The Victorian Government is seeking responses to a discussion paper on how to improve the state’s emergency response to disasters.

The Green Paper “Towards a more disaster-resilient and safer Victoria” starts a two-month consultation on how the state’s emergency services should operate in a crisis.

It covers how to strengthen disaster management control while allowing emergency services the flexibility to respond to different situations and how to help communities prepare for and recover from events.

The paper says Victoria needs to improve service delivery, build community resilience, achieve a genuine “all hazards, all agencies” approach and achieve enduring and sustainable change.

The review of emergency management follows this summer’s floods and the report of the royal commission into the 2009 bushfires.

The interim report into the floods found the State Emergency Service was overwhelmed by the size and prolonged nature of the flooding and the emergency services agencies operated in a “silo” structure, with each focused on its legislated obligations to address specific hazards.

The report by former police commissioner Neil Comrie says immediate action is required to reconstruct legislation, policy, procedures and structures so emergency agencies can respond to all hazards.

Submissions to the Department of Premier and Cabinet close on November 14.