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DISASTER &
EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
anzdmc.com.au
Australian & New Zealand Disaster and
Emergency Management Conference
3 – 5 May 2015 I Jupiters Gold Coast
In association with
Dr Nicole Aimers
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology
Co-authors: Dr Clementine Thurgood, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Design Innovation Research Centre,
University of Technology, Sydney
Disaster warnings and public resistance: Why the effect of repeated exposure needs to be examined
within the emergency management sector.
Effective community messaging is a challenging and ongoing area of investigation within the emergency
management sector. In an attempt to evoke compliance, the public are repeatedly exposed to warnings
which convey risk information. However, these warnings are often ignored, creating an urgent need to
identify the reasons behind this public resistance. One such reason that requires further investigation is that
of message wear-out or message fatigue. In fact, in an article by Vermeulen (2014), a recommendation was
made to emergency professionals to not over-warn through repeatedly alerting the public about a single
event. However, this poses the question: How many times should the public be exposed to warnings before
their effectiveness begins to wane? This question could be addressed by exploring the mere exposure effect
to the disaster warnings.
The mere exposure effect has been documented as a robust a reliable phenomenon (Bornstein, 1989) and
refers to the observation that repeated, unreinforced exposure to a stimulus increases affective evaluations
of that stimulus (Zajonc, 1968). Put simply, the more familiar a person is with a given stimulus, the more they
are reported to like it. The need to investigate the mere exposure effect to disaster warnings was highlighted
by a recent study conducted by Aimers (2014). Within this study, cigarette health warnings were used and it
was identified that participant liking ratings began to significantly increase after their initial exposure.
Likewise, the health warnings also became significantly less unpleasant and arousing following only 2
exposures. Hence, given that both health and disaster warnings are designed to be attention grabbing and
provide directive instruction to change behaviour, the findings of Aimers (2014) suggest that the intended
behaviours are not always elicited as a result of repeated exposure. Therefore, emergency professionals
need to be aware of the possibility that disaster warnings are also susceptible to the effect of repeated
exposure (i.e., the mere exposure effect). As a consequence, consideration of ideal message-rotation
frequencies to retain message efficacy would be needed.
Mr Mark Babister
Managing Director, WMA WATER
Co-authors: Miss Monique Retallick, Associate, WMA WATER
Mrs Melanie Loveridge, Engineer, WMA WATER
Miss Isabelle Testoni, Engineer WMA WATER
Use of a Monte Carlo framework for Emergency Management
The Hawkesbury Nepean River is one of the largest in Australia and passes through some of the most
populated suburbs of Sydney. Within the catchment there are a large number of flood prone properties and
lives at risk from flooding.
Design flood estimation in Australia is moving from a single design event to a Monte Carlo approach where
1000's of events are modelled. The use of a Monte Carlo framework with thousands of events which
represent observed behaviour in temporal and spatial patterns of rainfall, antecedent conditions, and
variations in tributary timing provides a unique opportunity for emergency managers to investigate the
variability in events and to improve pre flood event planning.
A Monte Carlo framework has been developed of the Hawkesbury Nepean valley which allows the
equivalent of a 200,000 year flood record to be analysed rather than the standard handful design events.
The following information was extracted and analysed from the model results to inform emergency
management planning:
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Time of inundation of key infrastructure
Time to reach a trigger height
Change in number of times a trigger height is reached
Rate of rise
Rate of recession
Ms Melanie Baker-Jones
PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology
Litigation Mitigation: A legal risk assessment of social media usage in Emergencies
This ongoing program of research examines the legal risks associated with the utilization of social media in
an emergency from an agency perspective. A variety of channels are available for conveying information to
citizens during an emergency. The utilization of new channels can bring about new risks which require
mitigation. The objective of this research is to undertake rigorous assessment of the legal risks associated
with social media, specifically in tort law and where intolerable levels of risk arise, identify best practice
protocols to treat them.
Background
In Australia, emergency services are engaging with social media platforms to varying degrees, with disparate
levels of expertise. For those agencies yet to engage, the pressure to do so is growing, yet concerns about
the potential liability of users still exist. Generic guidelines on government use of Web 2.0 vary in depth of
coverage although generally provide only a broad outline of the nature of the legal risks. This suggests a gap
exists.
Methods
The research adopts both a theoretical and doctrinal approach which incorporates general theory as well as
an analysis of current AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 risk management standards, legislation and case law against
the background of current practices. The theory provides the framework for the examination of legal risk
based on hypothetical case studies of real world models.
Conclusion
The research aims to provide an in-depth assessment of legal risks associated with Web 2.0 in the context of
Emergency Management in order to ascertain whether and to what extent new risks arise. The research is
valuable as by confirming existence of risk, it allows for the development of best practice protocols within
the context of a legal framework, which could be followed in order to alleviate concerns of liability and
enable maximization of an effective tool for emergency management.
Ms Shuron Billman
Psychologist, Charles Sturt University
Exploring the Psychological Sequelae of Pet and Livestock Loss following a Natural Disaster: 18 months
after the 2013 Queensland Floods
The loss of companion animals or livestock (via death or displacement) is an understudied, but increasingly
recognised impact of natural disasters. A series of tornadoes and flash flooding which struck the Wide bay
and North Burnett regions of Queensland on Australia day weekend 2013 was such a disaster.
This study examined the psychological effects of companion animal and livestock loss on the urban and rural
residents who lived in affected areas. Data collection is underway until March 2015 (n currently = 136).
Participants completed online and hardcopy questionnaires assessing demography, forced abandonment
and evacuation issues, pet and/or livestock loss and post disaster symptoms of depression, anxiety, global
psychological distress, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and drug and/or alcohol consumption using
previously validated scales. Measures were examined, controlling for displacement from homes and
properties. Quantitative and qualitative results will be available April 2015.
Dr Deanne Bird
Research Fellow, Risk Frontiers
Co-author: Dr Rob van den Honert, Co-Director, Risk Frontiers
Defining and measuring community resilience: can it be done?
The Australian Government’s National Strategy for Disaster Resilience sets out clear goals regarding
community resilience. However, there is a lack of guidance on what is meant by resilience and how it can
and should be measured. To address these issues, Risk Frontiers is building on recent research into the field
to develop a model for measuring community resilience, based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)
approaches. Input has been sought from academic experts, government officials and policy makers.
Importantly, the model will be able to quantitatively measure the change in community resilience across
time, or due to some intervention (say an education program). Essentially, the project aims to build a
measurement tool that incorporates easily accessed and/or collected data, while avoiding user fatigue.
Within this scope, we have identified the constituent elements defining resilience and garnered expert
advice to jointly determine the relative importance weights of each of these elements. From here, the model
will be tested in a community in which there has been no intervention, and at least one in which a program
of resilience building has been undertaken. In this paper, we will present the process undertaken to build the
community resilience model and discuss the outcomes of field-testing.
Mr Wayne Buckman
Senior Advisor, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Co-author: Ms Amy Rogers, Bushfire RRATs Coordinator, Department of Environment, Land, Water and
Planning
How a rapid risk assessment can change your recovery world - a practical example from the Adelaide Hills
Sampson Flat bushfire
As part of the interstate support to South Australia for the Adelaide Hills bushfires in January 2015, Victoria
deployed a Bushfire Rapid Risk Assessment Team (RRAT). The Bushfire RRATs program has been developed
based on the US BAER (Burnt Area Assessment Teams) deployments to Victoria to assist with the 2009 Black
Saturday Bushfires.
The Bushfire RRATs are a multi-disciplinary team that conduct rapid risk assessments following a bushfire (or
other emergency) event. These risk assessments are conducted to assist the land and emergency managers
in identifying and minimising the post-event impacts on communities, public land and adjacent private land,
with the goal of reducing further threat to life and property, infrastructure and the environment. The risks
assessed can include: flooding or land slips that damage infrastructure assets; biodiversity impacts such as
loss of species; burn severity impacting soil regeneration; and exposure damage to cultural heritage sites.
As part of this risk assessment the Bushfire RRATs produce a report that recommends strategies for risk
mitigation. These reports are a vital tool for the land managers as they transition from response to recovery,
and greatly speeds up the transition process as the Bushfire RRATs are able to give the regional staff a costed
and prioritized work program.
One of the strengths of the Bushfire RRATs program is the involvement of stakeholders in the process. By
engaging directly and early with the relevant local stakeholders the Bushfire RRATs are able to make sure
they are considering the risks with the greatest importance to the local community, as well as the more
obvious risks such as infrastructure and threatened species.
The Bushfire RRATs have now been deployed to Tasmania, South Australia and extensively used within
Victoria. NSW and the ACT have adapted the Bushfire RRATs model and developed their Burnt Area
Assessment Teams (BAATs). Having proven the Bushfire RRAT process can work outside Victoria, the
potential for further interstate deployments, or stronger connections with the BAATs program can be
explored.
Mr Phil Carney
Director, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
Co-authors: Mrs Annabelle Johnstone, Senior Advisor Community Recovery, Department of Communities,
Child Safety and Disability Services
Reforming human and social recovery in Queensland
As lead for human and social recovery in Queensland, the Department of Communities, Child Safety and
Disability Services has introduced significant reforms to ensure that service delivery will be more efficient
and effective and contribute to building resilience in Queensland communities.
Human and social recovery helps individuals, families and communities to recover from disaster events. This
includes support for the restoration of emotional, social and physical well-being.
Until late 2013, Queensland had a model of human and social recovery based on complex processes and
procedures with limited ability to target the most disaster affected communities. Human and social recovery
was dependent on establishing large community recovery centres, complex paperwork and non-targeted
access to financial assistance and other support services.
Reform was desperately needed due to inefficiency in operationalising recovery systems, assistance not
reaching those who needed it most in an efficient manner and the high cost of delivering assistance. Due to
the number of disasters in some parts of Queensland, a lack of resilience in some communities was also
becoming evident.
New reforms introduced in late 2013 saw the implementation of a more targeted model of service delivery
using a sophisticated mapping system and mobile recovery teams, allowing assistance to reach those most in
need more efficiently. Simpler processes leading to red tape reduction and improved systems and
procedures for the assessing and granting of financial assistance with clearer eligibility criteria would see a
better use of public funds and fewer opportunities for fraud. Communities would also be encouraged to help
themselves and each other building resilience.
These reforms were tested in April 2014 during the Tropical Cyclone Ita event. The outcomes were
significant, with targeted mobile delivery of vital human and social recovery services to those most in need,
better use of public funds and evidence of Queenslanders and their communities becoming more resilient.
Mr Frankie Carroll
Chief Executive Officer, Queensland Reconstruction Authority
Building it back better to reduce risks after multiple disaster events
The Queensland Reconstruction Authority is currently managing a $13.3 billion disaster reconstruction
program, following consecutive years of major flood and cyclone events from 2009- 2014.
Building back better in order to reduce risk to communities and accelerate recovery after disasters is
recognised as a key element in the post disaster reconstruction process.
In an Australian first, the Queensland Betterment Fund was announced in February 2013 following Tropical
Cyclone Oswald, a disaster event that caused $2.4 billion in damage to many public assets that had been
repeatedly impacted and restored following earlier disasters in 2011 and 2012.
The intent of the Betterment Fund is to deliver global good practice in disaster reconstruction by increasing
the resilience of Queensland communities to natural disasters, while at the same time reducing risk and
future expenditure on asset restoration.
In a landmark agreement between the Queensland and Australian Governments, a joint, targeted fund of
$80 million was approved to allow assets to be built back to a standard that would be more disaster resilient,
reducing cost and risk to the community from future events. Under the Fund, local government assets were
to receive the funding with a focus on grass roots assets that would provide maximum benefit in terms of
resilience and risk reduction for a relatively minimal investment of public funds.
This presentation explores the establishment of the Queensland Betterment Fund and the significant role
the fund plays in increasing the resilience of Queensland communities to natural disasters, and improving
asset utility during and after natural disasters.
Mr Jason Catlin
Manager, NGIS
Assess Report and Map - MFB's State-wide Impact Assessment Capability
The Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), also known as the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board,
provides firefighting, rescue, medical and hazardous material incident response services to the metropolitan
area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
With recent events across Australia and in New Zealand these MFB USAR technicians have been deployed
with other national and worldwide response efforts in offering assistance to the Christchurch’s devastating
earthquake in New Zealand, the flood crisis in Queensland and to the 2009 bushfires in Victoria. These
events highlighted the requirement of USAR to map, assess and report on the impact of these events on the
community in a timely and accurate manner.
USAR acknowledged that there was a gap in their ability to respond effectively to events in Victoria, because
there were no spatial systems that allowed management to view the event and allow them to effectively
manage their resources; their paper-based system was impacting on their ability to effectively deploy their
response capabilities.
These major events have demonstrated the need for data to be collected and shared in real time to evaluate
the extent of the emergency and allow ESO’s to plan their response. Currently Victorian ESO’s use paper
based collection methods. This is then manually collated, checked and entered into a GIS.
MFB has implemented a solution called ARM360 which has successfully replaced the manual component and
allows for an immediate, live review of data from the field. Secondary assessments and human services for
effected areas and or individual properties can also be collected.
The system provides a common operational picture (COP) that enables reports, photographs/video in
various reporting forms that will give information to Ministers, Senior Agency Officers, Incident Controllers
and other recovery agencies using the agreed state-wide standards and terms.
Mr Doug Caulfield
Principal Consultant, Emergency Management Network Solutions
Council Collaborations - Is this the new 'normal'
Victorian State EM arrangements, expect much of local government in terms of service provision before,
during and after an emergency. Rural municipalities in particular must consider innovative and cost effective
ways to meet the growing demands of their communities and the increasing requirements of government
departments and the broader emergency services sector.
In 2013, during the course of developing a set of Standard Operating Procedures for the establishment and
operation of Emergency Relief Centres, it became evident that, there would be similar (if not greater) benefit
in drafting a similar set of practices for local government’s actions in both the response to, and recovery
from emergency incidents.
And so a second funding application was submitted by the Gippsland collaboration group to the Natural
Disaster Resilience Grants Scheme to maintain the momentum gained during the initial project.
As the old saying goes, fortune favours the brave and the group’s application (albeit delayed somewhat by a
change of Federal Government) was approved and the second project commenced in October 2014.
At last year’s conference, a presentation outlined the process used to reach consensus as to the content,
procedures and design of the end product.
The same methodology is to be applied to this latest project, however, this presentation will concentrate on
the who, what, when, where and how of this new approach of integrating local government into the incident
control framework.
Not only will the Incident Controller benefit, but the council officers and other stakeholder agencies charged
with the responsibility of delivering an efficient and effective post-incident recovery program will as well.
Ultimately, the thread of improvement will aid communities by providing appropriate recovery service
delivery when and where it is needed, in a vastly improved timeframe and in a much more coordinated
delivery model.
Mr Jimmy Christiansen
Managing Director, Live Training Professionals
The next level in first response and rescue training
This dynamic live safety training organisation specialises in creating specific incidents, in a controlled, risk
managed, and participant friendly environment. Unsuspecting participants will be dragged out of their
comfort zone and into varying levels of primal state, fight or flight.
Anyone can become affected when dealing with highly stressful situations- Increased heart rate, shallow
breathing, body alarm response, tunnel vision, and an inability to comprehend what is unfolding. These are
all physiological and psychological functions that can affect our decision making and performance
capabilities in these critical situations.
To visually witness and identify what variables can occur during an incident, we can then identify mistakes
made by participants when affected by the critical incident cycle, and as a result techniques can then be
learnt on how to effectively operate in this altered, primal state. This is an immeasurable experience and
unparalleled learning tool.
We provide the tools to create the best possible outcome under extreme mental, physical and emotional
circumstances. Those of us that have been involved in these chaotic and critical incidents will know, we don’t
know how were going to behave and respond to a highly stressful situation, until we find ourselves in that
situation.
LTP has developed and patented a learning and operational model that encompasses the entire cycle of first
response, and emergency response and recue management.
The training modules designed by this company provide an experience that will open the eyes of the closed,
and hone the skills of the open.
Our live experiences use the same systems and approach to risk management required throughout the
Australian workforce, proof that the systems we are required by legislation to use, work, even when we are
tested under extreme circumstances…
Ideal for emergency services and organisations with a problematic safety culture, this is the next level of
safety and response training…
Mr Andrew Church
Food Safety Training Manager, EMCS
Food Safety, Training & Logistics In Emergency Situations
All emergency workers need fresh, quality and nutritious food to help them endure the challenges faced in
any crisis situation. Emergency situations and remote locations present unique challenges but these can be
overcome through planning & logistics, safe food handling, staff training and use of suitable equipment.
Mrs Samantha Colwell
Manager Community Fire Unit, Fire & Rescue NSW
Community Fire Units response to Blue Mountains bushfires 2013
In order to build capability in the bushfire urban interface, Fire & Rescue NSW established a Community Fire
Unit (CFU) program 20 years ago following the devastating 1994 bushfires. The program grew rapidly and
now has over 600 units and 7000 volunteers across NSW. This presentation will share the strategies used in
building resilience in bushfire prone communities with the provision of firefighting equipment, protective
equipment, training and support from a fire service to local residents. The effectiveness of these units will be
explored as well as the challenges faced by the organisation in managing such a large, diverse volunteer
workforce such as an ageing population, providing consistency in training levels and monitoring adherence
to organisation policy and procedures.
The recent bushfires in October 2013 in the Blue Mountains was the biggest test for many CFUs in the area,
as well as the overall program management by Fire & Rescue NSW. Many units were heavily impacted and
sadly 22 CFU members lost their homes in the fires. However significant work was done by these volunteers
– protecting property, community engagement and recovery activities.
The presentation will discuss how Fire & Rescue NSW supported these community volunteers during and
after this event, the challenges that were faced and the lessons learned. A case study will be discussed on
how one particular CFU not only provided significant support in a response capacity but also took the
initiative to assist with the recovery effort.
Fire & Rescue NSW commissioned research by Risk Frontiers through the Bushfire & Natural Hazards
Cooperative Research Centre to investigate the operation of CFUs in the Blue Mountains during the major
fires. These findings will be shared along with the recommendations and the improvements being made by
FRNSW as a result of these bushfires.
Mr Richard Davies
President, Warrandyte Community Association Inc.
Be Ready Warrandyte- Living with Bushfire Risk
‘Be Ready Warrandyte - Living with Bushfire Risk’ is a community-based campaign to persuade residents
within the Greater Warrandyte area to prepare effective fire plans. Warrandyte and North Warrandyte are
townships at high risk from bushfire.
The campaign is managed as a sub-committee of the Warrandyte Community Association Inc. and is
volunteer-lead. Effective engagement with local and state emergency services has resulted in strong
support and integrated and complementary initiatives.
It has been funded by the State Government, local Councils and local Community Organisations and
supported by the RMIT University’s Centre for Risk and Community Safety and the Random Hacks of
Kindness global technology community. It is a professionally managed project, by the local Good Work
Group.
In the early phase of the campaign, a broad whole-of-community survey delivered statistically valid
information regarding the preparedness of the community to respond to a bushfire threat.
This 'benchmarking' has informed the focus and the outcomes of subsequent work, a 'Be Ready Toolbox',
which includes the 'Be Ready' website, www.warrandyte.org/fire, featuring customised apps for local
conditions, high quality communications and information, sample fire plans, a spoof video (since gone viral
and picked up by emergency services globally), scenario planning workshops, public meetings and firebunker information sessions and tours.
'Be Ready Warrandyte' is currently investigating the interaction and potential conflict of Bushfire and
Heatwave messaging.
The campaign has gained national recognition and received threeFire Awareness Awards in 2013 including
the overall award for excellence for making a particularly significant and innovative contribution to
promoting fire awareness in the community.
The presentation will examine what worked well, what can be done better and what needs to be done more
widely to communicate emergency messages to the wider community.
Dr Paula Dootson
Professor, Queensland University of Technology
Co-author: Prof Vivienne Tippett, Professor, Queensland University of Technology
Effective communication during disasters: What effects community decision making & action?
This paper describes a program of research examining emergency messaging during the response and early
recovery phases of natural disasters. The objective of this suite of studies is to develop message construction
frameworks and channels that maximise community compliance with instructional messaging. The research
has adopted a multi-hazard approach and considers the impact of formal emergency messages, as well as
informal messages (e.g., social media posts), on community compliance. In recent years, media reports have
consistently demonstrated highly variable community compliance to instructional messaging during natural
disasters. Footage of individuals watching a tsunami approaching from the beach or being over-run by
floodwaters are disturbing and indicate the need for a clearer understanding of decision making under
stress.
This project’s multi-hazard approach considers the time lag between knowledge of the event and desired
action, as well as how factors such as message fatigue, message ambiguity, and the interplay of messaging
from multiple media sources are likely to play a role in an individual’s compliance with an emergency
instruction. To examine effective messaging strategy, we conduct a critical analysis of the literature to
develop a framework for community consultation and design experiments to test the potential for
compliance improvement.
Preliminary results indicate that there is, as yet, little published evidence on which to base decisions about
emergency instructional messages to threatened communities. The research described here will contribute
improvements in emergency instructional message compliance by generating an evidence-based framework
that takes into account behavioural compliance theory, the psychology of decision making under stress, and
multiple channels of communication including social media.
Mr Rick Draper
Principal Advisor & Managing Director, Amtac Professional Services Pty Ltd
Cross platform data gathering in the field: There might be "an app for that", but is it the best option
With the unprecedented number of smart phones and tablet devices, it seems only local that disaster and
emergency management organisations will look towards apps to gather data in the field. However,
maintaining dedicated apps across multiple platforms and generations of devices brings with it the potential
for disaster when disaster strikes.
This presentation will describe in simple terms the differences between apps and web-applications, and
highlight the pros and cons of both approaches. It will dispel many of the myths around what can happen on
and off-line, recognising that an Internet connection might just not be available in the middle of a disaster
zone. The presentation will also include insights into gathering data from social media sources and some
words of caution about the metadata in social media posts from an emergency management perspective.
Mr Andrew Edwards
Implementation Specialist, Fire & Rescue NSW
‘Miinder’ – Using Analytics to Forecast Disaster Mitigation, Preparation and Response
Fire & Rescue NSW, is one of the largest urban fire and rescue agencies in the world. In 2013/14 the
organisation responded to 126,966 incidents, of which 25,041 were fire related (Annual Report 2014:7). It is
estimated that the economic impact of these incidents in NSW alone exceeds $166.4 million (Productivity
Commission 2014:Table 9A12). With experience in developing and delivering operating information
management solutions tailored to the emergency service industry Fire & Rescue NSW is looking to the future
and how information can be better leveraged.
The ‘Miinder’ project proposes to provide a tool to model the likelihood and consequence to future
emergencies and disasters through the analysis of historical, current and forecast risk factors (eg weather,
environment, geography, socio economic) to:
 Prevent/Mitigate through targeted education of communities, behaviours and localities
 Prepare by advising emergency services and communities on the likelihood and consequence of
forecast events (including Black Swan)
 Respond more quickly by pre-deploying resources based on predictions
This will be achieved by applying concepts used in Policing and Ambulance Services to forecast demand.
Human assisted machine learning will be incorporated into the solution to improve forecasts over time.
Ground truthing of models will occur through consultation with experienced fire fighters to confirm the
validity of any proposed solution.
By forecasting risk to the property level, perceived benefits of this project will be:
 Safer Communities through reduced harm to people and their property
 Reducing future costs through the more effective use of emergency service organisations resources
 Measure the economic triple bottom line (people, planet and public value) costs of emergencies and
disasters
 Reduce the frequency and impact of disasters
This paper will discuss lessons learned to date following a proof of concept, current status of the project,
consultation and partnerships with industry and academia and future directions.
Ms Caroline Even
Research Assistant, NICTA
Co-authors: Dr Victor Pillac, Researcher, NICTA
Prof Pascal Van Hentenryck, Research Group Leader, NICTA
Latest advances in evacuation planning
When to evacuate, and how, can spell the difference between life and death when a major disaster strikes.
In this presentation, we will present the latest technological advances for automated evacuation planning
and simulation.
We will present three optimisation algorithms that produce (1) evacuation plans that automatically decide
which roads should be used in contraflow, (2) evacuation plans that ensure that all evacuation routes merge
at intersection points and converge to shelters or outside the threatened area, and (3) evacuation plans that
take into account the response of evacuees to evacuation orders. In all three cases, and unlike most existing
approaches, we are able to provide an evacuation plan in which each evacuated area is given an evacuation
route and an evacuation schedule. This means that each neighbourhood can be instructed to evacuate
following a specific route and at a specific time. In addition, the staging of the evacuation guarantees the
safety of evacuees, while it avoids congestion. The presented algorithms have been successfully applied to
evacuation scenarios with more than one million evacuees.
Finally, we will demonstrate the integration of these technologies in a web-based interface, and present two
applications to the Hawkesbury Nepean floodplain (NSW) and the Otway ranges (Vic).
The contributions of this work to the disaster management community are threefold. First, the tools we
propose can greatly help emergency services and local organisations to take strategic decisions on
evacuation plans, new developments, and investments in new infrastructures. Second, they can be used to
communicate to the communities by showing the different dimensions of the disaster. Finally, they can be
used during an emergency to quickly react to changing conditions.
Mr Allen Fleckner
Principal and Asset and Operations Group Lead, Advisian
Co-author: Mr Stuart Beatton, Senior Associate, Advisian
Building Engineering Resilience into Critical Infrastructure. How Resilient are your assets?
Recent local and global natural catastrophes have demonstrated the vulnerability of infrastructure due to a
variety of disruption related events. As a result, the resilience of critical infrastructure is now firmly under
regulatory and societal scrutiny. National events such as the Black Saturday bushfires, Brisbane floods and
Morwell fire have intensified Government focus surrounding the interdependency between the reliability of
assets and the effectiveness of high consequence incident management both from an organisational and an
engineering perspective.
Industry needs to take resilience to the next level and there are increasing indications of government
intervention. One example is Victoria’s amendment to 2004 legislation which concentrated on improving
resilience to terrorist incidents. To support the State’s 2012 emergency management reform, revised
legislation is in draft which will mandate owners to assess and plan for the resilience of their assets against
all hazards. Understanding the criticality of assets and their resilience to mitigate catastrophic events is vital
if adequate emergency risk mitigation is to be achieved.
In parallel to the need to improve resilience, owners and operators are becoming more aware of the benefits
that a resilience based holistic asset management approach can achieve in terms of greater margins from
aligning organisational functions, asset management culture and increasing focus on outcomes that create
benefits and competitive advantage. Industry wants to reach a status where there will be no need for heroes
to save the day when critical equipment failure occurs
ISO 55001 is the new standard for Asset management. ISO 55001 can supply an effective platform for control
mechanisms, guidance on creating, implementing and maturing asset management strategies as well as
provide the required assurance that resilience has been achieved and is being maintained.
Mr Ryan Fraser
Research Manager, CSIRO
Co-authors: Mr Hendra Wijaya, Software Engineer, CSIRO
Ms Bella Robinson, Senior Software Engineer, CSIRO
Mr Robert Power, Team Leader CSIRO
Mr Michael Kearney, Project Leader, CSIRO
Mr Paul Box, Research Consultant, CSIRO
A System of Systems Dashboard for Disaster Management
The management of disasters in Australia involves numerous agencies such as first responders, crisis
coordinators, the not for profit sector and federal, state, and local governments. Shared situational
awareness recognises that people work as members of a team, not as individuals and it is necessary for
these groups of teams to collaborate efficiently and effectively in all phases of the disaster lifecycle:
prevention, preparedness, response and recovery (PPRR).
This can only be achieved through access to timely, accurate and authoritative information which must be
shared to establish a common operating picture for the responsible agencies to help the affected
community. In summary, information sharing enhances decision making.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions are required for this however there are a
number of issues yet to be resolved. These mostly concern issues of discovering, accessing, interpreting,
transforming and integrating multiple data formats, structures and semantics to achieve information
integration. Perhaps more significant are the social and cultural challenges relating to policy, governance,
institutional arrangements and business practices.
We present a pilot activity currently underway in CSIRO to build a system of systems for disaster
management. The system provides the ability to link, integrate, process and deliver a wide variety of
information based on our previous work in numerous disaster management projects. The system uses
geospatial information and tools as a platform for integration and analysis, leveraging increasingly open and
web accessible geospatial data such as open standards from W3C and OGC together with linked data and
semantic technologies.
Mr Don Garlick
Manager: Emergency Management, Ballarat Health Services
Failure to Engage: Emergency Evacuation Planning for Vulnerable People
In any emergency it is recognised that socially vulnerable individuals experience considerably worse
outcomes when compared with their neighbours. Following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires one of the
recommendations of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission (VBRC) was to develop a system that
ensured effective emergency evacuation planning for vulnerable members of the community. This
presentation summarises the findings of my pilot research project which examined the perceptions of three
connected groups of key stakeholders with regards to the implementation of the Vulnerable People in
Emergencies (VPE) policy at a local level. These groups were: Municipal Emergency Management Planning
committee members (identified in the VPE policy as being responsible for emergency planning for their local
community with an emphasis on vulnerable people); community program staff (identified in the policy as
being responsible for the identification and registration of vulnerable clients or alternatively to provide them
with emergency planning support); and a group of potentially vulnerable community care clients.
The findings clearly demonstrate wide variations between the assumptions of the three groups in regards to
issues such as emergency evacuation planning, evacuation triggers and assistance for vulnerable people
during emergencies.
It is concluded that emergency management agencies need to directly engage with vulnerable people to
assist them with the development of meaningful personal emergency evacuation plans. The results of this
study indicate that by delegating this planning to third parties such as community health care workers, and
by ultimately limiting the pool of registered vulnerable people to a minute number of marginally
independent older adults, the VPE policy has limited effectiveness for the majority of vulnerable people and
has therefore failed to deliver on the original intent of the VBRC’s recommendation.
Ms Amanda Gaskill
Regional Relief and Recovery Coordinator, NWMR Collaboration / Nillumbik Shire Council
Co-author: Mrs Tina Georgiev, Regional Relief and Recovery Coordinator, NWMR Collaboration / Nillumbik
Shire Council
Local Government EM capacity 'built from the ground up'
EM Capacity built from the ground up the Value of the North West Metropolitan Region Collaboration
Project
The North-West Metropolitan Region (NWMR) Collaboration Project (now in its 3rd year) has created
extraordinary value for its members, emergency service organisations and community service organisations.
Sprung from the simple recognition that large-scale emergency events can quickly overwhelm a single
council, particularly following the Black Saturday February 2009 fires. This project was initiated to develop
innovative, effective and standardised practices across 14 municipal councils. The aim was to empower
councils to collaborate on planning and preparing for emergencies and support each other in a way that was
more flexible and responsive than the state apparatus.
The initiatives and innovative ideas proposed by the councils quickly gained substantial support and on-going
collaboration from Victoria Police, SES, DHS, Red Cross and Victorian Council of Churches and now the newly
established government department, Emergency Management Victoria (EMV)
The first two years of this project (2013 and 2014) realised substantial changes to the way the 14 councils
plan, prepare and share resources. Working groups have been established (having representation from the
14 councils and agencies) to concentrate on specific areas of identified need. Achievements have been made
in the areas of Standard Operating Guidelines for Emergency Relief Centres, developing emergency
management training packages, ongoing recruitment of council staff to emergency relief and recovery roles
(1100+ staff have been trained to date), Post Impact Assessment (PIA) template, guidelines and training for
Environmental Health Officers and Building Surveyors, Regional Recovery Checklist and Guidelines, Regional
Heatwave & Pandemic Plan and an annual collaborative and multi-agency regional exercise (500+)
participants.
The success of this project is that it is driven by a bottom-up approach with practices developed at the level
where the arrangements will work best. By working collectively, the project has shown how Local
Government capacity and capability can be substantially increased.
This presentation will discuss the steps that lead the project to fundamentally reframe the problem of how
do we mobilise resources, how do we increase knowledge and capability and how can we be proactive and
not reactive and to answer these questions what are the enablers that have enabled us to be successful.
A/Prof Lisa Gibbs
Deputy Director, Jack Brockhoff Child Health & Wellbeing Program, University of Melbourne
Social ties matter: experiencing and recovering from bushfires
Building understanding of resilience risk and protective factors helps to guide the development and delivery
of disaster response and recovery services. This presentation will report on the findings of the Beyond
Bushfires study on the impacts of the Black Saturday disaster experience and what made a difference to
individual mental health and wellbeing afterwards.
Beyond Bushfires is a five-year study led by the University of Melbourne in partnership with a range of
providers including community, government, emergency, and service agencies. The study explores the
medium to long-term impacts of the Victorian 2009 bushfires on individuals and communities. The
communities selected for this study had a range of bushfire experiences from low impact to high impact. The
study looked at impacts on residents such as mental health, wellbeing and social connections, within
selected communities. There were over 1,000 participants who completed surveys in 2012 and were
followed up in 2014. A sub-sample of 35 participants completed in-depth interviews.
The study results show the disaster experience itself can have a direct and prolonged impact on mental
health and wellbeing, as can subsequent major life stressors such as changed accommodation, employment,
health and relationships. Age, gender and living circumstances can influence how the disaster and its
aftermath are experienced. Importantly, this means that household/family members often had different
responses to their bushfire experience.
A particularly strong finding in terms of recovery was that social ties matter. Close emotional ties, social
networks and involvement in local community groups and organisations all contribute in different ways to
resilience and recovery. An overview of all of these findings will be provided to provide insights into the
pattern of influences on resilience and recovery, and the implications for future policy and service delivery.
Ms Barb Gonda
Manager Operations Support, Qld Fire and Emergency Services
A Disaster is NOT a Critical Incident (psychologically speaking)
Traditionally, psychological support for emergency services first responders has fallen under the trauma
management principles of proactive psychoeducation and post incident psychological first aid. During
numerous Queensland disasters ranging from the many events of the 2010/11 season (TC Yasi/SE QLD
Floods etc) to Cyclone Oswald in 2013, a therapeutic opportunity has become increasingly evident.
These operational periods are often characterised as a series of critical incidents within a large critical event
or series of events, demanding durable long term operational responses from all personnel. Healthy
psychological function was essential to operational imperatives and to sustaining and maintaining the
wellbeing of personnel to achieve this. Throughout, on the ground low key psychological care and attention
became routine with the faces and personas of peer supporters and counsellors becoming integral with daily
organisational and managerial activities. The strong need to make a difference, to be included and to
belonging to the group, were considered important aspects in this.
These early subtle interventions supported healthy function. Small interventions during the response and
referrals post deployment became good practice in many cases. Counselling styled support was readily
available for operational or personal reactions, the early identification of issues and needs often allowing for
early, less critical and more timely responses. The need to feel that someone has your back; that responders
contributed to the whole and that their experiences were heard was also essential to wellbeing.
This presentation will draw from the anecdotal experience of an employee assistance psychologist as she
attended and responded to many of the events of 2010/11 and 2013 in support of volunteer and permanent
firefighters. A model for operational psychological wellbeing will be proposed to address the unseen needs
of first responders whilst deployed and operational over extended periods of time.
Ms Michelle Gonsalvez
Program Manager, Policy and Practice Support, RACGP
Co-authors: A/Prof Glynn Kelly, GP and Chair of RACGP's Disaster Network, RACGP
Mr Andy Wisheart, Business Development Manager, Healthpoint ANZ
Elevating community resilience through GP preparedness and response
GPs and practice teams are the lynchpin of Australia’s health service infrastructure. They also play a key
leadership role in their communities, especially during an emergency. It is therefore important that the
sector is prepared and able to effectively respond to emergencies - including health emergencies such as
pandemics.
To support this role, with funding from the Department of Health (DoH), the Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners (RACGP) in collaboration with Healthpoint ANZ developed a world first Emergency
Response Planning Tool (ERPT). Launched in October 2013, the ERPT guides practices through a planning
process, creating a customised emergency plan (including response, risk, business continuity and pandemic
components) for their practice.
The innovative technology used to create the ERPT is a major contributor to its success. The tool uses a
software as a service platform which is extremely agile and reliable, enabling practices to access their plan
through any computer or smart device. The ERPT, being cloud-based, alleviates user’s concerns of having to
download additional software and updates.
The ERPT has successfully engaged approximately 26% of general practices across the country, including key
Aboriginal Health service providers and practices who had previously developed their own plan. These
services now have a greater understanding of the process of all hazard emergency planning.
The collaborative work between the RACGP and Healthpoint has enabled the project team to deliver a
practical tool that supports general practices to better prepare for and respond to emergencies and
pandemics.
This session will introduce a panel of experts with first-hand experience in disaster preparation, response
and recovery in primary health, in both Australia and New Zealand. The presentation will provide an
overview of the tool and share valuable experiences in rolling out the ERPT to approximately 2000 primary
healthcare services across the country.
Mr Peter Gould
Acting Local Controller - Redland Unit, Qld State Emergency Service
The only sustainable future is we do things together
This presentation will present a way forward for Emergency Services Volunteer Organisations to work closer
together in the interest of the community and the sustainability of organisations.
A case study of how Volunteer Emergency Services Organisations supported the response to the North
Stradbroke Island Bushfires of 2013/2014 will be embedded in the presentation.
The challenges of " Lack of Time" , "Lack of Resources", "Ageing Volunteer Workforce", "Bridging the
generations of volunteers" etc will all be explored.
Mr Alasdair Hainsworth
Assistant Director Hazard Prediction, Bureau of Meteorology
Co-authors: Miss Ann Farrell, Assistant Director Weather Services, Bureau of Meteorology
Bureau of Meteorology Support for Disaster and Emergency Management
The Bureau of Meteorology has a leading role in providing support to the Disaster and Emergency
Management community. Whether it’s through the provision of meteorologists to Emergency Coordination
Centres in the jurisdictions, or the electronic provision of expert advice and products to assist in making
critical decisions, the Bureau provides support during all phases of emergency and disaster management prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
In recent years, the Bureau’s capabilities to produce high resolution weather forecast products have
increased with the installation of its Next Generation Forecast and Warnings System and this will be
augmented over the next 12 months with the establishment of a new Extreme Weather Desk located in the
Bureau’s National Operations Centre.
As communication line speeds and capacities increase, the scope for the Bureau to produce more
information and provide greater support, particularly around hazards and hazard impacts, will also increase.
This presentation will outline some of the potential advances the Bureau is exploring.
Mr Paul Hargreaves
Emergency Management Inspector, Victoria Police
Extreme Temperatures: The Hidden Killer, Heatwave
Aim
Managing and influencing risk management during a Heatwave.
Content
Catastrophic impacts of heatwave are illustrated by the European heatwave of 2003.
The aggravating factors of heatwave include interruption to power and water supplies.
Heatwave predominately affects the elderly.
In 2009, extreme heatwave conditions effected Victoria, with an estimated 374 excess deaths recorded. In
2014, significant heat periods were again predicted, with higher levels of heat related casualties expected.
Consistent with the risk identified Hume Region Police operated a full control agency response, a first for a
policing region, with the intention of closely managing, coordinating and understanding the risks, impacts
and aggravating effects of heatwave. Over the ensuing period, police formed and operated an Emergency
Management Team (EMT) examining the actions around community health and major infrastructure. The
approach demonstrated the important nature of agency actions, elevating the level of scrutiny on agency
partners. A risk identified via media and the EMT was ongoing works and therefore interrupted power
supply during heatwave periods. Whilst this practice was considered essential, there was scope to increase
risk mitigation into work practices that could modify or suspend works in extreme heat. Equally,
communication with public in particular vulnerable persons and communities dictated a stronger focus.
Conclusion
The control agency influenced the international power company to modify practices during a heatwave, later
introducing heatwave guidelines. Water agencies followed suit with modified and risk based practices. With
a focus on vulnerable people and decreased power interruption during peak risk periods there was increased
benefits and reduced risk to those susceptible to heat. Whilst Victoria recorded 179 excess deaths, Hume
region did not reach the expected health impact assessment level, resulting in increased community
confidence and decreased demand on health services. The response lifted appreciation of risk management,
communication and information sharing during a heatwave.
Mr Kevin Hennessy
Group Leader: Climate variability, extreme weather and adaptation, CSIRO
Updated climate change projections for Australia
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that continued emissions of
greenhouse gases will cause further warming, sea level rise and changes in the climate system.
CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, with support from the Australian Government, have produced
updated climate change projections for Australia. Consistent with the IPCC assessment, these projections are
based on the most recent global climate model experiments and emission scenarios. Confidence ratings
based on five lines of evidence are given for each of the 21 climate variables analysed. Projections include
averages for 20-year periods centred on 1995, 2030, 2050, 2070 and 2090, as well as annual, seasonal,
monthly and daily time-series for some variables.
Key findings include (1) more hot days, fewer cold days and less snow, (2) further sea level rise and oceans
acidification, (3) more extreme rainfall events, (4) less winter and spring rainfall in southern Australia, but
increased winter rainfall in Tasmania, (5) reduced soil moisture, (6) more the time in drought over southern
Australia, (7) harsher fire weather in southern and eastern Australia, and (8) fewer tropical cyclones, but a
greater proportion of severe cyclones.
The projections are supported by a detailed technical report, eight regional reports, eight brochures and five
videos. Information is available from www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au via a range of portals that
provide text summaries, interactive maps and tools, and various data download formats. Guidance material,
training and a help desk are available to enhance the uptake and appropriate use of information.
Mr Matthew Heysmand
Detecive Inspector, NSW Police Force
What do we do to enable our most junior members to lead?
The concept of Leadership is frequently used within emergency service organisations. Senior members of the
organisations are expected in times of crisis to both provide and to demonstrate leadership. During major
incidents or emergencies such as bushfires, floods and high risk incidents there is the expectation that senior
staff will provide effective leadership to the junior staff who as a rule provide the initial frontline emergency
response.
This presentation will attempt to provide a differing perspective on leadership provided by emergency
service organisations. Rather than focus on leadership at senior or emergency operations centre or
command post level, this presentation will explore and highlight the importance of leadership provided in
the field during an emergency by more junior first responders.
This is of paramount importance as when a major incident takes place our organisations front line officers as
first responders are immediately looked to by the community for information, guidance and assistance.
Whilst the more senior amongst us are leading our own people from command posts and operation centres,
the community are working on site with our most junior members and will view them as the personification
of our agencies response. The public will continue to look to them for this leadership throughout the
response phase of any incident. Hence our organisational performance will be judged primarily on the
nature of their response.
This reality leads to the question what do we do to enable our most junior members to lead?
•
Via case studies and discussion we will explore methods by which organisations can assist their more junior
staff develop leadership skills and act on those skills. It is proposed that improvements can be made via use
of mentoring programs, formalised learning, desk top exercises and development opportunities. Leadership
is a practical skill that can be developed to enhance the capability and professional reputation of any
organisation.
Leadership is a skill which, like any, can be learnt, developed and improved through drilling and rehearsal. It
is a core responsibility of all organisations to provide this development.
Dr James Hilton
Research Scientist, CSIRO
Co-authors: Ms Claire Miller, Graduate Fellow, CSIRO
Dr Andrew Sullivan, Team Leader, CSIRO
Dr Mahesh Prakash, Group Leader CSIRO
Spark: an open model for bushfire spread prediction
Bushfires are natural events which have the potential to be devastating to rural areas and at rural-urban
interfaces. The ability to understand and predict the behaviour and spread of a bushfire is an ongoing
challenge. A strong requirement exists to develop accurate rate-of-spread models from field observations or
experiments, and to translate these models into an operational predictive environment. This requirement
has led to the development of Spark, a configurable computational solver for bushfire propagation.
The purpose of Spark is twofold: firstly to provide a tool to test new fire behaviour models and secondly to
provide end-users with operational predictive systems based on these models. Spark has been built as a set
of components that can be configured for either of these requirements. The user is free to define any set of
rate-of-spread models and link these with any user-defined input layers. Alternatively, a number of predefined models can be chosen. Spark uses scalable GPU-based processing allowing it to be run on computers
ranging from desktops to supercomputer clusters.
The speed of Spark allows rapid evaluation of changing input conditions such as wind shifts, the passage of
fronts or the testing of suppression scenarios. Furthermore, random variations in factors such as wind and
fuel conditions, which can have a strong effect on fire propagation, can be directly incorporated into the
simulation. Spark is part of a workflow framework called Workspace which allows it to be linked to a wide
range of other open-source geospatial software. Users can also develop custom software modules for Spark,
dependent on their requirements. We believe the open and configurable nature of Spark will make it an
invaluable tool for both the scientific analysis of bushfires as well as the understanding and management of
these natural hazards.
Ms Jessie Huard
Coordinator, Recovery NSW/ ACT, Australian Red Cross
Co-authors: Ms Rachel Nibbs, Director Respons and Recovery, Ministry for Police and Emergency Services
Ms Shona Whitton, National Senior Project Officer, Recovery, Australian Red Cross
Ms Lex Drennan, Senior Manager Response & Recovery Ministry for Police and Emergency Services
Adaptive approaches to disaster response and recovery viewed through a psychosocial lens: Sydney Siege
Case Study
On 15-16 December 2014, a gunman held hostage ten customers and eight employees of the Lindt cafe
located at Martin Place in Sydney. After a 16-hour standoff, the siege ended with three people (including the
gunman) dead and three other hostages and a police officer injured.
The State Emergency Recovery Controller was activated along with the NSW Recovery Plan and
Arrangements. Usually catering to recovery operations for natural disasters, the efficacy and adaptability of
these arrangements to such an event had not been tested. Responding to this event required collaboration
by a number of agencies who do not traditionally work together, and effective communication amongst
those agencies, to the families of the victims as well as survivors and to the broader community.
This response occurred against a backdrop of intense media and public scrutiny and extensive exposure of
political leaders from all levels of government.
This event was a shock to the psyche of the Sydney CBD, New South Wales and Australian community.
Human initiated events, such as this, are often associated with higher rates of negative psychological
outcomes because they shatter our fundamental beliefs about vulnerability and human nature (Norris et.al
2002). This may be reflected in the mass public mourning, condolence notes and letters and the scale of the
floral tributes in Martin Place. The community response to this event was unprecedented with people
leaving thousands of tributes, gifts, cards, shrines and an approximated 100, 000 bouquets of flowers.
Although the barriers have been taken down and flower memorial removed the recovery process has not
ended. There are still many hurdles such as the development of a public memorial and the first anniversary.
The management of these milestone and their psychosocial implications will impact how this event is viewed
by the public in the coming years.
Dr Emma Hudson-Doyle
Lecturer/Postdoctoral Fellow, Joint Centre for Disaster Research
Co-authors: Prof Douglas Paton, Professor, University of Tasmania
Prof David Johnston, Professor, GNS Science
Emergency manager perception, interpretation and use of uncertain science advice during table top•
volcanic crisis training exercises
The effective communication of science advice is vital for successful emergency management decisionmaking during complex, high-risk, evolving events. Such advice facilitates the development and maintenance
of individual and team situational awareness and informs defining current problems and future scenarios
and solutions.
The provision of advice must accommodate how stochastic (variability of the system) and epistemic (lack of
knowledge) uncertainty can constrain decision making and block or delay action. While behavioural decision
theories have identified heuristics for coping with such uncertainty, less is known about how these operate
in emergency settings to help decision makers (who differ in goals and information use) identify, understand,
and manage uncertainties in information sources and in complex physical systems.
We explored how providing science advice influenced emergency decisions using real time group exercises
(3 exercises with 5-6 practitioners) to investigate how personnel create Situation Reports and Incident
Action Plans based on a range of injects for a volcanic eruption, with a particular focus on uncertain and nonconsensus science advice. Participants received injects representing scientific information and agency
communications (from police, media, the public, etc.). Data were obtained from recordings of group activity,
questionnaires and debriefs about the processes they enacted, the key issues identified, what information
they were looking for during the hypothetical event, and what they would do differently.
We discuss the development and conduct of these exercises and present findings covering how participants
self-organised in exercise settings, how they reacted to, utilised and understood scientific information, how
they coped with the prevailing scientific uncertainty and corresponding disagreement amongst the group,
and whether they developed alternative plans to account for uncertain scientific situations. We also report
their perceptions on what constitutes effective communication of uncertain science advice. The implications
of the findings for emergency manager use, understanding and utilisation of scientific information are
discussed.
Mr William Hurtes
Graduate Researcher, University of Canterbury
Insights and Innovations Without Breaking the Bank
The generosity of emergency managers to share their successful ideas and programs is well known and often
exploited. The challenge comes in accessing this information and customizing it to your local situations. This
interactive session explores some of the concepts and programs successfully used by local, regional,
national, and international emergency managers and business continuity professionals from Australasia to
North America. We will discuss how these ideas can enhance virtually any program while focusing on
simplicity, accessibility, and cost effectiveness.
Objectives:
Describe a wide variety of program enhancement strategies used successfully by emergency mangers.
Discuss how specific strategies can be customized to work in different locations.
Solicit and discuss innovative strategies used by workshop participants.
Dr Vivienne Ivory
Urban scientist, Opus Research
Co-authors: Dr Felicity Powell , Principal researcher, Opus Research
Miss Jean Beetham, Urban scientist, Opus Research
Dr Abigail Harding, Urban scientist Opus Research
Successful recovery from a hazard event: What businesses need to know but are afraid to ask
Following a significant hazard event, the closure or relocation of businesses can be a major threat to
community recovery as they provide services, employment and income for residents and are often actively
involved in the repair or reconstruction process. It is therefore vital to understand how businesses adapt to
post-event situations, what obstacles they might face to successful recovery (both operational factors and in
the vicinity of their location), and what are the potential triggers for businesses to relocate away from their
original location.
A body of research undertaken in Wellington, Gisborne and Christchurch (New Zealand) has revealed
important lessons for what business owner-managers need to know so they can effectively recover and to
encourage better preparedness. Lessons will include adapting their business models due either to a new
(possibly temporary) location or because their original localities alter over the recovery period; addressing
connectivity challenges relating to ICT, power, and transport logistics; the ability to finance reconstruction,
repairs or new stock; the significance of strong relationships with suppliers, clients and customers; the
unexpected burdens which impact on owners, staff and clients such as the time needed to process claims
and rebuilds, delivery times etc.; the importance of mutual assistance/support between owner-managers
and staff; and the need to plan for long-term recovery, not just response. This presentation will also inform
recovery managers of the potential issues that can disrupt recovery of the business community so that they
can better anticipate and mitigate these.
Miss Lisa Jackson
The influence of organisational culture on learning lessons: Implementing a Lessons Management Life
Cycle
Lessons Management is the management a continuous learning cycle where capturing, analysing and
implementing lessons, occurs without barriers and results in measurable behaviour modification (Jackson,
2014). Organisational culture and its influence on knowledge and lessons management is becoming more
evident, particularly when identifying the key factors why organisations often struggle at implementing
these processes. There is a sector-wide appetite for change to enhance our ability to learn from each other,
improve performance and support innovation. However, if different agencies continue to develop their own
processes, lessons will remain siloed rather than moving towards sector wide learning. There is a need for a
holistic approach to ensure lessons are shared across emergency services organisations, government
departments, business, industry and the community.
This presentation will explore my research into lessons management in the disaster and emergency
management sector with the aim of sharing what success looks like when implementing lessons
management. This research was a case study of Country Fire Authority (CFA) Victoria, together with a
literature review and an evaluation of lessons management implementation within interstate and
international emergency services organisations. The outcome of the research was a lessons management life
cycle which is currently being implemented by Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) in conjunction with
CFA. This life cycle will be discussed in detail including the gathering, analysing, actioning, implementing,
monitoring and measuring of observations, improvement opportunities, innovation, lessons and
recommendations. The success of this cycle relies on a strong lessons culture, with elements of just/fair,
leadership, accountability, communication and learning focused. Having an organisational culture that
displays these key characteristics will be supportive of not only lessons management, but a range of
continuous improvement organisational programs.
Ms Maire Kipa
Researcher, Seaview Resilience Centre
Co-authors: A/Prof Regan Potangaroa , Associate prof, Unitecschool of Architecture
Ms Karen Mills, Researcher, Seaview Resilience Centre
The Maori Dimension of Disaster Risk Reduction: What we Learnt from Rapaki
The options available to the poor after a natural disaster are minimal and for many Maori after the
Christchurch earthquakes it meant relocation. And that is what Maori did, nearly 3-4 times the number of
non Maori based on school enrolments immediately following the 22 February 2011 Earthquake. This was
followed by a return 3 months later of non Maori but Maori have seeming stayed away.
But what if relocation wasn’t an option and you had to stay regardless? What if your historical connections
ran deep and you were tangata whenua (people of the land) and the intergenerational loss of social capital
was too great? This paper studied the Maori community of Rapaki through intensive interviews to examine
and understand their actions.
The conclusions suggest a different understanding of the meaning of Place especially for indigenous groups
in post disaster response.
Mr Iain MacKenzie
Inspector-General, Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management
Queensland: Setting the standard for disaster management
Queensland is committed to disaster management excellence, and the safety of all Queenslanders. The
Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management has been charged with establishing the means to
provide confidence in the disaster management system.
Last year we hypothesized on how we might achieve this, this year we can discuss what has been produced,
implemented and is contributing to continuous improvement across the sector.
At the forefront has been the Emergency Management Assurance Framework which, supported by
legislation, has established Queensland’s and arguably Australia’s first Standard for Disaster Management.
The Standard will ensure that all stakeholders know their responsibilities, what outcomes they need to
achieve and be able to demonstrate that this is the case.
The challenge to the sector is now to broaden our thinking past our organizational boundaries, to truly
identify, collaborate and partner with all those that can contribute to DM excellence, ensuring a truly
comprehensive approach that is not biased towards any one component.
Too often when we refer to emergency management our thoughts are immediately directed towards police,
fire, SES and mainstream emergency service providers. The reality is that these agencies are but part of the
puzzle. In Queensland it is Local Government that is quintessentially at the center of all phases of disaster
management. However, nothing is possible unless we have fully considered the impacts on and the support
available from the private sector. Supplies, transport, accommodation, all rely on sound, recognized and
rehearsed arrangements being developed before an event.
The emphasis into the future must be on focusing all stakeholders with responsibilities in this space, on their
role across the full PPRR spectrum, driving improvement and better outcomes for those that we are charged
with helping. The standard for disaster management in Queensland is a tool that can be used by all to focus
this thinking.
This presentation examines the standard for disaster management in Queensland, the importance of
ongoing collaboration with stakeholders and emphasizes the need for all involved to accept their
responsibility and embrace accountability.
Mr Simon Markham
Manager Policy and Customer Service, Waimakariri District Council
The Three legged Stool: A Practice Model for Community Led Social Recovery
The 2010-11 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence led to the 10,000 (4,000 households) population town of
Kaiapoi and adjoining beach settlements in North Canterbury being significantly impacted. Extensive
property damage and assessed risk of continued residential use led to 1,048 properties in a number of areas
being red zoned.
Almost all residents in these areas have moved away from them over the last 3 years under a Government
relocation programme. As a result around a quarter of homes in the town have been cleared, and around
75% of the remainder has been subject to a project-managed repair programme that is only now drawn to a
conclusion.
Beginning immediately in the response phase, and developed further in several stages during multi-year
recovery operations, an extensive social recovery programme to assist earthquake affected residents
evolved. This was designed to be based in the community with significant support towards this end from the
Waimakariri District Council.
This presentation considers the evolution of that programme and the three legged stool approach that arose
- as a possible practice model for social recovery support services. The three components of the approach
are support coordination (walk alongside); information hub (connect and resolve) and pastoral care (reach
out). Each complements and reinforces the other.
Increasingly the importance of social recovery in the post disaster context is being recognised but little in the
way of practice guidance beyond the establishment of immediate response welfare support exists. The
strengths and weaknesses of the approach in and around Kaiapoi are reviewed from a number of
perspectives, including support recipient feedback and service provider reflections.
Ms Megan McCarthy
Associate Research Fellow, Centre for Health Research, University of Western Sydney
Co-authors: Dr Mel Taylor, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Health Research, University of Western
Sydney
Mr Greg Eustace, State Coordinator - Emergency Management, RSPCA Queensland
Dr Penelope Burns, Senior Lecturer General Practice, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney
Dr Kirrilly Thompson, Senior Researcher & Cultural Anthropologist, CQUni Appleton Institute
Dr Bradley Smith, Senior Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, CQUni Appleton Institute
Stakeholder perspectives on the management of animals and their owners in disasters
Although there is a growing recognition of the importance of including animals in disaster planning, there is
limited research that specifically focusses on the diverse range of response organisations and stakeholders
who are involved in the management of animals and their owners in disasters. This research presentation
will document the findings of a comprehensive national survey of Australian Response Organisations and
other relevant stakeholders with the aim of identifying and prioritising the challenges encountered by these
organisations.
In addition, attitudes towards organisational responsibility for the management of animals in disasters and
awareness of relevant emergency response and recovery arrangements were also sought. A sample of 98
respondents representing 68 organisations from all States and Territories across Australia and the
Commonwealth were surveyed.
Overall, the main challenges identified were in the logistics of animal management (personnel and
equipment), the physical management and rescue of animals, interactions with owners during disaster
response, and post-disaster impacts in the management of animals and their owners (distress, emotional
issues). As would be expected, different categories of organisations/stakeholders experienced different
challenges, but issues were reported across all categories of organisation, irrespective of their formally
assigned roles and responsibilities in this area.
Study findings are being used to prioritise research as part of the Managing Animals in Disasters (MAiD)
project within the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, and results of the study will
be used to guide discussions with stakeholders about the range of challenges faced before, during, and after
disasters to help guide emergency management and planning.
Dr Ilona McNeill
Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
Co-authors: A/Prof Jennifer Boldero, Associate Professor, University of Melbourne
Miss Elle McIntosh, Research Assistant, University of Melbourne
Preparing for fires and floods: The role of different information sources
This presentation addresses the question how does the use of existing information sources (i.e., community
information sessions vs. brochures vs. websites) relate to preparedness and planning amongst residents of
fire and flood prone areas? Two survey studies of residents in bushfire and flood-prone areas across six
Australian States (i.e., WA, SA, VIC, TAS, NSW, QL) were conducted. Participants indicated whether or not
they had used a variety of information sources (i.e., community information sessions, brochures, and
websites) when preparing and planning for bushfires or floods in the few months preceding data-collection.
Residents who indicated they had used a certain source were asked about its usefulness in helping them
prepare and plan for bushfires or floods. Finally, the surveys measured the extent to which participants
actually completed a variety of preparedness and planning actions, such as property preparedness, creating
an emergency kit, planning the household’s response to a bushfire or flood threat, having a social network to
rely on during the hazard response and recovery phases, feeling able to respond to the physical and
psychological demands of response and recovery, and general knowledge regarding bushfire and floods.
Preliminary results from the bushfire study show that most bushfire prone residents did not use any of the
information sources. However, those who did use them appeared to be better prepared than those who did
not. The presentation will discuss the extent to which residents perceive different information sources as
helpful in preparing their households for bushfires or floods, and how the use of different information
sources relates to residents levels of household preparedness and planning. Finally, we will discuss several
implications of these findings for the emergency management sector.
Ms Michelle Mitchell
Deputy Chief Executive, Social and Cultural Recovery, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
Co-authors: Mr David Griffiths, GM, Housing Recovery, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
Ms Jane Morgan, GM, Social and Cultural Outcomes, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
Mr Ivan Iafeta, GM, Residential Red Zone, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
Canterbury Earthquakes: Leading Through Complexity
This panel will provide an overview of the leadership challenges and strategic decisions made during the
welfare response and social recovery following the 2010 - 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.
In the response phase, the government moved quickly to establish employment subsidies, emergency
housing repairs and a layered programme of psychosocial supports to ensure people’s needs were met and
to secure future economic wellbeing by stabilising the population.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) was established to lead and coordinate the recovery.
Within its Recovery Strategy, CERA developed the social goal of Strengthening community resilience, safety
and wellbeing, and enhancing quality of life for residents and visitors.
CERA developed the Canterbury Wellbeing Index to provide an evidence base to identify emerging trends
and issues. CERA responded to residential land damage by zoning over 8,000 properties red and undertook a
programme of engagement with red zoned property owners, alongside the provision of psychosocial and
technical supports.
Technical supports were also provided to the wider population. Across greater Christchurch 191,254
dwelling insurance claims were made. Significant technical complexities emerged relating to the
categorisation of land, claims on multi-unit dwellings, elevated flood/liquefaction risk and contaminated
sites. In response, the Residential Advisory Service was established.
Secondary stressors (such as navigating this complex rebuild and repair process) impacted on people’s
psychosocial wellbeing and a cross agency programme of multi-layered supports was established to reflect
the United Nation’s Intervention pyramid for psychosocial disaster. In 2013, agencies collaborated to
develop a new psychosocial strategy Community in Mind in recognition that services provided by agencies
would benefit from greater alignment with community-led recovery activities.
Ms Jane Morgan
GM, Social and Cultural Outcomes, Canterbury Earthqauke Recovery Authority
Measuring community wellbeing during the Canterbury earthquake recovery
The Canterbury Wellbeing Index (the Index) tracks the progress of the social recovery using indicators to
establish an evidence base to identify emerging trends and issues. The Index helps CERA and partner
agencies make decisions about the most efficient way to target funds and resources. It also provides
accurate and robust information to the community. The Index consists of a range of indicators structured
around health, knowledge and skills, economic wellbeing, social connectedness, civil participation, housing,
safety and people and is published annually since 2013.
The CERA Wellbeing Survey (the Survey) forms part of the Index and is carried out twice yearly. The Survey
was designed by CERA and partner agencies to provide timely, self-reported wellbeing data on the impacts
of the earthquakes on residents quality of life, levels of social connectedness, levels and causes of stress,
positive impacts of the earthquakes, and satisfaction with the recovery.
Ms Sara Page
GeoNet Public Information Specialist, GNS Science
Social Media and Disaster information: Lessons from New Zealand.
GeoNet (New Zealand’s Geological Hazard monitoring service) became a household name following the
devastating earthquakes in Canterbury 2010/2011 and since then we have been using Social media as a vital
tool in getting disaster information out to the public.
Facebook and Twitter have allowed great interaction, the people can share information/experiences with
each other and also give us vital information. We have people blogging to give science information a more
personal touch, and let people see a morebehind the scenes view of how things work at GeoNet in a disaster
and during quiet times.
The value of Social Media has been shown multiple times, from eruptions in 2012 through to more damaging
earthquakes in 2013 and 2014. It has allowed us to quickly dispel rumours and misinformation, and get
important information out in an instant. Of course there are always challenges as you are dealing with, and
relying on platforms you have no control over. From new looks, new conditions and even complete failure of
these!
This presentation will look at the various forms of social media and how we have used them to get
information out to the public during earthquake, volcano and tsunami events, including the development of
our earthquake app. It will also go through the pros/cons and many lessons we have learnt along the way.
Mr Edward Pikusa
Principal Project Officer RAMMS, SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission
Co-authors: Mr Ashley Rentmeester, Assistant Director, EM Policy Branch, Attrorney-General's Department
The National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines (NERAG):The bumpy road to national consistency
Since 2010, there has been a national version of the international risk management guidelines published for
assessing risk of natural disasters, known as the National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines or NERAG.
The NERAG has been published as an Australian Emergency Management Handbook, adopted by the
national Ministerial Council, and explicitly described as the means of assessing risk in the National
Partnership Agreement for Disaster Resilience.
The NERAG was also described in the draft report of the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural
Disaster Funding as an evaluation tool used for allocating mitigation funding.
States and territories have been encouraged to take up these guidelines as a means of consistently assessing
risks of emergencies, with mixed results. Some states have embraced NERAG risk assessments at state and
regional levels, while others have been reticent to undertake such work.
When endorsed on 2010, there was also national agreement to review the NERAG after three years. The
process was originally meant to take around 6 months, but only concluded after two years. This paper
describes the reviewed NERAG, its improvements, and its associated products. It also highlights the difficult
process many of us go through to achieve nationally agreed consistency in our policies and practices.
Mr Robert Power
Team Leader, CSIRO
Co-authors: Ms Bella Robinson, Senior Software Engineer, CSIRO
Mr John Colton, Research Engineer, CSIRO
Mr Mark Cameron, Senior Research Scientist CSIRO
Improving Situational Awareness for Emergency Managers using Twitter
The Emergency Situation Awareness (ESA) platform provides crowd sourced information in near-real-time
from Twitter about all-hazard types for emergency managers. ESA currently collects Tweets from Australia
and New Zealand and processes them to identify unexpected incidents, to monitor ongoing emergency
events and provides access to an archive to explore past events. It is operated using a map based interactive
web site and has processed nearly 2 billion Tweets since September 2011.
ESA has been developed by CSIRO and has been trialled by numerous emergency services organisations
throughout Australia. Tweets are processed as a data stream using text mining techniques and natural
language processing tools to identify content relevant to emergency managers. ESA consists of a distributed
information architecture with a combination of commodity open source technologies, such as a Solr index, a
relational database, messaging infrastructure and web server, as well as purpose built components for
message burst detection, event identification and notification, message classification and clustering, geocoding and searching.
An overview of the ESA platform will be presented showing how Tweets are gathered and processed. Three
case studies will also be outlined showing how ESA is used to detect earthquakes, monitor bushfire events
and as a general all-hazard monitoring tool in a crisis coordination centre. We will also overview our research
road map noting the planned extensions and new features.
Ms Lauren Power
Team Leader | Built Environment & Exposure Section, Geoscience Australia
Streamlining exposure information: NEXIS Exposure Report for effective decision-making
The National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) is a unique modelling capability designed by Geoscience
Australia (GA) to provide comprehensive and nationally-consistent exposure information in response to the
2003 COAG commitment to cost-effective, evidence-based disaster mitigation.
Since its inception, NEXIS has continually evolved to fill known information gaps by improving statistical
methodologies and integrating the best publically-available data. In addition to Residential, Commercial and
Industrial building exposure information, NEXIS has recently expanded to include exposure information
about agricultural assets providing a wider understanding of how communities can be affected by a potential
event.
GA’s collaboration with the Attorney General’s Department (AGD) has involved the consolidation of locationbased data to deliver consistent map and exposure information products. The complex information
requirements emphasised the importance of having all relevant building, demographic, economic,
agriculture and infrastructure information in NEXIS available in a clear and unified “Exposure Report” to aid
decision-makers.
The “Exposure Report” includes a situational map of the hazard footprint to provide geographic context and
a listing of detailed exposure information consisting of estimates for number and potential cost of impacted
buildings by use, agricultural commodities and cost, the number and social vulnerability of the affected
population, and the number and lengths of infrastructure assets and institutions. Developed within an FME
workbench, the tool accepts hazard footprints and other report specifics as input before providing an HTML
link to the final output in approximately 5 minutes. The consolidation of data and streamlining of exposure
information into a simple and uniform document has greatly assisted the AGD in timely evidence-based
decision-making during the 2014-15 summer season.
Mr Robert Preston
Principal Strategy Officer, Public Safety Business Agency/Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
The redi-portal: An innovative Risk Evaluation and Disaster Information. Tool-box for Disaster Managers in
Queensland
The question of who or what is at risk from natural disasters is of particular importance to emergency
planners in Queensland, as one of Australia’s most disaster-prone prone states. Flooding, cyclones, and
storms have taken 43 lives and cost approximately $14 billion in government-funded disaster recovery and
relief over the past 7 years.
A new redi (Risk Evaluation and Disaster Information) portal, developed by the Public Safety Business Agency
with funding from the Natural Disaster Resilience Program, will provide consistent planning and intelligence
data to a complex network of government and not-for profit organisations responsible for mitigating these
impacts. This new data warehousing and analytic toolbox will allow disaster managers to profile vulnerable
communities and infrastructure to determine who is best placed to effectively plan for and mitigate these
potential impacts.
Drawing on National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines and quantitative demographic and spatial data,
the new system allows stakeholders to quickly identify highly exposed populations, undertake pre-event
planning, and prioritise alternative treatment risks for natural disaster hot-spots. The redi-portal is
developed using an amalgam of readily accessible geographic information system, database and data
visualisation technologies in a secure cloud computing environment. Building from an assessment of
bushfire risks and cyclonic storm tide, the system will be expanded to include other natural hazards and
tools needed to address related disaster planning issues, such as emergency management capability.
The redi-portal is ideally suited to support the collaborative approach to disaster management in
Queensland, led by the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services under guidance of the Office of the
Inspector General Emergency Management.
Ms Dale Preston
Qld State Manager Preparedness & Recovery, Australian Red cross
Co-author: Ms Carolyn Patamisi, Coordinator Landholder Recovery project, Australian Red Cross
Landholder Recovery Model
The aim of the presentation is to provide an overview of the Landholder Recovery model which is a point of
reference for recovery workers supporting landholders and their families in their recovery journey.
It will provide background information about why landholders as the target group. Briefly, Bundaberg, North
Burnett, Banana, Fraser Coast areas were greatly affected by Ex Tropical Cyclone Oswald in 2013.
Subsequently, Red Cross conferred with the four councils to determine community recovery needs. The area
of most concern to them at that time was around landholder recovery. There was agreement that Red Cross
should focus their efforts on landholders.
The Landholder Recovery Project followed with one of its primary objectives being the design and
development of a Landholder Recovery Model which would assist individuals, agencies, organisations and
local and state governments when planning for and implementing short to medium term psychosocial
recovery strategies which target farmers and their families, during and following future emergency events.
The presentation will highlight the journey of discovery which included months of researching, talking,
listening, learning, gathering and editing information and experiences from those on the land and from
those who work with and support landholders in rural areas.
The result is the development of a considerations based model which focuses on the social and human
characteristics which bind our diverse farming community together, and is intended to be of practical use to
workers on the ground. Considerations include:
 an understanding of the life and struggles of landholders and disasters
 a collective coping approach to landholder support
 effective communication
 the importance of trust
While the project focused on communities in four disaster-affected local government areas, the model
based on the project findings has relevance for communities more broadly across Queensland and across
Australia.
Mr Chris Quin
Project Sponsor, Ergon Energy
Ergon Energy's Cyclone Area Reliability Enhancement (CARE) Program: Disaster Risk Reduction in Action
Since 2001 Ergon Energy has systematically improved the natural disaster resilience of North Queensland's
power supply through the Cyclone Area Reliability Enhancement (CARE) Program.
This presentation details the drivers and objectives behind the CARE Program, and how Ergon Energy has
met its disaster preparedness objectives over the life of the program.
By fusing the dual approaches of disaster risk reduction and project management, Ergon has increased the
resilience of its assets, and decreased power restoration times in the CARE target area. This has provided the
foundation for a more successful disaster response, not just for Ergon but for many of the organisations that
we support, and in turn, a more rapid recovery for communities.
Aspects of the program discussed will include the program scope, methodology for how projects were
selected for execution as part of the program, and how the project selection process created value for
money for different regions within the CARE target area.
Although focused on the CARE program, the intention is that any organisation, whether involved in
community infrastructure or not, can take the lessons learned via CARE and actively contribute to their own
disaster risk reduction capabilities. The ultimate aim is to provide Australia with more disaster-resilient
communities.
Mr Jason Reid
State Program Manager Community Recovery, UnitingCare Community
Start with the end in mind - strengthening communities to enable a better outcome from recovery not just
to restore the status quo
When we consider the interactions of service providers in the recovery phase of any disaster or community
crisis our expectations are linked to a restorative approach. That is to say we are looking to restore
community and the individuals within them to the way things were. Should it be just about restoring
community or could it be about building community and if it were about building community what would
need to be done differently to ensure that the social fabric of community was strengthened.
Considered by many as a slow moving disaster, drought has now gripped over 75% of Queensland. While
some parts of Queensland have recently received welcome rain there are others that have received none.
How do we take what we know about a human and social response to disaster recovery and apply it to
drought, or should we look at how communities have responded to drought and apply that to the processes
within community recovery. In Queensland one of the many roles of the local disaster management group is
to ensure the community is aware of ways of mitigating the adverse effects of an event, and preparing for,
responding to and recovering from a disaster. While local disaster management groups have not taken an
active role in responding to drought, are there lessons that can be learned from how community has
responded to drought and apply these in a broad sense to response and recovery in times of disaster.
Drawing on the learnings from drought support initiatives delivered across Queensland since 2013, this
workshop will use an interactive and participatory approach to question standard responses to human and
social recovery and explore what could be done differently to ensure that the social fabric of community is
strengthened as a result of recovery. While ideas will be presented from the experience of UnitingCare
Community, participants will play an active role in contributing to the content and outcome of the workshop.
Experiences and ideas generated during the workshop will be collated and distributed to participants to help
inform the role of local disaster management groups and service providers to ensure the community is
aware of ways of mitigating the adverse effects of an event, and preparing for, responding to and recovering
from a disaster.
Mrs Rowena Richardson
Director EM Standards, Best Practice & Evaluation, Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management
Co-authors: Ms Nicole Lott, Executive Manager, Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management
Measuring emergency management effectiveness
The Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management (IGEM) was established in Queensland in 2014
to provide assurance and advice that enables confidence in Queensland’s emergency management
arrangements. To acieve this objective, the Office led the development and implementation of an
Emergency Management Assurance Framework (the Framework) which is built on shared responsibilities for
disaster management and comprises the Standard for Disaster Management (the Standard). The Standard
establishes the performance requirements for all entities involved in disaster management and forms the
basis of Assurance Activities.
The Assurance and Excellence Development Program is the mechanism used by the IGEM to discern a level
of confidence in Queensland’s disaster management arrangements. The Program adds value to the disaster
management sector through the collation and analysis of information from the sector, and the sharing of
knowledge to guide improvement.
The Program is built on the philosophy that issues should be addressed at the lowest possible level (locally)
and with the least amount of formality. The Program incorporates a suite of Assurance Activities that
collectively contribute to an understanding of the effectiveness of disaster management in Queensland. A
partnership approach is taken to developing solutions in support of a culture of innovation and
improvement. This approach supports more streamlined and relevant solutions that minimise impost on the
sector and provide maximum value for money.
The presentation will address the tiered approach to the Assurance Activities specifically highlighting the
assurance activities and associated learnings currently being undertaken by the Office. These activities
include, a system wide disaster management entity self-assessment survey applied against the Standard and
an independent review model. The review model has driven the three reviews the Office is currently
conducting.
Dr Allison Rowlands
Director Disaster Welfare, NSW MInistry for Police and Emergency Services
Ordinary people, extraordinary events: NSW case studies of psychosocial recovery after bushfire and siege
Recovery is messy and uncertain... not necessarily linear, nor is it driven predominantly by technical
challenges, but rather by social parameters (as cited by Archer et al, 2015.)
Recovery is a complex process; many writers argue that the social dimension powerfully influences broader
processes and outcomes.
The Welfare Services Functional Area (FA) in NSW has responsibility for provision of key welfare services and
financial support for families in disaster recovery. Recovery planning in the psychosocial sphere is best
managed at the local level by the existing community/social service networks and leaders, in concert with
the community. The FA therefore negotiates this transition with the local service system.
This presentation will outline our model of early psychosocial recovery informed by trauma, loss and grief,
crisis intervention and community development literature. We collaborate with local community service
networks and leaders in developing priorities for psychosocial recovery. Our work has been enhanced more
recently by incorporating strengths-based and solution-focused ways of working.
Two case studies will be presented to illustrate this approach. An explicitly solution-focused support service
was delivered in the Blue Mountains from November 2013 to August 2014. Developed from an earlier
service established in Coonabarabran in 2013 by this author, the service has been evaluated and some
findings will be summarised. The second case study describes the community level interventions delivered
by the FA during and after the Martin Place Siege in December 2014.
Discussion will demonstrate integration of theory and practice, and the flexibility of the model for natural or
human agency emergencies. Acknowledging the suffering experienced through traumatic loss and grief is
critical, while recognising individual strengths, resilience and courage. The tension in achieving this balance
contributes to the complexity of this work and the challenge this poses for all agencies that respond in
psychosocial recovery (Raphael, 2014).
Miss Tia Rowley
Volunteer Senior Field Member, Queensland State Emergency Service
Youth and Emergency Services: Why investing in today pays off tomorrow
A volunteer can be integral to the recovery of a life, community or country. Saving the Australian
Government substantial costs through unpaid work hours and productivity, the Australian volunteering
sector is vital to the economic, and overall health of our nation. Volunteer Emergency Services are
experiencing an annual increase in the median age; more mature volunteers are staying longer, while their
younger counterparts are contributing less and less. With volunteerism so crucial to the Australian economy,
a viable succession plan must be in place to ensure a sustainable future for our nation.
Outlined in Volunteering Australia’s 2011 national survey, 59.3% and 52.2% of respondents said that family
and work commitments affect their ability to volunteer, respectively. Picture the ideal volunteer; they're
adaptable, ambitious, professional and, extremely capable. The youth of today are waiting to be heard,
included and given their chance to make a difference.
After being involved with a national project for youth development in Emergency Services, these key issues
were identified throughout volunteer emergency response and recovery agencies: mentorship, culture and
values, education and training, advancement and recognition, policies and regulations and social media
engagement.
This presentation will outline how these factors influence youth recruitment, retention and the satisfaction
of the volunteer sector. How can we change the trend to ensure a proactive, cohesive and resilient
community? The future of our country depends the actions we take now to better engage and advocate for
young volunteers in Emergency Services.
Ms Susan Scarr
Community Development Officer, Bundaberg Regional Council
Recovery, Resilience and Preparedness – How to engage a recovering community, identify priorities and
initiate actions to build resilience and encourage preparedness
In response to the floods of 2010 and 2011, the then Prime Minister and Premier announced a Community
Recovery and Wellbeing Package for Queensland communities affected by these natural disasters. The
Package was jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments, through the Natural Disaster
Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA). The allocation of $20 million for a targeted Community
Development and Recovery Package over the course of two years was administered by the Local
Government Association of Queensland ( LGAQ) and the Department of Local Government. This funding
included the establishment of the Community Development Engagement Initiative (CDEI) and appointment
of Community Development Officers to work with those affected local governments and initiate projects to
aid recovery and build resilience. The CDEI culminated on the 30th June, 2013. The Community Development
Officer appointed to the Bundaberg Regional Council, Susan Scarr was reappointed in July, 2013 under the
Community Development Initiative in response to the disasters that impacted Bundaberg and the
surrounding region in early 2013. This appointment was again a two year contract, due to terminate on the
30th June, 2015.
The aim of this presentation is to outline the community engagement and consultation processes used and
highlights projects, resources and programs that have been determined to have had a positive impact on the
community. Community development initiatives and exit strategies will be discussed. Shared practice
methodology and interagency collaboration will be a major focus of this presentation. Social impact
assessments and follow up surveys to gauge ongoing recovery and preparedness processes will be
presented.
The presentation will conclude with the legacy of the disaster response programs and the benefits of the
programs to a recovering community. The question will be asked: Did the programs create a more resilient
and aware community and how can these programs continue?
Ms Jennie Schoof
State Manager Emergency Service Cadet Program Queensland, PCYC
Building the Next Generation of Emergency Service Volunteers
The PCYC Emergency Service Cadet Program is building the next generation of emergency service volunteers.
The program is delivered in collaboration with: Queensland Police Service, Queensland Ambulance Service,
State Emergency Service, Surf Life Saving Qld, Coast Guard, Volunteer Marine Rescue, Rural Fire Brigade Qld,
Queensland Fire & Rescue Service and Red Cross.
The program seeks to build the capacity of youth to be the next generation of emergency volunteers. With
the aging demographics of our emergency volunteers this program has a strong focus on delivering a
strategic transition to our services.
The program has 5 key areas: Building Leadership, Communication, Team Work, Emergency Services Skills
and theory practice, transition to emergency services through career mapping.
In late 2013 we introduced a new program called the reward and recognition program to ensure our cadets
build a volunteer ethos. This has been extremely successful; in the last 15 months they have completed 142
volunteer projects across the state with over 6438 volunteer hours being completed. This demonstrates
that youth will volunteer and want to be our future leaders we just have to have mechanism with an all
agencies approach to building their capacity through practical application and mentoring.
An investment now in youth means a well skilled and dedicated future for emergency services.
Dr Jurg Schutz
Research Scientist, CSIRO
Wildfire-Specific Respiratory Protection
Currently available respiratory devices afford varying degrees of protection from either airborne particulates
or toxic gases. A smaller number afford protection for both. However, toxic gases and particulates don’t
represent the combined health hazards to which firefighters are exposed in wildland fires. Radiant heat,
direct flame, and physiological stress represent additional hazards to health and safety which are not always
effectively provided in commercially available off the shelf respiratory protection devices. Ease of
employment, robustness and compactness of design are also critical elements in the design of effective
respiratory protective devices for field use. Design options for improved respiratory protection devices are
discussed and supported by experimental results.
Mr Mike Shapland
Director, Interoperability and Innovation, Office of the Inspector-General Emergency Management
Sharing information in disasters - enabling a common view and understanding
The Queensland Police and Community Safety Review of 2013 recommended (inter alia) that all agencies
participating in [disaster management] activities should, as far as legally possible, share data sets whether or
not the relevance is immediately obvious.
They did so for good reason, finding a lack of a timely and accurate means of accessing current information,
a network where systems do not share data, are not accessible to others, and add little or no value to the
system as a whole and that the inability to provide disaster managers and Government with confidence in a
single-point-of-truth remains a major vulnerability to the successful management of any disaster event in
Queensland.•
In 2013 the newly-formed Office of the Inspector General Emergency Management was made responsible
for the recommendation and has been working since towards a solution. That work has shown there is no
silver bullet, however employing a methodical approach to the underlying issue has the greatest chance of
delivering success.
The Office of the IGEM approach is based on four lines of work:
 Establishing the context
 Raising awareness
 Leveraging wider policy
 Facilitating a solution
The presentation will cover how, early in 2013, a survey of government and government-owned
corporations showed the difficulty of discovering data, and set the context to the problem. Additionally, the
presentation will cover awareness-raising initiatives facilitated by the Office of IGEM and how wider
government policy and initiatives contributed to the emergence of a solution. Finally the presentation will
tell the story of the development of a solution with wide-ranging implications for how disaster management
business is carried out.
Ms Kate Siebert
Executive Officer Emergency Management, Yarra Ranges Council
Co-authors: Ms Catherine Nelsson, Community Emergency Planning Officer Risk, Emergency & Community
Safety, Yarra Ranges Council
Ms Kym Mallamaci, Relief & Recovery Coordinator, Yarra Ranges Council
Bridging the Chasm. Connecting communities to Municipal, Regional & State plans through community
Emergency Management Planning
During the development of the Yarra Ranges Municipal Fire Management Plan in 2011/12, it was quickly
realised that there was an absence of community input into emergency planning. When reflecting on the
response, relief and recovery efforts of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires, it was evident that the community were
on the outside of formally established emergency planning. With the exception of Community Fireguard
groups, there was no apparent connection between local communities and broader, more formal municipal
and regional planning.
Since that time, Yarra Ranges have piloted two Community Emergency Management Plans in two very
different communities with great success, to bridge the chasm between communities and formal structures
when it comes to emergency planning. This process supports local communities to develop community led
emergency plans which reflect local needs and priorities. These plans enable communities to work step-bystep through each of the stages of planning, preparedness, response and recovery, building self-reliance and
capacity to respond to emergencies.
Mr Andrew Singh
Director Business Development, Australian Institute of Police Management
Public Safety Leadership - Shaping a bowling ball with sharp edges
Behind each of the conference topics, sits the same question ‘who is going to do it?’ The answer is always
going to be the same, a leader who is willing to do something different?
Doing something different is never easy. Public safety leaders have little room for failure. But change they
must. Leadership in public safety is at a crossroad. Legitimacy depends on their pace of change matching
technological change as well as public and political expectations. This requires both a change in thinking
from our leaders, but a reassessment of who are our leaders. Without cultural change on the inside, how
can you expect to influence the public, volunteers and at risk groups.
Change is never linear and we currently have two trends at odds with each other. First is the shift is to the
super-organisation. Mergers are supposed to provide increased efficiencies and capabilities. But have we
escaped the industrial and structural legacy of individual agencies? Are there simply too many people, who
have too much to lose, to deliver on this potential?
Technology, more than ever, is enabling the development of fast and light capabilities operating on the edge
of organisations. It is also redefining relationships between organisations and the public. But are these new
capabilities being fully realised, or just being grudgingly accommodated?
The trends of centralisation and decentralisation are part of an ongoing squall, clouding the ability of leaders
to navigate successfully to find and implement answers to the challenges within each of the Conference’s
topics.
Leadership provides both the foundation and the pivot point to address these challenges. In this
presentation we will discuss how the AIPM’s new approaches are supporting the emergence of new and
changed leadership within emergency management organisations.
Mr John Stalker
Program Coordinator, Council on the Ageing
Safeguarding Vulnerable Seniors - Are we doing enough?
Across all recent major natural disasters in recent history including the Victorian Black Saturday Fires, the
2011 Queensland Floods, Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina in the United States and the March, 2011 Earthquake
and Tsunami in Japan, the age cohort that suffered the largest number of fatalities and severe injuries were
those in the senior age bracket.
The number of seniors resident in Australia is forecast to increase substantially over the coming decade. In
Queensland alone it is estimated that persons 60 years plus will grow from 825,170 in 2011 to 1,171,792 in
2021 (Queensland Government,2013). This growth represents a substantial increase in this vulnerable age
group as people live longer with greater frailty.
At present in Queensland, as well as in most other Australian States, there are no clear state-wide strategies
in place that provide vulnerable seniors with the necessary support required to prepare for a disaster,
survive the event and then restore life to some level of normality afterwards. COTA Queensland organised a
forum as part of Seniors Week 2014 to bring key stakeholders together to discuss whether there is scope for
improvement in supporting vulnerable seniors during natural disasters, and if so, to identify what
approaches might best achieve this.
This paper will present the outcomes of the forum and explore what are we currently doing to manage
vulnerable seniors during natural disasters? Are these measures adequate? If not, how do we change the
current approach? It will also explore who should be responsible for this change process. Key developments
and lessons from overseas will also be examined in regard to applicability for Australia.
Mr Darren Stevenson
Managing Partner, Emergency Planning Solutions
"Who's In Charge" - The best person for the job should be doing the job
The dynamic nature and complexity of emergency planning and management impacts the role of Emergency
Managers. Currently in the emergency service industry in Australia there is numerous legislation that places
the responsibility of planning and managing emergencies and disasters on a particular Rank or Grade of an
Officer, this is irrespective of whether that person has the expertise or even the interest to complete that
function or not.
This is not dissimilar in private enterprise where there are examples of Managers and Directors performing
the role as Continuity and Emergency Planners and in particular Emergency and Incident Managers based
solely on the fact that they are the boss or In Charge. But should they really be in charge?
With emergency events and large scale crisis within business being highly publicised and scrutinised through
media and public enquiries, it is imperative that Emergency Managers are selected through targeted
recruitment, and possess the skills and ability to perform to public expectation. This would require changes
to guiding legislation and organisational policies to nominate responsibility to Emergency Managers as
selected rather than to a specific Rank or Grade Officer.
Private enterprise need to value this process and suitably recruit and train specialist to perform these roles
within their business. Perhaps the most challenging component of this view is to change the culture of
thinking amongst those in Senior Management that the boss may not always be the best person to be in
charge. Considering that there may be subordinates that possess more qualifications, skills and ability, and
importantly the interest to manage an organisation through an emergency event. Difficulties faced in this
cultural change challenge is being able to remove the egos from those currently responsible for Emergency
Management and allowing the best person for the job to do the job without trepidation.
Mr Stuart Stuart
State Manager, Victorian Council of Churches
Building an inclusive collaborative model of early intervention and support in relief and recovery
There has been a strong historical emphasis among mental health professionals on the mitigation of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of trauma-affected individuals resulting from natural disasters. Researchers
and practitioners have developed numerous psychological tests and methods to identify and treat those
who are likely to go on to develop PTSD. Included in the repertoire of treatment methods are Psychological
First Aid, Critical Incident Stress Management, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as a part of a continuum of
care. In practice, many of these treatment methods are employed sometime after the disaster has taken
place, usually in and beyond the identified timeframe of recovery.
PTSD is only one psychological condition arising from disasters. Many people experience a range of
emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual affects, not all of which develop into long-term conditions.
Few people will progress to PTSD.
Much of what is currently practiced as personal support in the early stages (relief) of a disaster consists of
shelter, food and water, information and registration. Often, little consideration is given to the broader
psycho-social-spiritual needs of individuals on the basis that people are not ready to process the event and
to do so could do harm. The provision of basic needs is all that people need!
There is no current agreement in the professional field of traumatology as to the most useful intervention to
mitigate against long term mental health issues nor the timing of that intervention. Some argue that early
intervention has no value as people are still focussed on their own safety and security and most will recover
naturally without intervention.
Recently re discovered material of Mazlow’s theory of basic human needs challenges the way in which future
policies and processes might be developed. The re dicovered version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has
several important implications for theory and research in personality and social psychology. It provides a
basis for closer integration of the psychology of religion and spirituality into both personality and social
psychology and a more multicultural integrated approach to psychological theory.
In this presentation, I suggest that early intervention is important to support the re establishment of
belonging for affected communities and individuals. The use of Emotional Spiritual Care techniques and
support engages people holistically, does not compartmentalise people’s needs thereby addresses the whole
person.
Mr Jack Thomson
Research Associate, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney
Co-authors: A/Prof Pierre Mukheibir, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of
Technology, Sydney
Dr Timothy Prior, Head - Risk and Resilience Research Team, Centre for Security Studies, Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology
A/Prof Roelof Plant, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney
Participatory development of Early Warning Systems for general system resilience
Early Warning Systems (EWS) for known rapid onset threats are generally well established in industrial
nations, but frequently less so in developing countries. In both contexts however, EWS able to capture
multiple slower onset threats and indicators of general system resilience are comparatively less advanced or
understood. In a world increasingly connected by transboundary drivers such as climate change and
globalized markets, this shortfall represents additional risk. Understanding how slow onset changes
influence overall resilience and the capacity to respond to rapid onset shocks may prove central to improving
local-level disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the prevention of flow-on transboundary impacts.
A case study was undertaken into DRR amongst three communities in the tropics of southern Lao PDR.
Located between the Thai and Vietnam borders, the region is dependent on rain-fed agriculture and is
indicative of communities most vulnerable to climate change globally. A participatory approach was taken to
develop a framework for the identification and comparison of current community resilience, its implications
for future DRR, and the potential configuration of more effective EWS. The framework has three main
components. A - system configuration, focusing on boundaries and constituents; livelihoods; and
organisation. B - system dynamics, assessed through a lens of past and current hazards, both rapid shock and
slow onset stress, and associated relationships between coping and adaptation. C - system trajectories,
whereby participant risk perception is contrasted with scenarios of future resilience, namely persistence,
transition, and transformation. This information was used in a collaborative process to develop provisional
EWS indicators of general resilience and system thresholds.
Results indicate that recent slower onset changes have provided new opportunities, but have also exposed
communities to new risks, eroded overall system diversity, rendered many traditional coping strategies
unviable, and furthered the likelihood of out-migration in the event of any threshold-level crisis.
Prof Elizabeth Toomey
Professor in Law, University of Canterbury
Co-authors: Prof Jeremy Finn, Professor of Law, University of Canterbury
Mr Henry Holderness, Lecturer, University of Canterbury
Paying Out After a Natural Disaster: The Earthquake Commission, Private Insurance and Red-Zone Payouts
after the Canterbury (New Zealand) Earthquakes
The 2010-2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, presented many post-earthquake problems. Some
were solved promptly; others still linger four years on. In any natural disaster, the process of distributing
losses from disaster damage is complicated. What are the liabilities of the victim, private insurers and the
state?
In the Canterbury scenario the Earthquake Commission (EQC), a government-owned entity, was the first
Government agency involved. EQC is funded by a small levy on paid on all residential property insurance
policies in return for which EQC becomes the first-tier insurer for natural disaster damage up to a statutory
maximum of $100,000 (+ GST). Any balance is the responsibility of the homeowner’s private insurer.
Uninsured properties are not covered.
This system looks simple on paper. In post-earthquake Canterbury, its operation was plagued with
difficulties. Was EQC responsible for just one earthquake or each significant earthquake or after-shock?
What about the citizens who could not, or did not, insure their property? The problems were compounded
where the land in question wasred-zoned as unrepairable at least in the short term, and the Government,
through a different process, offered to buy out the property owners. This paper analyses the statistics of the
payouts of the flatland residential red-zoned properties, the complicated role of Government and some
interesting trends as the payout tranches progressed.
While EQC struggled with thousands of dwelling owners lodging multiple claims, private insurers, largely at
the behest of their reinsurers, tightened their belts. This inevitably resulted in significant litigation with
many cases being appealed to the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court. This paper analyses some of these
court decisions and their consequences, particularly where the Supreme Court overturned decisions on
which owners, insurers and EQC had relied.
Dr Vicki Trethowan
Crisis Counselling Practitioner/Consultant, Crisis Counselling Services
Co-author: Ms Jane Nursey, Senior Clinical Specialist, Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
Children and young people are a vulnerable cohort in the wake of a disaster/emergency: A strategic
approach to building resilience and coping skills
Devastating fires and floods in recent years have exposed many Australian children to significant loss, death
and destruction. The majority of children and young people exposed to disasters would be expected to
recover after experiencing an initial period of distress. Others may endure a more prolonged recovery period
and continue to experience mild to moderate distress over the ensuing weeks and months. A small
percentage may be expected to go on to develop more significant mental health problems. The Victorian
Education Department funded a two-phase project aimed at training and skilling teachers to provide
evidence informed support to students throughout their recovery.
Phase 1 involved the training of teachers in the principles of Psychological First Aid (PFA). Teachers
implementing PFA with students in the immediate aftermath of a potentially traumatic event can help ease
painful emotions, encourage hope and promote healing. The process of tailoring PFA for the school setting
and the rollout of the training program will be described.
The second phase of the project involved developing an on-line training package for teachers designed to
assist them to provide in classroom support to students who may experience a more prolonged recovery
period. The Department enlisted the support of the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
(ACPMH) to adapt the Skills for Psychological Recovery program (SPR). This program teaches children and
young people 5 skills that will help to promote their natural recovery process, build their resilience and
promote self-efficacy.
This workshop will give Teachers, Psychologists and Social Workers useful ideas and strategies that can help
foster children and young people’s resilience and coping skills in the wake of an emergency or disaster.
Dr Rob van den Hionert
Deputy Director, Risk Frontiers
A Framework for Natural Disaster Mitigation Decision Making
Australia is exposed to natural disasters on a recurring basis, which have significant financial, economic and
social costs. The impacts and costs of such disasters events can be expected to increase in the future with
population growth and expanding urbanisation in coastal and bushland areas.
Current Commonwealth funding arrangements are heavily weighted towards disaster recovery, which
reduces the economic incentive for state, territory and local governments to mitigate disaster risk. As such,
natural disaster costs have become a growing, unfunded liability for governments (Productivity Commission
2014). Effective planning and mitigation of natural hazard risks by reducing exposure and vulnerability to
hazards is thus an essential task for government.
One step in ANZEMC’s mitigation value chain is the selection of the best mitigation option for a given
location exposed to natural hazard risk. This paper describes a transparent and robust decision support
framework to evaluate and compare potentially suitable natural disaster mitigation options to ensure
consistent and reliable decision making in the face of limited financial resources.
The overall objective is a prioritisation of a number of potential mitigation projects, based on criteria
entailing risk reduction to the community (largely in line with the consequence categories of the NERAG),
and social benefits to the community, i.e. those with social, environmental or economic impacts. Whilst it is
desired to minimise the social and environmental impacts (or better still, improve them, if this is possible) of
a project, at the same time it is desirable to maximise the positive economic impacts.
The framework makes use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) suitable for analysing financial costs and benefits as
well as multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) which is more suited to analysing qualitative costs and
benefits, such as some social and environmental costs and benefits. Use of the framework will be
demonstrated, and implementation issues discussed.
Mr Mark Wallace
Public Safety Manager, Esri Australia
Co-authors: Iain Mackenzie, Inspector General Emergency Management, Queensland Government
Mark Crosweller, Director General, Emergency Management Australia
Tracey Allen, Acting Chief Officer, ACT SES
Cr David Batt, Deputy Mayor, Bundaberg Regional Council
Improving the business of disaster management
The growing number of recent large-scale disasters has sparked a renewed demand for disaster managers to
focus on better catastrophic planning.
Research indicates that in order to narrow the response time to a disaster event, the right management
frameworks must be in place from the start.
To achieve this, government agencies, NGO’s, utility providers and disaster management organisations are
seeking new ways to work collaboratively to deliver more efficient front line services and better public
engagement strategies.
Responders are tapping into crowd-sourced information and live data feeds to provide stakeholders with the
intelligence needed to make accurate and timely decisions. Information sharing and cross agency
collaboration initiatives are helping to form a common situational awareness to facilitate an effective, coordinated response.
Each of these initiatives bring responders one step closer to building the country’s resilience. However, what
are the next steps and how can we provide better outcomes in the early stages of a disaster?
In this session, a panel of Australia’s most respected senior emergency management leaders will come
together to discuss the strategies, barriers and future possibilities of delivering better disaster management
to help protect our nation in the face of a disaster.
Mr Graeme Watson
Community Safety Coordinator, Fire and Rescue NSW
Co-authors: Mr Michael Ollerenshaw, Manager Community Engagement Unit, Fire and Rescue NSW
Mr Chris Fish, Team Leader, Partnership, Evaluation and Marketing, Fire and Rescue NSW
The “Station Risk Profile” – Effectively engaging our ‘at-risk’ communities
Aims of Presentation
Demonstrate how household-level segmentation data can galvanise fire risk mitigation strategies:
Describe the process of applying segmentation data to predict where home fires may occur in the future for
more efficient and effective engagement strategies.
Provide a system to front-line emergency service personnel to support an evidence-based approach in
identifying those most at risk, and outline how household level segmentation data is shaping local
engagement activity to ensure at risk communities are better prepared.
Contents
AIRS fire incident data reports the number and type of emergencies to which FRNSW respond. Tracking and
trending incident data has indicated some variables in residential structure fires, providing patterns such as
the time of year, area of fire origin and ignition factors. While we have sophisticated data collection of
emergency incident information, the system does not capture information relating to the people
experiencing incidents.
Our organisation had limited ability to translate what the reported incidents might mean for the level of risk
in other, similar households. Traditionally, community safety activities were delivered to at risk households,
such as the elderly and those with young children.
FRNSW identified the opportunity to work with Experian, a global marketing services and data company and
overlaid Mosaic household segmentation codes to seven years of home fire incident data. This enabled
FRNSW to identify the types of households that were most at risk of fire and injury, based on the profile of
past incidents across the 49 Mosaic Types.
Having identified the household types that were two, three or even four times more likely to have a fire
and/or injury than the State average, FRNSW was equipped to focus resources on the right households to
help mitigate risk
Firefighters then needed access to this information, allowing them to determine which households within
their station area to target when delivering risk mitigation activities.
Conclusions
The household community segmentation offers an additional level of granularity that allows FRNSW to
identify and target households most at risk, rather than just areas, enabling fire crews to deliver effective
prevention activities according to local needs.
FRNSW can now direct station level activity to engage with those households with similar profiles to those
that have had more fires in the past.
Dr Rachel Westcott
Veterinarian, SAVEM/UWS/BNHCRC
Animal Emergency Management: Response and Recovery Experience and lessons from the Sampson Flat
Fire, South Australia, January 2015
The January 2015 Sampson Flat bushfire in the Adelaide Hills, was a "one-in-30 year" event in South
Australia, and presented animal Emergency Management (EM) challenges. Since the 2009 Victorian Black
Saturday fires, South Australia's preparedness and response has been strengthened by better integration
between animal agencies, and by the evolution of South Australian Veterinary Emergency Management
(SAVEM) as a Veterinarian-based Response agency.
In the South Australian Government's State Emergency Management Plan, the Department of Primary
Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) leads the Agriculture and Animal Services Functional Service.
The next formal layer down comprises Participating Agencies - those agencies with a specific role or skill set
in animal Emergency Management and SAVEM is one of these. While PIRSA's own Animal Health teams
assess livestock, and assist primary producers, SAVEM works with all animal species, in rescue, triage,
treatment and recovery.
This practical manifestation of jurisdictional on-paper plans and Emergency Management theory is not
confined to animal outcomes. This is demonstrated by the increasing body of academic work which notes
the interconnection between human well-being and animal well-being in natural hazard Emergencies.
Currently, the Managing Animals in Disasters (MAiD) project underway as part of the Bushfire and Natural
Hazards CRC, is investigating how human behaviour in Emergencies, individual and organizational, is affected
by human-animal interaction, and interaction with Emergency Services.
Significant psychosocial support was offered by the Veterinary teams to the community at the Sampson Flat
fire, and this was generously reciprocated. This observation further validates the importance of animals
among individual and community level recovery and resilience. This presentation by the SAVEM
Coordinator, who is also a PhD candidate on the MAiD project, will provide an overview of the animal
Emergency Management Response to the Sampson Flat fire, and how this translates academic theory into
effective, practical operational experience.
Dr Rebecca Wickes
Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland
Co-authors: A/Prof Lynda Cheshire, Associate Professor, Sociology, The University of Queensland
A/Prof Jonathan Corcoran, Associate Professor, Geography, The University of Queensland
Dr Peter Walters, Lecturer, Sociology The University of Queensland
Dr Melanie Taylor, Occupational Psychologist, Centre for Health Research, The University of Western Sydney
Ms Renee Zahnow, [email protected], The University of Queensland
Perspectives on Resilience: A case study of the 2011 Brisbane Floods
In Australia and internationally, understanding and enhancing Community Resilience (CR) is a high priority as
we face significant environmental and national security challenges. However, given the sudden and
unexpected nature of disasters and/or threats, current research only provides post event evaluations of CR.
This panel brings together a program of research concerned with understanding the key community
processes and social structures associated with CR before and after the 2011 Brisbane floods.
Drawing on administrative data, pre and post disaster survey data and interviews with key stakeholders and
local residents, we identify how access to differential resources prior to and following the flood influenced
community resilience and individual post-disaster functioning for English speaking and non-English speaking
people. As disaster impact can threaten CR, we consider how to best represent disaster severity through the
development of a spatial index that attempts to holistically capture flood impact across geographical
communities. Finally, we critically engage with the social and political forces that drive shared expressions of
solidarity and a city-wide sense of community in the post-disaster context. Collectively these presentations
will provide important insights into the rebuilding and recovery of affected areas and a comparative
evidence base to research and policy that will assist in preparing for future disasters in Australia and
elsewhere.
Mr Harold Wolpert
Chief Executive Officer, AVALIAS
Emergency Management – Managing Lessons Learned to mitigate risk in future events.
This workshop to be led by Avalias CEO Harold Wolpert, will help you to identify vital hidden elements of
emergency operations planning - the lessons identified and learned along the way.
From real events, training initiatives, exercises and your Incident Response and Business Continuity Plans,
every organisation can extract vital lessons that can help reduce the risk of future gaps.
We will discuss the elements of a Lessons Identified and Learned framework and explore the various
evaluation methods to identify lessons learned from real events, exercises, training activities and other areas
- all necessary to maintain an effective Lessons Learned capability.
The workshop will also discuss managing multi-organisational lessons learned and how a “whole of
community” coordinated response can assist in breaking down barriers and improving standards of
effectiveness. Participate in an interactive discussion to identify ways to plan and maintain control of a
Lessons Learned repository, and how to engage your organisation in supporting the use of this valuable
information.
Even if you already have an Emergency or Business Continuity Plan, this is an opportunity to see how you
could learn from others to improve your organisations’ Lessons Learned processes.
Interactive discussions and examples will help everyone to learn valuable lessons for the future.
"Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it."
Winston Churchill
Ms Juliette Wright
Founder/CEO, GiVIT
GIVIT; A World First: A unique web based 'virtual warehouse'• to efficiently and effectively manage the
offers of assistance during the recovery from a natural disaster
GIVIT is an online Not For Profit organisation that matches real community needs and urgent requests for
goods and services with the resources of donors. It does this through the use of its Queensland-developed
and unique web based virtual warehouse that eliminates the need for organisations to physically collect and
store donations.
In 2013, the Queensland Government has contracted GIVIT to manage all offers of donated goods and
services, including corporate offers of assistance, during the recovery of communities from natural disasters
as part of a two year trial. The service aims to harness the goodwill and generosity of corporate and other
donors wishing to donate goods and services and ensure that these offers are followed up and acted upon in
a timely manner. It also aims to enable GIVIT, in conjunction with affected local governments, to identify the
needs of the community in disaster recovery and if necessary, broker donations to meet specific requests.
GIVIT provides an effective referral pathway for managing offers of goods and services in response to a
disaster. GIVIT’s website allows people and organisations to pledge items and services and match the items
with people in need via requests from local government and front line services. It then arranges for the
goods and services to go directly from the donor to the recipient, so there are no unsolicited or poor quality
donations or warehousing requirements which can present a major administrative burden to recovery
agencies.
Working with local government disaster/recovery committees, GIVIT identifies and if necessary brokers
donations to meet specific needs.
This program constitutes excellent value for money. It reduces the need for Government agencies to
respond to and manage the spontaneous donations of goods and services during disasters by relieving
Government of the need to redirect valuable resources away from the critical response and recovery
activities. Case workers and front line agencies using GIVIT’s online resources can focus on working
effectively with their clients in supportive programs rather than physically searching for goods, clothing and
other items for those in need.
GIVIT's unique "virtual warehouse" capability received strong feedback and support during the recovery of
Cooktown from the impact of Tropical Cyclone Ida in April 2014.
Mr Rod Young
National Emergency Response Manager, Telstra
Telstra Emergency Network Equipment and Emergency Service Liaison Officers (ESLO's)
Telstra is Australia's largest Telecommunication Company and has many innovative and world leading
solutions to support emergency services and the community during disasters
This presentation will review the capability of Telstra's mobile emergency network elements that can be
deployed during disasters including Mobile Exchange on Wheels (MEOW), Cell on Wheels (COW) and more
included will be an overview of Telstra ESLO's their critical role in supporting the community during disasters
Poster Presentations
Mr Abdulellah Al Thobaity
PhD candidate, (School of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash
University
Co-authors: A/Prof Virginia Plummer, School of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and
Health Sciences, Monash University
A/Prof Brett Williams, School of Nursing and Midwifery Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences,
Monash University
Disaster nursing roles and core competencies: A pilot study using exploratory factor analysis
Background
To ensure that nurses are emotionally, psychologically, and professionally prepared to work confidently and
competently and save people’s lives before, during, and after disasters, they must have the necessary
knowledge and skills for disaster management and understand their roles in the disaster management
process. However, the core competencies of disaster nursing, nurses roles in disaster management, and the
barriers to developing disaster nursing education and training in Saudi Arabia are not clearly understood.
Thus, these topics need further research.
Objectives
The objective is to develop a tool that identifies and explores the core competencies of disaster nursing in
Saudi Arabia, nurses roles in disaster management, and the barriers to developing disaster-nursing
education and training in Saudi Arabia.
Methods
Prior to the pilot study, a new instrument was developed, validity was tested and test-retest reliability was
measured. The pilot study used a purposive sample of nurses from an emergency department in Saudi
Arabia. The participants rated 93 paper-based self-reporting questionnaire items from 1 to 10 on a Likert
scale. Principal component analysis (PCA) using Varimax rotation was conducted to explore the factors that
emerged from nurses responses.
Findings
A total of 132 nurses participated in the study (66% response rate). The PCA of the 93 items revealed 49
redundant items, which were deleted, and 3 factors with eigenvalues of >1 in the remaining 44 items,
accounting for 77.3% of the total variance. The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.96 for all factors: 0.98 for
factor one, 0.92 factors two and 0.86 for factor three.
Conclusions
This study provided empirical findings on disaster nursing’s core competencies, roles, barriers for developing
disaster-nursing education and training in Saudi Arabia.
Mrs Lisa Cameron de Vries
Technical Director, Phoenix Resilience
Creating resilience in chaos
Australian organisations are exposed to a diverse range of hazards which occur under relatively stable
conditions. However, in conditions of instability and resource scarcity, the difficulty in managing risk is
further increased; what if you’re operating in an environment without a transport network, reliable
infrastructure, political and social stability or a functioning legal system?
This presentation describes:
1.
The complexity of challenges faced when managing emergencies in war zones
2.
Innovative solutions to improve emergency management performance
Ms Eleanor Carter
Emergency Services Regional Coordinator SQ, Australian Red Cross
Co-author: Ms Claire Smith, Emergency Sheltering Officer, Australian Red Cross
Preferred Emergency Sheltering Practices in Australia
Emergency sheltering is ‘beyond the four walls and roof of an evacuation or relief centre'. As well as
providing basic needs, a humanitarian response is required. Australian Red Cross knows from managing
evacuation or relief centres, that the more we are connected with agencies and communities and are
collectively prepared with planning our response to support people affected by disasters, the more
considered and ready our response will be when a disaster occurs.
Internationally, a Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response (The Sphere
Project) reflects the determination of agencies to improve effectiveness and accountability to make a
difference in the lives of people affected by disasters, mainly in third world countries.
In Australia, a first world country, there have been no such set of standards until now. Australian Red Cross
workers, Claire Smith (Emergency Sheltering Project) and Bob Handby (Ambassador and International
Delegate) have recently collaborated, along with local government Disaster Management Officers and
Environmental Health Officers and others, to further develop the Preferred Sheltering Practices for
Emergency Sheltering in Australia (the application of international humanitarian best practice) after 2 years
trial in the field. The Preferred Sheltering Practices have a single purpose to establish common minimum
requirements in disaster planning to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare for those
seeking emergency sheltering.
The Preferred Sheltering Practices outline the management of five sets of life-saving actions including water
supply, sanitation, waste, shelter and space, and the new addition, food. Key actions, key indicators and
guidance considerations for the local context are provided to support disaster management planners and
practitioners. The aim of the presentation is to outline the five sets of Preferred Sheltering Practices
captured in infographs, and will conclude with practical scenarios emanating from recent flood events that
reinforce the importance of the sheltering practices.
Mrs Kelly Dixon
PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology
Co-authors: A/Prof Jane Shakespeare-Finch, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology
Prof Ian Shochet, Professor, Queensland University of Technology
Stress during the rebuilding phase influenced mental health following two Queensland flood disasters
It has long been known that disasters can have mental health consequences such as increased rates of PTSD,
depression and anxiety. While some research has shown that secondary stressors during the aftermath of a
disaster can influence psychological outcomes, this aspect of the disaster experience has not been widely
studied. This paper reports on two studies that investigated which aspects of the experience of being
flooded were most predictive of mental health outcomes.
The first study was a qualitative study of adults whose homes had been inundated in the Mackay flood of
2008 (n=16). Thematic analysis of interviews conducted 18-20 months post-flood found that stressors during
the flood aftermath such as difficulties and delays during the rebuilding process and a difficult experience
with an insurance company were nominated as the most stressful aspect of the flood by the majority of
participants. The second study surveyed Mackay flood survivors three and a half years post-flood, and
Brisbane 2011 flood survivors 7-9 months post-flood (n=158).
Findings indicated aftermath stress contributed to mental health outcomes over and above the contribution
of perceived trauma, objective flood severity, prior mental health, self-efficacy and demographic factors. The
implications of these results for the provision of community recovery services following natural disasters will
be discussed, including the need to provide effective targeting of support services throughout the lengthy
rebuilding phase; a possible role for co-ordinating tradespeople; and training for insurance company staff
aimed at minimising the incidence of insurance company staff inadvertently adding to disaster victims stress.
Mr Matt Dorfstaetter
Senior Risk and Planning Officer, Emergency Management Victoria, Department of Justice
Co-author: Greg Christopher
All-Hazard Emergency Risk Assessments: Incorporating Contemporary Emergency Management Concepts
for Improved Outcomes
For about two decades an emergency risk management methodology, which aligns to an international risk
standard has been adopted in Australia (EMA, 2004), due to its suitability to deal with the complexities of
emergency management in a systematic manner. Emergency risk assessment, which is a part of emergency
risk management, can be broadly described as a strategic thinking exercise for prioritising risks. The results
of such assessments usually offer decision makers an evidence-based information foundation for improving
the effectiveness, suitability and adequacy of emergency management strategies.
This paper questions if emergency risk assessments are designed appropriately to reflect the contemporary
shifts in Australia’s emergency management culture. It supports the rationale for using emergency risk
assessments as a tool to drive cultural shifts from within the emergency management sector. Further, it
explores and exemplarily outlines a modified assessment process that underpins key cultural shifts to
improve overall process results.
Moreover, the paper identifies and provides examples to overcome common issues and shortfalls in
emergency risk assessments. It is argued that emergency risk assessments are often process and output
focused, hence do not realise their outcome potential. The paper highlights the potential to use emergency
risk assessments beyond generating a risk register and provides practical solutions for issues much too
familiar to emergency management practitioners.
Mr Rick Draper
Principal Advisor & Managing Director, Amtac Professional Services Pty Ltd
Accurate location identification for emergency response: Leveraging multipurpose unique identifiers
Knowing where you are is fundamental to feeling safe and confident in any environment. As users become
more familiar with an environment, certain features become spatial cues that enable them to estimate
distance and time from other locations. Most people have had a moment where they are not quite sure
where they are; and then they see a particular landmark, tree or change in landscape and inwardly say to
themselves, Oh, I know where I am. Users who are unfamiliar with an area rely on signage and other formal
way-finding support strategies to assist them.
Being able to share accurate location information with others is both a part of feeling safe and of enjoying
public space. Telling friends or family where to meet is made easier by clear signage and location
information. And if you are injured or otherwise in need of emergency assistance, being able to direct a
third party to your precise location is a fundamental consideration.
This paper discusses an Open Data project that facilitates access to a consolidated dataset, based on unique
identifiers that cross what might otherwise be problematic jurisdictional boundaries. The dataset is available
in a range of different formats to suit a variety of GIS applications, with the data associated with each
identifier also being publicly accessible through a simple web interface.
The paper will use a case study based on a detailed review of a shared use bikeway / pedestrian pathway to
illustrate the challenges of communicating precise location, even within heavily urbanised areas. It will also
present a range of opportunities to use location identifiers to not only improve emergency response and
public safety, but also deliver efficiency dividends and enhance the experience for members of the general
public using the space.
Mr Neville Garnham
Director, Today4Tomorrow Group Pty Ltd
Nature abhors a vacuum & finds human rule inadequate
The Industrial Revolution and subsequent events have specialised occupations reducing integrated thinking
and fracturing an integrated psyche in many leading to Rising levels of aggression
Rising levels of stress & depression, especially <25yo
Rising youth suicide, and broader mental health issues
Inadequate life and work coping skills.
Unless addressed, it will become more difficult for those dedicated to dealing with disasters.
Cultural
Each person needs to become more risk aware and assessment capable;
dampen beliefs like "it won't happen to me" or "I'm/we're different";
develop personal responsibility and ownership of what happens giving positive change within communities,
nations & the world.
We need a broader spectrum of community involved in changing beliefs, misconceptions and mythologies.
Public
"There's no such thing as an accident!"
We must think differently with different messages in our advertising. We've "had an accident", so we ring
our insurer and are comforted that it's now shuffled off to being "someone else's problem!"
We're still trying to reduce the road toll (both death and injury), yet people don't believe they drive a lethal
weapon. We still have advertising that glorifies "speediness" or "power" of vehicles. It might not say it; but,
it's there visually.
To win hearts and minds particularly younger generations, we must think differently about policies and flowon-rules and shift people from virtual to real reality.
Organisational
Too often, policy puts categorisation on groups and doesn't properly work through the people implications.
We need clear previous "markers" to measure against
Organisations need top priority for disaster planning
Clear understanding that uncertainty has no standard
Need better information distribution to staff & public.
Supporting material
Examples are drawn from 40+ years of P3M initiatives and general management, and from being an Exec
Manager in the 2011 Brisbane floods.
Ms Carol Gutierrez
Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia
Vicarious Trauma: Managing the Inevitable
The term vicarious trauma is often associated with the cost of caring for others. It refers to the detrimental
impacts suffered by people who are indirectly exposed to traumatic material, in particular workers in helping
professions such as Disaster & Emergency Services, Police, Health, Social Work and Counselling. Vicarious
trauma presents a serious work, health and safety risk for employers, and can produce significant and
prolonged human and financial costs in the following areas: employee physical and mental wellbeing, work
performance, unplanned absences, attrition rates, and compensation claims, and workplace culture.
Although the risk of vicarious traumatisation for professionals who work in trauma context cannot be fully
eliminated, the effects of vicarious trauma can be ameliorated if they are addressed proactively on both
individual and organisational levels.
This paper will target a wide-range of organisations whose employees work in a trauma context. It is
designed to assist all levels of staff i.e. frontline, supervisory and managerial - in these organisations to
identify and respond to vicarious trauma effectively. It may be of a particular of interest to HR and WHO
managers, as it will provide them with a basic framework for managing vicarious trauma on an
organisational level.
Ms Lee Hammond
Community Recovery Officer, Bundaberg Regional Council
Indigenous Resilience and Training Initiative
The aim of this project was to build the capacity of the Aboriginal community to respond to disasters and
emergencies within the Bundaberg region. The challenges were connecting all Indigenous groups and
gaining a unified decision on how it was achieved.
Using the inclusive consultation method recognised as best practice with Indigenous communities, a forum
was held on 16th January 2014. The main outcomes included the recognised need for training young
Indigenous people across the Bundaberg region in responding to emergencies as well as linking other
members of the Aboriginal community with volunteering agencies.
This project was community driven with support from a variety of organisations. SES provided the training in
a CERT11 in Public Safety which covered different components of emergency response. Training was
tailored to the Indigenous community needs and encompassed real skills and also supplied a recognised
qualification.
Other members of the Indigenous community who may not have been capable of the physical side of the
training were linked with other volunteering organisations, the main being Red Cross. Once registered they
participated in training including Red Cross Induction Session, Response & Evacuation Planning, Disaster
Recovery and Psychological First Aid Training (PFA).
Indigenous students at Bundaberg High School also worked with Red Cross to develop a resource (magnet)
to be used as an awareness resource to encourage preparedness for possible disasters.
Another outcome of this project was the improved communication pathways between local emergency
services and the Indigenous community.
Mr William Hurtes
Graduate Researcher, University of Canterbury
Defining Success in Emergency Management
A successful organization is one that understands its purpose and can effectively deliver results while
articulating its outcomes. This article discusses the results of a content analysis on regional, practitioner
focused, emergency management publications to highlight a prevailing reactive response focused paradigm.
Once established, it discusses how other industries by shifting to a proactive paradigm and some of the
benefits enjoyed. Finally it proposes seven components of a successful emergency management program
and identifies strategies to build strong and resilient communities for each.
Mr Heath Langdon
Team Leader CFU Program, Fire & Rescue NSW
Effectively Empowering the Community to develop KNOWLEDGE, POWER and NETWORKS to better
Prevent - Prepare - Respond and Recover from Disasters
In reducing the risk to residents that live along the interface of 3 sites in northern Sydney from the impact of
bushfire disasters, Fire & Rescue NSW developed and distributed to 10,000 properties a Bushfire Emergency
Must Have Bag, which increased the community’s resilience from the threat of bushfires. Mapping of
properties within very high or extreme bushfire risk areas located in the Lane Cove \ Hunters Hill \ Ryde \
Willoughby Bushfire Management committee risk management plan established the targeted areas.
Knowledge
The Bushfire Emergency Must Have Bag contained localised information relating to prevention / mitigation
measures and what residents should do before, during and after a Hazard Reduction.
Also included was information relating to property preparation measures, such as storage of firewood,
cleaning gutters, garden maintenance etc.
Power
The Bushfire Emergency Must Have Bag contained information that allows people to make informed
decisions relating to bushfires. The bag is designed for the resident to store important documents such as
birth certificates, insurance papers, photos and passports which maybe needed in the Recovery of a disaster.
Networks
The Bushfire Must Have Bag contained tools to connect and bring neighbor's and community volunteer
groups together, which then builds networks and relationships by sharing information, assisting each other,
identifying risk and understanding responsibility, whilst working collectively to implement initiatives.
Dr Marion Leiba
Disaster Risk Scientist, ML Consulting
Australian landslide deaths and injuries, 2012-2014
During the period January 2000 to December 2011, 25 people died and 100 were injured in Australia as a
result of 47 landslides.
A similar trend continued from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014. An additional five people were killed
and 12 injured because of 12 landslides.
Of these 12 events, only one was a natural landslide. On 10 February 2012, a storm triggered a landslide at
the 'Giant Stairs" in the Blue Mountains of NSW. Four bushwalkers were trapped after being hit by fallen
debris, and one of them was struck by lightning. They were carried out by police and emergency services
and taken to hospital.
The remaining injuries and all five deaths during 2012-2014 were the result of 11 landslides for which human
involvement was either a trigger or a contributing factor. Of these, eight failures associated with excavation
accounted for all the deaths and over half the injuries. The remainder were caused by loading from the
weight of a person or a vehicle.
Geoscience Australia's Australian Landslide Database is available at www.ga.gov.au and is a publicly
accessible source of Australian landslide and erosional flood data.
Dr Marion Leiba
Disaster Risk Scientist, ML Consulting
Flash flooding and remediation attempts, Allchin Circuit, Kambah, Canberra, ACT
Torrential rain on 10 February 2007 caused flash flooding from a saddle between two hills. It flowed over
gently sloping paddocks (3 - 7 degrees) on to Allchin Circuit.
An earth berm had been constructed parallel to a paved horse paddock access road, running upslope from
Allchin Circuit, to protect the access road from erosion. This berm helped channel the flood down the steep
driveway of a house (#87) on the lower side of Allchin Circuit. The flood pushed open the basement garage
door, inundating the garage to a depth of about 1m, and entered an adjacent bedroom. It destroyed a
computer, motor bike, mountain bike, washing machine, two fridges, and carpets. Three cars in the street
level carport were undriveable.
This berm was subsequently removed, and a low earth berm was constructed parallel to Allchin Circuit,
opposite house #87.
On 19 February 2014, approximately 75mm of rain, most in less than 4 hours, again caused flash flooding. It
scoured out about 14m of the access road, depositing sand, gravel and bitumen chunks on Allchin Circuit.
Water entered the lower storey of two houses on the upper side of Allchin Circuit. The owners of one
subsequently installed $30,000 in drainage works. In January 2015, the Department of Territory and
Municipal Services (TAMS) extended the low berm to behind this house.
On the lower side of Allchin Circuit, the basement of #87 was flooded again, despite the berm, to a depth of
approximately 0.3m, damaging things in the laundry. Another house, single storey, had water right through
it and had to be refurbished.
TAMS consultation with residents revealed that flooding became a major problem after a retarding basin
upslope in a horse paddock was modified. For 2014-2015, $48,000 was budgeted for a drainage feasibility
study to remediate flooding.
Dr Maoline Liao
Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Science
Co-author: Dr Bixia Xu, Research Fellow, Urban Research Program, Griffith University
Climate Change risk perception and adaptive risk governance: A case study in Shanghai, China
A major impact of climate change is an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events
such as heatwaves and floods in many areas, as well as sea level rise and storm surges along the coast. While
much of the public focus on climate change impacts is around rising global surface temperatures, the big
challenge for adaptation is in responding to what in many cases will be a significant increase in natural
disasters fire, flood drought, coastal storm surges along with the implications for human settlements.
Adaptive and integrated risk governance is essential to deal with the managing for extreme weather events
given the complexity due to urbanisation and uncertainty due to climate change. However, complicating
factors include the long-timelines involved for some impacts, the uncertainties in regionally scaled
projections, the need to understand human perceptions of climate change risk, and monitor then evaluate
adaptation responses.
China being of continental-scale, spanning major climatic gradients has massive cities and a rapidly
urbanising population. Environmentalists have been warning about growing encroachments on the Yangtze
River delta being a recipe for disaster. The latest IPCC report echoes these fears, putting Shanghai among
three of world's mega cities that are at high risk of floods. China has insufficient experience and expertise in
responding to extreme weather events, disaster risk management, and urban and coastal planning.
This paper examines community’s climate change risk perception, current adaptive governance model and
future demands in a Chinese context. A structured questionnaire survey was administered to 453 Shanghai
residents. Evidence is also solicited from 50 face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders and document
analysis. Results indicate that Shanghai residents and representatives of various departments of Shanghai
Municipal Government generally appreciate the existence of climate change. However, half of the
participants have never heard of the National Climate Change Programme.
The majority of participants possesses knowledge of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change and the Kyoto Protocol. Results also suggest that: (1) Heavy rainfall, cyclones and heatwaves are the
three most concerned climate disasters in Shanghai; (2) Major impacts caused by these disasters may
include crop failure, waterlogging in urban areas, traffic congestion, infrastructure damage, damage and loss
of property, and health issues. Energy conservation and emission reduction are focuses of risk governance in
terms of climate change adaptation in Shanghai with the adaptation component being neglected. Key
challenges were identified in the context of a quite unique governance model: the role of horizontal and
vertical integration/coordination, stakeholder engagement, and responsibility and effectiveness of
communication about risk and hazard. Options for addressing these challenges are suggested based on
reflection and adaptive learning.
Mr Matthew McLaren
Researcher, University of New South Wales
Natural disasters and urbanisation – a comparison of developed and developing nations
“The worst is yet to come” are the opening words by Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon
for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2013 (UN, 2015; UNISDR, 2013). A solemn
message following what was a relatively quiet year concerning natural disasters and their impacts. However
the impacts from natural disasters have been not been small. For 2003-2012, there was an annual average of
388 disasters, 106,654 deaths, 216 million victims, and economic damages of $156.7 billion (Guha-Sapir,
Hoyois, & Below, 2014, p. 1). Furthermore, the spread of natural disasters is not homogenous, with
developing nations suffering higher mortality rates than developed nations. In addition, although having
smaller economies generally, the financial losses from natural disasters is also significant for developing
nations when considering the damages as a percentage of their national GDP.
These impacts are being exacerbated by the growing rate of urbanisation. By 2050, it is projected that 6.3
billion people will be living in urban areas (UN, 2012, p. 1) which can be exponentially damaging due to
higher population densities and the economic significance of cities (Blakely, Birch, & Anglin, 2011, p. 7).
These trends need to be recognised to appreciate and understand the growing risk that cities, and especially
those within developing nations, are to susceptible to both now and in the coming decades when facing
natural disasters.
Ms Amelia McLarnon
Senior Health Consultant & Credentialed Mental Health Nurse, McLarnon & Associates
Integrated Culture Sustainability and Resilience
1. Does the Earth Evolve?
2. Do we need to be prepared?
3. Do we all come from a culture of survival?
In that moment when disaster strikes whither it is explosion, earthquake, floods or house fire. The words
reiterated by Bee Gees Song, “Staying Alive, Staying Alive, Staying Alive” are like the inner mantra of all
involved in trauma and transcends the event.
What kicks in is the felt inner response switch like the button on a TV remote control to choose the channel
for danger the flight or fight response.
The resilience for survival is activated and is an individual reaction of trust and correlates recovery in culture
as follows:
1. Culture of the Individual and family.
2. Family - Community.
3. Community – Workplace.
4. Workplace- Multi-Intercultural, Organization.
5. Multi-Intercultural, Organization and Agencies-State.
6. State-Nation
7. National–Global.
History teaches and informs us that it is out of Trauma Society’s evolution is created.
It provides information that indicates that No group is exempt from Culture. How the group evolves
ecologically and its sustainability will depend on the values and beliefs most prominent group member.
It is important to remember that we all bring our own software for survival and the aim of this presentation
is about building resilient individuals, societies that can recover, evolve with respect for ecology and
sustainability for all.
In the words of Nelson Mandela:
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but rising every time we fall
Mr Yonadav Meizler
IT Director, Innovative Methods (Queensland)
Cell Broadcast-SMS for public protection & disaster recovery introduction
Fast emergency response has proven to minimise the human and property loss. In today's world the wide
distribution of cellular phones and mobile communication devices as well as position driven communication
systems has been widely accepted and utilised.
Combination of these elements opens up a new way of delivering help to those in urgent need. The best
example in recent time is the cloudburst near Pune, India where peoples were not been informed properly
and in time of the meteorological phenomenon which proved to be disastrous and wiped out the entire
village in a very short span of time.
The contraction (introduction/implementation) of a national mobile cellular public protection and disaster
relief (PPDR) system has the capabilities to alert the general public from man-made and natural threats. It
can be designed to provide the emergency response teams the information and tools to neutralise the
threat more efficiently.
This system can use the pre-existing mobile cellular network of the country and can be utilised efficiently as
a way to broadcast impending threats by the standardised CBC function (available from 2G to 4G) mobile
network providers of the country.
Using Geographic information system (GIS) layer cross cut between cellular sites position and coverage layer
and the estimated threat alert position and hit zone radius layer to send a predefine message (based on the
threat type) to the population of the effected area and to the emergency personal that is deploy in the area.
The CBC function uses the cellular site registered users list as a medium to manage the affected population
and alert them of the impending disaster allowing them sufficient time to relocate or to take precautionary
measures.
The system connects to an array of sensors (that differ base on the threat type) and to an alert system that is
pre-existing in the country (for instance weather and earthquake system) and can replace or work beside
them.
Dr Krishna Nadimpalli
Research Team Leader, Geoscience Australia
Co-author: Dr Itismita Mohanty, Researcher, Geoscience Australia
Exposure Information Modelling Framework: A Path to Disaster Risk Reduction
Exposure information is fundamental in the development of risk-assessment models for natural hazards,
lifeline and infrastructure failures and their consequences. This research develops a comprehensive,
consistent and standardised National Hazard Exposure Modelling Framework. The research identifies the
fundamental data requirements and modelling to derive exposure information to enable a better
understanding of the vulnerability of people, buildings, businesses, economy and infrastructure.
A comprehensive literature review on disaster risk reduction from international, national and local level
perspectives at various phases of disaster management identified different components of exposure
information requirements and existing gaps. A workshop was convened with an aim to obtain current and
future information requirements of researchers and end users for evidence based decision making. In
parallel, a review was conducted to understand the existing exposure information provision capabilities
across the nation. The information was processed to analyse gaps and to identify the priority areas for future
investment in disaster mitigation. This presentation will outline the gap analysis and proposed framework.
The Hazardous Substances Exposure Information Framework will be demonstrated in the presentation as an
example. Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS) can be released accidentally as a result of chemical spills,
industrial explosions, fires, or accidents involving railroad cars and trucks transporting them. Workers and
residents in communities surrounding industrial facilities where EHS are manufactured, used, or stored and
in communities along the nation’s railways and highways are potentially at risk of being exposed to airborne
EHS during accidental releases. The Hazardous Substances Information System (HSIS) and the National
Pollutants Inventory (NPI) database are relevant subject matter systems but do not provide exposure
information.
The modelling framework provides a base to source and maintain exposure information to enable
researchers and end users to reduce the risk from natural hazards for communities in Australia.
Mr Daniel Pridham
Firefighter, FRNSW / NSW SES
What does innovation in Emergency Management look like?
The demand placed on emergency management agencies in Australia is increasing rapidly due to climate
change, globalised supply chains and communities who are less self sufficient than they were in the past.
This is coupled with the requirement to do more with less funding and less people due to budget constraints
and public perception. Organisations given the responsibility for emergency management need to leverage
technology and innovation in order to keep pace with this demand and achieve the goals set by government
and society
Truly innovative public sector organisations are rare. The contributions they make to society are also
disproportionate to their amount of funding or the number of people they employ. Studying how these
organisations created an environment or ecosystem which is conducive to innovation will allow other public
sector organisations to replicate their successes. The emergency management agencies or organisations
shown in this poster have a proven track record of innovation.
This infographic attempts to highlight them as role models and show what makes them fundamentally
different to their peers. Following their example could lead to a reduced social, financial and environmental
impact of natural and man made disasters and emergencies through more successful prevention,
preparation, response and recovery activities.
Dr Jurg Schutz
Research Scientist, CSIRO
Wildfire-Specific Respiratory Protection
Currently available respiratory devices afford varying degrees of protection from either airborne particulates
or toxic gases. A smaller number afford protection for both. However, toxic gases and particulates don’t
represent the combined health hazards to which firefighters are exposed in wildland fires. Radiant heat,
direct flame, and physiological stress represent additional hazards to health and safety which are not always
effectively provided in commercially available off the shelf respiratory protection devices. Ease of
employment, robustness and compactness of design are also critical elements in the design of effective
respiratory protective devices for field use. Design options for improved respiratory protection devices are
discussed and supported by experimental results.
Ms Kanae Seki
Student, Monash University
General Nurses willingness to practice during a disaster in Japan
The purpose of this project is to explore the general nurses willingness to practice during a disaster, and the
factors which affect the perceptions of disaster preparedness and management in a Japanese hospital
setting.
In disaster management, nothing is more important than disaster preparedness since prediction of disasters
is limited. However, having explored the nurses experiences during disasters, the researchers realised that
the vast majority of nurses who engaged in disaster nursing identified the lack of and need for disaster
preparation. Although most nurses worked in places where disasters occurred frequently, many still
reported feeling unprepared. Additionally, the research related to willingness of nurses to practice in a
disaster is lacking in the published literature in Japan. Identifying willingness to attend work during a
disaster, the perceptions of disaster preparedness and factors which are barriers or enablers to effective
disaster management will enable disaster education and management to be further enhanced.
The results from this study will enable disaster management to be further enhanced. Identifying willingness
to attend work during a disaster, the perceptions of disaster preparedness and factors which are barriers or
enablers to effective disaster management will support development of a plan for sufficient workforce in a
disaster, health service educational programmes, pre and post registration nursing curricula, and hospital
and community drills for disaster.
Paper-based anonymous questionnaires have been distributed to registered nurses in general wards at one
hospital in Japan. The results will be reported, as at this stage they have not been analysed.
Prof Hsin-yu Shan
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University
Co-authors: Ms Yi-ling Lai, Former graduate student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung
University
Smartphone Application and Management System for Disaster Resistant Community
The intensity of natural disasters in Taiwan had not only caused human lives but also brought about
significant socio-economic loss and environmental damage. With the expectation to mitigate the impact of
the disasters, the public and private sectors have started to promote self-reliant disaster resilient community
after the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake.
The participation of the citizens in this joint effort could strengthen the community wide disaster mitigation,
preparedness, response, and recovery capability. During the response phase in a severe disaster, the
community leaders in charge needs exact information on the status of the community members in order to
facilitate their evacuation or initiate search and rescue in time. It is difficult for the community residents to
report their status in the past, thus it was neither a standard nor popular procedure to follow. However,
smartphone application program might provide a solution to the gathering and disseminate of information
during emergencies, since the smartphone penetration rate reaches nearly 70% in Taiwan and is still
increasing rapidly. Recently a few smartphone application programs for disaster prevention have been
developed, but almost all of them only issue warning or alert messages and none has been designed for
community disaster management.
This research developed a smartphone application program for community emergency management
(CEMAPP) specifically to be used by community leaders and residents for emergency management based on
literature review and interviews with leaders of self-organized flood disaster prevention communities. This
smartphone application program can effectively facilitate preparedness within the community and can save
residents lives by passing critical information on their status to community leaders.
Ms Sally Steward
Author, Volunteer, Speaker/Trainer, Leadership Emergency Services
Emergency Service Volunteers: How to Get Them and Keep Them
The statistics are staggering approximately 50% of emergency service volunteers become inactive within the
first twelve months of joining and outfitting them with full personal protective equipment averages $1000
per person. Recruiting volunteers is only half the challenge, the next hurdle is ensuring the leadership and
culture of the team supports this.
An organisation that relies on volunteers has a huge task when it comes to recruiting, retaining and leading
them effectively. These three components are linked and crucial to fostering a highly valued, experienced
and focussed workforce.
Our communities are in dire need of emergency service volunteers, we must educate ourselves and make it
easy for teams to work with emergency service organisations and their leaders. They are the heart and
backbone of our community and we don’t ever want to know what it’s like to live without them.
Recruiting the right volunteers is important; there are both financial and operational needs to consider
coupled with a need to ensure volunteers feel valued and are acknowledged for their contribution. This will
only happen with effective leadership.
This presentation will establish a clear path to recruit volunteers utilising organisation resources, education,
media strategies and community engagement. Also of equal importance the five most effective leadership
skills to ensure mentoring, engagement, training, recognition and support of our most valuable resource,
volunteers.
So, where to from here? What can you do to make a difference in your volunteer organisation that will
cultivate an environment where the right volunteer joins your team, provides a valuable and professional
contribution that supports business continuity?
Mr Andrew Tegart
Director, Deanmac Emergency Services Pty Ltd
Co-author: Mr John Macleod, Fire Engineer, Deanmac Emergency Services Pty Ltd
A brief review of Australian surface mine coal fires and their mitigation and control
Smouldering fires in Australian surface coal mines can represent hazards to human health and safety.
A recent example is the Victorian Hazelwood mine fire that commenced on the 9th February 2014 and
burnt for 45 days . This mine fire significantly impacted the local community with smoke and ash.
The Hazelwood mine fire consisted of two emergencies - a complex fire emergency and a serious public
health emergency. It proved to be the largest and longest burning surface mine fire in Gippsland ,Victoria. A
subsequent inquiry estimated that the final total cost of the mine fire to the Victorian government, local
community and mine operator was around $100 M.
With around 80 percent of Australia's coal produced from open cut mines it is perhaps timely to attempt a
brief review of the complex process of smouldering combustion in these surface mine fuels . In particular , to
detail the associated processes of devolatilisation ,ignition and combustion that can occur in the exposed
seams and mining surfaces of lignite ( brown) ,anthracite and bituminous( black) coal and how such fires
spread. Once established ,smouldering combustion coal fires consume large amounts of fuel and contribute
significantly to emissions . This is the result of their longer durations and different combustion dynamics.
Such fires may prove difficult to extinguish.
The yields of pyrolysis products such as tar vapours, gases,char and ash are associated with heating rate and
maximum temperature reached and are normally consistent with the known combustion characteristics of
coal lithotypes .
Stakeholders may benefit from incorporating smouldering combustion processes and the associated
pyrolysis products within risk assessments to assist in developing suitable mitigation and control measures.
Miss Astrid Vachette
Student, Centre for Disaster Studies, James Cook University
International aid for disasters in the Pacific: network structure, performance and limits. Case Study of
Vanuatu
This article addresses intergovernmental and interorganizational preparedness and response to disasters. As
frequency and intensity of disasters increase, international aid is often needed pre- and post-disaster in atrisk areas. This paper focuses on the South Pacific, and more particularly on Vanuatu, where international
aid not only intervenes at the onset of catastrophes but also takes place through the ongoing allocation of
staff and resources for resilience building projects in the country.
This article particularly examines the intervention of Australia, New Zealand and France through the analysis
of the impacts of their Non-Governmental Organizations in the development of disaster risk reduction and
climate change networks; as well as the role of the FRANZ agreement (an intergovernmental partnership
between Pacific countries, Australia, New Zealand and France for emergency management).
The researcher used a theoretical framework drawn on network analysis and earth system governance
analysis to better understand collaborative and inclusiveness mechanisms in Vanuatu at the international,
regional, national and local levels. Analysis was scaled on different perspectives (individual, organizational,
interorganizational and the network as a whole) to capture the complex variables, inputs, outcomes and
efficiency of mechanisms of international aid. The article highlights the impacts, opportunities, and
limitations that international intervention in emergency management, disaster risk reduction and climate
change adaptation raises in Vanuatu.
Dr Christian Vecchiola
Research Scientist, IBM Research - Australia
Co-authors: Dr Andrew Edwards, Fire and Rescue, NSW
Dr Laura Rusu, Advisory Software Engineer, IBM Research - Australia
Dr Jianbin Tang, Research Scientist IBM Research - Australia
Dr Jasbir Dhaliwal, Research Scientist, IBM Research - Australia
Dr Alessio Bonti, Research Software Engineer, IBM Research - Australia
Integrating Predictive Analytics for Risk into the Enterprise: Challenges and Lessons Learnt in the
Emergency Management Domain
What is risk? How can we predict it? What does it take to integrate risk analytics into an enterprise IT
business functions? Despite these being hard questions to answer because of the elusory nature of the
characterisation of risk, they still play an important role, especially in the Emergency Management domain
where an agreed concept of risk and its potential evolution are often a necessary input into the decision
making process. For instance, it is in the interest of the emergency services to understand the current and
potential risk to properties during critical days, in order to strategically deploy resources, be better prepared
to respond to emergencies and therefore decrease the potential impact to the community. A good
understanding of the risk and its possible evolution in time is also key information for government when
making investment decisions on mitigation activities. There may also be potential uses for such information
in other domains.
The definition and calculation of risk was identified as an issue in this project. There are many initiatives
focusing on risk in specific domains and well-identified scenarios exist, that expose different level of
complexity. In this paper we report on the challenges faced in developing a prototype solution that aims to
support decision making by providing advice on the current (almost real-time) and predicted fire risk for
individual properties in the Blue Mountains area of NSW. The novel aspects of our work reside in: the
conceptualisation of the risk itself, the implications of various dynamic factors (including time dimension) on
the predicted risk and the translation of these concepts into a technical solution tied up with the enterprise
IT infrastructure and data. We believe that the challenges met and the lessons learnt during this process
would be of interest for practitioners in the Emergency Management domain and constitute a solid starting
point for further investigations in this space.
Mr Yusuke Yamazaki
Student, Waseda University
Framework of supporting foreigners as preparing for earthquake in Japan
In Japan, the framework of supporting foreigners before and after earthquake happens, especially providing
valuable information, has some problem. For example the way of providing information is limited, so it can
not be provided enough for various foreigners. And also there are some foreigners who lives in for a long
time and those who know customs and have much connection between foreigners, but we, japanese local
residents, can’t involve them well. These were problems in particular area such as Okubo as a Korean town
in Tokyo, but nowadays in Japan the number of foreigners is growing larger every year, so there are
possibility that these problems will be common in Japan in the near future.
This research surveys foreigners such as residents, tourists, businessman, and student, in Okubo area. And
the aim of survey is revealing the recognition and readiness for earthquake. This survey consists of
questionnaire and inquiring survey, the number of collected questionnaire is 207 foreigners, and inquiring is
4 foreigners. This was surveyed after Grate East Japan earthquake (March 11 , 2011)happens. The result of
this research are 2 points. At first, there is a tendency of foreigners who answers well known and well
prepared for earthquake. These foreigners are called key-person in this research. At second, each key-person
has character and strong points, so they can contribute to communicate information or induce surrounding
people to join emergency drill. This result can be applied for making practical framework of supporting
foreigners and it is important to develop safety of foreigners when earthquake happens in Japan.