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Preparing for and responding to disasters

Guidance to help your not-for-profit organisation navigate disaster-related legal questions and issues.

Content last updated 05/12/2024

How to plan for a disaster

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Introduction

In every disaster, time is of the essence. Having clear plans for a disaster means that an organisation doesn’t waste time considering how to respond to a disaster if one occurs, but can focus on dealing with the disaster, mitigating any losses, and moving into recovery.

To plan for disasters, your organisation should consider having:

  • a business continuity plan (pre-disaster preparation)
  • an emergency action plan (disaster response), and
  • a recovery plan (post-disaster recovery)

If your organisation is involved with disaster relief, your plans should also consider how to manage your organisation’s involvement.

These plans should be developed by the directors, committee members or office holders of an organisation in consultation with stakeholders such as members, employees, volunteers and the community.


Business continuity plan

A business continuity plan helps prepare an organisation for a disruption or disaster by identifying essential areas of an organisation’s activities and how the organisation will keep running when it is disrupted. An effective business continuity plan can reduce the likelihood of a disaster occurring and the severity of disruption when a disaster strikes.

The key steps to preparing a business continuity plan include:

  • knowing your risks – identify the types of disasters that the organisation might face. These may be specific to the location where the organisation operates, such as disasters like bushfire or tidal flooding. These may also relate to the type of work that the organisation does. For example, an organisation providing charitable health-related services may be more exposed to the risk of infectious diseases.
  • review your organisation's insurance
  • creating an emergency action plan (see below)
  • planning ahead
    • depending on the risks that have been identified, consider what actions the organisation can take before a disaster occurs that will improve the organisation’s ability to respond if a disaster does happen (for example, if there is a risk that flooding would prevent access to an office, the organisation could consider how it could facilitate remote working arrangements and arrange appropriate technological solutions)
    • develop a plan to manage spontaneous volunteers
    • develop an effective document management policy so that your organisation can locate documents required during a disaster

Tip – when negotiating and drafting grant or funding agreements

Before a disaster strikes, not-for-profit organisations should carefully negotiate and draft grant and funding agreements to include provisions that address potential disruptions and unforeseen circumstances. By proactively planning for potential challenges, organisations can mitigate risks and ensure the continued delivery of services.

Things to include in your business continuity plan

 

  • List your services, describing your current arrangements and what you’ll do if your current arrangements fail
  • List your key service providers and help-seekers, with a plan about how you will contact them if your activities are disrupted
  • List your staff, with information about their skills that could assist in an emergency
  • Record how you protect your business information such as customer records, financial records and contact lists, and set out your back up procedures.
  • Record the insurance policies you hold (and check your insurance is adequate)
  • Record your property infrastructure, including consideration of action taken to make it less vulnerable to damage
  • Identify the disasters that your organisation may face, considering any risks posed to your organisation
  • Detail your business continuity strategies (for example, identify temporary office accommodation you could access quickly in an emergency)

For more information and guidance, see:

The NSW Government guide includes disaster-specific checklists for bushfires, floods, storms, pandemics, and tsunamis.

Note

A business continuity plan should be reviewed at least annually or when any major changes to the organisation occur.


Emergency action plan

An emergency action plan guides your organisation on what to do in a disaster. An emergency action plan should be tailored according to the types of disaster (or other emergency) that an organisation might experience.

When disaster strikes, the first few hours are usually critical. An emergency action plan allows an efficient and coordinated response by the organisation in response to a disaster during a time of high pressure.

An emergency action plan will differ according to the types of risks that an organisation identifies when preparing the business continuity plan.

Note

Many organisations may already have an emergency action plan for emergencies in the workplace – such a plan is a legal requirement in some jurisdictions.

A plan that deals with the immediate safety of workers and customers in an emergency is a good start, and may be necessary to comply with legal obligations, but it is important to remember that it will not cover all aspects of an organisation’s response to an emergency or disaster.

Things to include in your emergency action plan 

 

  • A list of your local emergency services numbers and any additional contacts you'll need to phone in an emergency, including the local state emergency, police, fire and ambulance services
  • Information about your emergency evacuation procedures – attach a copy of your detailed emergency procedures and floor plan with the location of emergency exits, emergency kit and safety equipment clearly marked
  • Record where your emergency kit is located or stored (an emergency kit should include useful items and documents you may need in an emergency, such as key documents, phone numbers, a torch, first-aid kit, portable radio, plastic bags, spare batteries)
  • Allocate people to be responsible for any emergency situation, setting clear roles and responsibilities and providing appropriate training

For more information and guidance, see:


Recovery plan

A recovery plan guides an organisation after a disaster, by setting out what actions must be taken to restore the organisation’s functions.

Things to include in your recovery plan 

 

  • Assessment of the damage to your operations, listing the main damage, its impact on your organisation, and what action you’re going to take. Assign responsibility for any tasks you've identified
  • List the organisations or people that will be essential to the recovery of your operations
  • List any insurance policies you have claimed for and record discussions you have with insurers about your claims
  • Based on your assessment of the damage to your operations and surrounding area, consider how your organisation, staff and help-seeker needs have changed
  • Prepare a communications strategy to connect with service providers and help-seekers after the emergency

For more information and guidance, see:


What about a pandemic or infectious diseases plan?

A pandemic or infectious diseases plan guides an organisation on how they will manage their risks which arise during a pandemic or the spread of an infectious disease.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, a pandemic of an infectious disease can have extremely wide-ranging and consequential impacts on all aspects of society, including not-for-profit organisations.

Key risks to not-for-profit organisations include:

  • workers and volunteers being unable to perform their function because they are sick or unable to attend the workplace due to legal restrictions
  • service recipients being unable to engage with an organisation because they are sick or unable to be physically reached by the organisation, and
  • key suppliers being unable to supply critical inputs to an organisation.

The disruption of a not-for-profit organisation’s operations can have significant adverse consequences. For example, if fundraising is not possible, the organisation could experience financial hardship or even insolvency. If there is no plan to reach the usual recipients of charitable services safely, these people will go without the organisation’s assistance or volunteers will be exposed to risk in providing services.

In the worst-case scenario, a pandemic can disrupt an organisation’s operations so badly that it must stop functioning entirely.

In this context, not-for-profit organisations should have a pandemic or infectious diseases plan to preserve as much of their operations as possible during a pandemic event. This will allow an organisation to continue operating to the extent it can, and leave the organisation in a much stronger position to ramp-up operations to pre-pandemic levels when the disaster subsides.

Things to include in your pandemic plan

 

  • Policy and procedures for managing workers, customers, recipients of an organisation’s services and visitors who present with relevant symptoms during an infectious diseases outbreak or pandemic
  • The impact of increased absenteeism or disruptions due to travel restrictions or restrictions due to community wide infection
  • The risks and challenges associated with the continuity of your organisation if a significant number of workers, contractors or suppliers can’t come to your workplace – either due to local restrictions on travel or because they are ill
  • How the organisation's services can continue to be safely delivered
  • The risks of infecting community members and recipients of charitable services and how to mitigate against such risks

Template plans

The Australian Government’s emergency management plan template includes a continuity plan, an emergency action plan and a recovery plan.

The NSW Government publications below include template plans:

The NSW Government’s guide to preparing a business continuity plan (Prepare for the unexpected - Build a Business Continuity Plan) includes a disaster-specific checklist for pandemics.



Disclaimer: These resources provide general information about legal issues that may arise for not-for-profit organisations in managing disasters. This information is a guide only and is not legal advice. If you or your organisation has a specific legal issue, you should seek legal advice before deciding what to do. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.

The content on this webpage was last updated in December 2024.


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