The strategy, the first of its kind in Australia, will guide SES members to build resilience so communities are less reliant on emergency services in a disaster situation.

Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said it was likely the VICSES Community Resilience Strategy would be picked up by other states.

“We know that when there’s a disaster it has a huge impact both economically and emotionally on local communities and regional communities,” Mr Merlino said.

“This is about enabling the SES to better work with the communities before, during and after an emergency and it also acknowledges that our state is quite diverse and there’s no one-size-fits-all.

“This is about acknowledging the strengths and the needs of local communities and guiding the SES about how they engage with their local communities.”

Through the strategy, the SES will deliver education programs and services to councils, schools, industry, churches, sports clubs, tourism networks, neighbourhood houses and other emergency services agencies.

SES chief executive officer Stephen Griffin said it was a “fantastic day” for the organisation. 

“Emergencies can strike at any time and we need to prepare and think about things like ‘where do I live, where do I work and what are the sort of risks that are around me?’” he said.

“You might be in a flood-prone area so you need to think about what you might  do there, or you might be in a fire-prone area – what are the plans you need to think about and make sure are available when or if the time comes? It’s about planning, and then thinking about if it does come, how do I bounce back, how do I get back on top of this even though it’s been a bit of a shock and a bit of stress to me?”