The vulnerable people in emergencies policy: hiding vulnerable people in plain sight.

Abstract

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission (hereafter identified as the Commission) noted that a particular group of community members, known collectively as 'vulnerable people', were overrepresented in the mortality figures. One of the Commission's recommendations was the development and maintenance of a list of vulnerable persons living in the community. This paper examines the origins of the vulnerable resident list recommendation, the development of the public service policy designed to implement it.