Municipal Emergency Resourcing Program
The Municipal Emergency Resourcing Program (MERP) supports strategic emergency management work undertaken by rural, regional and outer-metropolitan councils.
Annual grants are shared between 64 eligible councils at four different levels ($40,000, $60,000, $120,000 or $240,000 per annum) based on each council’s relative emergency risk profile. Some councils receive their funding in partnership with other councils.
The Victorian Budget 2020/21 allocated an extra $1 million to the Program. Please see the press release for further detail. An extra $1 million was also invested in the Program in 2021/22. Please see the press release for further detail.
The MERP supports councils to plan, prepare and deliver activities that will assist their communities in an emergency. It supports councils to effectively deliver on emergency management responsibilities established in legislation, state plans and policies including the State Emergency Management Plan (SEMP) and the Vulnerable People in Emergencies Program.
The program has three objectives:
- Effective delivery of emergency management responsibilities established in legislation, state plans and policies including the State Emergency Management Plan and the Vulnerable people in Emergencies Program
- Contributing to better prepared and more resilient communities
- Embedding emergency management as a core component of council business.
For more information on the MERP, please contact LGV via email at lgv.emergencies@dgs.vic.gov.au