The Victorian government delivers a wide range of services that are vital for Victorians’ economic, financial and social wellbeing. It is important that the government can keep these services running during a disruption. To minimise the impact of disruptions, agencies need effective business continuity frameworks and actions. The COVID 19 pandemic has tested these arrangements.

This audit examined all eight Victorian Government departments, including the former Department of Health and Human Services. It also included Cenitex, which provides ICT services to most departments.

The Victorian Auditor-General examined each department’s business continuity arrangements to check if:

• they prepared departments for a major disruption prior to COVID-19
• departments effectively implemented them during COVID-19 to maintain prioritised services

Key findings:

• Before the pandemic, most departments’ business continuity arrangements were inadequate. This meant that their response to restoring and maintaining their prioritised services was reactive and less efficient and effective than it could have been.
• Nonetheless, departments' incident management structures allowed them to quickly set up teams, provide clear communication and make decisions. This helped them make changes and prioritise services.
• The failure to adequately plan and prepare for a long-term disruption to services from a major event—and specifically, a pandemic—is compounded because for many years, a pandemic has been recorded as a state-significant risk.
• Further, tests of business continuity planning arrangements in 2018 and 2019 found significant weaknesses in them, but many of these were not addressed.
• Departments can be better prepared for foreseeable major disruptions by regularly testing their business continuity plans and treating them as living documents.