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What does Australia's high terror alert mean for your school?

21/09/14
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On the 12th of September, on advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the Australian Government raised the National Terrorism Public Alert level from 'Medium' (terrorist attack could occur) to 'High' (terrorist attack is likely). The elevated rating of 'High' is the second highest on Australia's four-tier alert system with 'Extreme' being the highest rating (a terrorist attack is imminent or has occurred). The National Terrorism Public Alert System guides national preparation and planning. It also dictates levels of precaution and vigilance to minimise the risk of a terrorist incident occurring. ASIO has said that its decision to increase the security rating was not due to knowledge of a specific attack plan but rather a body of evidence that points to the increased likelihood of a terrorist attack in Australia.

Recent developments have brought the threat closer to the course of the daily lives of Australians. A plot to terrorise the public by kidnapping and executing a person from the Sydney CBD, was revealed during the court hearing with respect to anti-terrorism raids in Sydney and Brisbane (reported by the Sydney Morning Herald). Just today security was increased at Parliament House Canberra as a result of specific intelligence reports.

Although the elevated alert level does not, for the time being, impact on ordinary life, in light of the increased threat, school administrators should take an opportunity to review their Risk Management and Business Continuity Management programs, as well as their Critical Incident Response plans.

Review of risk management policies

A sound risk management program should contemplate a wide range of possible risk events and capture and prepare for different types of disruptive events.

Remember that it is not only an act of terror targeted directly at a school that may disrupt its activities. A significant terrorist incident affecting a local community is likely to have multiple consequences including the requirement for schools to enact trauma response plans, review security measures, test evacuation and lockdown procedures, review excursion policies etc. The list goes on.

Consider what controls your school has to manage the risk of:

  • intruders on school grounds;
  • a hostage situation;
  • suspicious packages;
  • serious injury to or death of a member of the school community;
  • disruptions to public transport;
  • disruptions to infrastructure, including electrical and water supply;
  • excursions to locations considered to be at higher levels of terror attacks (such as major sporting events); and
  • traumatic events.

Recent examples of the realisation of these risks include the attempted theft of firearms at a school by a machete-wielding gang. As the Sydney Morning Herald recently reported, measures such as disabling the firearms, physical lock-up security and security patrols were effective in ensuring that these firearms were secured.

Sensible measures

Whatever the source of the potential risk event - be it the threat of a terrorist attack, an actual terrorist attack, or some other disaster, a school should methodically consider these risks and put into place controls either to prevent the incident from occurring (e.g. security) or to reduce the potential impact of the event if it is to occur (e.g. critical incident response plans).

The preparation and effective implementation of an effective enterprise risk management program based on the Australian Risk Management Standard ISO AS 31000 – 2009, is a good place to start.

A well-structured risk management program should be designed to lead management through all aspects of a schools operations and to consider potential risk events that may occur as these operations are carried out. These risk events should then be linked with relevant controls and the effectiveness of these controls should be evaluated.

Basic risk controls such as:

  • security plans;
  • critical incident plans;
  • trauma response plans;
  • evacuation procedures; and
  • lockdown procedures,

should be reviewed and tested for effectiveness, as they provide for safety in a range of situations. Ordinary and regular precautions, such as the inspection of evacuation routes to ensure pathways are clear from debris, adequate lighting, tests of school alert systems and key communication devices such as emergency mobile phones should be carried out to ensure functionality.

A sensible measure to account for the possibility of terrorist disruption is to engage with and note the counter-terrorism and consequence-management plans of each state or territory.

Business continuity management

Although it is an inadequate term to describe what schools do, Business Continuity Management (BCM) is concerned with ensuring a school can carry on its functions in the event of any disruption.

The Australian Business Continuity Standard AS/NZ 5050 provides a clear standard for a school to develop their BCM program. This standard is closely aligned with the ISO 31000 risk management standard and sets out a process of identifying, analysing and effectively managing those risks events that are considered likely to significantly disrupt a school's operations.

In the event of the loss of critical infrastructure within a school, such as an extended power failure, disruption to water supply or public transport, how would your school cope?

What back-up plans do you have in place to continue teaching?

How will you communicate quickly and effectively with your immediate school community? How would you prevent the inevitable panic that is likely in the event a major incident occurs (where parents are left to rely on panicked texts from their children, or worse still, the parent rumour mill)?

These incidents, however remote, are at risk of occurring as a result of a wide variety of circumstances. The heightened terror alert simply raises the foreseeability of such events occurring.

A BCM Program is a prudent measure to monitor these potential risks and put in place effective control measures. Although schools hope that they should never need to activate their business continuity plans, this does not meant they should not be prepared.

Alert, not alarmed, but in any case prepared

In the end, the rise in the alert level should not be a sudden jolt for schools, but rather a gentle nudge to remind them that they should be prepared for whatever risks they face.

Good school governance means looking rationally and calmly at the real risks that schools face and addressing them using an objective and sensible management framework, rather than reacting with a knee-jerk response.

Does your school have an effective enterprise risk management program in place? Have you identified those risks that may significantly disrupt your school’s operations? How prepared is your school to response to critical incidents? When was the last time you tested your business continuity plans?

 

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About the Author

Xenia Hammon

Xenia is currently a senior content consultant at Ideagen. She also practised as a commercial lawyer, both in private practice at a large, national law firm and in-house at an ASX-listed company.

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