Australian National Audit Office seeks feedback on Business Continuity Management Better Practice Guide
ANAO is asking BCMs to complete a short 15 minutes survey by 3rd October 2008. Read article •Date: 5th Sept 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Thoughts on business continuity exercises Rob Davis provides some pointers for successful exercises. Read article •Date: 2nd Sept 2008• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC testing & ex.
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Continuity Forum Experienced User Specialist Interest Group meeting Tuesday 30 September 2008, Sydney.
Richard Taylor head of sales and marketing, BSI Management Systems (ANZ) and Peter Sierwald, MBCI and director Phoenix Continuity Services Pty Ltd will give an address on the topic of BC standards and guidelines. To register please email Rakhi at web@continuity.net.au •Date: 2nd Sept 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Events
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AlarmPoint Systems opens new Asia-Pacific office in Sydney Crisis communications provider AlarmPoint Systems has announced the opening of its Sydney, Australia office to meet the growing demand for AlarmPoint's Information Delivery platform in the Asia-Pacific region. The new office is located at: Level 9, 123 Epping Road, North Ryde, NSW 2113 Australia Office: +61 2 8875 7871, Fax: +61 2 8875 7814.www.alarmpoint.com •Date: 29th August 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: BC markets
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Operational risk management and business continuity How are operational risk management and business continuity connected? Leslie Whittet looks at some aspects of this question. Read article •Date: 19th August 2008• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: Operational risk
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Bushfire season warning issued by Queensland government Most active bushfire season in 15 years predicted. Read article •Date: 1st August 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Warnings
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Australia signs tsunami agreement with Indonesia Tsunami detection in the Indian Ocean will be boosted after the signing of an agreement between government agencies in Australia and Indonesia. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Indonesia's Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (Bagdan Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi or BPPT) have signed a formal agreement to begin a cooperative technical partnership in tsunami observation monitoring and assessment. More details (PDF) •Date: 31st July 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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Council of Australian Governments’ meeting The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) held its 22nd meeting early in July. COAG considered several issues in relation to Australia’s security and emergency management arrangements. Following a review of the National Emergency Protocol, COAG agreed to adopt Model Arrangements for Leadership during Emergencies of National Consequence to guide national efforts in coordinating the response to, and recovery from, emergencies of national consequence. These model arrangements will also guide work by the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management (MCPEM) in developing Australia’s governance arrangements for a catastrophic natural disaster. COAG also asked the MCPEM to propose a way forward for a nationally-consistent community emergency warning system, for consideration by COAG at its October 2008 meeting. •Date: 11th July 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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Queensland 24/7 disaster watch desk starts work The Queensland Government's new 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week disaster monitoring unit started operations on Monday, 7 July. Read article •Date: 9th July 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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Updating the plan update Tim Janes provides some thoughts on how to improve this process. Read article •Date: 7th July 2008• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Plan-b to open Hamilton business recovery centre New Zealand's latest recovery centre will be officially opened on 9th July by Plan-b. Read article •Date: 7th July 2008• Region: New Zealand •Type: Article •Topic: Recovery facilities
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New Zealand businesses and consumers urged to save power to prevent future black-outs An advertising campaign has been launched in New Zealand to encourage power consumers to take all available actions to reduce power consumption. This is necessary to reduce the risk of future rolling power outages. Low water levels are threatening the ability to produce power from hydro-electric sources. http://www.powersavers.co.nz/
•Date: 17th June 2008• Region: NZ •Type: Article •Topic: Power management
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Australian government statement on regional gas supply problems Disruption to gas supplies affecting businesses in Western Australia. Read article
•Date: 12th June 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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Queensland to buy temporary flood barriers The Queensland government is buying one kilometre of temporary flood barriers following success protecting the south-west Queensland town of Charleville with a borrowed barrier during flooding this year. Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the government’s disaster management experts were impressed how the barrier plugged two unfinished sections of the Charleville levee when the Warrego River peaked in January. •Date: 3rd June 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: Emergency planning
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Government and business group meets to discuss Australian business resilience The fifth Business-Government Advisory Group on National Security meeting was held in Canberra this week. Read article
•Date: 22nd May 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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‘Taking a punch: Building a more resilient Australia’ Australian Strategic Policy Institute report recommends a number of measures to build a more resilient Australia. Read article
•Date: 15th May 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
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Nominations open for the 2nd Asia Business Continuity Awards The closing date for entries is 15th July 2008. Read article
•Date: 15th May 2008• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Queensland Government upgrading disaster monitoring Permanent 24/7 disaster watch to be introduced. Read article
•Date: 22nd April 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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Australian Privacy Commissioner seeks views on data breach notification guide Guide aims not only to assist agencies and organisations to minimise the possibility of a breach occurring, but also to prepare for and respond effectively to any breaches if and when they do occur. Read article
•Date: 16th April 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: ISM
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Business continuity budgets holding up The results of Continuity Central’s recent survey. Read article
•Date: 11th April 2008• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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Australia-New Zealand Business Continuity Awareness Week 2008 Continuity Forum is partnering with KPMG in Australia and AMP in NZ to run a series of events linked to the regional Business Continuity Awareness Week 2008, which is taking place between 28 April - 2 May 2008. Read article •Date: 11th April 2008• Region: Australia/NZ •Type: Article •Topic: Events
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New Zealand government publishes revised national strategy for emergency management Country fails to plan for major accidents at installations where hazardous substances are present. Read article
•Date: 8th April 2008• Region: New Zealand •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency plan.
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A business continuity management primer Helmut Mair offers advice to those faced with developing their first business continuity plan. Read article
•Date: 4th April 2008• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC plan dev.
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The design, management and evaluation of exercises and tests John Salter of Emergency Preparedness Capacity Builders has provided a PDF resource which addresses the above subject. Read article
•Date: 20th March 2008• Region Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: Testing
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Virtualized managed fail-over disaster recovery environment available for Australian businesses Launched by Macquarie Telecom. Read article
•Date: 7th March 2008• Region:Australia •Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
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Recovery support for flood-affected Queensland businesses Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle said the Queensland Government would provide a business support program to aid businesses in Emerald and Charleville with flood recovery. Ms Boyle said the new business support program aimed to help eligible small businesses manage the impacts of flooding on their business operations, plan recovery activities and become more resilient for the future. For more information or to apply, contact the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry on 4938 4979. Applications close Thursday 12 March 2008. •Date: 7th March 2008• Region:Australia •Type: Briefing
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Queensland government meets with insurers to discuss flood recovery The Queensland State Government's Flood Recovery Taskforce has met with insurance company chiefs to discuss issues surrounding the recovery effort in Central Queensland. Read article
•Date: 6th March 2008• Region:Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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Outcomes from National Organisational Resilience Workshop During December 2007 a national workshop was held at Mt. Macedon Victoria, Australia, to explore the concept of organisational resilience. A report had now been published which summarises the workshop’s findings. Read article
•Date: 22nd February 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Iron Mountain delivers PC and server data protection solutions to Australia Iron Mountain has announced that its Connected Backup for PC and LiveVault server backup solutions are now available directly to Australian businesses and partners via a locally-operated data centre in Sydney, Australia. http://www.ironmtn.com.au •Date: 22nd February 2008• Region:Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: IT continuity
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Flood assistance extended for 80 Queensland local government areas The Queensland Government has activated assistance for a further four local government areas in central Queensland, taking the total number of shires where flood support has been triggered this year to 80 shires. Read article
•Date: 20th February 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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Business Continuity Journal Volume Two, Issue Four now available Continuity Central’s quarterly peer-reviewed advanced level publication. Read article
•Date: 31st January 2008• Region:World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Indian Ocean tsunami: future impacts The 2004 catastrophe was far from the worst possible in many Indian Ocean borderlands and warning systems are still lagging: researchers. Read article
•Date: 29th January 2008• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
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Flood assistance extended to almost half of Queensland The Queensland Government has activated disaster assistance for a further six local government areas, now making relief available to almost half of the State. Acting Emergency Services Minister Andrew Fraser said activating the joint State-Commonwealth funded Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements to Cook, Croydon, Etheridge, Flinders, McKinlay and Richmond Shires meant assistance was now available for 40 shires. Mr Fraser said the latest extension of disaster assistance followed damage assessments to public infrastructure as a result OF heavy rain and associated flooding from the monsoonal low. •Date: 18th January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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Business continuity events in Australia A roundup of Continuity Forum workshops and conferences taking place in February and March 2008. Read article
•Date: 17th January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Events
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Further assistance announced for flood-affected areas of Queensland Queensland Treasurer and Acting Emergency Services Minister Andrew Fraser has activated financial assistance for 11 local government areas in the Whitsunday region and Queensland's northern areas affected by flooding. Mr Fraser said assistance is now available through the joint State-Commonwealth Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) for the 11 local government areas of Bowen and Whitsunday as well as Burdekin, Cairns, Cardwell, Eacham, Atherton, Johnstone, Townsville, Thuringowa and Mareeba. This announcement followed an earlier one, which stated that NDRRA had been activated for the local government areas of Aramac, Diamantina, Ilfracombe, Jericho, Winton, Barcaldine, Flinders, Isisford and Longreach as a result of severe storms and associated flooding from 22 to 30 December. Assistance for the west follows declarations for several flood-affected areas including the Gold Coast, Logan, Beaudesert and Boonah, Clifton, Stanthorpe and Warwick on the Darling Downs, Cooloola in the Sunshine Coast area and northern areas including Cairns, Johnstone, Cardwell, Mareeba, Atherton and Eacham. •Date: 11th January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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Flood assistance rolls-out across Queensland Community recovery outreach teams are working in Queensland’s flood-affected regions. Communities Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said assistance was stepped up again yesterday as flood waters continued to recede and clean-up efforts hit full swing. However, the Bureau of Meteorology continues to forecast rain and thunderstorms across the State and emergency and recovery teams remain on alert. Disaster Relief Hotline: 1800 440 074. •Date: 11th January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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New Zealand Stock Exchange installs new continuous availability system New Zealand Exchange Limited (NZX) has announced that has replaced the blade servers that had been driving its equities trading engine with fault-tolerant Stratus servers. Read the press release (PDF) •Date: 10th January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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South East Queensland: contingency plans in place if worst drought on record worsens The Queensland State Government will spend $125 million on early works to ensure South East Queensland’s water supply even if all-time record low rainfalls continue, Acting Premier Paul Lucas said. Mr Lucas said preliminary works including site selection, surveying, water modelling, environmental studies and geotechnical works would begin shortly on two mobile desalination plants and further expansions to South East Queensland Water Grid projects. “By starting work straight away, up to an extra 144 megalitres (ML) a day in contingency supplies can be added to the region by the end of next year,” Mr Lucas said. •Date: 8th January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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Dates announced for Australian Business Continuity Awareness Week Will take place from Monday 28th April to Friday 2nd May 2008. Read article
•Date: 3rd January 2008• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Events
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Business continuity in 2008 What changes and challenges does the new year hold for the business continuity profession? David Honour speculates. Read article
•Date: 3rd January 2008• Region: World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Drought report confirms that Queensland electricity supply is secure “We have contingency plans to deal with whatever nature throws at our electricity network,” says Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson. Read article
•Date: 14th Dec 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Power management
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Business continuity in Australia An overview of the results of a comprehensive benchmarking survey conducted by Continuity Forum Pty Ltd. Read article
•Date: 7th December 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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APRA releases Basel II prudential standards The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the suite of prudential standards that will give effect to the implementation of the Basel II Framework, in Australia. The Basel II prudential standards have been finalised after extensive industry consultation, dating back to 2005. This consultation process has aimed at ensuring that the adoption of the Basel II Framework in Australia maintains the integrity of APRA’s prudential framework, is appropriately tailored to reflect local circumstances and takes into account practical implementation issues. The standards are accompanied by a response paper that addresses issues raised by industry on the final drafts of these standards. The Basel II prudential standards will come into force on 1 January 2008. The standards and response paper are available on APRA's website at www.apra.gov.au/ADI/Basel-II-implementation-in-Australia.cfm •Date: 7th December 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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How to build the perfect business continuity management soufflé... Chris Bakowski offers a recipe for business continuity success. Read article
•Date: 28th Nov 2007• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: Plan dev.
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ISO publishes international benchmark for incident preparedness and operational continuity management Publicly Available Specification ISO/PAS 22399:2007. Read article
•Date: 27th Nov 2007• Region:Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Asia Business Continuity Awards: full results The first-ever Asia Business Continuity Awards were presented last week at the Seventh Annual Business Continuity Management Conference in Singapore. Read article
•Date: 6th Nov 2007• Region:Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC markets
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Survey looks at business continuity priorities of Australian CIOs Data communications moving up the criticality scale. Read article
•Date: 26th October 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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Personnel insurances related to business continuity planning John Sloan continues his series of articles looking at insurance policies which can support business continuity. Read article
•Date: 16th October 2007• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Australian government says that Critical Infrastructure Protection Modelling and Analysis (CIPMA) software is ready for use Claimed to be the World’s leading computer program to protect critical infrastructure. Read article
•Date: 5th October 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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The features of good planning In this article John Salter explores the factors that influence good contingency planning and provides a framework to follow to develop an effective ‘emergency risk management framework'. Read article
•Date: 28th Sept 2007• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC planning
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Pacific Ocean countries take part in UN meeting on tsunami preparations Four-day meeting of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System will hear reports from participating nations about what they are doing to be ready for a potential tsunami. Read article
•Date: 20th Sept 2007• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
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Australia's Kingston City Council chooses DataCore for new virtual storage infrastructure and disaster recovery DataCore Software has announced that Kingston City Council, a municipality of Melbourne, has selected DataCore's virtual SAN solution. The solution, proposed and implemented by DataCore solutions partner, Lincom Solutions, gives the Kingston City Council a robust virtual storage infrastructure providing high availability data protection and offsite disaster recovery that fully complements its existing storage systems and integrates seamlessly into their VMware virtual server environment. www.datacore.com •Date: 20th Sept 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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What about the program? Many organisations have become trapped in a loop comprising just two steps – developing BCPs and exercising BCPs. Far more is required, says Leslie Whittet. Read article
•Date: 14th Sept 2007• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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APRA releases its proposed approach to the supervisory review process under Basel II The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released a discussion paper on its proposed approach to the supervisory review process under the new Basel II Framework. The Basel II Framework will come into force in Australia on 1 January 2008.Comments on the discussion paper are invited by 26 October 2007. Read the document •Date: 14th Sept 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing
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COOP Systems adds new capabilities to myCOOP business continuity management software Includes a premium Software as a Service hosting option, with 99.9 percent SLAs, IP-filtering, forms-based authentication, and a dedicated SQL instance. Read article
•Date: 13th Sept 2007• Region: US/Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC software
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Tsunami warnings issued for Indian Ocean Countries bordering the Indian Ocean have been advised to take immediate steps to evacuate coastal areas. Read article
•Date: 12th Sept 2007• Region: Various•Type: Article •Topic: Warnings
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Hitachi launches new Australia and New Zealand division Hitachi Data Systems has formed a Business Consulting Practice for Australia and New Zealand. It will focus on data lifecycle management; storage economics; service management; consolidation and virtualisation, and business continuity and risk. Read the IT News story •Date: 4th Sept 2007• Region: NZ/Aus•Type: Briefing •Topic: BC markets
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Auckland loses telecoms A wide-area telecoms outage affected businesses in Auckland last week, after a fault at two Telecom exchanges brought communications to a halt for more than two hours. Read the NZ Herald story. •Date: 4th Sept 2007• Region: NZ/Aus•Type: Briefing
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Business interruption insurance and its relation to business continuity planning John Sloan continues his series explaining various aspects of insurance and the ways in which it can support business continuity. Read article
•Date: 24th August 2007• Region: NZ/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Business continuity standards An overview of the results of a worldwide survey. Read article
•Date: 10th August 2007• Region: Aus/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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Queensland government signs emergency warning agreement with ABC A new agreement between the Queensland Government and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will deliver early public warnings about significant emergencies affecting Queenslanders. Under this agreement, senior officers within the Queensland Government will be able to contact the ABC, via a dedicated number, to activate immediate emergency broadcasts. Full 24-hour response arrangements are in place and in the majority of cases emergency information to the public will be live within 15 minutes. •Date: 10th August 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: Crisis comms
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Asia Business Continuity Awards 2007 Award ceremony: 30 October 2007, Meritus Mandarin Hotel, Singapore. Read article
•Date: 9th August 2007• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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WHISPIR launches in New Zealand Whispir provides an ‘intelligent messaging platform’ that structures, automates and logs the delivery of voice, e-mail, web, mobile data and SMS message. Read article •Date: 9th August 2007• Region: New Zealand •Type: Article •Topic: BC markets
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Springfield, Australia, to get two new disaster recovery centres Two competing facilities to open. Read article •Date: 7th August 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Recovery facilities
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Property insurance as it relates to business continuity planning The first article in a series, by John Sloan. Read article •Date: 19th July 2007• Region: NZ/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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New Zealand Defence Force joins the battle against Far North floods The New Zealand Defence Force has dispatched four Unimog trucks and a P-3K Orion aircraft to assist with civil defence efforts at the top of the North Island.
Regular and territorial force personnel have been put on standby and a Seasprite helicopter and Iroquois helicopter are also on standby to assist with reconnaissance and damage assessment efforts. The Unimog trucks will carry supplies and assist by transporting stranded people out of areas unreachable by other vehicles. The P-3K Orion is currently flying over the area to survey damage and relay information back to rescue teams on the ground. The Far North was hit with a month’s worth of rain in less than 12 hours leaving many homes flooded or without power. Civil defence efforts are being co-ordinated by the National Crisis Management Centre in Wellington. •Date: 11th July 2007• Region: New Zealand •Type: Briefing
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Business Continuity Institute takes the examination route Launches certificate exam and e-learning training courses. Read article •Date: 11th July 2007• Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Sydney prepares for an APEC experience This article by Tim Janes considers the business continuity issues created by September’s APEC Leader’s Week in Sydney, Australia: including possible business continuity impacts, responses and potential opportunities. Read article •Date: 22nd June 2007• Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Report published on Cumpston 06 Findings available from last year’s Australian national pandemic influenza exercise. Read article •Date: 14th June 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Pandemic planning
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Basel II updates
- APRA releases revised Basel II advanced approaches
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has released a paper that sets out its responses to submissions on its proposals to implement the advanced approaches under the new Basel II capital adequacy regime http://www.apra.gov.au/ADI/Basel-II-implementation-in-Australia.cfm.
- Recent initiatives by the Basel-based committees and groups
BIS Quarterly Review, part 8, June 2007 http://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt0706j.pdf •Date: 14th June 2007 • Region: World/Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: Op risk
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New South Wales picks up the pieces after storms and flooding Extensive property damage and a significant number of fatalities occurred. Read article •Date: 12th June 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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Queensland to get new Chemical Incident Environmental Advisory Service Will help agencies to minimise the risk to property, health and the environment from any major chemical incidents. Read article •Date: 7th June 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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APRA releases Basel II market disclosure proposals The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released a discussion paper and draft prudential standard setting out its proposed approach to market disclosure under the new Basel II capital adequacy regime. The approach applies to all locally incorporated authorised deposit-taking institutions in Australia.
The proposals aim to enhance transparency and market discipline in Australian financial markets through high quality and timely market disclosure on the risk management practices and capital adequacy of ADIs. Both the discussion paper and the draft prudential standard are available on APRA's web site at http://www.apra.gov.au/ADI/Basel-II-implementation-in-Australia.cfm
•Date: 7th June 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: Operational risk
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Customers ditch Orcon after data centre fails Customers say they will vote with their feet and pull out of Orcon’s data centre on Auckland’s North Shore following a major outage. Andrew Thompson, of Auckland-based software developer TVD, says his company has had enough after the outage. Slamming the redundancy arrangements as ‘pathetic’ and questioning why there is only a single power feed to the Northcote data centre, Thompson says his company lost tens of thousands of dollars as a result of the failure. Read the story. •Date: 31st May 2007• Region: New Zealand •Type: Briefing •Topic: IT continuity
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New Zealand to get tsunami phone alert system Auckland's North Shore residents will soon have access to a phone-based tsunami alert system. 15,000 homes and businesses will be invited to join the scheme. Read the story. •Date: 24th May 2007• Region: New Zealand •Type: Briefing •Topic: Crisis comms
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An ABC of message maps Message maps support effective communication in a crisis but narrow and rigid message mapping can be a trap in a crisis. John Salter provides guidance on this issue... Read article •Date: 18th May 2007• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis comms
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BCI Australia becomes ‘The Business Continuity Institute Incorporated’ Incorporation as a legal Australian association ‘is a huge step forward for the BCI’s operations in Australia’. Read article •Date: 9th May 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC markets
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New Zealand companies failing to appreciate the importance of reputation risk According to a survey by Senate Communication Counsel and TNS Global. Read article •Date: 9th May 2007 • Region: New Zealand •Type: Article •Topic: Crisis comms
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Reserve Bank of Australia to get new business continuity solution IPC has announced that it has entered into a partnership with the Reserve Bank of Australia to provide a fully resilient communications infrastructure for a second trading floor that will provide business continuity for the financial markets group. Read article •Date: 4th May 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Financial sector
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New Zealand government consults on power resilience
A proposed National Policy Statement on Electricity Transmission has been agreed by the New Zealand government for public notification by a Board of Inquiry. Read article •Date: 3rd May 2007 • Region: New Zealand •Type: Article •Topic: Power management
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Australian drought contingency statement
Joint Statement by the Prime Minister and the Premiers of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Read article •Date: 24th April 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency plan
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New Zealand government departments to increase business continuity spending
According to Statistics New Zealand. Read article •Date: 24th April 2007 • Region: NZ •Type: Article •Topic: BC markets
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North America, South America and Australia Business Continuity Awareness Week
Taking place between May 6-12, 2007. Read article •Date: 20th April 2007 • Region: Various •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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Brisbane gets new CBD emergency plan
‘Brisbane Secure’, will help emergency services and state and local government officials give the community the best possible protection and advice in the event of an accident, threat or terrorist attack in the CBD. Read article •Date: 19th April 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Emergency planning
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Council of Australian Governments meeting report
Critical infrastructure, human Influenza pandemic prevention and preparedness, and counter-terrorism on the agenda. Read article •Date: 17th April 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Terrorism
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New Zealand Government establishes flood helpline
A New Zealand Government 0800 flood helpline has been set up to provide information on government services for people and businesses affected by the Northland floods. The Ministry of Social Development is coordinating the helpline (0800 779 9970). The 0800 information line will operate daily between 7am and 8pm during the week and 8am to 5pm in the weekend. "Government agencies are working closely together and are closely monitoring the issues raised by flood-affected people," said a government spokesperson. "The initial focus will be on ensuring peoples’ immediate needs are being met. A great deal of infrastructure in the flood-affected area has been damaged. This has impacted on the lives of hundreds of New Zealanders. As we assess the extent of the damage caused by the flooding, government services will evolve further.” More details on the flooding •Date: 20th March 2007 • Region: New Zealand •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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COOP Systems announces distribution agreement with IBM Australia COOP Systems has announced that IBM Australia has agreed to resell, host, and support the myCOOP Business Continuity Management software package for IBM clients. myCOOP will be available from IBM A/NZ Global Technology Services and represents the latest step in IBM’s strategy to deliver comprehensive scalable solutions. “We are delighted by the decision. IBM has an unmatched ability to support organizations’ BCM needs globally with extensive infrastructure and professional services,” said Chris Alvord, CEO of COOP Systems. “Australia and New Zealand are fundamental to COOP Systems’ worldwide corporate strategy. Our Melbourne office, managed by Paul Farley, our Asia Pacific Program Manager, is evidence of our commitment to the region.” http://www.coop-systems.com •Date: 20th March 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: BC markets
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Pandemic planning – a win for everyone Pandemic planning has more general benefits, says Leslie Whittet. Read article •Date: 16th March 2007• Region: Australia/World •Type: Article •Topic: Pandemic plan.
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NOAA and Australian Bureau of Meteorology agree tsunami early warning partnership NOAA and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology have officially signed an agreement to promote cooperative technical partnerships in tsunami early warning systems. As part of this effort, NOAA and the Bureau expect to launch a new Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy station in April to further strengthen the Indian Ocean region’s capacity for tsunami warning. Read the NOAA press release. •Date: 27th Feb 2007 • Region: Aust / US •Type: Briefing •Topic: Emergency planning
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Business Continuity Institute publishes Good Practice Guidelines 2007 New addition of free business continuity guidance now available. Read article •Date: 15th Feb 2007 • Region: UK/World •Type: Article •Topic: BC plan development
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Limitations in Australia and New Zealand data centres restricting mission critical market Demand may outstrip supply: report. Read article •Date: 9th Feb 2007 • Region: Australasia •Type: Article •Topic: BC markets
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Financial support for bushfire victims Fire victims in Victoria’s south-west are now eligible for extra financial assistance to help meet immediate recovery costs following a joint decision between Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Premier Steve Bracks.
The Community Recovery Fund supports a one-off Clean-up and Restoration Grant of up to $15,000 for primary producers, small business and charities to assist with clean-up and recovery not covered by insurance arrangements. For more details visit www.dhs.vic.gov.au/emergency or phone the Victorian Bushfire Hotline on 1800 240 667.
Queensland government issues warning about cyclone threat Quiet start to the season, but increased cyclone risk from February through to April. Read article •Date: 2nd Feb 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Warnings
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EnergyAustralia suffers back-up catastrophe
ZDNet Australia has reported that EnergyAustralia is ‘scrambling to restore business critical data "lost" as a result of back-up failures that went undetected for several months.’ The fault was only discovered when a problem with a server caused data loss at a number of EnergyAustralia offices, including its Sydney headquarters. In a recent internal e-mail to employees, Don Anderson, EnergyAustralia executive general manager for shared services, said: "The back-ups were affected by an underlying, undetected software problem that had been damaging the back-ups for a number of months." Read the story •Date: 24th January 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: IT continuity
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Widespread power outages in Victoria Many parts of Melbourne, Geelong and eastern Victoria without power following bushfire damage. Read article •Date: 16th January 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Article •Topic: Power man.
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Regional tsunami warning system opened in Canberra Safeguarding Australia has reported that the Geoscience Australia ‘operations hub’ of the Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (ATWC) has been opened in Canberra. This will detect earthquakes in the region and determine whether they are likely to cause a tsunami by examining the magnitude, location, depth and other seismic characteristics. The Bureau of Meteorology will collect tide gauge data, and the two agencies would work together to determine whether a tsunami warning should be issued. •Date: 12th January 2007 • Region: Australia •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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New Zealand emergency warning system under fire According to the New Zealand Herald, the reliability of the country's civil defence emergency warning system is under question as the upgrade of a key part of it has been relegated to the backburner. Read the story •Date: 12th January 2007 • Region: New Zealand •Type: Briefing •Topic: DR general
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