What is the difference between an incident and an event?

An event is any observable occurrence in a system or process. An incident is an event that disrupts normal operations or poses a risk that requires a response. Not all events become incidents - only those that exceed defined thresholds or cause actual or potential harm. Good monitoring converts relevant events into incidents through defined trigger criteria.

What is a post-incident review?

A post-incident review (also called a retrospective or post-mortem) is a structured analysis conducted after an incident is resolved. It examines what happened, why it happened, what was done to resolve it, and what should be done to prevent recurrence. Best practice is to conduct these reviews without blame, focusing on systemic improvements rather than individual fault.

What regulatory notifications might be required after an incident?

Depending on the incident type: data breaches may require OAIC notification under the NDB scheme; workplace injuries may require notification to the WHS regulator; security incidents in critical infrastructure may require notification under the SOCI Act; financial services incidents may require reporting to APRA, ASIC, or AUSTRAC. Each has specific timeframes and requirements.

Book Free Assessment Calculator

Incident Management

Also known as:incident responseincident handlingevent management

The process of identifying, analysing, and responding to events that disrupt normal business operations or pose risks to the organisation, with the goal of restoring normal operations and preventing recurrence.

In-Depth Explanation

Incident management is the structured approach to handling unexpected events that affect business operations, safety, security, or compliance. It encompasses the full lifecycle from detection through resolution and post-incident review.

Incident management lifecycle:

Detection and reporting: Identifying that an incident has occurred and logging it
Triage and classification: Assessing severity, priority, and impact
Escalation: Notifying appropriate stakeholders based on severity
Investigation: Understanding what happened, how, and why
Containment: Taking immediate steps to limit the impact
Resolution: Implementing the fix or workaround
Recovery: Restoring normal operations
Post-incident review: Learning from the incident to prevent recurrence

Incident classification typically uses severity levels:

Critical (P1): Major business impact, system down, data breach, safety incident
High (P2): Significant impact on operations but workaround available
Medium (P3): Moderate impact with limited disruption
Low (P4): Minor issue with minimal business impact

Key incident management considerations:

Clear roles and responsibilities (incident commander, communications lead, technical lead)
Defined escalation paths and timeframes
Communication plans for internal and external stakeholders
Regulatory notification requirements (WHS, NDB, APRA, etc.)
Evidence preservation for investigation and potential litigation
Root cause analysis and corrective action tracking

Post-incident review (blameless retrospective):

Focus on systemic causes rather than individual blame
Document findings, lessons learned, and corrective actions
Track corrective action completion
Share learnings across the organisation

Business Context

Effective incident management minimises the impact of disruptions, ensures regulatory notification obligations are met, and drives continuous improvement in the organisation's resilience.

How Clever Ops Uses This

Clever Ops builds incident management systems for Australian businesses, including automated detection and alerting, incident classification workflows, escalation management, regulatory notification tracking, and post-incident review processes. We help clients respond faster and learn better from every incident.

Example Use Case

"A business implements an incident management platform where any employee can report an incident via mobile app, triggering automated classification, escalation, and investigation workflows based on the incident type and severity."