Community education is a vital component of prevention and preparedness. The development of relevant and appropriate community education resources and activities empower the community and enhances their resilience through being well informed and therefore better equipped emotionally and physically for an emergency. Resilient communities are well prepared, better able to respond to and recover from the impacts of an emergency.

Colac Otway Shire together with emergency management services/agencies actively engage the community through a range of mechanisms including community programs and projects, media releases, advertisements, Councils website and service networks.

The Colac Otway Shire Council website and social media tools will play a critical role in communicating with the broader community. In the event of an emergency, the council website www.colacotway.vic.gov.au and Facebook page could be used to communicate information on the following:

The Colac Otway Shire has developed a Community Engagement Policy which will provide direction for engagement with the community pre, during and post emergency events.