Community recovery is often described as a journey rather than a destination. People affected by emergencies will often experience high and low emotional states throughout the recovery process.

Fluctuating moods, energy and ability to take control of their circumstances influence their understanding of the recovery tasks and their capacity to plan and undertake what is required. Morale and energy rise as they start to resume a self-reliant and independent life and dip as anxiety and stress are retriggered by practical setbacks and lingering grief.

The 4 phase pathway to recovery that many people might travel is:

• reacting to the emergency
• coming to terms with what’s occurred
• restoration of some of life’s normalities, and
• re-establishment of life post the event.

People will not necessarily move through these stages at the same pace. For many, the process will be a challenging, uncertain and frustrating one that is neither reliable nor quick. For some recovery might take several years – or might never be fully attained. For these reasons, community recovery needs to be flexible, responsive and long-term.

When thinking about community recovery, it is useful to consider 3 distinct types of communities:

• communities of place (for example, townships, regions)
• communities of interest (for example, small business, tourism, primary industry, religion, cultural groups, recreational pursuits)
• communities of impact (people who have been affected by an emergency but may not live in the same place or share any other characteristics).

Emergency management in Victoria positions local government as the lead agency responsible for recovery at the local level. In events where complexity and scale require regional or state coordination through Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV) local government still plays a leading role at this local level, working collaboratively with partners and delivering community facing services.

Local governments and their partners, including potentially ERV, can support communities to develop their own recovery governance and planning processes, where these communities decide to undertake these activities. This may include the establishment of dedicated community recovery groups or the use of existing community groups to support the community’s recovery journey.

Community recovery groups reflect the diversity of the community they represent. They have a broad range of potential roles. This includes giving a voice to the broad views and aspirations of the community, acting as a conduit between communities and local and state government, and identifying the community’s recovery priorities.

The specific role and optional forms of community recovery groups is dealt with in greater detail in section 4 of this toolkit. For more information on the Victorian structures that support emergency management and disaster recovery visit:

• The Municipal Association of Victoria
• Emergency Management Victoria
• Emergency Recovery Victoria.

When a significant emergency occurs in an area, it is the people who make up that community who are the hardest hit. From the roof over their heads, to access to essential medical services, to the schools their children attend, to their jobs – the basic functions of everyday life can be severely impacted.

It is important to support an approach to community recovery that gives communities greater opportunity to be involved in decisions and processes that contribute to reshaping and rebuilding their lives in ways that work for them. This approach also allows for greater social cohesion and the possibility that through rallying together in times of crises communities can emerge stronger, and more connected, community-minded and resilient.

Community recovery is open-ended and not pre-determined, which means ideas are considered and agreed collectively by the community, and activities and priorities are adapted and refined as required.

Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV) recognises that councils are best placed to understand the unique context of their communities and provide for their needs. Our role is to support councils in leading local recovery efforts, and to bring together government agencies, organisations and the philanthropic sector to meet the emerging and long-term recovery needs of communities.

Ensuring community recovery is front and centre of recovery activities

Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV) has adapted the Victorian Government’s approach to ensure community recovery is front and centre of recovery activities as outlined below.

Community-centred recovery:

• participation from the community, ensuring those affected by a disaster make decisions about their own recovery.
• consider the values, culture and priorities of all affected communities.
• use and develop the community’s strengths, leadership and existing networks and structures.
• recognise communities might choose different paths to recovery and ensure policies, plans and services are flexible and adaptable to support this.
• build strong partnerships between communities and those involved in the recovery process.

Local councils, Australian Government agencies, non-government organisations and charities all have important roles in giving life to the principle of community recovery and ERV works collaboratively with each.

Recovery is not exclusive to the geography of an impacted area. In some cases, an emergency may cause significant displacement of people and subsequent movement of people across the state. This means the people who need support may not be located in the specific region of the emergency.

Principles

ERV’s recovery principles underpin its approach to community recovery. These principles support flexible, locally-driven and locally delivered action and can be applied to deal with complex issues and support needs as required.

The National Principles for Disaster Recovery provide 6 of the 8 guiding principles for the framework positioning individuals and communities at the centre of recovery. ERV has included 2 additional principles in the recovery framework:

• strengthening communities
• inclusiveness

informed by the Queensland Betterment Program and the National Disaster Recovery Framework principles adopted by the United States.

ERV also recognises that successful recovery relies on government enabling self-determination to support effective and culturally appropriate responses for Aboriginal Victorian communities affected by bushfires or other disasters. ERV will work with Aboriginal Victorian communities to ensure its recovery activities are underpinned by self-determination.

Recovery principles

Understand the context

Successful recovery is based on understanding the community context – the unique history, values and dynamics of a community.

Communicate effectively

Successful recovery is built on effective communication between the affected community and other partners.

Strengthen communities

Successful recovery should leave communities stronger by reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience.

Ensure an inclusive approach

Successful recovery recognises that communities are made of many groups and ensures that actions, both intentional and unintentional, do not exclude groups of people.

Recognise complexity

Successful recovery responds to the complex and dynamic nature of disasters and the community.

Recognise and build capacity

Successful recovery recognises, supports and builds on individual, community and organisational capacity and resilience.

Use community-led approaches

Successful recovery is community centred, responsive and flexible, and it relies on community engagement to support them to move forward.

Coordinate all activities

Successful recovery requires a planned, coordinated and adaptative approach between community and partner agencies, based on continuing assessment of impacts and needs.

A successful recovery journey means communities identify their own needs, make decisions about their recovery priorities and influence community planning. This ensures that the recovery process is matched to local community needs.

Depending on your community’s unique context and preferences, these steps may not be completed in order, and some steps may not be undertaken at all. They are provided as a guide only, to be tailored to meet your community’s needs.

The remainder of this toolkit is structured around these steps, with guidance, templates and tools suggested for each step. Regular communication with communities should form part of every step.

Steps to recovery

Step 1: Form community recovery group

If the effects of an emergency are widespread or serious, communities may choose to establish a community recovery group (CRG) to lead the recovery planning process for the community. This may be an existing community group or network, or a brand new group.

With the support of local government and potentially Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV) this group would undertake the remaining steps.

Step 2: Set community recovery priorities

When a community is ready, they should engage with local community members and relevant interest groups to consider the impacts of the disaster, the broader context of challenges, and opportunities for the community in helping to identify their recovery priorities.

It is useful for the community to develop a shared vision for the future of the community to help guide priorities. These could be expressed as a community recovery plan.

Engagement approaches and activities should be tailored to community characteristics and preferences and appropriate to the nature and impact of an emergency. It is important to ensure all community values, cultures and perspectives are considered through this process.

Step 3: Identify delivery needs

After identifying recovery priorities, communities may wish to identify the actions and resources needed to deliver on the priorities. This may include community resources, access to grants, volunteers or philanthropic donations.

Step 4: Deliver recovery activities

It’s important that communities own the delivery of their own recovery activities. This means that they should have a key role in coordinating, managing and driving implementation of their community recovery plan.

Step 5: Check in on progress

Regularly checking in on progress towards achieving recovery priorities will be important. This will make sure activities are on track, and risks are identified early and communicated back to the community.

Step 6: Plan and prepare

Any lessons learned from the emergency, or recovery process, should be captured to help improve any existing emergency plans for the community. Documenting these lessons and reviewing existing plans will make sure communities are more resilient and prepared for future disasters.

Developing a community recovery plan

Start with developing a vision for your community. Map out your context and the unique history, values and dynamics of your community. There is no right or wrong way to write a community plan, however, the plan should capture your community’s short, medium, and longer-term recovery goals and priorities.

It will be helpful for community recovery plans to build on existing community plans, with a focus on any goals or priorities that have changed or emerged following the recent disaster.

Depending on your community and the nature, scale and impact of the disaster, your community recovery plan can cover recovery priorities across Emergency Management Victoria's (ERV) 5 lines of recovery and align with ERV’s recovery principles.

A community recovery plan is your community’s plan. There is no requirement from the Victorian Government for communities to produce a plan, or for these plans to follow a particular format or contain specific content.

The purpose of a community recovery plan

A community recovery plan can capture the recovery goals and priorities of the community. This may include actions or activities that require community resources, access to grants or volunteers, and initiatives that could be supported by philanthropic organisations or donors.

You can include as much or as little information as is relevant to your community, and be as ambitious or pragmatic as your community wishes to be.

Emergency Recovery Victoria’s lines of recovery

Emergencies can upturn all aspects of everyday life – from the trees and wildlife that surround us, to utilities, homes, agricultural and public buildings, to social enjoyment and economic activity. To ensure a holistic approach to recovery, 5 lines of recovery have been identified to help prioritise and plan:

1. People and wellbeing
2. Aboriginal culture and healing
3. Environment and biodiversity
4. Business and economy
5. Buildings and infrastructure.

How do we choose a community recovery approach that works for us?

Choosing an approach to recovery that suits your community will depend on the impact of the emergency and the existing networks and organisations in the community. It will be useful to get together and ask questions, such as the ones below.

Community recovery is a choice

All communities are different, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to community recovery. Depending on the nature, scale and impact of an emergency and the community’s unique characteristics, community recovery might involve informal or formal approaches.

How can Emergency Recovery Victoria and local council assist?

Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV) and local councils understand that all communities are different, as are the impacts of disasters. Consequently, ERV and your local council will work in partnership to support communities in shaping their own recovery processes and community recovery group (CRG) models. For example, convening an initial interest meeting to scope out community interest for a CRG

How to activate an existing organisation or group as a CRG

Where a community recovery group (CRG) is created from an existing organisation or groups it will be useful to ask questions such as:

• Does the recovery role fit with the organisation’s existing governance and structures? Does the organisation’s purpose need updating?
• If the recovery group is a collaboration between existing organisations, are partners clear on their roles? Is there a need for a Memorandum of Understanding or similar?
• Does the organisation or collaboration reflect the broad range of values, cultures and perspectives within your community, including diversity of place (for example, townships) interests (for example, small business) age, gender, culture, and population groups and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, in particular Traditional Owners? If not, how will this be addressed (for example, recruiting new members or through targeted community consultation)?
• Does the organisation or collaboration have the skills and time necessary to lead and coordinate community recovery activities? If not, how will this be addressed, for example, co-opting expertise into the organisation or contracting experts?

How do we form a purpose-built CRG?

A purpose-built CRG is likely to be an advisory or decision-making committee of council or an independent incorporated organisation. While the details to establish these different models will vary, each will need to answer the questions:

• How will we select community leaders to represent us?
• What is our purpose and how will our CRG operate?

There are a number of independent facilitators, community psychologists and community mentors with experience from previous disaster events available to support communities through this process.

Emergency Recovery Victoria and local council can assist communities to identify suitable people and engage their services.

How will we call for Expressions of Interest?

• Expressions of Interest (EOI) can be called for when establishing a new CRG. The EOI should be accompanied by information that sets out the purpose of the CRG, what knowledge, experience or skills would be useful to the CRG and the selection process.
• The EOI process should be communicated broadly and promoted so that all members of the community are aware of the process and have the opportunity to nominate.
• The EOI process should allow sufficient time for community members to consider their interest in nominating and completing their Expression of Interest (as a general rule, 4 weeks should be sufficient).
• The selection process should be transparent and conducted by people with credibility for the community. Alternatively, the community can be invited to vote directly for committee members from among the nominees.
• The committee will need to elect a chair following induction. The chair will ideally have an active role or leadership within the community, and is able to commit the time and effort required.

Expressions of Interest template

Below is a template that can be used to call for expressions of interest (EOI) for membership of a community recovery group (CRG). This example includes a call for expressions of interest in the role of chair. An alternative approach is that appointed members are invited to nominate for the position of chair following their induction into the work of the CRG. ERV and local council can assist with the EOI and selection processes or voting processes to elect a chair and members.

What is our purpose and how will our CRG operate?

Once established the CRG will face a number of tasks. These can include:

• coming to a shared understanding of the recovery context and their role
• getting to know each other as a group
• clarifying the role of Emergency Recovery Victoria, local council and other stakeholders
• determining how they will operate as a CRG – what are the rules regarding how decisions are made? How are conflicts of interest dealt with? How do we manage privacy and confidentiality?
• determining how and when they will identify priorities and plan for the future
• determining how they will engage and communicate with the broader community.

There can be a lot of pressure at this time to ‘just get on with it’ but establishing sound structures and relationships at the beginning will help in making the CRG more effective over time.

Structure and frequency of meetings

Members should agree on an agenda that provides a clear structure for meetings. The following meeting template can be used.

Terms of Reference

Once established, the community recovery group (CRG) should consider developing a Terms of Reference to set the purpose, roles, responsibilities and governance arrangements for the CRG. The following template can be used.

Incorporated associations

The purpose, objectives and operations of incorporated associations are set out in the association’s rules. Every incorporated association must have rules. The rules:

• are a written document (often called a constitution)
• guide how your association operates
• are a contract between the association and its members
• set out your association’s purposes
• list the rights and responsibilities of members and office holders.

In developing its constitution, your association can use the model rules, or create its own rules. In the absence of its own rules, the relevant provisions of the model rules will be deemed to apply. For more on establishing an incorporated association and the model rules, visit Consumer Affairs Victoria. Among the things the constitution will set out are:

• association membership
• election of office bearers
• general meeting processes, including voting.

Methods of voting

How you choose to conduct your vote will depend on the size of your community and community recovery group, and the nature and impact of the motion you wish to pass. Below are the 2 most common methods for voting.

CRG chair voting ballot template

If you wish to vote by ballot, below is a template that can be used to vote for the chair of a CRG.

Linking the community recovery plan to the broader recovery efforts

It is important that your community recovery group's (CRG) community recovery plan is validated by the community and key stakeholders. This ensures broad ownership and underpins the CRG’s advocacy role on behalf of the community.

You can provide your community recovery plan to your local council and Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV) to help them understand your priorities.

It is important to stress that community recovery plans are only one input into Victorian Government decision making.

Local councils and ERV can also provide information about potential funding and grant opportunities or details about
service providers.

Identifying partnerships to deliver priorities

Effective partnerships are critical to delivering community recovery priorities. CRGs will need to establish linkages and relationships with organisations and groups that operate within the broader emergency recovery system.

By building effective partnerships, a CRG is better positioned to improve the capability and capacity of the group to deliver outcomes for their community.

Your CRG may wish to map and maintain a register of agencies, community organisations and other groups that your CRG currently engage with that may help in your recovery process.

It is important to continue communicating and engaging with your communities throughout the delivery and implementation process. The community recovery process is an iterative and long-term process. Refer to the engagement method in Step 2: Set community recovery priorities of this toolkit for a range of engagement methods and online tools to support community engagement.

• Maintain clear and regular communication with the community, councils and key stakeholders.
• Provide as much forward advice of community engagement deadlines and avoid being rushed to make decisions.
• Try to stage community engagement with options that mean if people miss an initial deadline, they are not excluded from the whole process.
• Lobby government agencies and advocate for the community for realistic timeframes that match the ability of the community and your community recovery group (CRG) to make decisions and meet deadlines.
• Work with neighbouring communities and CRGs to share knowledge and learning from your recovery journeys.

Ongoing checklist

The following checklist can be a guide for CRGs as your communities work on implementing the goals and priorities outlined in your community recovery plan.

• Conduct regular CRG meetings to provide status update of key activities, risks and issues.
• Communicate planned actions to your communities, recovery management teams and key stakeholders.
• Conduct review of short and medium-term activities. Are priority needs being met? Were any priorities missed in immediate and short-term assessment or have new ones emerged?
• Continue the needs assessment process to inform planning, support and service provision.
• Advocate on behalf of affected communities to government and authorities for support.
• Continue to engage and empower affected communities and interest groups.
• Keep pace with the evolving recovery situation and adapt the community recovery plan in accordance with evolving or changing community needs and priorities.

Throughout the recovery process, community recovery groups (CRGs) should regularly check in on progress of recovery activities, and seek feedback from both CRG members, the community and external stakeholders.

• What is working well – what actions and achievements were made individually or collectively that positively contributed to the recovery process?
• Areas for improvement – how can we improve to better support recovery activities?
• Ongoing issues – what issues will require ongoing work or attention?

By working through these questions with your CRG, together you will develop a shared understanding about your journey to date. It will also help bring to mind the many achievements to be recognised and celebrated. A progress report (see below) can be used to help check in on your progress.

Progress report

A progress report can be used to help check on your progress.

What is working well?

What actions and achievements were made individually or collectively that positively contributed to the recovery process?

Example

Community BBQ was a great opportunity to have a chat and check in on community members.

Areas for improvement

How can we improve to better support our recovery activities?

Example

Strengthen communication from CRG back into the community through social media, flyers.

Ongoing issues

What issues will require ongoing work or attention?

Example

Ongoing discussions with government agencies to reopen tourist sites.

Any lessons learned from the disaster, or recovery process, should be captured and help to improve any existing emergency plans for the community. Documenting these lessons and reviewing existing plans will make sure communities are more resilient and prepared for future disasters.

The following information provides guidance for community recovery groups (CRGs) to ensure they plan and prepare for future disasters, including evaluating the effectiveness of the overall recovery effort, and the succession and transition of a CRG.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the overall recovery effort

An evaluation of recovery operations can be helpful for CRGs and communities in understanding the effectiveness of recovery actions and the outcomes achieved for individuals and communities.

This is often referred to as an outcome evaluation. Outcome evaluation considers the results of combined activity over a defined time frame and answers the question below.

To what extent have recovery goals been achieved?

Some things to consider when conducting an evaluation include:

1. Engage with stakeholders: there are a number of stakeholders potentially interested in the progress of the disaster recovery and the findings of any recovery evaluation. Use the evaluation planning process to engage with and involve them.
2. Bring in evaluation experts: you might want to consider conducting the evaluation internally or engaging an external evaluator. This will be influenced by a range of factors, such as the availability of internal expertise and the nature and scale of the recovery activities.

Lessons learned and recommendations should be identified to support other communities impacted by future disasters and should be included as part of the evaluation process.

Below is an example evaluation template. Note that the evaluation can be used to evaluate a single action or set of actions in more detail.

Succession and transition of a CRG

The future of community recovery groups (CRGs) is largely in the hands of the CRG members, as well as critical stakeholders such as local council. A CRG will need to commence planning for the succession and transition of the activities being undertaken by the committee at an agreed point in time.

The timing of the succession and transition planning will be up to the circumstances of your CRG. CRGs may want to consider the following:

• declining or limited demand for recovery services and supports
• agreed tenure (length of time) of the CRG, if any
• completion or near completion of all actions as detailed in the community recovery plan
• recognition that additional recovery activities have been completed.

Succession and transition planning

When the time is right for your community recovery group, workshop within your CRG the best way to meet your community’s ongoing needs into future emergency planning and preparedness.

Some questions you may want to ask, include:

• What has the CRG achieved to date?
• What roles has the CRG had that are different to, or add value to, other groups in the community?
• Does the CRG need to continue to transition out of recovery?
• Is it timely for the CRG to transition out of community recovery?
• If the CRG no longer existed, what are the likely gaps? How would these gaps be filled?
• How can the local council support the transition and ongoing needs for community planning and preparedness?

Council is often the best initial source of information on community recovery and community planning. Some additional resources are listed below.

Useful links

Bushfire disaster recovery engagement consultants

Organisations within the engagement community that are offering services pro bono to organisations needing assistance with engagement in disaster response and recovery.

• Engagement consultants

Useful publications

Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience

Provides detailed and comprehensive guidance. Part 3 of the handbook, ‘Planning for Recovery’ is likely to be most relevant in the early stages of recovery.

• Community Recovery Handbook

Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Preparing for Emergencies Reference Guide

A guide to help service providers prepare for emergencies.

• Preparing for Emergencies reference guide

Emergency Management Victoria Disaster Recovery Toolkit for Local Government

This toolkit provides a range of tools, resources and literature to help local councils and communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

• Disaster Recovery Toolkit for Local Government

Emergency Management Victoria Resilient Recovery Strategy

The EMV Resilient Recovery Strategy identifies strategic actions that promote a shared responsibility approach to emergency management and the importance of recovery planning.

• Resilient Recovery Strategy

Red Cross

A guide and toolkit for communities in building community resilience.

• Supporting your community

Victorian Public Engagement Framework 2021 to 2025

Principles and tips for engaging the public in a Victorian context.

• Public Engagement Framework 2021–2025

Useful websites

• Emergency Recovery Victoria
• National Emergency Management Agency