Templates
- Scenario Planning
- Business Community Management Plan
- Cashflow Forecast
- Decision Log
- Action Log
- Loss of Suppliers
- Service Specific Resources
- Further Information
- Other Useful Planning Toolkits
Scenario Planning
The most practical way of identifying the risks that may impact on your organisation is to conduct (and regularly review and update) a scenario planning exercise.
Planning scenarios
We believe the most likely scenarios arising from the current pandemic are listed below:
- Loss of workforce (including volunteers) either through illness, enforced or voluntary self-isolation or caring for family members;
- Loss of premises (either from closure of facilities that you use to provide services or your offices);
- Loss of key suppliers; and
- Services becoming too risky to provide or are prohibited from being provided in their current form (under pandemic conditions).
How to use the scenario planning template
Understanding the impact of the pandemic on your organisation’s operations is critically important. This will be an iterative process as the pandemic evolves over time. To do this, your organisation should conduct scenario planning for the four scenarios listed above and regularly reviewed and updated. When completing the scenario planning template:
- Work with all stakeholders to identify the most critical services and supporting processes across your organisation based on customer need, cost implications and reputational risk of downtime
- Identify key staff involved in critical decision making
- Consider the workforce, technology, reputation, financials and service impacts
- Prioritise each service and supporting resources to determine maximum allowable outage / service disruption time
- Link the BIA to any existing risk frameworks or crisis management plans your organisation may have.
Scenario Planning (DOCX 92.3 KB)
Business Community Management Plan
Business Continuity Management Plan (DOCX 94.2 KB)
Cashflow Forecast
Cash Flow Forecast – Monthly (XLSX 19.5 KB)
Cash Flow Forecast – Weekly (XLSX 600.7 KB)
Decision Log
A critical aspect of good governance, particularly under pandemic conditions, is ensuring there is identification of key decision makers and a mechanism to capture those decisions made, who they were made by, and the outcome(s).
Action Log
An extension of the decision log, the action log is used to track all key events, allocation of roles and responsibilities, tasks, communications and decisions made by your organisation whilst responding to the business impacts of the pandemic.
Loss of Suppliers
COVID-19 is impacting the supply chain of organisations as the outbreak continues to spread. Factories and businesses are experiencing extended shutdowns, employees are not able to return to work and airlines are suspending or cancelling services. Production disruptions in one organisation create adverse effects in others and your organisation may struggle to find alternatives.
Your organisation can take a range of measures to protect itself:
Identify critical products and suppliers, for example, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Once identified, determine how reliant each supplier is on the affected areas.
Contingency planning
What are the options to re-address the balance of supply and demand? Is buffer stock or a safe alternative supplier available? What is the impact on medium-term strategy?
Communicate
Supply chain disruption may cause unintended reputational damage. Develop a clear strategy for transparent communication with customers, external stakeholders and employees.
Conduct scenario planning
Careful planning is required to navigate the wider implications of supply chain disruptions. Please refer to the Scenario Planning template.
Additional considerations
Access to PPE
If your workforce is unable to obtain PPE, this will impact home visits and visits to other vulnerable members of the community. Those customers may therefore need to attend hospital or would be unprotected during home visits.
Legal obligations
Your organisation will need to consider any potential legal obligations against the organisation in relation to customers / clients raising legal claims in the event they contract COVID-19 during a home visit.
Loss of suppliers (DOCX 93.0 KB)
Service-Specific Resources
NGO coronavirus support
- Please refer to the dedicated DHS NGO webpage and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Disability services
- National Disability Services (NDS) Coronavirus support and information
- Refer to the latest advice and guidance from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
Family-based violence
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD)
- The Australian Government Department of Home Affairs has released COVID-19 fact sheets in a range of languages:
- My Aged Care Support for Older Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Aboriginal Family Domestic Violence Hotline: 1800 019 123
Further Information
- SA Health: Information for Business and Industry - COVID-19
- sa.gov.au: SA.GOV.AU Covid-19
- WHO: Getting workplace ready for Covid-19 (PDF 663 KB)
- ECRI: Covid-19 Resource Centre
- CSIA: Industry planning and preparedness
- KPMG: Responding to your Covid-19 risk and Covid-19: Immediate actions for organisations and Covid-19: Medium to long-term actions
Other Useful Planning Toolkits
Many organisations are preparing information, toolkits and resources to support the planning and readiness of the sector through the COVID-19 pandemic:
- WACOSS: Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response Toolkit for Member Services (PDF 1.19 MB)
- CDC: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Preparedness Checklist for Nursing Homes and other Long-Term Care Settings
- CSIA: Community Services Industry Alliance (CSIA) COVID-19 Pandemic Business Continuity Planning and Scenario Planning template
- KPMG: Managing Critical Moments (KPMG) (PDF 346 KB)
- CDC: Households preparation checklist