Municipal Recovery Manager
A Municipal Recovery Manager (MRM) is a mandatory member of an Emergency Management Coordination Group.
A Municipal Recovery Manager should be a senior representative of a council, as a typical post-emergency recovery process can involve many aspects of council’s activities over a considerable period.
A Municipal Reovery Manager's role within a MECC may include:
- managing municipal and community resources for community support and recovery as part of EMCG, liaising with MERC and MERO on the best use of municipal resources
- liaising with the regional recovery committee and Department of Human Services
- establishing Emergency Relief and Recovery Centres as required
- liaising, consulting and negotiating with recovery agencies and council on behalf of the affected area and community recovery committees
- establishing a public information and coordination centre at the municipal offices or a location more appropriate to the affected area(s)
- coordinating the accurate dissemination of recovery information to council’s senior management and the public
- support the rapid impact assessment process for the validation of impact information
- ensuring the effective management of the MECC for recovery
- ensuring the monitoring and recording of Council’s expenditure
- managing the timely and planned withdrawal of recovery services
- undertaking other specific recovery activities as determined.
In effectively carrying out their duties, Municipal Reovery Managers should also consider:
- keeping families/households together in any evacuation, temporary accommodation, or resettlement process. This may also be important for isolated cultural groups
- maximising the flow of information throughout the affected community
- making provision for programs that enable those affected to actively participate in their own and their communities recovery
- maximising the use of local resources, groups and individuals. Local suppliers should be used wherever possible in the provision of material and physical resources
- ensuring effective liaison between recovery teams, volunteer resources, and existing community organisations
- encouraging practices that allow for self-determination and maximise community involvement in recovery planning
- making use of existing structures, resources, and local formal and informal networks of care and support wherever possible
- ensuring that all recovery workers are given support, debriefing/defusing relief and rest
- planning for the withdrawal of external and internal recovery resources whilst ensuring continuity of the recovery process.