BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT POLICY

POLICY STATEMENT

The Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy sets the direction for and
facilitates the management of crisis management within CQUniversity, to minimise
the risk to personnel; to protect property; to protect the reputation of the University
and to implement business recovery plans.
In order to ensure effective ongoing operations of the University in time of crisis or an
emergency situation, CQUniversity will establish and maintain a Business Continuity
and Crisis Management framework and structure. The University will manage a
consistent process for the management of its operations across all campuses of the
University, facilitated by task groups which will coordinate emergency responses
under an overall Business Continuity framework.
The University will establish and maintain a Business Continuity Planning Committee,
whose role will be to facilitate planning across the University to ensure ongoing
operations of all major business activities within the University in a crisis capacity.
On an issues basis, the University will establish and maintain a Crisis Management
Control Group that will be responsible for the overall coordination of University
responses to any major crisis or emergency which is to be managed by the University.
Where disasters, which are ultimately coordinated through State or Federal Agencies,
occur on University campuses, the Crisis Management Control Group will be the
coordination group for University responses to those agencies.
CQUniversity recognises that its widely distributed property footprint will require a
site specific response from time to time. Under direction of the Crisis Management
Control Group, each Campus will have an Emergency Response Team that will be
responsible for the management of responses to campus specific events. This group
will be directed by and report to the Crisis Management Control Group for each event
to ensure corporate consistency in operations and response.

PURPOSE

CQUniversity is a substantial public tertiary education provider servicing regional

communities across Central Queensland and in major metropolitan regions across
Australia. As a highly visible public institution, CQUniversity needs to be able to
demonstrate a professional and effective response consistently to any emergency or
crisis situation.
The Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy will establish a framework
from which all coordination of incidents / emergencies impacting the University can
be effectively managed.
The Policy sets in place both a policy response and structure for the management of
these events, which may be potentially catastrophic to University operations.

Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy

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SCOPE

This policy applies to all staff and students of CQUniversity and all campuses owned or
operated by CQUniversity, including regional and metropolitan campuses.
This policy deals with such incidents which have, or are likely to have, noticeable and
detrimental operational impact on the University. Whilst the core requirement is for
the notification of University Executive to ensure a coordinated response, the safety
of life and protection of property and systems is paramount. Localised incident /
emergency response needs to be prepared for and enacted when required, with
University Executive to be notified as soon as reasonably practical.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR
IMPLEMENTATION

Whilst the University Council is ultimately responsible for monitoring risk and setting
the risk appetite for the University, management of the implementation of the
Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy is the responsibility of the
Vice-Chancellor, delegated to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services).
The Business Continuity Planning Committee is the group strategically responsible for
planning and testing CQUniversitys responsiveness to potential crises.
It will be responsible for developing a strategic framework for ensuring all critical
elements of the University remain functionally effective in the event of a major crisis
or emergency or potentially catastrophic event. The Business Continuity Planning
Committee will also be responsible for testing the Universitys responsiveness to
potential threats and crisis situations on an ongoing basis and for reporting any major
concerns to the Vice-Chancellor for further determination.
The Crisis Management Control Group is the group responsible to the Vice-Chancellor
for the coordination of the Universitys overall response to crises and major
potentially catastrophic events at all campuses across the Universitys footprint.
The Crisis Management Control Group will provide overall coordination across all
affected sites and will be responsible for directing recovery efforts post crisis or
potentially catastrophic event. Where a crisis impacts specifically on one campus, the
Crisis Management Control Group will generally delegate the response efforts to a
local Emergency Response Team on that campus, and report back to the Crisis
Management Control Group for evaluation and reporting purposes. This ensures rapid
response to emergencies whilst maintaining appropriate governance structures for
the management of emergency situations.
The Crisis Management Control Group will provide the point of interface with other
emergency service agencies, such as the local Disaster Management Group,
Police/Fire/Ambulance Services, and Declared Emergency Service Groups on behalf of
the University. Where emergencies are restricted to one campus or localised issues,
the Crisis Management Control Group may delegate this responsibility to the relevant
Emergency Response Team.
The Emergency Response Team is responsible for responding to crisis or potential
events specifically on a campus. The Emergency Response Team reports to the Crisis
Management Control Group.
The Emergency Response Team will generally be activated by the Crisis Management
Control Group and will report to that group for direction and response to events.

Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy

Version: 1
Once PRINTED, this is an UNCONTROLLED DOCUMENT. Refer to Policy Portal for latest version
CQUniversity CRICOS Provider Codes: QLD - 00219C; NSW - 01315F; VIC - 01624D

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However, In cases where emergencies or incidents are localised events, the

Emergency Response Team may be activated by the Head of Campus with reporting
still to occur to the Crisis Management Control Group.
Generally the Emergency Response Team will take direction, for the purpose of
business continuity, from the Crisis Management Control Group. It should be noted
that the Emergency Response Teams may change in terms of structure, depending on
the nature of the crisis or emergency situation that needs to be managed.

COMPLIANCE AND
MONITORING

The Emergency Response Team will report to the Crisis Management Control Group,
who is responsible for post event evaluations/debriefs and for monitoring compliance
of the Emergency Response Team during events.
The Crisis Management Control Group and Business Continuity Planning Committee
will report to the Vice-Chancellor on management of planning/events under its
jurisdiction. The Vice-Chancellor may require that compliance audits for process and
performance are undertaken by Universitys internal auditor or by externally
appointed auditors.
The development of University wide business continuity plans will be submitted, not
less than annually, to the University Council for consideration and where appropriate
adoption. University Council will continue to be responsible for the monitoring and
governance associated with all risk activity for the University, which Business
Continuity falls within.

RELATED
LEGISLATION
AND DOCUMENTS

Non Exhaustive:
Building Fire and Safety Regulation
Workplace Health and Safety Act
Financial and Performance Management Standard

DEFINITIONS

Incident/Emergency: A localised event or outage, within a single area or process,

insignificant or minor impact on the University. Please note: Multiple or ongoing
incidents may have a cumulative effect, becoming a major incident or crisis.
Major Incident/Emergency: An extraordinary event or outage where key business
processes are disrupted or resources are lost; has a moderate or major impact on the
University. May affect external areas.
Crisis: A disaster event, or series of incidents, that have the potential for extreme
impact on processes, resources and the Universitys long term prospects or
reputation. May affect external areas.
These definitions include but are not restricted to the following examples:
a
Adverse research outcomes
l
Hazardous substance incidents
b
Bomb threat
m
Industrial accident
c
Building invasion
n
Severe weather event
d
Bushfire
o
Serious health issue/outbreak of
e
Significant adverse change in
disease or pandemic
Government policy
p
Serious ethical issue, such as
f
Civil disorder
fraud, public international
g
Cyclones, including major storm
student complaints, major
damage
racism event

Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy

Version: 1
Once PRINTED, this is an UNCONTROLLED DOCUMENT. Refer to Policy Portal for latest version
CQUniversity CRICOS Provider Codes: QLD - 00219C; NSW - 01315F; VIC - 01624D

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h
i
j
k

Approval Authority
Administrator
Original Approval Date
Amendment History
Date of Next Review
Related Documents

Chemical, biological and

radiological disaster event
Earthquake
Fire
Flood

q
r
s

Structural instability
Toxic emission
Terrorism event, Bomb threat or
major intrusion event

Council
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services)
28 November 2011
28 November 2014

Business Continuity and Crisis Management Policy

Version: 1
Once PRINTED, this is an UNCONTROLLED DOCUMENT. Refer to Policy Portal for latest version
CQUniversity CRICOS Provider Codes: QLD - 00219C; NSW - 01315F; VIC - 01624D

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