The Framework is underpinned by the following principles and administrative arrangements to assist Australian Government decision-makers navigate priorities and decision-making in time-limited and challenging situations. These principles and arrangements should be considered and applied in all supporting documents identified in the Framework’s hierarchy of documents, including all national plans (see Figure 1).

The Framework:

• contributes to:
  • saving lives and reducing harm
  • protecting property and the environment and safeguarding national interests and assets
  • providing national leadership and maintaining public trust and confidence in government systems
  • national capability sharing and prioritisation
  • continual improvement
• promotes a unity of effort across Australian, state and territory governments, civil society and the private sector
• acknowledges human rights considerations to ensure that measures enacted during crises are necessary, reasonable and proportionate
• acknowledges community at the core of response and recovery and the consideration of the needs of Australians who may be disproportionately at risk of harm
• acknowledges the importance of recognising and engaging with First Nations people and their communities before, during and after crises
• supports near-term crisis planning and preparedness, immediate crisis response and early recovery arrangements for events that impact Australians and Australian interests, domestically and internationally
• is underpinned by the principle of subsidiarity³ and supports state and territory government crisis response and early recovery
• takes an all-hazards approach to crisis management
• is for significant imminent, current and future crises
• is a scalable and adaptable operational model that supports a coordinated approach across domestic and international crises.

Administrative arrangements

The establishment of the roles of Lead Minister, Australian Government Coordinating Agency and Lead Coordinating Senior Official (p. 24) under the Framework does not displace the existing executive responsibilities of ministers and senior officials. During a crisis, ministers and senior officials retain their statutory powers, with agencies and officials continuing to report to their respective ministers. This applies across all tiers of crisis coordination.

The 4-tier model of crisis coordination (p. 23) describes an overarching approach to whole of Australian Government coordination. It does not supersede sector-specific responsibilities, authority or the operational descriptors used to classify the level of crisis response (for example, as set out in national plans).

Footnotes

3. Subsidiarity refers to the proximity of government to the community. The principle of subsidiarity is a core feature of federalism. Under a federal system such as in Australia, powers are distributed between a central government and regional governments.Return to footnote 3↩