This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to evaluate societal threats, surprise and uncertainty based on research, intelligence gathering, policy guidelines and planning outcomes. It applies to roles with responsibility for risk mitigation, crisis preparedness, crisis response and recovery functions for communities and/or organisations.

A crisis includes varying events of significant disruption that can have broad effects on relationships among community and/or organisation members. It is characterised by high levels of adversity, ambiguity, uncertainty, opportunity and change. Leaders in a crisis need to independently make sense of uncertain situations, creatively seek solutions and apply judgment and decision making in highly pressurised environments.

Emergency services leaders work in highly autonomous roles, within collegiate environments, that require the ability to exercise and display initiative and to design, plan, conduct and report research activities. Emergency service leadership roles are complex requiring the individual to make ethical decisions in variable, evolving and dynamic circumstances.

No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to unit at the time of publication.

ELEMENTS

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Elements describe the essential outcomes.

Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element.

1

Scan internal and external environment

1.1

Identify and evaluate information needs and intelligence sources that can be utilised

1.2

Design methods for scanning internal and external environments, including creating objectives, collection methods, collation techniques and identification of scope and limitations

1.3

Observe and record information, in accordance with authorised methods, using crisis information management systems

1.4

Apply analytics to synthesise information on internal and external societal environment threats

1.5

Seek, discover and review elements of uncertainty and surprise that can exist in internal and external societal environments

1.6

Evaluate competing understandings of an evolving reality

2

Identify need for research

2.1

Identify threats or emerging issues related to internal and external societal environment that can be researched

2.2

Justify the need and level of research required to undertake evaluation of internal and external societal environment

2.3

Articulate research questions that will be used

2.4

Establish and articulate the authorising environment for research to proceed in accordance policy guidelines

2.5

Communicate research purpose to key stakeholders and/or participants

3

Design and conduct research

3.1

Establish investigation scope for research in accordance planning outcomes

3.2

Develop and/or justify research methods

3.3

Undertake an investigation into internal and external societal environment threats and/or uncertainty using nominated research methods

4

Analyse research data

4.1

Analyse collected and collated data, in accordance with nominated research methods

4.2

Validate and test research questions, in accordance with nominated research methods

4.3

Corroborate findings within a corpus of knowledge

5

Disseminate research findings

5.1

Prepare short reports, policy guidelines and/or recommendations, in accordance with research requirements

5.2

Prepare extensive reports and/or papers, in accordance with research requirements

5.3

Disseminate research outcomes to key stakeholders and/or participants

Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.

Range is restricted to essential operating conditions and any other variables essential to the work environment.

Non-essential conditions may be found in the Companion Volume Implementation Guide.

Not applicable

Emergency Management