• Section 1 - Purpose and Scope
• Context
• Purpose & Scope
• Objectives
• Section 2 - Process and Key Controls
• Incident Management Process
• Enterprise Incident Response Structure
• Initial Incident Assessment and Response
• Section 3 - Key Requirements
• Teams
• Plans
• Response Priorities
• Section 4 - Roles, Responsibilities and Accountabilities
• Section 5 - Monitoring, Review and Assurance
• Enterprise Risk 
• Section 6 - Recording and Reporting
• Section 7 - Appendix
• University Incident Management Team (UIMT)
• Crisis Management Team (CMT)

Section 1 - Purpose and Scope

Context

(1) UQ’s operations are dependent on and influenced by many aspects of the university, such as:

1. A wide and very large scope of activities and services related to both teaching and research.
2. Multiple campuses.
3. Off campus activities and services both in Australia and abroad.
4. Large number of buildings, facilities, research equipment and other infrastructure.
5. Involvement of many people – staff, students, visitors and wider community.

(2) Given this large scope of influences and dependencies impacting the university’s daily operations, business interruptions are likely to occur from time to time. Disruptive incidents often result in a localised operational disruption only, but sometimes can cause a critical incident when multiple areas are negatively impacted requiring a coordinated response, or in very rare circumstances result in a crisis where a strategic executive response is required.

Purpose & Scope

(3) The purpose of this Procedure is to ensure that the university builds adequate resilience and requisite capabilities to anticipate, prepare, respond, rapidly recover and minimise adverse impact from disruptive incidents, including hard to predict disruptions. It takes into consideration potential impacts of a disruptive incident to people, assets, the local community, the environment and UQ’s reputation.

(4) This Procedure applies to actual or potentially imminent adverse incidents and events impacting on UQ, including its controlled entities.

Objectives

(5) Anticipate threats to UQ’s strategic objectives.

(6) Develop capabilities to prevent, prepare for, promptly respond to and rapidly recover from events that disrupt and threaten UQ.

(7) Empower and develop the capabilities of individual leaders to manage disruption events and threats.

(8) Integrate all levels of incident, risk and disruption management to create a consistent and enterprise wide approach. 

(9) Build on and support existing organisational knowledge, skills and systems to ensure practical adoption of business resilience and critical incident management principles and capabilities.

Section 2 - Process and Key Controls

Incident Management Process

(10) UQ has adopted the PPRR (Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery) comprehensive approach as the process for managing all phases before, during and after disruptive incidents.

(11) The approach is continuous and all managers must understand and perform their roles and responsibilities related to all four phases of the process.

(12) Please see the attached PPRR diagram for details.

Enterprise Incident Response Structure

(13) UQ has a tiered enterprise incident response structure to ensure an integrated, scalable, enterprise wide and consistent response to disruptive incidents. The structure applies to all university operations and activities.

(14) An incident response can initially be activated from all levels within the response structure (refer to clause 16 diagram below). Once activated, the response structure operates hierarchically.

(15) Managers should understand:

1. Their individual roles and responsibilities within the structure;
2. Teams, plans and procedures to be activated at each level; and
3. Their responsibility to report and/or escalate incidents to the next level above.

Diagram – Enterprise Incident Response Structure

(16) Please see attached diagram. 

Initial Incident Assessment and Response

(17) Incident assessment is a key component of incident management and ensures the appropriate level of response is activated.

(18) Incident assessment must occur prior to activating a response at any level within the incident response structure.

(19) Incident assessment at UQ is based on a combination of 10 key trigger incidents and critical consequences defined by the UQ Enterprise Risk Matrix.

(20) The Initial Crisis Response Tool for Management guides managers through:

1. Assessment of trigger incidents;
2. Assessment of actual or potentially imminent consequences;
3. Required notifications and escalation of incident; and
4. Required activation of teams, plans and processes.

Section 3 - Key Requirements

(21) Disruptive incidents push activities from business as usual into the incident management process. This process is driven through three key requirements:

1. Formation of teams;
2. Implementation of plans; and
3. Adherence to response priorities.

Teams

Level 1 - Local Response Teams (LRT)

(22) Responsible for immediate response to incidents to protect people, assets, infrastructure, operations and/or services.

(23) Local response managers are responsible for the direction of their staff and resources.

(24) Utilise emergency response plans, incident response plans, business continuity plans and standard operating procedures to respond.

(25) Report up to relevant senior manager and the University Incident Management Team (if activated).

Level 2 – University Incident Management Team (UIMT)

(26) Responsible for senior management control and coordination over multiple UQ functions and ensures an adequate enterprise wide response to incidents.

(27) Operates under the requirements of the University Incident Management Plan (UIMP).

(28) Reports up to the Crisis Management Team (if activated) and coordinates down through the LRTs.

(29) Team composition is scalable and flexible and determined by the incident response assessment.

(30) See section 7 Appendix for UIMT basic composition.

Level 3 – Crisis Management Team (CMT)

(31) Responsible for providing executive leadership in response to abnormal and unstable situations that threaten UQ’s strategic objectives, reputation or viability.

(32) Sets the strategic objectives of the response and recovery.

(33) Communicates with the Senate and is focussed on the medium to long term impacts.

(34) Directs down through the UIMT.

(35) Operates under the requirements of the Crisis Management Plan (CMP).

(36) Team composition is scalable and flexible and determined by the incident response assessment.

(37) See section 7 Appendix for CMT basic composition.

Plans

(38) Plans detail and structure response and recovery actions and tasks. They exist at all levels of the incident response structure and are developed, practised and tested during the preparedness phase.

Plan Hierarchy

(39) Please see attached diagram. 

Plans within the Incident Management Process are:

(40) Managers should have an understanding of the plans which they are responsible for and where they fit within the response structure.

Response Priorities

(41) During the response to an incident, individuals and teams can quickly become overwhelmed by a complex and dynamic situation. A key principle to overcome these circumstances is to prioritise and execute actions and tasks in order of importance. This ensures an appropriate, methodical and consistent response that creates time and space for managers. UQ has predefined the response priorities which will need to be followed by all managers and teams when responding to all incidents.

Section 4 - Roles, Responsibilities and Accountabilities