Colac Otway Shire Council is a signatory to the Inter-Council Emergency Management Resource Sharing Protocol. The purpose of this protocol is to provide an agreed position between councils for the provision of inter-council assistance for response and recovery activities during an emergency. This protocol details the process for initiating requests for resources from another council and identifies associated operational and administrative requirements.

This protocol applies to requests for human resources, equipment and/or facilities in relation to response or recovery activities associated with an emergency. Duties undertaken by Council staff seconded to another council for assisting with response and recovery operations should be within the scope of Councils' emergency management responsibilities as set out in Part 6 of the EMMV.

Resources can be requested at any time during an emergency including the recovery stages. Requests for assistance may be initiated by the CEO (or person acting in this role) or by any person nominated by the CEO at the receiving council. Requests should be directed to the CEO, or any person nominated by the CEO, at the assisting council. It is noted that in many cases the person nominated by the CEO will be the MERO at both the assisting and receiving council. Such requests may be verbal or in writing, however verbal requests must be confirmed in writing as soon as is practicable and in most cases will be logged at the Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre.

Requests for assistance should include the following information:

The Municipal Emergency Response Coordinator or Regional Emergency Response Coordinator should be contacted before the resources are moved. Requests for resources should be logged in the Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre. It is anticipated that a requesting council will initially seek assistance from surrounding councils. This will reduce travel times and expenses for assisting councils to respond and return.