Emergency Preparedness & Engagement Forum 2025

How prepared are you for the next emergency?

Effective emergency management planning strengthens resilience by ensuring agencies are prepared for major emergencies. This enables fast, coordinated responses that reduce harm and accelerate recovery.

Join our upcoming forum to hear directly from emergency management professionals and discover practical ways you can prepare.

The forum is a live event hosted on Microsoft Teams. You'll get the link once you've registered. The event is free.

Who can attend?

The forum is open to anyone from the social services sector, including agencies funded or regulated by the department. This includes, but is not limited to:

•         In-home and community-based services

•         Residential and home-based care services

•         Disability services

•         Local government

•         Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs).

Topics

The forum will cover:

•         A call to action for high-risk weather season preparedness, delivered live by the Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch

•         A chat with some of our psychologists from the DFFH Emergency Management Psychosocial Services Panel, exploring the mental load for agency staff in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies

•         A case study in emergency preparedness: an agency perspective on undertaking EM planning.

Accessibility

An Auslan interpreter and live captioning will be available for this event. If you have any other accessibility requirements, please email EMforum@dffh.vic.gov.au

Frequently asked questions

Will the session be recorded?

Yes! The event will be recorded and made available on our website. However, we do encourage you to attend live if you can, to maximise the benefits of the session.

My agency isn't funded or regulated by the Department. Can I still attend?

Yes. This event may still be useful for you and your agency's emergency planning efforts even if your organisation isn’t funded or regulated by the department.