grounded in unique local needs.

Policy Brief: de Kleyn, L. & Fletcher, A., (2026), Policy Brief: Strengthening Collaborative Emergency Management. Evidence from research with Northern Victorian Emergency Management Cluster, La Trobe University. https://doi.org/10.26181/33044183

Why this research matters

The research reinforces that local governments are critical frontline actors in emergency management. Participants stressed that without increased and ongoing support, local government capacity, and by extension the Cluster model itself, will be vulnerable under the escalating demands of climate change, risking local communities. Deliberate action is required to facilitate and institutionalise collaborative emergency management built on appropriate resourcing, knowledge sharing and relationships of trust, across scale.

Related coverage

Contact

Dr. Lisa de Kleyn, Research Fellow, Climate Change Adaptation Lab, l.dekleyn@latrobe.edu.au

Ashley Fletcher, Postdoctoral Researcher, Climate Change Adaptation Lab, a.fletcher@latrobe.edu.au