Command and Control Professional Development and Accreditation
The Need
The 2009 Victorian fires and the major floods in Northern Queensland demonstrate the complexities of modern emergency management.These events deployed personnel from emergency and non-emergency services, from multiple states. In some cases international and military assistance were required.
These events demonstrate there is a need for a common incident management system that is supported and strengthened by nationally-agreed professional development arrangements, such as:
- training
- assessment
- mentoring and coaching
- pre-formed Incident Management Teams
The Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS) was adopted in 2005. While AIIMS role specific training has occurred since implementation there is inconsistency in the way it is applied, leading to variation in how personnel are trained and deemed competent to perform an AIIMS role. This is due to:
- There being agencies that may have little or no training in place for AIIMS roles
- The trend by some agencies to adopt a hybrid version of AIIMS
- The decision on who can perform AIIMS roles is dependent on informal agency-specific arrangements.
This project is to scope what is required to develop a nationally consistent approach to the professional development and accreditation of personnel to perform AIIMS roles. The outcome of this scoping exercise will be to develop an industry-owned and agreed strategy.
Benefits and Strategic Alignment
The Operations Group is seeking a national approach for confirmation of the requisite skills and knowledge of their incident management personnel. Recent events continue to highlight the need to deploy resources (physical and human) across jurisdictional and spatial boundaries. Determining personnel with the requisite incident management capability requires the establishment of arrangements (e.g. criteria) to determine who can perform these roles.Stakeholders that will benefit from this work are:
- AFAC member agencies
- Incident managers
- Other public safety agencies
- Government and non-government agencies
- Communities at risk.
- The creation of a professional development framework that is developed by the industry and provides a blueprint for developing incident managers
- Alignment of the professional development framework to the AIIMS 3rd Edition, or its successor, and the work to be undertaken by the AFAC Project on operational doctrine
- The sharing of knowledge and expertise acquired by AFAC members and other organisations that are in the business of developing incident managers.
Proposal
This project will produce a report with recommendations informed by the following questions:- What is the current approach to developing incident managers?
- Are the current strategies producing proficient incident managers?
- What evidence do we have these strategies are effective?
- What lessons can be learned from the BCRC research and recent coronial inquests and inquiries?
- What are identified gaps in professional development?
- How are incident managers determined as capable to fulfil an AIIMS role?
- Is this process sufficiently robust?
- What can be learned from ‘like’ organisations, e.g. Defence
- What do the AFAC members mean by "an accreditation system"?
- What do the AFAC members want in terms of "standardisation"?
- Is there support for this concept and what would it comprise?
- AFAC members
- Police jurisdictions
- Ambulance
- Government and non-government agencies that use AIIMS
The approach taken will include a variety of events, but focus on interviews with senior operational personnel from all AFAC member agencies, followed by consultation at selected group meetings and a workshop. The project will also use the Executive Command Forum for consultation and a workshop if needed. This work will be undertaken in parallel with the interrelated project on Operational Doctrine.
Consultation
Primary stakeholders- Executive Command Forum participants
- AIIMS Steering Committee
- All AFAC Operations Group Representatives
- AFAC Learning and Development Group
- Attorney Generals Department
- National Security Advisor
- ANZPAA
- Interested Police jurisdictions, e.g. Western Australia Police
- Defence
Governance
This project will be directly accountable to the AFAC Council and utilise the Operations and the Learning and Development Groups for reference.Project Owner: TBD – this person should an Operational Executive
Project Manager: Sandra Lunardi, AFAC Manager Learning and Development
Project Team: Gary Featherston, AFAC Manager, Rural and Land Management
For more information on this project contact Sandra Lunardi, Manager Learning and Development
