Australian Government agencies maintain capabilities to operationalise their designated roles under national plans. The Australian Government also maintains a number of capabilities to support whole of Australian Government and national coordination. These capabilities enhance situational awareness, coordination and response during a significant crisis, and complement existing state and territory capabilities. Relevant sectors also maintain their own coordination and crisis management capabilities, as set out in national plans.
Situational awareness
Whole of Australian Government situational awareness supports decision-making by ministers and senior officials to prioritise resources during a crisis and provide up-to-date information to the public.
The Australian Government National Situation Room (NSR) provides 24/7 all-hazards situational awareness, impact analysis and decision support capability, through its crisis operations, anticipatory analysis and planning capabilities. Australian Government agencies, states and territories may be invited to deploy a liaison officer into the NSR to facilitate coordination, collaboration, and communication between the Australian Government and affected jurisdictions.
The National Joint Common Operating Picture (NJCOP) is managed by the NSR and provides a near real time, all-hazards platform designed to display all active significant crisis events. It provides a shared and common understanding both nationally and across borders during crisis events.
Both the NSR and the NJCOP are managed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on behalf of the Australian Government.
The Australian Government Global Watch Office (GWO) operates 24/7 to support the Australian Government’s capacity to monitor and respond to emerging international events and crises which may have consequences for Australians or Australian interests overseas. GWO reporting and analysis provides situational awareness and informs whole of Australian Government messaging on evolving international events.
The GWO is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The National Situation Room and the NJCOP (NEMA)
Crisis Appreciation and Strategic Planning
The Crisis Appreciation and Strategic Planning (CASP)17 methodology is a structured, systematic methodology that uses strategic and critical thinking and conceptualises the big picture in crisis planning. It supports practitioners to manage challenges including concurrent events, consequences of uncertainty and complexity. It can be used by Australian, state and territory governments to conduct strategic planning and informs crisis decision-making at all levels.
Australian Government Crisis Coordination Team
An Australian Government Crisis Coordination Team (CCT) can be established by NEMA to support coordination of Australian Government actions, in line with the strategic intent set by the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM). It may bring together representatives from Australian Government agencies, as well as other key stakeholders and employs the CASP methodology to support strategic planning activities and decision support products.