LEMA and LEMC capability for your community.
As a LEMA review consultant for Local Governments across WA, Resolve develops Local Emergency Management Arrangements that give your LEMC and partner agencies a clear understanding of how emergency management will work before an emergency puts those arrangements to the test.
WA's LEMA framework is changing.
Western Australia's approach to Local Emergency Management Arrangements entered a new implementation phase in 2026.
New LEMA templates and guidance now separate strategic planning from the operational information people need during an emergency. The emerging suite includes a Local Emergency Management Plan, Incident Support Handbook, Emergency Management Workplan and Local Recovery Plan.
The new templates are optional. The underlying obligations are not.
Local Governments may continue using the existing LEMA format or another suitable structure, but current SEMC guidance should now inform the review so minimum requirements under the Emergency Management Act 2005 and State Emergency Management Framework are addressed.
For Local Governments with arrangements due for review in 2026 or 2027, this creates an important decision point. Do you simply update the existing document, or use the review to build arrangements around the way your organisation will actually operate?
Resolve helps Local Governments navigate that transition without turning reform into a wholesale rewrite for the sake of compliance. We assess what should remain, what needs to change, what belongs in strategic arrangements, what should move into operational tools, and where the real issue is capability rather than documentation.
Current requirements. Practical arrangements.
Our LEMA reviews consider:
- The 2026 SEMC minimum requirements and new LEMA guidance
- Alignment with the Emergency Management Act 2005 and State EM Framework
- Local Emergency Management Plan requirements
- Incident Support Handbook development and operational usability
- Emergency Management Workplans and three-year exercise scheduling
- Local Recovery Plans and recovery capability
- LEMC governance, engagement and exercising
- Local hazards, risks, vulnerabilities and community context
- Lessons identified through incidents, exercises and organisational change
The objective is not to produce a newer document.
It is to leave the Local Government with arrangements it understands, can maintain and can use when an emergency occurs.
Your community relies on arrangements that work when tested.
More than a document review
Arrangements that make sense when people need them.
Under the Emergency Management Act 2005, Local Governments are responsible for preparing and maintaining Local Emergency Management Arrangements for their district. That responsibility extends beyond maintaining a document.
Effective arrangements need to reflect the hazards facing the district, the Local Government's actual capability and resources, the roles of supporting agencies, local coordination arrangements and how the organisation will support its community through response and recovery.
People, contacts, structures, risks, State arrangements and capability all change. Exercises identify gaps. Emergencies expose assumptions that looked reasonable on paper but did not work operationally. A LEMA review is the opportunity to bring those elements back together.
Our approach
We make the review manageable.
From initial document review through to final arrangements, we work with the Local Government and its emergency management stakeholders to resolve issues and produce material people can use.
Understand
We establish the current position before rewriting anything: existing LEMA documents, recovery arrangements, risk information, supporting plans, exercises, incident learnings and related organisational material.
Engage
We work with the people expected to use the arrangements: internal stakeholders, the LEMC, Hazard Management Agencies, support organisations and relevant partners.
Review
We assess the arrangements against the Emergency Management Act 2005, the State Emergency Management Framework, current LEMA guidance and the practical reality of delivery.
Develop
We turn the findings into clear, usable arrangements structured around the needs of the district, not a template reproduced for its own sake.
Validate
Before completion, we resolve comments, confirm responsibilities and prepare the documentation for LEMC endorsement and Local Government approval.
What we can review
The whole arrangement, or the parts that need attention.
The scope is agreed at the start so the review remains proportionate to your Local Government's risk, capability and operating environment.
Local Emergency Management Arrangements and Local Recovery Plans
Emergency management governance, responsibilities and LEMC arrangements
Emergency risk information and local government incident support arrangements
Resource, contact, evacuation and community-support information
Emergency communications, animal welfare and local coordination arrangements
Agreements, memoranda of understanding and supporting operational plans
Links with organisational response arrangements and recovery planning
Lessons arising from emergencies, exercises and previous reviews
LEMC exercising
Exercises that help your LEMC meet its legislated obligations.
The Emergency Management Act 2005 and the State Emergency Management Framework require Local Emergency Management Committees to exercise their arrangements. We design and facilitate exercises that satisfy that obligation and genuinely test whether the LEMA works.
A good LEMC exercise does more than tick the annual requirement. It brings the Local Government, Hazard Management Agencies, combat and support agencies and the community together around a realistic scenario, and shows where roles, triggers, resourcing, welfare and recovery arrangements hold or break.
Discussion and functional exercises scoped to your district hazards
Exercise management aligned with the State exercising framework
LEMC, Incident Support Group and Local Recovery Coordination Group scenarios
Facilitation, evaluation and after-action reporting
Findings tracked into LEMA updates and capability actions
Evidence of compliance for LEMC minutes and annual reporting
Where an exercise surfaces something documentation cannot fix, we say so. The exercise report feeds directly back into the LEMA review cycle so the arrangements and the Committee improve together.
Built around your community
Arrangements belong to the district they were written for.
Every Local Government is shaped by its people, geography, services, infrastructure and relationships. Those differences are what a LEMA has to reflect, not smooth over.
We spend time on the ground with the LEMC, Council officers and partner agencies so the finished arrangements match how your organisation actually operates, not a template written for somewhere else.
Built around your Local Government
There is no useful one-size-fits-all LEMA.
Metropolitan, remote and regional districts face different operating conditions. Resource corridors, agricultural communities, coastal towns, tourism centres, industrial areas and rapidly growing communities all bring different dependencies, risks, capability and expectations.
The State framework provides the structure. Local context determines whether the arrangements will work. We work through hazards, geography, infrastructure, community characteristics, access, communications, resources and organisational capacity so the finished arrangements belong to the district they were written for.
When to review
Do not wait for the five-year date to find out the operating environment has moved on.
We recommend a major review at least every five years and following an emergency involving activation of an Incident Support Group or significant recovery coordination. It can also be sensible to review earlier when organisational changes, emerging risks, new infrastructure, stakeholder changes, exercises, State updates or capability gaps have changed the operating environment.
Practical arrangements for real emergencies
The value becomes clear when the organisation needs it.
At that point, the question is not whether the document meets a template. It is who is responsible, what can actually be done, who needs to be involved, what resources are available, how the response is supported and how recovery begins.
Where an issue cannot reasonably be resolved through documentation alone, we identify it rather than writing around it. A planning gap can be fixed in a plan. A capability gap needs to be managed as a capability gap.
What you receive
- Initial assessment of existing arrangements
- Compliance and gap analysis
- Structured stakeholder consultation
- Revised or newly developed LEMA documentation
- Updated Local Recovery Plan and supporting material
- Clearly documented roles, responsibilities and decision records
- Preparation for LEMC consideration and Council-ready documentation
- Recommendations for future capability development and exercising
LEMA and LEMC, answered.
How often does a LEMA need to be reviewed?
The Emergency Management Act 2005 requires a LEMA to be reviewed at least every five years, and sooner where significant change has occurred, such as after an emergency involving activation of an Incident Support Group, major organisational change or a substantial shift in local risk.
Do the new 2026 LEMA templates mean we have to rewrite our arrangements?
No. Use of the new template suite is optional, and Local Governments can continue with their existing LEMA format or another suitable structure. What has changed is the guidance those arrangements are now expected to align with, which is why a scheduled review is a good opportunity to check the underlying content, not just the format.
What exercising does a LEMC actually need to do?
The Act and the State Emergency Management Framework require LEMCs to test their arrangements through exercising, not simply file them. That can include discussion exercises, functional exercises and scenarios involving the Incident Support Group and Local Recovery Coordination Group, with findings tracked back into the LEMA.
Exercise development and facilitationWhat happens if our arrangements do not hold up during a real emergency?
That is exactly what a structured post-incident review is for. It identifies where roles, triggers, resourcing or recovery arrangements broke down during the response, and feeds those findings back into the next LEMA update so the same gap is not repeated.
Post-incident review servicesWho is responsible for recovery coordination under a LEMA?
Local Governments have a lead recovery coordination role for their district, working with agencies and the community through the Local Recovery Coordination Group. Recovery arrangements need to be clear on authority, decision-making and how support agencies plug in, which is part of the broader emergency governance question every Local Government has to answer.
Emergency governance and decision assuranceReview your LEMA with Resolve
Establish where your arrangements stand and what needs to happen next.
Whether your arrangements are approaching their scheduled review, need to reflect organisational change or would benefit from an independent assessment, Resolve can undertake a complete LEMA review and redevelopment or provide targeted advice on individual components.
Talk to Resolve about your next Local Emergency Management Arrangements review.
Start the review conversation