Response and RecoveryPandemic 2020 Resource Tool KitUpdate 1 - 21 March 2020

NOTE This City of Ballarat provides this information in the interests of achieving and advancing our objectives to support the containment and impact of COVID19 and provide leadership in Ballarat.

We believe in collaboration, especially in times of community crisis.

This information should only be used to support your own organisations work during this time. The best efforts are made to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication, but this information and toolkit should only be used for guidance and support. Please seek your own advice.

The City of Ballarat makes this information available under Creative Commons 3 licence

The COVID-19 emergency is an unprecedented event in recent history. To protect the health of residents and staff, the City of Ballarat has instigated its Response and Recovery Pandemic 2020 Plan for its staff, ratepayers, residents and the broader community. Evidence from around the world has shown that pre-emptive measures are extremely effective in containing the spread of the disease.

NOTE: This is an extremely fluid situation and events are changing daily.

BackgroundOn Saturday 14 March 2020 the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Ballarat authorised the establishment of the City of Ballarat Response and Recovery – Pandemic 2020 (RRP2020) unit and associated plan.

ContentsBackground..........................................................................................................................................1

Objectives............................................................................................................................................2

Principles for decision making.............................................................................................................3

City of Ballart Risk Matrix, used to assess high impact services.........................................................3

Risk matrix / Scoring on high impact services.....................................................................................4

Outcome..............................................................................................................................................4

Business Continuity and Service Planning Principles..........................................................................5

Business Assessment/Action Plan Template.......................................................................................6

Communications Plan..........................................................................................................................9

Be Kind - Ballarat..............................................................................................................................................10

Other Resources...............................................................................................................................................10

Objectives To contain both the spread and impact of the virus in Ballarat  To maintain a healthy functioning workforce so that we can continue to provide

services, albeit modified, to the community.  To provide leadership in the Ballarat region  To be clear about what we are doing, communicate simply and explain the why.  

Principles for decision making  What is there potential for the virus to spread?  What is the demographic profile of the customers and clientele (including

considerations of age, vulnerability to communicable disease)? What are the opportunities for social distancing? Can a 1.5 to 2 metre personal

buffer be maintained? Is it an essential service as defined in the MEMP - Pandemic Plan? What is the risk matrix – likelihood and consequence. What are the

mitigation measures? 

City of Ballart Risk Matrix, used to assess high impact services

Risk matrix / Scoring on high impact servicesService Name

Risk / Issues / Potential for Spread 

Demographics of customers 

Ability to create Social Distancing  

How essential is the service 

Issues around community panic  

Total Score % 

                              

OutcomeFollowing the assessment of high impact services and in line with current advice from the federal and state governments, the following City of Ballarat facilities have been temporarily closed (current as of 21 March 2020), please visit Council’s website for the most up to date information:

Closed:

Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre Art Gallery of Ballarat Her Majesty's Theatre Civic Hall Ballarat Mining Exchange Ballarat Libraries Eureka Centre - Home of the Eureka Flag (102 Stawell St South, Ballarat) Parent Place (for Maternal Child Health drop-in appointments, please call 5320

5720)

The following services have been reduced and modified:

City of Ballarat Customer Service Centres (staff still taking calls, please call 5320 5500)

Ballarat Information Centre and Town Hall (staff still taking calls, please call 1800 44 66 33)

Ballarat Animal Shelter (phone in advance, and no cash sales) Robert Clark Horticultural Centre Eureka Aquatic Facility (no large group bookings, and no cash sales) Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility (no cash sales) Lucas Community Hub (External room bookings suspended. The following services

are NOT affected: childhood immunisations, Maternal Child Health services and Lucas Kindergarten)

Wendouree Maternal Child Health drop-in clinic at Wendouree Child Care Centre on Fridays is suspended. (Wendouree Child Care and Maternal Child Health appointments are still operational at this site, please call 5320 5720 for appointments).

Senior Citizen Centres will also be asked to consider closing their facilities.

The following services, which are run by City of Ballarat, remain unchanged:

Childcare facilities – however, any customers and/or children who are feeling unwell are asked to stay at home.

Family Day Care services – however, any customers and/or children who are feeling unwell are asked to stay at home.

Maternal Child Health services – however, any customers and/or children who are feeling unwell are asked to stay at home.

Immunisation services Meals on Wheels Home and Community Care Household waste and recycling services Parks and Gardens, including the Robert Clark Conservatory Road maintenance Street cleaning Municipal Emergency Management Building and Planning (by appointment only)

Business Continuity and Service Planning PrinciplesFollowing the risk assessment of high impact services, the following scenarios were planned for:

Closure of facilities or services that have been scored 60% or higher   Plan for 40% reduction in staff overall. Plan for whole service areas being impacted.  How do we run with 40% of the staff?   Opportunities and complexities  Foreseen needs for your customers/clients  What does service look like in next 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months  What can/should be slowed, modified, stopped 

Business Assessment/Action Plan TemplateEach Council service completed the following Business Assessment and Action Plan.

This document is to support business units to consider all implications of COVID19 on their operations and to support the organisation to deliver essential services. Please be concise and use dot points. This is not to be a full report but a summary of your thinking.

SUMMARY – Max 1x page

Key projects / services provided

Who responsible?

Status?(Ceased / delayed / modified / resources needed to maintain?

When High/medium/low priority

BACKGROUND and DETAILFor use by the relevant managers / staff to manage the thinking and complexity around service changes and impacts of the current crisis.

Key pressures facing the unit as a result of Covid-19

High level pressures and changes to service pressures which require adaptation

Essential operations assessment

List all services and identify if essential or non-essential to the operation of the organisation in an emergency situation.

Project Assessment

Keeping cashflow through the economy is important. List key projects and identify those which will have an important impact on the local economy and can be delivered in the short or medium term.

Contracts and obligations

List all contracts and obligations and identify if essential or non-essential to the operation of the organisation, identify projects that will have an important impact on the local economy or if the continuation of the contract is strategically sensible.

Workforce Planning

Consider all impacts on workforce and determine the minimum number of staff for operations. Consider how staff can be fully occupied if service is modified.

How to maintain connection and service

Consider creative ways to continue operations and to support community. There is no additional budget for these activities.

Transferrable skillsets

Are there skillsets which could be taken offline from core business and offered to areas of the organisation during this crisis period?

LOOKING FORWARD – SCENARIO PLANNING

What will be different about running our business over the following time periods?  

Next 2 weeks o

6 weeks o

12 weeks o

6 months o

How do we run with 40% of the staff? 

Opportunities and complexities  

Foreseen needs for your customers 

Financial Impacts (until end of 2019/20 FY)

Financial Impacts (2020/21 FY)

Stakeholder Impacts

Partner Impacts (funding)

Communication Plan /needs

Risk management

Undertake a risk assessment and identify likelihood /consequence

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Communications Plan The City of Ballarat is committed to being clear about what it is doing, communicating simply with stakeholders and explain the why.

The following key elements form the basis of our communications plan:

Daily updates to media Daily updates to staff and councillors of the City of Ballarat Daily stand-up meetings across the organisation with all staff Daily updates to managers and supervisors Regular updates on social media channels Regular stakeholder discussions and forums including:

o Municipal Emergency Management groupso Economy and Industry groupso Communications and marketing leaders and influencers

Be Kind - BallaratTo support community, business and stakeholders during this period the City of Ballarat has commenced a community campaign to promote and encourage kindness.

Campaign Background

The uncertainty is endless, people are losing work, the way of life that has been enjoyed is changing. Normal activities like doing a grocery shop can seem downright scary and businesses are losing money. Most significantly, many will be directly or indirectly affected by loss of life.

The mood is shifting quickly, as COVID-19 continues to spread, and while we have seen some behaviour in other communities that has us worried, we believe our city can band together and Be Kind Ballarat.

The campaign is divided into creating content, sharing stories and providing a one stop portal for people to go.

The City of Ballarat is making all our Be Kind Ballarat Campaign information available so this message can spread far and wide during this really tough time.

The toolkit can be found here: https://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/be-kind-toolkit

Other Resources Council has issued daily media updates to community. They can be accessed here:

o https://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/what-city-ballarat-doing-response-covid-19