Book of Abstracts 2013 - Australian and New Zealand Disaster ...

Australian & New Zealand Disaster and
Emergency Management Conference
28-30 May 2013 I Mercure Hotel, Brisbane
EARTH: FIRE & RAIN
ABSTRACTS 2013
www.anzdmc.com.au
DISASTER &
EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
In association with

Ms Kim Amos
Chief Executive Officer, Bold Communications
Co Author - Mr Rick Hoys, Chief Executive Officer, iApps
How to Ensure Mobile Applications (Apps) and the Online Space are Used Effectively in
Times of Disaster.
Our company’s future resides in the mobile realm, and trends suggest that demand will only rise for mobile disaster
information’. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg. Source: Risk Management. 14 November, 2012 As the trend for
smart phone, mobile application and social media use has accelerated across Australia and New Zealand, we have seen
these communication tools become an important part of disaster management and recovery. Applications (Apps) that
incorporate real time, SMS alerts, early warning systems and geolocation mapping have the ability to save thousands of
lives. While social media encourages the general public to act as ‘information volunteers’ keeping people instantly
updated as the disaster unfolds using rich content such as photographs and video. However, although there are an
increasing number of mobile applications (both free and for purchase) available to the public and emergency
organisations to assist in times of flood, fire and other disasters, the reality is they still have limited take up. In what
now seems like an environment of ongoing disaster events, it is crucial that we examine how we can better incorporate
quality applications (apps), social media platforms and the online space into our disaster management planning and
strategy. iApps CEO, Rick Hoy will examine this issue and provide analysis and direction on mobile application (app)
functionality, useability and seamless integration across varying operating systems. He will demonstrate how early
comprehensive planning of applications - built for purpose - will benefit organisations and the public in the disaster
management process. Bold Communications Online Communications Strategist, Kim Amos will show how organisations
need to market their application and educate application users by using effective online and traditional communication
practice. She will demonstrate how using the broader network of the online space and establishing efficient online
communities will maximise the take up and effectiveness of disaster mobile applications. Together Rick and Kim hope
to ensure mobile applications and social media are used to provide effective communication links between emergency
operation centres, the media, front-line responders and affected communities.
Mr Jack Archer
General Manager, Research and Policy, Regional Australia Institute
Co Author - Adjunct Professor Jim McGowan, Adjunct Professor, School of Government, Griffith University
Natural Disaster in Regional Australia: From Recovery to Renewal
As fires burn and floodwaters rise, the pressing concern for policy makers and emergency response providers is the
immediate welfare of affected people and the preservation of property. However, once the aftermath of a disaster has
been managed, it is important that disaster affected areas return to a sustainable economic pathway. If successful, this
part of the recovery process can also provide opportunities for community renewal and business sustainability over the
longer term. Australia has a well-developed natural disaster response and recovery record. Australia’s policy is
internationally renowned for its efficacy in the immediate aftermath of disaster, however the Regional Australia
Institute (RAI) has found that in the longer term, government policy on business sustainability, community say in
redevelopment projects and allocation of funding has not been as successful. This presentation will present the findings
of RAI’s recent study into economic recovery and natural disaster policy in Australia. As part of this project, RAI has
undertaken an exhaustive international literature review of disaster policy as well as four case studies into disaster
affected communities in Victoria and Queensland. The conclusions from this process will be presented as the best
policy response to natural disaster for sustainable community economic recovery.

Mr Mark Armstrong
Director, Full Capacity
Standing ready for the worst………How the QLD state disaster coordination centre (SDCC)
response capability was conceived and deployed in less than twelve months
The Queensland State Disaster Coordination Centre (SDCC), whilst an impressive and well-equipped physical facility, is
only as good as the people who staff it during a disaster. During a complex emergency the required staff for the SDCC
needs to swell dramatically in order to effectively manage a statewide response. Regional disasters in recent years
proved the difficulty in surging a staff sufficient to operate the SDCC in quantity, let alone quality. This had many
negative consequences during emergencies; notably senior SDCC staff engaged in the time consuming tasks of seeking
release of people from other government departments and negotiating issues such as staff hours. Critically, the staff
that were released often lacked even a fundamental understanding of State Disaster Management Arrangements or
SDCC operations resulting in urgent on-the-job training and ad-hoc induction. This capability gap was the first issue
addressed by the newly formed Disaster Management Services Unit in early 2012. Through systematic planning,
extensive consultation and vigorous execution an ’SDCC Response Team’ capability was justified, created and trained in
less than a year. This capability was centered on a pool of trained, volunteer public servants standing ready to rapidly
augment the SDCC in the event of crisis. The ’SDCC Response Team’ capability was deployed during the weather and
flood events of early 2013. Initial feedback is that it was a great success resulting in an SDCC that ramped up faster and
operated more effectively, cohesively and sustainably than in the past. This paper, using the ‘ends-way-means’ model of
policy implementation, will examine how this initiative was developed and deployed so quickly. It will also consider
how this augmentation approach could be used to enhance disaster management arrangements at the local or district
levels using public or commercial resources.
Dr Sharon Atkin
State Manager Research, UnitingCare Community
Co Author - Mr Redzo Mujcic, Senior Researcher, UnitingCare Community
Longer term individual and community needs after natural disaster: The experience of
Central Queensland
Lifeline (as part of UnitingCare Community), along with other government and non-government organisations is a key
signatory for the provision of Community Recovery Services following a disaster. Following the 2010-2011 flood
disasters in Queensland, Lifeline Queensland, became concerned about the level of ongoing medium to longer term
support available for the many rural and remote areas of Queensland. The organisation decided that it was important
to evaluate the services provided in these communities and developed a research project that was attached to the
service provision. The purpose of the research was to evaluate need for such services, explore the impact for previously
vulnerable individuals, explore engagement methods, evaluate effectiveness, look at changing needs across time, and
look at general community needs and service delivery gaps. The research was a mixed model design. Quantitative data
about individuals seeking counselling from UnitingCare Community recovery counsellors was gathered from a survey
completed by the counsellor. The survey consisted of the following domains: engagement, identified issues,
relationships, health and social supports. Interviews were conducted with community recovery counsellors to gather
qualitative data on the impact of the disasters on regions and individuals. The most frequently reported issues were
financial stress, property damage, personal health, and relationship breakdowns; leading to a high demand for
counselling services. The services had a notable impact on the welfare of respondents, with most measures of
individual well-being improving over the initial four quarters of the survey. Such measures include client mental health,
depression, level of anxiety, feelings of support, and coping levels. Nevertheless, there was a decline across the

measures for the clients in the final quarter of the survey. This finding is discussed in relation to individual context and
previous vulnerability. The underlying behavioural and policy implications are also discussed.
Mr Jeff Barnard
Australian Volunteer, International Development
Co Author - Stephanie McConachy, Stakeholder Relations Coordinator, Austraining International
Australian Volunteer Program Partnerships: Lessons Learned
Australian organisations supporting disaster management in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean
can use Government-funded volunteering initiatives to maximise development outcomes. The Australian Volunteers for
International Development program, funded by AusAID, offers a range of opportunities for skilled volunteers to live,
work and make a difference as part of Australia’s overseas aid program. As Core Partner of the Australian Volunteers
program, Austraining International mobilises skilled and youth volunteers to develop and support volunteer
assignments in partnership with international development organisations and non government organisations.
By using Jeff Barnard’s experience as a Disaster Risk Management Officer in Dominica, this presentation will discuss
how organisations in Australia can establish and strengthen international partnerships through Australian Volunteers
for International Development. This paper will also outline how volunteers support the current work of Australian
organisations and will reference development outcomes achieved by volunteers working on disaster management
assignments. It will also highlight the excellent long-term development outcomes achieved through partnerships.
Prof Marsha Baum
Professor of Law, University of New Mexico
Animals in Disasters: The U.S. Experience
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, both Congress and state legislatures in the United States responded to the public
outcry over the loss of companion animals with statutory provisions that would take animals into account in evacuation
planning. In years following Hurricane Katrina up to the most recent disaster of Hurricane Sandy, the value of
legislation as a solution has been unclear. The federal PETS Act and state legislation focused on companion animals and
did not address the losses of other categories of animals including farmed animals, animals used in research, captive
animals, and wildlife. This presentation will consider the impact of the disaster law and other legislative provisions on
animals and the difference in impact between federal and state legislation in the area of disaster management and
relief. The presentation will compare treatment of animals in several disasters in the U.S. from 2005 to the most recent
disaster of Hurricane Sandy and will offer suggestions for the ways in the which the law can have an impact on disaster
planning regarding animals.

Dr Haydn Betts
Manager Water Resources Queensland, Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd
Designing a decision support system to aid evacuation planning
The horrendous flooding and bushfire events of the last few years have resulted in numerous evacuations, despair, loss
of life and risks to first responders in their transition from evacuation to rescue. It is considered that evacuation
processes can be improved by integrating other 'intelligent' systems and presenting that information in a logical
manner. This paper proposes the need for a systematic approach to evacuation planning that can be assisted by the
development of decision support systems that would aid emergency management preparation and community
engagement processes. The scope is directed to identifying early evacuation triggers, shortening the decision making
and warning process to extend evacuation time, protection of community infrastructure and the orderly restoration
and recovery effort. Decision support systems are needed to integrate data flow and information in an accurate,
spatially oriented and timely manner within an emergency management resource structure. Without sound
information systems, decision makers may find themselves under increasing pressure and fail to adequately manage an
unfolding emergency. They are also useful tools to present information as part of a risk communication program but
the needs and requirements are much different to those of emergency managers. A decision support system is defined
as a collection of data, information and processes, which, when combined, amplifies the value of the data and enables
rapid judgements. A series of processes are applied to improve and/or transform the data to an information-set in a
vertical ladder of technology, improving the value of the data to the end users. To be fully effective they must also
integrate with the lateral set of instructions from decision makers to their emergency teams.
Mr Paul Box
Team Leader Spatial Identifier Reference Framework, CSIRO
Co Authors - Mr Dedi Junadi, Indonesian Project Coordinator SIRF Project, CSIRO. Dr Laura Kostanski, Research Manager
SIRF Project, CSIRO.
Thinking outside the polygon: Spatial Information for Social Protection and Disaster
Management
To assess, monitor and respond to the needs of people affected by both natural disasters and more subtle global and
local socio-economic shocks, accurate, up-to-date and fine-grained information about communities and their exposure
to hazard is required, particularly given the spatial variability in the characteristics of the land and the its inhabitants.
Effective coordination of response across multiple agencies requires a common understanding of the location,
condition and needs of the target population and a shared situational awareness of interventions by government and
other actors, based on up-to-date information. As up to 80% of government data contains geospatial information,
geography provides a critical and unifying dimension for place based integration and analysis of information. Within
geospatial datasets, spatial identifiers (place names and codes) are used to distinguish between the real world features
described by the data. There are typically many duplicative and overlapping geospatial datasets in use and
consequently, the same real world feature appears in multiple systems, often with different names, codes and
representations. Consequently, it is time-consuming and expensive to discover, access, interpret, transform and
integrate information from different sources. Furthermore, when data changes, the process must be repeated. To
reduce time and effort required to integrate place based information from local to global scales, improved approaches
to the delivery, integration and use of spatial identifiers is required. This paper describes one such approach - the
Spatial Identifier Reference Framework (SIRF)- being implemented as part of a United Nations Spatial Data
Infrastructure (UNSDI) standards and best practices activity. The SIRF project has an initial focus on social protection
in Indonesia and supports national SDI efforts to maintain and publish spatial data but is also intended to support of
range of other applications. The paper will provide an overview of the proposed infrastructure being developed, briefly

describing approaches to indexing of spatial identifiers from existing systems; their integration into a common index;
and the use of URI identifiers, linked data and spatial web services to improve delivery and use of identifiers.
Ms Vanessa Brown
People and Development Manager, Surf Life Saving Australia
The True Value of Volunteer Emergency Services: Their Role in Building Social Capital and
Disaster Resilient Communities.
Traditionally the value of our organisations are measured on saving lives, protecting property and infrastructure, the
delivery of first aid / medical treatment and recovery support.
Whilst many have measured the economic value of their services, the true value of a service can only be fully realised
when the wider impacts and spillover effects' that providing that service has on the community is fully understood.
Usually an attempt to convey these are made by most through the identification of broader activities such community
education, training provided to members/public, engagement of youth and general development of good' people.
The National Compact (2010) and Productivity Commission (2010) signify a federal government commitment to
recognise and promote the social contribution of third sector organisations. Whilst both identify various methods of
measurement of social impact, they also acknowledge current limitations in measuring program specific outcomes
rather than longer-term or broader social impacts.
Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) has partnered with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to identify and value
activities contributing towards SLSA's social contribution to the wider community. In doing so a potential method and
model of social impact at the meso level for community based organisations in Australia has been developed.
This research has defined SLSA's social capital and human capital contribution to the wider community through
individuals (volunteers) and the organisational itself. It describes contributions through aspects of personal belonging;
development of citizenship values; giving back to the community; connections with other local community
organisations; meaningful networks; advancement of human capital through training, team and leadership skills.
The presentation will further explore the results of the work with UTS clearly demonstrating the broader value of
volunteer emergency service organisations and their resulting role in developing disaster resilient communities
through their social impact.
Mr George Corea
GIS Officer, Tablelands Regional Council
Co Author - Ms. Sarah Dean, Senior Advisor Disaster Management, Tablelands Regional Council
Mapping worst case communication pathways
Large, remote local governments with small distributed populations face critical communication issues during
disasters. The Tablelands Region is prone to a number of natural disaster events and parts of this region lack the
reliable communications facilities that other regions take for granted. Where telephone, mobile and satellite
communications are available they have proven to be prone to failure at critical times, creating significant problems for
communities and emergency response agencies alike. The Tablelands Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG)
recognises that a resilient communications capability is critical to the success of disaster response and recovery
operations. Two-way communication is vital not only between the emergency services and response agencies but also
between response and recovery agencies and the wider community. The LDMG initiated a study resulting in
identification of Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service VHF and UHF-CB infrastructure to develop an alternative

UHF/VHF communication plan during disasters. The sole purpose of the network is to allow critical information to be
transmitted to the Disaster Coordination Centre so that emergency resources can be efficiently utilized. The project
included mapping and field checking over 30 repeaters in almost 65,000 sq km. Mapping the repeater coverage at a
30m resolution involved customizing radio analysis software, creating scripts to deal with the large datasets and
analysing field tests to create “worst case” mapping of coverage in the anticipated post-natural disaster poor weather
conditions. Assessing this information and presenting it in an easy to use flow chart was a critically important part of
the project. This project is now part of the award winning Community Disaster Plans for the Tablelands Regional
Council area and provides a resilient and reliable communication infrastructure that can be used post disaster when
traditional communications fail to enhance agency and community resilience in a practical, efficient and affordable way.
Dr Carlie Darling
Statewide Projects Co-ordinator, RAMHP, The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health
Co Author - Ms Lisa Mackenzie, Evaluation Manager, RAMHP, The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health
A review of teacher-mediated interventions to support mental health and wellbeing
amongst children following a natural disaster
Background: Disaster recovery programs have typically aimed to address concrete needs of communities in disaster
impacted areas. The post-disaster psychological vulnerability of impacted populations, particularly of children and
adolescents, is now widely documented. Teachers are ideally placed to administer early intervention strategies to
support child and adolescent mental health in the post-disaster environment. However, the most effective strategies
available to teachers have not been delineated. Aims: We aimed to identify teacher-mediated strategies that have been
found to support child mental health and wellbeing following a natural disaster. Methods: A search of the academic
literature on this topic was performed using: Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL. Search terms used were:
(teacher mediated OR teacher led OR teacher based OR school-based OR school-led OR community based OR social
support) AND (child OR children OR adolescent OR child, preschool OR teenagers) AND (disasters OR natural disaster
OR bushfire OR wildfire OR floods OR cyclonic storms OR earthquakes OR tsunami) AND (grief OR anxiety OR stress OR
stress, psychological OR stress disorders, post-traumatic OR depression OR trauma OR coping OR mental health OR
wellbeing OR social capital OR resilience OR connectedness OR adaptation, psychological). English language articles
published before December 2012 were included in the search. A summary of natural disaster resources provided to
schools by NGOs and non-government departments (identified through online searches and personal communications)
will supplement the academic literature search. Results and conclusions: There are few peer-reviewed articles
reporting on teacher-mediated strategies for supporting child mental health and wellbeing following a natural disaster.
Current and proposed school bushfire resources will be described and assessed within the context of past research. We
will discuss how this information could be used to improve provision of teacher mediated post-disaster support for
children through the NSW Health Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP).
Mr John Dickinson
Director Emergency Managment, Australian Government Department of Human Services
Co Author - Mr Robert Power, Senior Software Engineer, CSIRO
Emergency Response Intelligence Capability: Improving Situational Awareness in the Australian Government
Department of Human Services
The Emergency Response Intelligence Capability (ERIC) project is a collaboration between the CSIRO and the
Australian Government Department of Human Services Emergency Management team. This project is part of the

Human Services Delivery Research Alliance which is into its fourth year of a five-year partnership between the
Department and the CSIRO. Through the Alliance, the department uses the scientific research capability of the CSIRO to
help identify ways to improve service delivery. The ERIC project supports the work practices of the Department’s
Emergency Management team which is responsible for intelligence gathering and situation reporting during emergency
events. This is achieved by a web based productivity tool that automatically gathers data from a range of sources,
presents the data in a map based web site and supports a user to generate situation reports customized for different
types of emergency events at specific locations. The ERIC tool integrates information from numerous sources: statistical
regions from the Australian Bureau of Statistics; context data including demographics and details of the natural and
built environment; Departmental regional profile data; ‘live’ data feeds describing the emergency event as it
progresses; the historical record of previous ‘live’ data feeds; social media; and an archive of previous Situation
Reports. This information can be focused for a specific region under investigation and collated semi-automatically to
generate Situation Reports. They include information synthesised from available datasets and augmented by user
provided content. The current status of the ERIC project and the developed tool will be presented highlighting its use
by the Department in the summer of 2012/13. This will be followed by a short demonstration of the ERIC tool.
A/Prof Jacqui Ewart
Program leader Media and Crime, Griffith University
Co Author - Dr Hamish McLean, Griffith University
Ducking for cover in the blame game: Media framing of the findings of inquiries into the
2010/2011 Queensland floods
After a disaster, the media typically focus on who is to blame. However, we know relatively little about how the
narrative of blame plays out in media coverage of the release of official reports into disasters. This conference paper
examines two Australian newspapers' coverage of the release of the Queensland Floods Commission Interim Report
and the Commission's Final Report to identify whether and how the news frame of blame was used. We found that in
the absence of blame being allotted by the report, the newspapers resorted to the frame of failure' in news and feature
articles, while continuing to raise questions of who was to blame in editorials and opinion pieces. We argue that
situating coverage of the report within the news frame of failure and questioning who was to blame for the disaster,
limited the media's ability to facilitate a discussion about the prevention of similar disasters in the future.
Mr Cormac Farrell
Environmental Scientist, Aurecon Australia
Co Author - Mr Dan Pedersen, Environmental Scientist, Kleainfelder Ecobiological
The Victorian Schools Bushfire Protection Project
The February 2009 bushfires in Victoria were a tragic illustration of the vulnerability and risk Australian urban and
rural communities face in the event of an uncontrolled wildfire on a large scale. Several schools were destroyed or
severely damaged as a result of these fires, and this recognised a need to provide on-site protection to students and
staff, and was identified as a key priority in post disaster liaison.
Following Black Saturday, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) engaged a multidisciplinary
team to improve the protection of students and staff through school site building and landscape
modification works at over a portfolio of 300 schools identified as being at particular risk of bushfires.

The project included a range of leading practice approaches: Mapping of heat flux using Geographic Information
Systems providing a pre site assessment of the bushfire risk and a robust decision support system for field assessors
Detailed site inspections that included BPAD accredited staff, ecologists and fire engineers
Establishment of a Shelter in Place - engineered to meet AS3959 requirements, supplemented by Asset Protection
Zones, improved landscaping and emergency management procedures. Cradle-to-grave management - providing a
unique opportunity to capture data on the upgrade of a large sample of vulnerable buildings.
This project involved the detailed on-site assessment and subsequent engineering upgrades for over 300 vulnerable
schools. As a result, a unique opportunity was identified; to capture the required upgrades to a variety and great
number of class 9 buildings, and across a range of Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) zones.
This paper will examine the outcomes of the project, including the typical upgrades across each BAL zone, the areas
most likely to cause defect and maintenance issues, and the resulting cost (based on a per student scale) in each BAL
zone.
Ms Kate Fitzgerald
International Fellow, East-West Center
Hurricane Sandy – Can we achieve both growth and resilience?
Do we need to redefine disasters within our communities? Do we need to increase our acceptance of risk? Can we
achieve both growth and resilience? Hurricane Sandy was a unique event due to the scale of the disaster along the
United States East Coast and the significant and sustained impact upon critical infrastructure throughout the disaster
affected area resulting in an unprecedented, wide-spread activation of the US emergency management structure. This
paper explores disaster management through the concept of reflexive modernization and provides a first-hand account
of the effectiveness of pre-impact decision-making by politicians and officials and the ineffectiveness of post-impact
decision-making relating to immediate relief and recovery priorities. During Hurricane Sandy I was deployed by the
American Red Cross to Long Island to assist in the immediate response and recovery effort in that area and was able to
see the tension between growth and risk within modern societies and how governments and communities are
responding to that. The notorious gas shortages following Hurricane Sandy is an example of how continued economic
growth has resulted in the production of unpredictable risks and hazards in the face of which governments and nongovernment
organisations are required to respond. Hurricane Sandy provides not only important lessons learned from
an operational perspective but can be explored as a new paradigm in which to view disaster management and to
redefine our policies, politics and institutions that support our response to disasters.
Dr Jessica Freame
Manager, Fire Recovery Unit, Department of Planning and Community Development
Co Authors - Mr Sam Redlich, Project and Council Liaison Manager, Department of Planning and Community Development.
Ms Bec Nicoll, Community Engagement Coordinator, Department of Planning and Community Development.
After the Crisis: Recovery Four Years On
The devastating 2009 Victorian bushfires required a massive response from Government, which was exemplified by the
establishment of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA). At its height, VBRRA had
close to 200 staff and was embedded within bushfire-affected communities and Government. While VBRRA ceased
operations on 30 June 2011, almost two and a half years after the bushfires, the process of recovery for affected
communities continued. This paper will consider the State Government role in 2009 bushfire recovery from the closure
of VBRRA until the 4th anniversary and beyond. It will look at the critical recovery issues that emerged in the two to

four year post-disaster timeframe, and the response of Government to these issues. Drawing on the experiences of the
authors at both VBRRA and its successor, the Fire Recovery Unit, it will analyse what approaches have worked well,
what challenges were faced and what issues remain outstanding. As a result, this paper will provide valuable insight
into the role of Government in longer term recovery.
Mr Alex Fullick
Managing Director, Stone Road inc (StoneRoad)
Heads In the Sand: What Stops Corporations From Seeing Business Continuity as a Social
Responsibility
Business Continuity Management (BCM) can be called a safety net; one that protects a company from collapse when
hit by a natural or man-made disasater. But not every corporation sees the value in having a BCM or emergency
response program. Many don't fully understand the level of impact a disaster has on its operations, customers,
clients, vendors, partners, employees or its surrounding communities. Why?
Building upon core human universal fears - Death, Insignificance, Chaos, Outsiders and the fear of the Future, this
session will take employees and management as well as emergency and continuity practitioners on a journey of
discovery. Using real-world and personal examples, the presenter helps examine and identify the diffuclties
organizations have with developing BCM programs and how ignoring these fears; an Ignorance of Security (Death),
Respect (Insignificance), Authority (Chaos), Community (Outsiders), Clarity (Future) and a fear of the Truth, can give
rise to a lack of awareness and the understanding of emergency and continuity management.
Mrs Amanda Gearing
Journalist and PhD student, QUT
Harnessing the power of real and virtual social networks during disasters
The mass media and emergency services organisations are geared to gather information and disseminate it to the
public.
During disaster situations both the media and emergency services need to continue their information dissemination
but they also need to crowd source information using real and virtual social networks to improve their situational
awareness.
This paper documents how real and virtual social networks were used by a reporter and by members of the public to
gather and disseminate emergency information during the 2011 flash flood disaster in Toowoomba and the Lockyer
Valley in January 2011 and in the days and weeks after the disaster.

Dr Lisa Gibbs
Assoc Director, Brockhoff Child Health & Wellbeing, McCaughey Centre, University of
Melbourne
Co Authors - Block K 1 , Snowdon E 1 , Gallagher HC 2 , Ireton G 2 , Brady K 3 , Richardson J 3 , Sinnott V 4 , Waters E 1
1. Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program, McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing,
University of Melbourne
2. Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne
3. Health and Human Services Emergency Management, Victorian Department of Human Services
4. Australian Red Cross
5. Prevention and Population Health Branch, Victorian Department of Health
Mapping shifting community recovery issues over the 4 years post bushfires
The primary focus of much policy, research and practice relating to disaster relief and recovery is on the relatively
short-term period post-disaster. This of course fails to recognise the often protracted process of physical, economic,
psychological and social rebuilding. Beyond Bushfires is a 5 year research study being led by the University of
Melbourne that is exploring the interplay between individual and community factors and their influence on recovery
from natural disaster over the medium to long term period. The study is using multiple methodologies and involves
multiple partners. In building the relationships with communities to support a participatory approach we have met and
spoken with many individuals and community groups from bushfire-affected communities in a series of visits and
phone calls over the past three years.
This has provided a unique opportunity to observe the changing community issues post disaster, to analyse our
detailed community visit notes and map those shifting issues over time. The existing partnerships formed with
Australian Red Cross and Health and Human Services Emergency Management as part of Beyond Bushfires provided a
further opportunity to access community newsletters and Red Cross outreach reports collected since 2009 in the
analysis. These documents also reflect the evolving and changing nature of the issues faced by communities. The
resulting findings will be mapped against a timeline to provide a unique insight into both the shared and contextspecific
community issues that emerged over the four years after the bushfires occurred. This has clear applications for
prevention, planning and recovery service delivery for the medium to longer term post disaster.
Dr Grant Gillon
Senior Lecturer, AUT University
Reviewing for Resilience: A fifth phase?
During Hurricane Andrew (1992), Emergency Manager Kate Hale famously and publicly expressed her frustration
“Where the hell is the cavalry on this one?” The US President (George H. W. Bush) subsequently dispatched the army.
But, lessons identified since 1992 tell us that mostly there is no cavalry and communities recover by being resilient.
One essential component of a community’s resilience is being involved in all levels and phases of an emergency and this
includes any formal reviews of an event. Communities are encouraged to actively participate in all aspects of
emergency management but are often left out of a component essential for their very survival and recovery and
learning; the evaluation or review. The greater the degree of community connectedness, trust, understanding and
shared values, the higher the level of social capital enjoyed by that community.
This social capital translates into prosperity and strengthens collaborative ties. Such characteristics are particularly
useful when our emergency agencies rely so strongly on volunteer action and a prepared community develops
enhanced resilience. A community’s ability to rise above adversity and respond to its own needs has been illustrated

time and again, since Hurricane Andrew, such as during the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and recent Australian bush
fires and Queensland floods. These days the value of enhanced community resilience is recognized in both Australia and
NZ, in policy and in legislation. With greater responsibility being placed on communities at each phase of the four “R”s
of emergency management, to develop readiness, reduce risks and respond during disasters and subsequent recovery.
Meaningful partnerships include formal stakeholder inclusion in reviewing multi-agency events. Not only should
emergency events be reviewed, evaluations should occur at each phase of emergency management, and formally
involving communities. Without this buy-in, communities’ willingness to take ownership of their own resilience could
be undermined.
Mr Neil Greet
Executive Director, Collaborative Outcomes
Co Author - DR Elizabeth Barber, Senior Lecturer, UNSW - ADFA School of Business
The Value of Engineering and Logistics Capabilities Collaborating in Support of Disaster
Management
Highly skilled engineers and logisticians provide critical value to disaster recovery programs in Australia. As enabling
professions to disaster management engineers and logisticians are often employed across projects, programs and
organisations, yet their relationship is rarely examined. The combination of their services and the impacts that both
professions contribute is rarely acknowledged in driving effective recovery.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight that Australian frontline disaster management requires an integrated
engineering and logistics capability which provides enhanced supply chain management service delivery and improved
community outcomes. The contributions to disaster management practices of both skill sets will be examined.
The paper will investigate the existing potential reliance and integration of logistics and engineering capabilities in
disaster management relief operations in Australia. The current application of engineering and logistics in disaster
management delivers key contributions to community recovery, but is also afflicted by wasteful practices. The paper
discusses the findings of our survey which focuses on the response and recovery of recent disasters including the 2011
floods and cyclones in Queensland and the 2009 Black Saturday' bush fires in Victoria. The questionnaire was
undertaken in semi-structured interviews. Both States developed multi-agency recovery agencies which were reliant
on engineering and logistic capability.
The implications of this study raise a series of challenges for disaster agencies and policy makers in government, and
involved organisations. The need to develop an adaptive capacity based on the integration of these two crucial skill sets
involved in disaster management in Australia will substantially improve outcomes. Engineering and logistics in disaster
management needs to focus on humanitarian and social outcomes with trusted well practised collaboration.
We conclude that there is a need to improve the preparedness levels in disaster prone areas in Australia by coordinating
the engineering and logistical services more closely before events occur.
Mr Stuart Harvey
Major Hazard Facilities Officer, WorkCover NSW, Fire and Rescue NSW
Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Major Hazard Facilities and Fire Services
A major accident at a Major Hazard Facility creates the potential for serious consequences at the facility and for the
surrounding community and environment. Globally, major accidents have caused the loss of many lives and cost
billions of dollars. Effective risk management plays an important role in reducing the risk of these types of accidents;

however, because of their exceptional nature, major accidents do not typically fit into a standard likelihood /
consequence matrix. Risk management needs to be ‘fit for purpose’ and emergency plans and emergency preparedness
are critical risk management elements. Many sites promote their emergency plans as control measures, but they may
not be suitable or appropriate. The introduction of harmonised WHS laws within Australia is changing compliance
obligations for facilities and compliance assessment obligations for regulators. Fire services authorities also have
obligations under this legislation to provide comments and recommendations to facilities, which must comply with
those recommendations (previously, facilities were only required to have due regard to any comment or
recommendation). Compliance now includes all aspects of emergency plan testing. Although not all Australian
jurisdictions have yet adopted the model laws, history has shown that regardless of the jurisdiction in which an
accident has occurred, the investigative team will typically explore relevant standards and laws, whether or not they
strictly apply. The Report of the Longford Royal Commission into the major accident at the Esso site in Victoria is an
example, canvassing multiple standards, codes of practice and legislation from within Australia and overseas. This
paper explores the risks and opportunities presented to both industry and fire services through the introduction of
Model WHS legislation, and how an open and collaborative approach can achieve regulatory compliance and improve
public safety.
Ms Kate Hill
Senior Lecturer,, Massey University
Co Author - Ms Hayley Squance, Programme Director / Lecturer, Massey University
Evaluation of the morbidity and mortality of animals post Canterbury earthquakes – A Pilot
study
Introduction Recent disasters such as floods, fires, snow storms, earthquakes and tsunamis, nationally and
internationally, have contributed to a significant number of human and animal deaths and injuries. These events have
highlighted the importance of the use of specific disaster risk and impact modelling to inform the mitigation tools such
as developing appropriate building regulations, facilitating decision making on urban developments and assisting with
response and recovery processes. Despite this development there has been little scientific research on how disasters
affect animals; therefore there is a lack of understanding on how to mitigate hazards and risks that could, in turn,
reduce morbidity and mortality of animals. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate how disasters affect the health of
animals immediately, short-term and medium-term post disaster using the recent Canterbury earthquakes as a case
study. The outputs from the study will be used in earthquake (along with other disasters) risk and impact models to
develop mitigation measures for animal welfare during disasters. Method This pilot study is a retrospective cohort
review of patient visits from 5 functional veterinary clinics within and surrounds of the worst affected areas in
Canterbury region. Data was collected from the 7 month period before the September 4th 2010 earthquake through to
January 2013. The veterinary visits were coded into 3 different categories: Gastro-intestinal, renal, & euthanasia. A
time-series analysis was performed on data collected. Results Pending, although through experience from past
disasters, the deployment of the Veterinary Emergency Response team to assess animal welfare during the February
earthquake and anecdotal evidence it is expected that there will be a significant mortality and morbidity rates amongst
production and companion animals. There is an expectation that there is an increase in the number of animals
presented to veterinary clinics with underlying diseases / conditions that were exacerbated by the earthquake events
in Christchurch due to environmental contamination along with crushing injuries sustained as a direct result of the
earthquake and subsequent after shocks.

Dr Donell Holloway
Research Associate, Edith Cowan University
Co Authors - Prof Lelia Green, Professor of Communications, Edith Cowan University. Dr Danielle Brady, Senior Lecturer,
Edith Cowan University.
Developing a user friendly FireWatch site: Debunking sociotechnological assumptions about
Internet users in remote communities
Catastrophic fire weather alerts have been occurring over Australia this summer, and long term forecasts predict an
increase in bushfire events throughout many areas of the country. Several government inquiries into bushfire disasters
over the last ten years have called for “more effective communication regarding bushfire information during bushfires”
(Elsworth et al, 2008). This paper reports on the development of a user friendly, web based, fire information site which
is based on an existing, but highly technical, fire information site run by Landgate WA. Community consultation and
onsite prototype testing in the Kununurra area of WA revealed that sociotechnological assumptions regarding ‘the
remote community Internet user’ need to be reconsidered and reconceptualised at a microgeographical level. Our
findings indicate that a full understanding of the sociotechnological capacities of individuals and communities is vital in
establishing a user friendly site which can present fire information both relevant to, and delivered in a manner most
suited to, remote community users. These capacities include the level of Internet access, availability and reliability, the
variety of Internet enabled devices (or platforms) used in remote Australian communities, digital literacy levels, as well
as general attitudes towards the use of the Internet for delivering bushfire information. The use of multiple
communication channels and platforms to inform citizens about bushfire emergencies ensures a greater degree of
coverage—in case of communication systems breakdowns or difficulties. This is particularly relevant to remote
communities where the communications infrastructure is less reliable, and where even VHF, UHF and satellite phone
technologies are erratic. The development of FireWatch’s user friendly site will help with the delivery of vital fire
information to these under-served remote communities. It will also enable the general public of these areas to source
bushfire information previously accessible only to scientists, foresters, land managers and fire experts.
Ms Jan-Adele Hotz
Director of Nursing, Mundubberra MPHS, Wide Bay Hospital & Health Service
Co Authors - Mr Phillip Duncan, Senior Safety Consultant Rural, Wide Bay Hospital & Health Service. Mrs Judy Morton,
Director of Nursing Ruaral & Family Services, Wide Bay Hospital & Health Service.
" Mundubbera - Floating To a Halt " - the Rural Impact of Cyclone Oswald
Low pressure system, Ex Tropical Cyclone Oswald, hit Munduberra in Jan 2013, resulting in the activtaion of Counter
Disaster operations. The Burnett River peaked at 23 metres inundating the town of Mundubberra. 100 homes and
businesses were evacuated were a further 100 properties impacted upon in close rural areas. The township was
isolated for five days. Electricty, telecommunications, sewage and water treatment was significantly compromised,
adding many challenges to managing this disaster. Key community organisations were mobilised and the whole
community assisted in removing and storing the contents of flood prone homes. An evacuation centre was quickly set
up in the town hall. The command centre received multiple RFA (Requests for Assistance) resulting in the
implementation of a priority management system. Flood effects were minimised due to the quick mobilisation of
resources to assist prior to the waters rising. The Hopsital had the only suitable, sustainable essential power supply
wihtin the community and hosted the command centre for disaster management whilst maintaining service provision.
This was compouded by no telecommunications systems, generator only power, diminished staff numbers and no
district support. The recovery phase included supporting both staff and the wider community to come to terms with

their losses whilst ensuring public health requirements were met. There were no outbreaks of any infectious diseases
as a direct result. During the event the community witnessed losses, both personally and economically, including
livestock devastation with a total of 3000 pigs and 1500 cattle recorded to have been washed away. The financial
effects of this will be felt for many years on this small rural community, as the residents rebuild their livelihoods.
Through co-ordinated collaboration, with multiple community agencies and with limited resources, the disaster
managemnt team managed this disastrous event, with no loss of life.
Mr William Hurtes
PhD Candidate, University of Canterbury
Co Authors - Dr. Billy O'Steen, Senior Lecturer and Dr. Chris Gomes, Senior Lecturer, University of Canterbury.
The Competent Professional Emergency Manager
Disasters are not new phenomena, nor are they rare. So why is it that so little attention is paid to the profession
concerned with managing them and the people who have dedicated their careers to it? Typically emergency managers
have less than five years of experience dealing with complex emergencies and few have formal education in the field.
Non-formal professional development training attempts to prepare staff for their roles, but too often, experience is the
ultimate teacher. The past twenty years have seen an explosion of academic and certification programs in the area of
disaster studies. Job offerings too have developed to recognize the specialization and independent nature of the
emergency manager. This combination suggests that the field is advancing and professionalizing. However, extant
research does not provide a good understanding of what the job is and the characteristics of those that are most
successful. This research identifies the key competencies of exceptional emergency managers from government, notfor-profit,
and businesses around the world. Qualitative, ethnographic observations and analysis of practitioners were
compared with reflections from their peers and the general public. Inductive analysis and emergent coding was then
used to reveal successful career competencies. The implications of this research suggest a further exploration of how
the key competencies may be utilized in the hiring of staff, improving worker performance appraisals, developing
professional development training, and educating students new to the field.
Dr Valerie Ingham
Lecturer in Emergency Management, Charles Sturt University
Co Author - Mr Ian Manock, Lecturer & Course Coordinator Emergency Management, Charles Sturt University
Current trends in emergency management education
Over the past 10 years there has been an increase in the scrutiny of emergency managers and the decisions they have
made during emergency events. Major Government initiated enquiries are now a common occurrence after emergency
events and, in a number of cases, these have resulted in senior emergency managers being stood down or losing their
jobs. Within Australia there is now an increased expectation from the public as well as our political leaders that
emergency managers have the required skills, knowledge, expertise and qualifications to effectively and efficiently
manage disaster events of an increasingly complex nature. The bushfire events in the ACT (2003), Victoria (2009) and
Western Australia (2011), as well as the flood event in Queensland (2011), are examples of complex disasters that have
had dire consequences for not only the communities impacted, but also for some of the emergency managers tasked
with coordinating the response to these disasters. With this increased expectation and requirement placed upon
emergency managers, more and more are today seeking out professional qualifications in the field of emergency
management. Tertiary level courses in disciplines such as geoscience, town planning, architecture and environmental
science, are increasingly incorporating an emphasis on natural hazards in relation to disaster planning. Within the

social sciences the current tendency is to discuss disasters in terms of vulnerability and resilience, and from the
psychosocial perspective of trauma. There are a relatively small number of programs specifically targeting existing and
potential emergency managers. The aim of this paper is to provide a global snapshot of trends in emergency
management education in an effort to reconceptualise and inform the development of emergency management as a
cohesive stand-alone discipline.
Miss Nicole Ishmael
Executive Director, EMAP
Co Authors - John Ash and David Parsons.
Innovative Solutions for Program Sustainment and Continuity
The Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) provides a cost effective approach to assess emergency
management and disaster management programs based on established standards. Those standards have been written
by emergency management professionals and create a strategic guide to ensure your disaster and emergency
management program is fully prepared for any hazard. No other organization accredits emergency management
programs; gives opportunities for emergency management training; and encourages feedback from professionals in
emergency management--whether that is on the standard writing, the accreditation process, or participation on a
committee. The peer review process provides a method to measure the capabilities of your program beginning with
you assessing your own program first. Accreditation also provides proof that emergency management programs are
sustainable and dependable. EMAP creates a network of emergency management professionals that fosters continued
support. EMAP is a non-profit organization with a focus in accountability for emergency management and resilience
programs.
As a panel presentation, the EMAP will engage the audience by providing information on the EMAP standard and how
they applied in international pilots conducted in Canada and Australia. The panel presentation will further discuss how
the process of assessment and accreditation enhances management capabilities through identifying strengths and areas
of improvement; and how it can assist in sustaining program management. Through the panelist, the audience will also
receive best practices and experiences of those who are undergoing EMAP pilot assessments in Canada and Australia
and how it best benefits their own program.
Ms Marianne Jago-Bassingthwaighte
Research Fellow, Centre for Disaster Studies
Co Author - Associate Professor Alison Cottrell, A/P Human Geography, Centre for Disaster Studies
Humanitarian Aid: does rapid response undermine community resilience?
Cyclone Nargis, which struck the coast of Myanmar on 2-3 May 2008, provides a case study for analyzing international,
state and community responses to catastrophic natural disaster, specifically the relationship between international aid
and local resilience. Difficulties of access into Myanmar, and its pre-existing under-aidedness, meant that levels of
international humanitarian aid into cyclone-ravaged areas (including Yangon) in the early weeks and months post-
Nargis were lower than has been typical elsewhere for similar scale disasters. And yet, a UNOCHA evaluation of
December 2008 somewhat paradoxically attributed this lack of international access as a cause of the success of the
early response, which was largely community-driven (eg. spontaneous organisations, businesses, and churches). How
does this recognition of the success of local response in a context of pre-existing critical poverty sit beside the rapid
resource resource provision – and, often, control - that the international humanitarian community offers in response to

natural catastrophe? The discussion is situated within, and contributes to, debates on international good practice for
disaster response. Findings support a continued effort to promote community engagement in disaster preparedness
and response strategies, and to protect existing local coping mechanisms and nurture resilience. This is apposite as
international (eg. UNISDR, Hyogo) and Australian (National Disaster Resilience Framework 2011) continue to increase
their focus on community engagement and resilience. Disaster management agencies need to identify strategies that
better support, rather than hinder, the kind of spontaneous community galvanization (and uniquely Burmese “culture
of sharing”) that led to a surprisingly successful local response to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. The paper identifies
policy and practice implications for international and domestic disaster responses.
Ms Doerte Jakob
Manager Hydrometeorological Advisory Services, Bureau of Meteorology
Co Authors - Dr David Walland, Head Climate Services, Bureau of Meteorology. Dr David Jones, Manager Climate
Monitoring and Prediction, Bureau of Meteorology.
Variability and trends in temperature and precipitation extremes
The severe flooding and bushfires in recent months have been a pertinent reminder of the risks our society faces from
extreme weather events. The Bureau of Meteorology provides information about the risks of extreme heat or rainfall
occurring, based on historical occurrence as well as short range weather forecasts. These climatological risks can be
specified in terms of Annual Exceedance Probability or Average Recurrence Intervals. Conventional definitions of risk
are based on the notion that the likelihood of extremes does not change over time. However, in the presence of modes
of climate variability - such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - and climate change this assumption of
stationarity is no longer valid. Our analysis of trends and variability of extremes in temperature (maximum and
minimum) and precipitation is based on a recently completed high-quality dataset. We have used extreme value
distributions to assess trends over the period 1910 to 2009 and to explore the effects of ENSO on temperature and
rainfall extremes. Similar analyses could be applied to other sector-relevant variables and indices. Our key findings can
be summarised as follows: - To avoid spurious identification of trends in extremes, the analyses have to be based on
homogenised data. - Depending on the variable, the effects of ENSO can be of a similar magnitude as long-term changes
in extremes and climate change may lead to an intensification of heat extremes under El Niño. - There is a general
tendency for shortened return periods when analysing high maximum temperatures but with significant regional
deviations from this pattern. Causes for these regional variations are still under investigation. - Trends in low minimum
temperatures are typically stronger than in high maximum temperatures. We will discuss a state-of-the-art approach to
model the time-dependence of risks by combining information at a regional scale.
Mr Valdis Juskevics
Social and Economic Statistician, Geoscience Australia
Co Author - Ms Shelby Canterford, Demographer, Geoscience Australia
The January 2011 Brisbane Floods: Recovery and Resilience
More than 17,000 dwellings in the Brisbane and Ipswich area were flood affected when the Bremer and Brisbane
Rivers exceeded major flood levels in January 2011. Significant damage was caused to property and many households
were severely disrupted for extended periods of time. The disaster prompted a large effort and a range of provisions to
enable the clean-up of the direct damage and the promotion of recovery. The disaster provided a valuable opportunity
to examine the community recovery following the event and to consequently obtain a better understanding of the
resilience of Australian households to flood. During April and May 2012 Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the
New Zealand National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, conducted a postal survey of residents in the

flood affected areas of Brisbane and Ipswich. The response to the survey was very encouraging with nearly 1,300
households responding. The survey covered a range of topics including preparation in the days leading up to the flood
inundation, evacuation behaviour, economic impacts and subjective well-being. It also included the reconstruction
undertaken and associated recovery in the days, weeks, and months following the flood event. The paper examines the
survey data obtained and focuses on vulnerability and reconstruction. It discusses the composition of vulnerable
households (for example people with disabilities, no access to a motor vehicle, single parents with young children),
household well-being after the flood event (for example physical, emotional and financial stress) and building fabric
issues (for example mould or warped timbers) during the reconstruction phase. Also examined are the steps taken to
mitigate against future flood events. The paper compares two different socio-economic areas and looks at any
differences in recovery between the two areas. The survey analysis can point to what householders might experience
following the January 2013 flooding in Queensland and NSW. © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
2013.
Dr Simon Lambert
Lecturer, Lincoln University
Co Author - Melanie Shadbolt, Maori Reasearch Manager, Bioprotection Research Centre
Indigenous Insights on Disaster and Emergency Management
Threats to life, homes, businesses and the environment are ever present in the form of natural hazards. Indigenous
Peoples possess great insight into these hazards with truly ancient wisdom accumulated through unique longitudinal
studies evidenced by their successful occupation of their territories. Yet this knowledge has been almost universally
marginalised through the processes of colonisation, epistemological racism, and a lack of capacity in the minimal
research spaces that are available. This session takes a first step in bringing this knowledge to the attention of disaster
managers, first responders, researchers, policy makers and community leaders. We seek to collectivise our various
experiences in mitigating the effects of disasters to the benefit of our own and other communities. We further wish to
highlight reasons behind actual and perceived vulnerability of Indigenous communities and work towards improving
their inherent resilience to recurring disasters.
Mr Greg Linsdell
Senior Lecturer, Charles Sturt University
Unprecedented but not Unpredictable - Why Leaders Fail to Act
Using compelling case studies this paper will discuss several of the countless incidences where leaders have failed to
act on risks that were predicted based on the observation of trends or work of strategic forecasters. In every case this
inaction resulted in deaths that could arguably have been avoided. Explanations grounded in organsational behaviour
and psychology are tentatively explored and the inadequacy of conventional risk management approaches in relation to
"catastrophic" predictions will be discussed in this paper and presentation.

Mr Michael MacLennan
Principal Consultant, MWH
Delivering the Victorian State Emergency Risk Assessment Program 2012
MWH Australia (MWH) was engaged in November 2011 by the Department of Justice (DoJ),on behalf of Government of
Victoria, to undertake an assessment of 14 emergency risks. The risks included bushfire, flood, terrorism, insect pest
incursion, storm, cyber-attack, and extreme temperatures (heat). The objective of the project was to develop an up to
date understanding of Victoria’s emergency risk profile. This was achieved through the application of the Victorian
State Emergency Risk Assessment Methodology (SERAM), which is based on the National Emergency Risk Assessment
Guidelines. For each risk this involved identifying and assessing the effectiveness of the current key risk management
controls, and then assessing the level of risk based on its impacts to infrastructure, people, environment, community,
economy and public administration. A high level analysis was undertaken to compare the individual risk assessments
allowing the most significant risks to the state of Victoria to be identified. MWH completed the previous update of
Victoria’s emergency risk profile in 2008, and has been working closely with the DoJ since this time to further improve
the SERAM. MWH’s project team facilitated 27 half day workshops across the 14 risks. Subject matter experts from
various Government Departments and Agencies including Emergency Services attended the workshops. Their input
highlighted the importance of adopting a highly consultative and collaborative approach to obtain the most appropriate
data and undertake a meaningful assessment. A comprehensive report was prepared and presented Victoria’s
emergency risk profile for the 14 emergency risks, including supporting analysis and commentary justifying the
assessment for various emergency risks. This will assist the government of Victoria in identifying areas where further
focus or investigations are required in further addressing significant emergency risks. MWH has recently been
commissioned to facilitate further emergency risk workshops to assist the Victorian Government finalise its emergency
risk register.
Mr Clive Manley
Auckland Civil Defence Controller, Auckland Council
Experience in local community engagement for prepardness planning in Auckland
Community expectations with regard to Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) have evolved over recent
years in New Zealand.
The experience in Auckland and Northland is built on the principles that:Individuals in the community are the first
responders.
Community organisations are the first to organise support for affected people. The majority of the response (in terms
of support for people) to an event happens at the local community level.
To reflect this CDEM planning with the community now provide CDEM Local Resilience plans which incorporates
simple structures for providing mutual support until official CDEM response can assist. This includes a local warning
system, the identification of their local resources and facilities, and a communication network within the community
and with CDEM.
This Community Planning framework takes into account their vulnerable communities, communities with diverse
culture and language, and sector based plans e.g Visitor Action Plans. The business sector is also involved by
assistance with Business Continuity Plans and an Organisational Resilience framework.
The presentation will cover the experiences of the last 5 years in Northland and Auckland.

Ms Eve Massingham
International Humanitarian Law Officer, Australian Red Cross
Co Author - Ms Annabel McConnachie, International Humanitarian Law Research Officer, Australian Red Cross
Saving lives in dangerous places: the international legal frameworks applicable to
humanitarian action
Increasingly Australian and New Zealand disaster response and emergency management staff and volunteers are being
called upon to assist our friends and neighbours in the Pacific and wider world in the aftermath of natural disasters and
during complex emergencies. Knowledge of the legal frameworks applicable in such situations provides these
individuals with a useful addition to their toolkit of skills when going into such situations. Like first aid experience, map
reading and technical expertise in their field, knowledge of the legal framework is an essential resource for all
personnel. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, disaster response workers are confronted by the
consequences of failures to abide by these laws. Medical workers in particular see the effects of the use of arms, and all
responders see the effects of the destruction of basic services and the mass movements of populations. Secondly, laws
provide a common understanding of the obligations and responsibilities for different actors in emergency situations.
Finally, disaster responders can have a positive role in providing improved general conditions and preventing breaches
of the law. Law establishes a benchmark for treatment and a tool for locating responsibility. As such, it can be used as
an argument to persuade others to act. Humanitarian workers must consider the need for protection in all senses of the
word. In order to achieve this it necessary to know the legal frameworks that create these rights and obligations. This
paper provides a non-legal audience with an introduction to a number of legal frameworks that may have application to
professionals working in complex environments; including international humanitarian law, international disaster
response law, international human rights law, the law of peacekeeping operations and refugee law.
Miss Kiri Maxwell
Senior Advisor Readiness, Auckland Council
NZ's first public alert system with mobile apps to warn Aucklanders of natural disasters and
emergencies
In a world where real-time information is instant, the challenge of ensuring individuals and communities have accurate
and timely information in a disaster means emergency managers need to explore opportunities to push the latest
technology boundaries.
With the plethora of different systems used to alert the public, it is critical that information is consistent across all
channels.
Auckland Civil Defence has created an advanced, cloud-based alerting system that enables staff to rapidly publish realtime
emergency information out to a variety of systems.
By inputting information into a single alerting system, Auckland Civil Defence can simultaneously update its website
and social media applications, send push notifications to iPhone devices and send text messages, all via one system.
A personalised and immediate alert to smart phones complements the information available on traditional media such
as radio and television during an emergency.
The increased use of mobile devices means that Aucklanders can stay up-to-date with vital information in their area,
such as road closures, floods and severe weather warnings. Using a secure social network people can update their
status and let their loved ones know if they are okay which reduces emergency calls during the early stage of a disaster.

Aucklanders will also receive advance notification of impending disasters such as tsunamis and cyclones, as well as
important information following a major catastrophe such as an earthquake.
Ms Julie Molloy
Director, Social Engagements, Volunteering Qld
The Role of NGOs in Building Sustainable Community Resilience
This paper will discuss the broad role that impact driven NGOs can play in disaster management and sustainable
community resilience building through an exploration of the findings and impacts of the largest community resilience
building program in Australia, led by a non-government organisation.
Planning for crisis management, business continuity and protection of infrastructure and assets only make up part of
the larger picture that is sustained community resilience. Social capital, community competence and local leadership
capacity are critical to a community’s capability to prepare, mitigate, respond and recover from disaster. These
qualities are the social infrastructure which should inform and in many ways underpin the foundation of any hard
infrastructure. However, in order to attain these adaptive capacities, long-term community development and capacity
building strategies are required.
There are inherent challenges for disaster management agencies trying to engage communities in dialogue around
planning risk-informed response and recovery plans for disasters. Limited resources often inhibit the capacity of
emergency services to undertake community education and engagement activities which often sit outside their core
business as response agencies.
NGOs contrastingly are ideally placed to work in and with the communities which they service, to educate and support
them at all stages of disaster management. Importantly, NGOs already engage with a large majority of those members in
community which would be most vulnerable in disasters and have an ongoing and trusted presence in the community.
This paper will argue that NGOs are uniquely placed to work in and with community over the long term in order to
develop the adaptive capacities, whilst advocating for the need to create stronger partnerships and more significant
funding opportunities for the sector to engage in resilience building activities.
Providing evidence based look at the outcomes and learning’s from over six unique programmatic approaches to
building community resilience to natural disasters; Describing the methodology and systems that support this
qualitative work, allowing for scalability and sustainability.
Dr Krishna Nadimpalli
Team Leader, Geoscience Australia
Co Authors - Mr Martin Wehner, Structural Engineer, Geoscience Australia. Dr Paolo Gamba, Associate Professor,
University of Pavia.
Global Exposure Database to Underpin Earthquake Risk Assessment Worldwide
Global Earthquake Model (GEM) foundation is developing tools and resources for worldwide earthquake risk
assessment. The tools will allow users to apply both probabilistic and deterministic methods to estimate losses.
Exposure data is a critical component in the model. GEM has set up a project (GED4GEM) to develop a Global Exposure
Database (GED) that consists of global building stock and population distribution. This database has been designed to
include the spatial, structural characteristics, repair cost and occupancy related information that underpins damage,
loss and human casualty estimation models. The project is being undertaken by the GED4GEM consortium with

membership from several international agencies, research institutions and companies, contributing different aspects of
the database to represent all regions of the world. GED4GEM has collected global population, demographic, building,
land use and land cover datasets available in the public domain. A methodology and schema has been developed in four
levels of details depends on the availability of the relevant datasets across the world and synthesises the information
into a 1km grid. At Level 0 the underpinning datasets include: Grided Population of the World (GPW), Global Rural-
Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), World Housing Encyclopaedia, and PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global
Earthquakes for Response). For Level 1 more detail is provided with the inclusion of building construction details that
are sourced from national statistics organisations and have been summarised by the Global Urban Observatory, UN-
Habitat. The data derived and maintained for both level 0 and 1 consist of building fractions and population numbers.
Increased detail at Level 2 consists of locally aggregated building numbers using more specific datasets such as
Australia’s National EXposure Information System (NEXIS). At the highest resolution Level 3, data will be sourced form
building specific surveys using GEM’s inventory tools. The methodology includes estimation of the replacement or
repair costs of buildings by sourcing quantity surveyors reports which are applied to all levels of the global exposure
database. When complete, GED will provide a ‘best available’ open source exposure database that will provide the
critical exposure data for input into OpenQuake to assess earthquake risk world wide.
Mr Ben Norling
Managing Director, The Yellow Company Pty Ltd
Effective Time Management in Post-Disaster Reconstruction
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, bushfires and flooding cause destructive damage to our built environment.
Reconstruction projects can take years to repair the damage and even longer to deliver improved resiliency. Experts
estimate that the reconstruction period following the impact of Hurricane Katrina will last nearly 10 years. Speed
however, remains to be one of the most common measures of success in the reconstruction phase. The community
cares about how quickly houses can be rebuilt, how soon the roads can be repaired and when the vital infrastructure
will be replaced. Post-disaster reconstruction projects are therefore subject to compressed timeframes within an
environment of close public scrutiny. Disaster reconstruction relies heavily on government grants, insurance
companies and donations to fund the works. These funding bodies often attach strict conditions to their funding
agreements relating to time, which can include value for money, compliance within eligibility timeframes and progress
reporting requirements. From project management principles we understand that cost, time and scope are interrelated.
In disaster reconstruction, the scope of work is defined by the amount of damage caused and the rules and guidelines
that exist for restoration. The costs can be determined through industry rates and benchmarks and controlled through
sound procurement practices. Time is therefore considered to be a variable in disaster reconstruction and it is
proposed that the ability to control and manage time will determine the project outcome. All of these factors highlight
the need for effective time management in post-disaster reconstruction projects. The focus of this paper is to establish
the best practice methods for time management, the tools available to assist with time management and the actions
that business and government can take to establish an effective time management framework in the event of a natural
disaster.

Ms Catherine O'Mullan
Lecturer, CQ University
Co Author - Dr Wendy Madsen, Senior Lecturer, CQ University
Understanding Community Resilience: Learning from the Theodore Community.
The town of Theodore in Central Queensland has a reputation of being a resilient community; this resilience was tested
between December 2010 and April 2011 when the entire town of Theodore was evacuated twice and flooded three
times. This paper will present the results of a community based participatory research study aimed at identifying
factors which impacted upon community resilience within the town of Theodore.
A number of themes have emerged from this research, and the results support the importance of pro actively building
and strengthening community connectedness before a crisis occurs. The strength of social networks and the willingness
of the community to learn from past events have have contributed significantly to post flood recovery in Theodore; this
strengthens the case for the sustainment of local level community development programs that seek to build long term
capacity to plan for and respond to crisis events such as flooding.
Mr David Owens
Deputy Commissioner (retired), Risk-e Business Consultants
Harnessing the power of social media - Local solutions for local problems.
Sir Robert Peel's first principle of policing stated: The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and
disorder. This remains the case, but the challenges facing communities and the police have changed over time. Since the
1960s, new technologies have helped police to keep up with advances in the way that crime is committed. The increased
mobility of criminals has been matched by the patrol car and radio communication; analysis of crime and ASB hot spots
allows response teams to see where they should be targeted.
But whilst technology has enabled the police to keep up with new types of crime and criminal, the ongoing
centralisation of the police has left the service disconnected from the communities they are there to serve. (Policing in
the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the people UK Home Office).
The world has evolved and continues to evolve at such a rapid pace, that all organisations are required to plan
strategically, review those plans and look forward to the future and what impact the future has for the organisation.
Police and Law Enforcement agencies around the world are looking to the future and what impact it may have on the
way in which, police and community engage in crime prevention strategies.
The social network phenomenon continues to expand across the world. Yet the challenges facing law enforcement have
seen most agencies dabble at the edges of the social networks rather than truly engage the same. The NSW Police Force
uses Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to provide information about policing activities and general information. Such use
of modern media technologies is replicated all over the world by police agencies. Yet research has shown that no police
agency has yet to harness the power of the internet and social networking to truly engage our communities in crime
prevention.
It is argued the NSW Police Force has developed a new strategic direction and platform for the delivery of information
to the community of NSW. Utilising facebook as the platform, NSWPF have created neighbourhood watch communities,
organised into precincts. In addition the NSWPF supplies information to local communities in real time, including local
crime figures, issues affecting the local community, keep a look out for information via Local Area Command facebook

open pages. Eyewatch aim is to engage the community to participate in crime prevention and law enforcement at a level
never seen before under specific governance.
Miss Sara Page
Public Information Specialist: GeoNet Project, GNS Science - TE P AO
Social Media Disaster information, fast and in your pocket: How GeoNet has embraced
Social Media and mobile technology.
Following the devastating earthquakes in Canterbury 2010/2011, GeoNet (New Zealand's Geological Hazard
monitoring service) became a household name. Although we had a SMS and email alerting system in place, we quickly
realised that New Zealanders (both members of the public, and those in the emergency service field) wanted our
information faster and easier.
Facebook and Twitter have enabled us to get information out to large numbers of people quickly and have also allowed
people to comment on events, share information/experiences and ask questions. Blogging has allowed us to give
science information a more personal touch, and let people to get a more behind the scenes' view of how things work
here at GeoNet.
Following on from the “hurry up GeoNet, how big was that earthquake― comments that we were used to
receiving following an event, GeoNet implemented a whole new automated earthquake location system in 2011 which
brought in almost instant information and some great smartphone apps.
This presentation will look at the various forms of social media, how we have used them at GeoNet, along with
pros/cons and lessons learnt. Including how things worked during our 2012 eruptions. It will also describe the
changes in the way we present our hazard information and the challenges in getting people used to new systems and
new ways to get our information.
Mr Adam Pascale
Head of Division, ES&S Seismology Research Centre
Co Author - Mr Wayne Peck, Operations Manager, ES&S Seismology Research Centre
Earthquake Response: Preparing for the First Hour
Effective management of emergency response resources in the first few hours following a significant earthquake is
critical. Emergency Management groups need to plan for a range of scenarios, from likely but low impact to unlikely but
catastrophic and scale their response to suit within their resource limitations. Flood events are usually restricted to low
lying areas and bushfires to rural or urban fringe locations, but major earthquakes are likely to affect most or all
properties in the epicentral region, to varying extents. Situational awareness when emergency calls are coming
hundreds of different locations can be problematic. In this presentation we discuss the ways that EM groups can
prepare their response for given areas by classifying regions and assets by using hazard and vulnerability criteria.
When an earthquake occurs and the location and magnitude are input, appropriate mitigation and response plans can
be rapidly generated.

Mr Avijit Paul
Queensland University of Technology
A framework for identifying named entities from social media discussions in crisis situation
Post hoc analysis of social media activities during natural disaster events such as the 2011 Queensland floods and
Christchurch earthquakes has already been proven to provide rich insights into a range of crisis communication and
information mapping issues. Still, recognizing named entity remains in real time remains a difficult task at the height of
disaster. It is still highly problematic to differentiate between location mentions that has high degree of crisis &
relevance and that information which has a low degree of crisis& relevance. By looking at velocity in the volume of the
archived data from prior disasters, this research presents a framework that can provide further understanding in
identifying named entities from social media discussion in real time analysis of crisis situation.
Ms Kerrie Purcell
Managing Director, Lacuna Resolve Pty Ltd
A Resilient Community is an Informed Community
The start of 2013 has seen significant flooding events in Queensland and NSW, Queensland’s second major flood crisis
in two years, and destructive bushfires across three states. As the world faces increasingly volatile weather patterns,
agencies are being challenged to find improved ways to protect the community from the adverse impacts of natural
disasters. Additionally, the increasing complexity and interdependencies of social, technical, and infrastructure systems
are playing a role in increasing community vulnerability to disasters. There is an expectation by the community that
when a disaster does occur, agencies will have appropriately planned and prepared for the event, will provide effective
and timely warnings, respond appropriately and limit the ongoing impacts to the community, environment and local
economy. A well-informed community is a more resilient community. Accurate warnings to the public of who is likely to
be impacted by a particular event and what to expect are critical. Australians are among the world’s most prolific users
of the Internet. The increasing use and speed of this technology (via devices such as smart phones, tablets, and by
utilising “Cloud” computing) means Australians now expect easy access to timely accurate information in a crisis.
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has emerged as the industry’s lifeline. By compiling, analysing and
mapping data and updates from multiple sources into one interactive, easy to use online application, the public is able
to easily access accurate and timely information from multiple technology platforms, in multiple locations. This
includes the opportunity to obtain additional information crowdsourced from GPS coded tweets, photos, videos and
SMS messages from community organisations, schools, government agencies and the public. This presentation will
provide emergency managers with an insight into how an organisation-wide approach to GIS technology can transform
the way agencies communicate with the public during a crisis situation.
Mr Bob Roberson
Disaster Volunteer Co-Ordinator, Volunteering North Queensland
Community Helping Community
Floods, Cyclones, bushfires, tornadoes have again drawn attention to the vulnerability of our Australian communities.
Most recent in our minds are the Southeast Qld and Bundaberg regional floods, and the outburst of bushfires
throughout the country. This presentation discusses the success and leanings from Community engagement during
these disasters. What is outstanding is this countries ability to rally and come together to help each other. This
presentation will look at the success of the Volunteer Disaster Recovery Coordination Program (VCRCG) facilitated by

Volunteering North Queensland (VNQ) following Cyclone Yasi and ongoing up to and including the Bundaberg flood
recovery. VCRCG/ VNQ has been involved in the planning and coordination of community at the recent Bundaberg
regional floods. Prior to that, they were heavily involved in community recovery after the, Townsville tornado event
and Cyclone YASI in Townsville and Ingham areas. The VCRCG program coordinates community organisation that have
capability to utilise casual volunteers for recovery to supplement the work carried out by the more formal disaster
agencies. It also provides disaster community awareness training/information to individuals and community
organisations. The VCRCG program is part of the Townville Local Disaster Management Plan and was developed
through consultation with community, sporting, and social organisations. The VCRCG program fills the gap identified
after the recent COAG conference in WA on how to utilise community to help community. This presentation will look at
the progress of the VCRCG over the past three years and discuss observations gleaned from community disaster
debriefings. The program receives no local, state, federal or private funding and is led by organisations principally run
by community and utilises volunteers and what the community can bring to the table. Discussed will be the group’s
principle agenda to better identify community resources; to supply free, specific, community awareness training; create
a structure of community team leaders and co-ordination. This, in its purest form, amounts to creating a more resilient
community. To date the out of pocket expenses have been borne by the VCRCG volunteers and receives administrative
support from Volunteering North Queensland.
Mr Peter Rogers
Co-Director Climate Futures, Macquarie University
Researching Resilience: An Agenda for Change
This paper will discuss the background and status of academic research in disaster resilience from western
perspectives and map the possible future trajectory of this progressive policy agenda. Drawing on research in disaster
management, security studies, international relations and social sciences the paper offers a critical perspective on the
current state of play in international research on disaster resilience. Some suggestions are made on how academic
approaches can better interface with policy solutions to the wicked problem of disasters.
In light of the recent announcement of the NSW led Disaster Resilience Cooperative Research Centre bid in 2013, this
paper will highlight the growing potential for Australia to take the lead in developing theoretically informed,
empirically grounded and policy relevant cooperative research solutions - for both Australia and for the international
community. The goal of this paper is to offer one potential roadmap of how research on resilience can help, not hinder,
the broader policy agenda for increased societal security and disaster resilience.
Dr Allison Rowlands
Director, Disaster Welfare, Ministry for Police and Emergency Services
Co Author - Mr Gregory Gibbs, Regional Planning Officer, Ministry for Police and Emergency Services
Major Evacuation Centre Planning in NSW – Deniliquin Temporary Accommodation Centre
This paper will outline the conceptualisation of and planning for a Major Evacuation Centre: its underlying principles,
emergency arrangements context, and considerations for the congregate care of a large number of vulnerable people
over ten days, uprooted from their home community. The NSW SES issued an evacuation order for the town of Hay
(2,800 residents) on 15 March 2012, to take effect by 17 March, due to the predicted peak of the Murrumbidgee River
exceeding the levee design height by nearly a metre. This evacuation order followed evacuations in several townships
along the Murrumbidgee and other river systems. A communication strategy developed by SES preceded the order and
continued with ongoing messaging and outreach over following days. Concurrently, the Welfare Services Functional

Area of NSW’s Emergency Management Plan embarked on planning the evacuation response and arrangements for the
care of the community. This resulted in development and erection of a 500 bed major evacuation centre (MEC) at
Deniliquin, 124 kilometres distant. Disaster Welfare Services Alumni managed the DW Unit, support by local
Community Services staff. Multiple issues were identified and resolved by this team and implications for future
planning and practice articulated. Some of these key issues are explored in the paper: Remoteness of the intervention
and supervision and support for the welfare team Responding to the needs of vulnerable groups within the evacuated
community Culturally sensitive practice Information provision Planning leisure activities/managing boredom
Interagency liaison, joint interventions, and referrals Occupational health and safety issues Managing the community
meetings, tensions and psychosocial issues within the evacuated community Impacts on the host community Managing
the return process Managing local, regional and state level processes and relationships within the emergency
management agencies.
A/Prof Jane Shakespeare-Finch
Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology
Co Author - Mrs Julie Green, student, Queensland University of Technology
Social support promotes psychological well-being following a natural disaster
Receiving emotional support has consistently been demonstrated as an important factor associated with mental health
but sparse research has investigated giving support in addition to receiving it or the types of support that predict wellbeing.
In this paper the relationship between giving and receiving instrumental and emotional social support and
psychological well-being during and following a natural disaster is investigated. A survey administered between four
and six months after fatal floods was conducted with 200 community members consisting of men (n = 68) and women
(n = 132) aged between 17 and 87 years. Social support experiences were assessed using the 2-Way Social Support
Scale (2-Way SSS; Shakespeare-Finch & Obst, 2011) and eudemonic well-being was measured using the Psychological
Well-Being Scale (PWBS; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine expected
relationships and to explore the differential effects of the four factors of the 2-Way SSS. Results indicated that social
support shared significant positive associations with domains of psychological well-being, especially with regards to
interpersonal relationships. Receiving and giving emotional support were respectively the strongest unique predictors
of psychological well-being. However, receiving instrumental support predicted less autonomy. Results highlight the
importance of measuring social support as a multidimensional construct and affirm that disaster response policy and
practice should focus on emotional as well as instrumental needs in order to promote individual and community
psychosocial health in a flooding crisis.
Dr Deborah Snell
Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Otago at Christchurch
Co Authors - Associate Professor Lois Surgenor, Associate Professor, University of Otago at Christchurch. Associate
Professor Martin Dorahy, Associate Professor, University of Canterbury.
Application of the Conservation of Resources Theory to understanding coping and
adjustment in Police staff 12-18 months following the Canterbury earthquakes.
AIM Police as a large and stable ‘first responder’ work force are typically involved in victim recovery, civil emergencies
and community support following a significant earthquake. In addition this group are also exposed to the ‘everyday’
work and non-work related repercussions/disruptions associated with such a disaster. Conservation of resources
(COR) theory offers a potentially helpful framework within which longer term health outcomes associated with disaster

consequences in this group may be understood. This mixed methods (QUANTITATIVE-qualitative) study surveyed
coping resources and psychological health outcomes in Police (sworn and non-sworn) working during the 2010-2011
earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand. This paper reports the preliminary findings of a directed qualitative content
analysis of free text responses (n = 322). Initial data coding used four categories derived from COR theory (internal and
external resource loss, internal and external resource gain). Within categories an inductive approach was used to group
the data into a typology of losses and gains. RESULTS All data were classified into one of the four categories. Resource
losses included on-going issues managing insurance providers, damage and threat of loss to home, loss of financial
security, loss of social connectedness to home, work and community, lack of recognition by the employer for going
‘above and beyond,’ and job threat due to restructuring plans. Resource gains included enhanced self-efficacy, post
traumatic growth and pride in contributing as Police during the critical periods. IMPLICATIONS COR theory was
conceptually a good fit for the data, and underscored the dominance of the on-going day-to-day resource losses (work
and non-work) associated with a disaster. The implications for staff training, support and wellbeing, and particularly
the curricula of future preventative interventions are discussed.
Ms Hayley Squance
Programme Director / Lecturer, Massey University
Veterinary Emergency Response Team – a resource across the ditch
Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team is a specialist team of veterinary staff trained in animal
disaster management, technical animal rescue as well as veterinary treatment and is the first of its kind in Australasia.
The team is able to respond to local and national calls for individual animal rescue as well as national and international,
disasters involving companion and production animals. Members are volunteer staff and students from Massey
University’s Institute of Veterinary Animal and Biomedical Sciences. In an emergency, MU VERT is capable of
performing veterinary and animal welfare disaster analysis needs assessments (DANA), assessing the veterinary
infrastructure, establishing veterinary field hospitals, animal decontamination/HazMat, providing care for search and
rescue dogs (USAR and Police), identifying potential public health issues as well as technical animal rescue. The team
can deploy within 12-24 hours to a disaster area and are self-sufficient for 72 hours. This presentation will outline the
capability of such a resource along with examples of the teams national and international deployments.
Dr Mel Taylor
Senior Research Fellow, University of Western Sydney
Co Authors - Dr (and Ms) Penny (and Erin) Burns (and Lynch), Senior Lecturer (and Research Assistant), University of
Western Sydney (both). Mr Greg Eustace, State Coordinator Emergency Management, RSPCA Queensland.
Pets and people, preparedness for disasters (P3D)
Another summer of natural disasters is unfolding across Australia in 2013. The Emergency Services across the Eastern
States are issuing warnings and alerts for bushfires and floods, and advising communities in some areas to evacuate.
What we want to know is how prepared are pet owners for managing their pets in these kinds of disasters? Have they
considered what they will do? Which pets they will evacuate? Where they will go if they take their pets with them? How
long an evacuation with pets would take? Our current study, ‘Pets and people, preparedness for disasters (P3D)’ is
exploring the preparedness of pet owners who have not previously experienced a disaster or emergency event with
their pets. The study is also examining what experiences pet owners have had in recent disasters when it comes to
evacuating and managing their pets? This presentation will provide an overview of what we know about pet owners’
actions in disasters and how recent disasters have uncovered shortcomings in emergency planning. The presentation
will also provide initial findings from the P3D project. The findings of this study will assist Government agencies, Non-

Government Organisations, and Emergency Services that also have roles in supporting this aspect of disaster and
emergency management.
Dr Kirrilly Thompson
Senior Research Fellow, Central Queensland University Appleton Institute
Risk factor or protective factor? Using animal attachment to motivate early evacuation and
survival
The willingness of people to risk their own lives during disasters to save those of animals has been well documented.
Existing research thus characterises animals and pet ownership as risk factors for early evacuation from - and survival
of - natural disasters. However, given high pet ownership levels in industrialised countries, this paper proposes that
animals might alternatively be reconfigured as protective factors. After introducing some social science concepts that
outline the importance of human-animal relationships to human behaviours and decision making, the paper offers
preliminary thoughts on how attachment to pets can be used to motivate early evacuation and survival in times of
natural disasters such as fire and flood. It concludes with an overview of a mixed-methods research plan to be
undertaken in Australia over the next three years and invites contributions and comments from stakeholders.
Mr Mark Silveira
Silveira, Steamatic
Deluges and conflagrations - The Practicalities after the event!
Whilst most of us understand the vital role insurance fulfils during an unfortunate and unforseen event, many of us
have no idea as to the practicalities associated with getting a damaged property functional again.
People affected by the event and their advisors face a number of decisions. The wrong choices made in the early stages
could severely impact the functioning and/or recovery of the business or home. This is significantly exacerbated in the
event of a catastrophe such as bushfires, floods or landslides particularly as the damage is usually greater and
resources to assist are generally stretched.
So, in the event of an incident, how do you determine what items are salvageable and how they can be recognised?
What can be done to halt further damage by water, soot or other harmful elements? What can be done to assist the
recovery process? What responsibilities exist to mitigate the loss and what does this actually mean?
In addition to the immediate issues, the propensity for latent issues emerging can be quite high. Contaminants such as
mould and hidden water or fire damage can cause delayed health issues and have legal ramifications as well as serious
impacts on client's businesses, lifestyle and satisfaction. In addition, insurance claims quantum and reserving
philosophies could well be negatively impacted.
Based on over 25 years experience in assisting people in every major Australian catastrophe and as one of the largest
disaster restoration and loss mitigation specialists, Steamatic can educate first responders to assist those in need
during the critical early days of an unfortunate event.

Dr Suzanne Vallance
Senior Lecturer, Lincoln University
The role of local government in recovery: A case study of the Waimakariri District Council’s
post-earthquake Community-based Recovery Framework
Based on a case study of the Waimakariri District Council’s Community-based Recovery Framework, this paper
identifies some key elements underpinning the success of local authorities as recovery agents. First I argue that local
authorities are well-placed to play a key role based on their relationships with communities and local knowledge;
people’s expectations; local government's legislative mandate; their resources and decision-making authority; their
ability to liaise with (engage/engage with) both communities and other agents/agencies; and their pre-existing
integrative framework of needs assessment and service provision. Second I argue that although local authorities are
well-placed to undertake recovery work, legislated responsibilities can be unclear. This allows for flexibility, which is
appropriate, but can also lead to vastly different approaches and failed expectations; councils vary in their willingness,
capability and capacity to do such work. I conclude that in clarifying local government’s role in recovery there is a need
for guidance around key success factors, some of which are well-illustrated in the Waimakariri District Council case
study.
Ms Gisela van Kessel
Lecturer, University of South Australia
Resilience to fires and floods: The importance of the response process
Resilience has been identified as an "ordinary magic", (Masten 2001) but it only occurs in a proportion of the
population. Since there is a lack of evidence to suggest it is a uniform phenomenon, the question remains - Can anything
be done to help more people experience resilience in the face of a disaster? This study used data from semi-structured
interviews with 19 people who had experienced the 2010/11 Victorian floods and 20 lay witness statements from
people who presented to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. The qualitative analysis applied
Bronfenbrenner’s theory to resilience as an interaction in a person-context-process-time model, where context is
understood as a system of nested levels (Bronfenbrenner 2005). The findings confirmed that both personal
characteristics and contextual factors (predominantly social support) are important to resilience. In addition to this, it
was identified in this sample that the process of delivering assistance was more effective in terms of resilience if it
utilised a mechanism of empathy. This process was observed consistently across all levels of the nested system
including the settings of home, work, and school, relief/recovery/evacuation centre, media and government activities.
Rather than centralise the individual, as has been done so far in disaster resilience research, this study recognises the
importance of the consequences of the actions of others as a process within a person’s social ecologies to an
individual’s resilience. This has implications for process of delivery of assistance and how resilience outcomes are
measured.
Mr Josh Venman
Solution Architect, Esri Australia
When location really matters: Using GIS for natural disaster risk reduction
New York’s Frankenstorm, Japan’s Tsunami, Queensland’s Flood crisis… as the world faces increasingly volatile
weather patterns, researchers, policy makers and emergency services managers are being challenged to find improved
ways to predict, prevent and manage natural disasters. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has emerged

as a potential lifeline to better understand and communicate the social and physical complexities of natural disasters.
GIS technology literally maps the geographic elements contained within data to provide an analytic vantage point that
no other tool can. By mapping natural disaster triggers, events and observations, and overlaying this with population
an environmental data, GIS makes it possible to analyse where disaster events have occurred, and the impacts caused
by these events. By gaining a deeper understanding of where disasters occur, noticeable patterns begin to emerge,
allowing for predictive modelling to take place. These models can then be used to form the basis for the development of
new strategies and initiatives to help reduce future disaster risks. This presentation will provide emergency
management professionals with a detailed insight into how GIS technology can be applied to transform the way we
view natural disasters, and ultimately, help to predict and prevent catastrophies of the future.
Ms Bridget Vercoe
Country Director, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
Animals Matter in Disasters – the New Zealand approach
"Our community expects a well-coordinated and efficient response to animal welfare issues during adverse events like
storms. We are vulnerable, too, to international trade repercussions, unless we can demonstrate the highest standards
of animal care. Consumers in our export markets increasingly want to know that products have been farmed ethically,
and they will react to poor animal welfare stories. Negative stories in international media can badly damage our
reputation. The more knowledge we have, the better we can coordinate our responses and secure the viability of both
individual farmers and the wider animal-based industries.” (Speech by a former New Zealand Agriculture Minister, Hon
Jim Anderton, at NAWEM hosted stakeholder meeting, 2007.) This workshop presentation will briefly explore the
importance of good animal emergency management practice, including: the economic ramifications for the New
Zealand economy, based on findings from a recently released research paper; animal welfare considerations; and the
impact on evacuation compliance and associated civil defence emergency management procedures. The focus of the
presentation will be on the strategies and tools that NAWEM is using to facilitate changes to Government policy,
legislative underpinnings to policy, and local arrangements to ensure that production and companion animal welfare is
adequately managed during an adverse event. This will include discussion on the following recent initiatives and policy
changes: NAWEM and the benefits of having a coordinated and collaborative approach to animal emergency
management. The Planning for Companion Animal Welfare in an Emergency. Director’s Guideline for CDEM Groups. A
first for New Zealand and possibly the world, the guide covers all aspects of companion animal welfare emergency
management including planning and legal considerations, operational arrangements, animal rescue, and the
establishment and management of a temporary animal shelter. The New Zealand Animal Welfare Strategy and recent
amendments to New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act1999 . Disability Assist Dog identification – a standardised
identification tag featuring the civil defence logo, to be worn by all certified disability assist dogs in New Zealand. The
tag will assist with recognition of these dogs in an emergency, enabling rapid reunification with the owner/handler if
separated, and access to all public centres (evacuation, welfare, recovery etc.) with their owner/handler.
Dr Mark Wallace
Psychiatrist, Centre for Disaster Recovery and Trauma
Specialized Psychiatric services for Adult Mental Health Care: Recovery following the
Queensland Natural Disasters 2010 – 2012
Following the Queensland natural disasters in 2010 -2011 State and Federal funding was made avaliable to establish
programs to address the psychological needs of those experiencing persisting distress. This paper discusses the
patterns of distress manifest, clinical teams that were established and the treatment modalities used. Specific examples
of adult and older adult patients that were treated will be used, and lessons for future programs will be outlined.

Australian & New Zealand Disaster and
Emergency Management Conference
28-30 May 2013 I Mercure Hotel, Brisbane
EARTH: FIRE & RAIN
POSTER ABSTRACTS 2013
www.anzdmc.com.au
DISASTER &
EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
In association with

Mr Mark Armstrong
Director, Full Capacity
Co Author - Mr Don Quinn, Associate, Full Capacity
Beyond recovery …………. Reconstruction as the ‘fifth phase’ of disaster management
The PPRR (Prevention Preparedness Response Recovery) model has been a widely accepted model for emergency
management planning in Australian in recent decades. Yet the political and policy legacies of recent major disaster
events suggest that PPRR is not as ‘comprehensive’ as it is often described. An analysis of practice suggests that there is
actually a distinct ‘fifth phase’, commonly called reconstruction. Cyclone Larry, The Victorian Bushfires of 2009, the
Queensland flood and weather events of 2010/11 and 2013 all saw extensive post-recovery activities undertaken by
specially formed authorities. These bodies all had roles not defined in State Disaster Management Arrangements and
they had to be integrated within the normal machinery of government to achieve their purposes. They conducted a
range of activities including coordinating NDRRA funding submissions, making recommendations for medium term
mitigation measures and coordinating the management of donations. These Authorities, whilst successful, all formed
from scratch, in the midst of crisis, without an existing legislative or conceptual framework to guide activity and
facilitate integration. This situation, understandably, resulted in missed opportunities, friction amongst participating
agencies, bureaucratic inertia and ad-hoc arrangements. These experiences suggest that there is an opportunity to
anticipate and plan for reconstruction activities as part of a truly comprehensive approach. In doing so, there is an
opportunity to bring together two groups of professionals to collaborate more: emergency planners and emergency
managers. The latter develop their own emergency operations plans, which are in the vast majority of cases focused
almost exclusively on immediate response and recovery functions following a disaster. Moreover, the discussion
between planners and emergency managers, particularly if augmented by environmental and sustainable development
perspectives, could open up new opportunities and approaches for post-disaster betterment. This paper will seek to
summarise the important common themes from the post-recovery activities in recent Australian disasters and then
provide a conceptual policy and organisational framework for a fifth, ‘reconstruction’, phase.
Ms Amara Bains
Director, Strategy & Operations, QLD Alliance for Mental Health Inc.
Co Author - Ms Joanne Durham, Lecturer, Aust Centre for Tropical and International Health
Community based organisations: developing organisational resilience to build back better
Most community disaster management plans include reference to an important role for community based organisations
(CBOs), yet there is little published information about how resilient these organisations are - an essential capability
that enables them to participate in meeting community needs during both acute and recovery phases. The advantage of
CBOs, of being community-based, is also their vulnerability, as in all likelihood they too are affected by the disaster.
While organisational resilience is often used synonymously with business continuity, for these groups working at grassroots
level, organisational resilience goes beyond business continuity. It includes the ability for an organisation to
continue its day-to-day business and meet a surge in the demand for services it may not normally provide, as well as
the ability stay connected to the community so that it remains a viable entity within the community for building
resilience. Therefore, organisational resilience in this context refers to CBO’s capacity to adapt to the needs postdisaster
and manage its own organisational transformation post-disaster in order to ‘“build back better’” and preserve
its role in building and promoting community resilience. Despite the crucial role CBOs play in all stages of the disaster
management process, there is limited understanding of how to evaluate and develop CBOs’ resilience. The purpose of
this paper is to begin to address this crucial gap in the literature. Drawing on Australian and New Zealand published
research and a comprehensive literature review followed by a qualitative analysis of the literature and the authors’
experience in Indonesia, Cambodia and south Sudan, this paper uses a systems approach to analyse CBO resilience. We

discuss how a systems analysis helps identify a CBO’s disaster management capacities and identify priorities for
strengthening the organisation’s resiliency. The paper makes an important contribution to the resilience literature in
identifying some of the critical characteristics of CBO resilience and offering policy lessons to enhance CBO resilience.
We conclude by offering further areas for research.
Ms Deb Brown
Coordinator Socail Inclusion, Latrobe City Council
Co Author - Ms Heather Farley, Coordinator Community Strengthening, Latrobe City Council
Latrobe City Communities Fighting Forward
The Latrobe City Council has played a key coordination, networking, communication and leadership role in the
rebuilding and recovery processes following the Victorian 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. A key principle has been to
support the established leadership and ongoing activities of communities, while facilitating opportunities for others to
become actively involved.
The City has worked with multiple agencies and service providers, acting as an advocate, a facilitator and a conduit to
ensure resources are allocated effectively and efficiently where they are most needed. There are too many partners to
list here, but they have included; the Department of Human Services (DHS), Department of Environment, Sustainability
and Environment (DSE), the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority, electricity and telecom service
providers, emergency relief and welfare agencies, churches and faith-based organisations, local employers, and most
importantly the various fire-affected communities themselves.
The City's response has been complex, multi-faceted and ongoing. The city's involvements have ranged from tanking in
fresh potable water to devastated locations, to supporting inspirational community theatre; from providing dedicated
case managers, to providing child care; from organising picnics in the paddocks', to rebuilding community
infrastructure; from providing transport services, to training for community members in managing post traumatic
stress and grief. The list could go on and on. Not least has been the focussed work done with the bereaved community,
facilitation of Ecumenical services and the development of appropriate memorials.
An enormous amount has been done and there is a lot still to do. Three and half years after the fires, the recovery,
rebuilding and resilience program continues.
The intent in this paper is not to showcase any individual event or project for they have been multiple and interrelated.
But rather to highlight the integrated and holistic approach which is building community strengths out of the
ashes of trauma.
Ms Antonella Cavallo
PhD Candidate, University of Adelaide
Building resilience with the support of the community: a systemic approach
In agreement with the Natural Disaster Resilience Strategy endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in 2011,
this paper focuses on a research methodology to build disaster resilience starting from community systems and
building up to the governmental level of hazard leaders. The ultimate goal of disaster preparedness is to mitigate the
risk of physical, social and economic harm in the broad population. It is normally accepted that there are no
preparedness programs or brochures which fully prepare the population to mitigate every possible risk. Indeed,

disasters always involve a portion of unpredicted or unidentified risks. This paper, which is conceptual in nature, looks
at ways of preparing to those unforeseen risks to which the population will inevitably be exposed in case of a disaster.
This study addresses also the risk that the population might not behave according to predefined emergency
management plans, as it was the case in the Italian cruise ship or in the Fukushima disasters. The integration of ad-hoc
traditional approaches and systemic methods is stated to be the key to increased community resilience. The former can
give a generally valid framework to behave in case of a disaster while the latter can build sustainable resilience. The
theory behind this is that a connected community is more likely to be able to thrive in an environment of
unpredictability and surprise than one in which people do not know each other. For this reason, in a systemic approach,
the population is considered in the network of individual members. Starting from the community and preceding
towards hazard leaders, this study aims to support disaster preparedness agencies, such as the Australian Red Cross
and local councils, to hand-tailor their approaches depending on the realistic potential of the community to apply
disaster preparedness principles.
Dr Chan Kim Chai
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Key points of a hospital business continuity plan for an epidemic: lessons from the SARS and
H1N1 outbreaks
Having experienced the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreaks in 2003 and the H1N1 flu pandemic in
2009, we have identified the following key points that need to be considered, during business continuity planning for a
hospital, in the event of an infectious disease outbreak:
(1) Involvement of all stack holders both within and without the hospital
(2) Have a clear leadership, and command and control structure at the hospital, regional and national levels
(3) Capacity building:
a. space- plans to expand space for critical hospital operations, or consider the use of alternate sites
b. stuff- stockpiles of critical medical equipment, personal protective equipment and relevant medications;
plans to engage vendors and alternate suppliers early
c. staff- training, deployment plan, strategies to cope with manpower shortages, system to ensure staff welfare
and well being
(4) Infection control measures: these should be already be implemented during daily hospital operation but can be
ramped up during an outbreak. Important components include security of all hospital access points, screening for
infective cases, isolation measures, personal protection for all clinical and nonclinical staff, and registration processes
to allow for contact tracing.
(5) Access to clinical laboratories with the capability to formulate and perform rapid screening tests for emergent
pathogens, 24 hours daily.
(6) Establish channels of communication within and without the hospital
(7) Consider planning for dedicated transport services for infective cases
(8) Surveillance measures for staff, hospital patients, at the community and immigration entry points
Above all, be flexible as each outbreak is unique; plans need to be tweaks in response to the actual ground situations.

Mr Adam Childs
Director, tCeti Ltd.
Blinded by Belief: How Cultural Theory can be used to explain organisational strengths and
weaknesses in risk management.
This paper presents an academic approach to understanding the root causes of many of the issues and challenges that
risk managers and responders face. It is designed to present an alternative way of looking at DRR and DRM by
exploring how decision makers arrive at their decisions, and the strengths and weaknesses of different decision-making
methods based on Cultural Theory. This theory evolved out of the work of anthropologist Mary Douglas in the 1960s.
Since then, it has been accepted as an effective tool for explaining risk perception and identification that, in turn,
significantly affects the efficiency and effectiveness of risk management. This paper gives a brief overview of the Theory
and then delves into practical ramifications such as: Barriers to learning and integrating lessons; Challenges for
DRR/DRM managers when dealing with individuals with different worldviews (e.g. aboriginal communities, urbanites
or farmers); How culture affects organisations’ inherent approach to risk management in terms of Hood and Jones’
doctrines such as absolutionism versus blamism and anticipationism versus resilience and; Improving communication
and coordination between hierarchical government agencies and egalitarian ‘not-for-profit’/volunteer organisations.
Case studies will be used as practical illustrations of the use of Cultural Theory in risk management.(At this stage, the
author is considering using the Pike River mine disaster in NZ and the Jimmy Saville Scandal in the UK as case studies).
Miss Jennie Cramp
Technical Officer - Bushfire, Ku-ring-gai Council
Co Author - Miss Amelia Jones, Environmental Scientist - Fire, Hornsby Shire Council. Superintendent Kel McNamara, Zone
Commander Metro East, Fire and Rescue NSW.
Preparing for bushfires: a holistic multi-agency approach to strengthening community
resilience on the urban bushland interface
Fire is integral in the Australian landscape. However, fires become disasters as communities interact with our natural
environment. Increasing development in peri-urban areas has seen the bush fire risk to human life escalate as people
increasingly place themselves in more vulnerable locations. These areas are attractive to people seeking a ‘lifestyle’
amenity in a bush setting with the convenience of suburbia. In the Greater Sydney area large tracts of bushland
intersect with densely populated residential areas. Research has demonstrated that the Local Government Areas of Kuring-gai
and Hornsby are one of the two most at risk locations in Sydney. Traditional measures applied to reduce the
risks associated with bush fire have demonstrated varying degrees of success but have ultimately proved inadequate in
the face of large scale, catastrophic fires. Given these limitations other measures need to be promoted to fill this void.
Land managers and fire agencies in the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai area have taken a coordinated approach in implementing
positive, proactive community education that aims to increase neighbourhood cohesion, engage the community in risk
management and increase resilience to bushfire events. The two Councils’, Fire and Rescue NSW and the NSW Rural
Fire Service have developed a local community fire education strategy to complement an existing Bush Fire Risk
Management Plan. Together these plans are forming a framework being implemented across NSW. A diverse and
integrated suite of educational activities and materials are being undertaken. The educational activities account for
diversity and place-based social vulnerability. Approaches to pre incident community engagement in Hornsby Ku-ringgai
have moved away from mass communication. Readily accessible information and resources in an interactive
learning environment are encouraging and empowering community members to engage with each other and the
agencies involved to develop a shared responsibility for coping with disasters.

Mr Bob Dick
Independent scholar, Interchange
Using action learning to develop organisational resilience
In an increasingly interconnected and fast-paced world, disaster and crisis are to be expected. But thankfully, forwardlooking
organisations have several chances to escape or minimise the impact of the crisis when it does occur. Four
qualities are helpful, each making use of a different set of strategies to develop resilience.
The first is foresight. Techniques such as forecasting allow an organisation to anticipate those crises (and
opportunities) that can be predicted.
The second is agility. Learning to be quick-footed allows faster response when the crisis or opportunity arises, whether
or not it could be foreseen.
The third is robustness. Robust organisations suffer less damage from unavoidable harm. Again, there are techniques
for developing the necessary characteristics.
The fourth is recovery. Having well-practised procedures in place for rapid recovery enables faster response and
revival during and after the crisis.
For each of these organisational qualities there is a set of strategies. To be effective they have to be in place before the
crisis or opportunity occurs. Many of them require a change in the culture of the organisation if they are to be effective.
Among the ways of cultivating qualities for survival, action learning programs offer a promising and cost-effective
approach. In such a program, small teams of people develop personal resilience and innovativeness as they work
collaboratively on projects chosen to build the appropriate skills and responses.
This presentation will draw on several relevant literatures including futures, systems theory, complexity, high
reliability organisations, action research, and action learning. It will outline the nature of the four characteristics and
discuss some of the ways of achieving them. It will explain how an action learning program to achieve the necessary
resilience can be implemented.
Mr Matthias Dorfstaetter
Emergency Management Planning Officer, Bendigo, Victoria
Human Experience and Response to Natural Warning Signs of Tsunamis: Applications for
Risk Management based on Canterbury Earthquakes 2010/11
Natural warning signs of tsunamis, such as ground shaking, pose as an important indicator for self initiated evacuation
in potential inundation areas. In order to understand human decision making under extreme conditions, this paper
analyses the experience and response of 126 people, following the 2010/11 Canterbury earthquakes. Residents in 13
settlements along the coastline were randomly approached in 130.5 hours over a period of 8 weeks, in 2012. A
personally administered questionnaire was used to gather data for 2 hypothesized models, one using demographic, one
using intra and interpersonal variables, in order to identify the strongest variables associated with behaviour. Data was
analysed with the structural equation modelling software AMOS and SPSS. The models suggest that peoples' actions, in
order to deal with potential hazards, tend to be orientated more on the behaviour of others, rather than on
intrapersonal aspects, such as hazard knowledge, hazard risk perception, response efficiency beliefs, or warning
perception. Demographic variables too, appear to supply less of an explaination for a certain natural warning response.
Temporal analysis showed a decline in natural warning response over time, and indicated a decrease in intentions to
respond to future ground shaking. Analysing natural warning experience, indicates that the earthquake duration tends

mostly to be estimated inaccurately. This finding challenges the use of earthquake duration as a decisive indicator for
self initiated evacuation, as used by emergency management agencies. The identified decision making process allows
the specification of hazard education programmes in terms of cost efficiency. The case study presents an understanding
of people's decision making process in extreme events, its sociological context, and potential applications for
emergency management agencies.
Dr Deepak Doshi
Staff Speciacialist Emergency & Paediatric Emerg, Logan Hospital
Co Author - Dr A Saulova, Registrar, Logan Hospital
Cervical spine injury Imaging and Evaluation in children: A multimeter study
Falls in children are common and it is usual practice by paramedics to apply neck collar even when there is a minor
suspicious of neck trauma. Occurrence of spinal cord injury is extremely rare - only 0.66% of all major trauma in
children and fracture of cervical spine is also a rare injury. One year data analysis at two major hospitals in Queensland
resulted in only one cervical spine injury in a child. 84% of all injuries were minor and the neck collar could have been
removed clinically based on statistics and clinical presentation. (A complete analysis of data will be presented) Nexus,
Canadian c-spine and NICE guidelines are generally used by most emergency physicians; however these are only
extrapolated for children less than 10 years of age. Published trials from large American trauma centers have
confirmed a very low incidence of cervical spine injury in children. Radiologist reports for confirmatory evidence have
specificity of 60% for x-rays and up to 80% for CT scan. Clinical examination and history remain the main stay for
exclusion of cervical spine injury. However there is limited published literature to guide the Emergency physician. An
evidence based flow chart will be presented with a major change that there is no evidence to show that cervical spine x-
rays are of any benefit or use in children. Clinical evaluation and when indicated CT scan or MRI is the way forward in
future.
Mr Rodolfo Jr Espada
PhD Student, University of Southern Queensland
Co Authors - A/Prof. Armando Apan, Associate Dean for Research, University of Southern Queensland. A/Prof. Kevin
McDougall, University of Southern Queensland.
Understanding the January 2011 Queensland flood: the role of geographic interdependency
in flood risk assessment for community and infrastructures
The aim of this paper was to develop a new analytical approach of flood risk assessment in an urban area based on the
concepts of geographic interdependency and spatial autocorrelation. This study focused on the January 2011 flood in
Queensland (Australia) with core suburbs of Brisbane City as the study area. Network analysis, urban morphological
characterisation, point distance analysis, and collect events analysis were implemented to standardise and transform
geographic features (i.e. electricity infrastructure, building properties, emergency services, electrical hazard, and
damaged properties during the January 2011 flood) into point features. The global Moran’s I and the Anselin Local
Moran’s I were the spatial autocorrelation techniques operationalised to analyse these standardised and transformed
geographic features. The modified fuzzy gamma overlay operation was finally used to integrate the generated risk
component indicators (i.e. hazard, vulnerability, and exposure) to model the flood risk to community and
infrastructures. Results of the analysis showed that the concept of geographic interdependency through the operation
of local Moran’s I spatial autocorrelation technique can be significantly applied in the flood risk assessment of urban
community and infrastructures superior than the global Moran’s I technique. Thirty per cent (30%) (about 693 ha) and

35.65 % (about 808 ha) of the urban community and infrastructures, respectively, were very highly impacted by the
January 2011 flood based on 95% level of confidence set in the operation of spatial autocorrelation. This study
produced spatially explicit analytical techniques that will optimise decisions for increasing community resiliency.
Mr Ian French
Activity Leader, Geoscience Australia
Building community resilience by simulating the uncertainty in bushfire spread and impacts
In 2011 the Bushfire CRC funded a major collaborative project called FireDST (Fire Impact & Risk Evaluation – Decision
Support Tool). The project involves the Bureau of Meteorology, University of Melbourne, CSIRO and Geoscience
Australia. This paper displays results from one of the major project achievements so far: the development of a “proof of
concept” uncertainty driven interactive bushfire simulation tool. This tool has demonstrated (using the Kilmore 2009
bushfire) the usefulness of producing, grouping and displaying a range of bushfire scenarios for any bushfire. For
example, where the ignition point may be uncertain, several possible ignitions can be simulated to assess potential
outcomes. The tool similarly explores uncertainties in the fuel type, load and state, as well as in the forecast weather
conditions. Each of these uncertainties is simulated, and the cumulative result can be displayed as a likelihood of the
fire spread over an area of potential fire impact. The user is able to refine this potential impact area as conditions
change or as new information arrives. This paper discusses the potential use to manage bushfire occurrences in the
State Emergency Management centres. However, the principles in FireDST can also be used to assist building
community resilience. We provide examples of the potential usefulness to local communities and local government in
areas like: -Community engagement/ education about the potential fire risk at the neighbourhood level; -Local brigade
management of the region vegetation to ascertain if mitigation practices such as controlled burns and vegetation
removal reduce the bushfire risk potential; -Planning for safer communities by testing potential refuge locations, and to
help residents understand how different fire scenarios may affect their fire plan.
Mrs Amanda Gearing
Journalist and PhD student, QUT
Why disaster survivors speak to reporters
Extended in-depth interviews were used in this study to produce a ‘first draft of history’ recording the human
experience of survivors and rescuers during the January 2011 flash flood disaster in Toowoomba and the Lockyer
Valley in Queensland, Australia. The study aimed to discover what can be learnt from engaging in journalistic reporting
of natural disasters, using journalism as both a creative practice and a research methodology. (Lindgren and Phillips,
2011, 75) The willingness of a very high proportion of severely traumatised flood survivors to participate in the flood
research was unexpected but made it possible to document a relatively unstudied question within the literature about
journalism and trauma – why disaster survivors choose to speak to journalists. The study reports six categories of
reasons interviewees gave for their willingness to speak to the media: for their own personal recovery; their desire for
the public to know what had happened; that lessons need to be learned from the disaster; their sense of duty to make
sure warning systems and disaster responses are improved in future; the financial disinterest of reporters in listening
to survivors; and the timing of the request for an interview. In addition, traumatised flood survivors found both the
opportunity to speak to the media and the journalistic outputs of the research cathartic in their recovery.

Prof Russell Gruen
Director, National Trauma Research Institute
Co Authors - Dr Prasit Wuthisuthimethawee, Fellow in Disaster Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. Professor David
Watters, Professor of Surgery, Geelong Hospital.
Wound Management in Disasters
Frequent occurrence of natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region has highlighted the need for effective disaster
management guidelines. Resulting health consequences are usually the most devastating in communities where
resources are scarce and medical expertise is lacking. People affected by disasters present with wounds that are
contaminated and at high risk of secondary complications. For this reason, the development of a comprehensive wound
management protocol is beneficial. We performed a literature search for published articles discussing wound
management that identified 2,894 titles and abstracts. These were screened for relevance resulting in ninety articles for
full-text screening. Two independent reviewers assessed the ninety articles, and a total of sixty articles and two
guidelines were included for appraisal. The findings revealed that wounds sustained during the trauma of natural
disasters were frequently infected. The likely organisms were determined by the nature of the disaster, whether the
victim had been submerged, and the country in which the event occurred. Crush injuries were common and required a
specialized knowledge of the pathophysiology to appropriately manage the sequelae. Various special injuries should
not be managed by inexperienced care-providers; instead should be identified early and transferred to an appropriate
facility. Delayed wound closure reduced the risk of secondary wound complications and improved healing. Following
this process, a small research group devised a protocol to guide the management of wounds in under-resourced,
disaster settings. This original protocol presented at a consensus meeting held at the Royal College of Surgeons in 2012,
resulted in a refined set of guidelines which were then presented to an International Symposium on the Global Burden
of Surgical Disease. This revised protocol states recommendations in a manner that are simple and easy to understand
for non-native English-speaking people. This protocol is intended to be printed in a brochure format for widespread
distribution.
Mr Paul Haimes
Master of Communications (by research) candidate, Edith Cowan University
Co Authors - Dr Danielle Brady, Coordinator of Higher Degrees by Research, Edith Cowan University. Dr Barnard Clarkson,
Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University.
Engaging with communities as a design process: redesigning the FireWatch interface
Analysis of recent bushfires in Australia, such as Black Saturday in 2009 and the Kimberley Ultramarathon tragedy in
2011, demonstrates that a lack of communications for people on the ground can have dire consequences. Due to the
increasing impact of bushfires in recent years, the provision of bushfire information to communities is increasingly
important. Landgate in Western Australia produces a web-based fire monitoring service known as FireWatch. While
built primarily for the use of fire and emergency services professionals and accessed by subscription, a public access
site is available. This website provides a large amount of high-level technical information, but its history of focus for
technical users means that there are several usability issues to address. This paper reports on a collaborative project
with Landgate to redesign the public access FireWatch website to accommodate members of the wider community,
particularly in rural areas. User-centred design is a Human-computer interaction (HCI) methodology that attempts to
engage users of software applications in the early stages of development and design. One of the recommendations of
the Victorian Bushfires Commission (2010) was the enhancement of systems that provide timely and informative
advice on bushfires. We assert that when building systems to notify a community of bushfire information, it is
necessary to engage with that community as part of the design process. In this paper, we describe our user-centred

approach in redesigning the FireWatch website. We discuss our findings from in-depth interviews with a Kimberley
community and user testing with a prototype interface, aimed at ensuring our prototype development will be focused
on the needs of users.
Ms Sihuan Liu
RN, West China Hospital, Sichuan University
Waiting Time for Treatment in a Hospital Emergency Department: The First Report in China
Objective: When and which patients wait longer from triaging to physician assessment in the emergency department
(ED) in China has not been reported previously. The purpose of this study is to determine which patient characteristics
are associated with prolonged waiting times in the ED of the biggest tertiary hospital in China.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all the ED patients from November 2011 to October 2012 in our
hospital. Patient age, gender, nationality, day and time of presentation, mode of arrival, triage category and patient
specialty were examined as potential predictors of waiting time between triage and being seen by a physician in ED.
Results: Waiting time data for 124,361 patients were analyzed. The mean waiting time for treatment of all the patients
was 17.0 minutes (range 0 min to 387.93 min). Waiting times varied significantly by age, gender, mode of arrival, triage
category, day and time of presentation, and patient triage specialty (all P

correlated with LWBS patients. The majority of LWBS patients were assigned level 3 or 4, representing 94.64% of the
LWBS population. Independent predictors of LWBS included pediatric patients, lower triage category, non-assisted
transport, evening presentations, day and month presentations.
Conclusion: Patients' leaving the ED without being seen is a serious health issue that may delay care and result in
adverse outcomes, especially for higher acuity patients. The most powerful predictors of LWBS are pediatric patients
arriving by non-assisted transport in the evening with lower acuity problems. Potential risk management strategies
should be implemented to decrease or eliminate LWBS population by better communication between staff and patients,
providing more comfort measures and some other steps.
Dr Tony McArthur
Professional Assistant to the Executive Director, Catholic Education Commission NSW
Emergency management in NSW Catholic Schools: a case study of emergency management
in a NSW non-government organisation
The Catholic Education Commission NSW (CEC) is the peak body for the 581 Catholic schools in NSW. Since 2009, CEC
has been required to serve as dissemination point for emergency messages, sent by the NSW State Emergency
Operations Centre (SEOC), concerning bushfire, flood and other emergencies.
Initially, CEC established email groups and collected both landline and mobile phone numbers for designated contact
personnel at diocesan school offices. However, accountability obligations required the tracking of all emergency
notifications and the verification of message receipt. This led to the development of the CEC Emergency Management
System (CECEMS). CECEMS is a web app that has replaced the use of the phone/email contacts as the primary mode of
emergency communications.
CEC's Charter prohibits it having a direct role in the administration of schools. Consequently, emergency notification
procedures/instructions need to be delivered to schools by their respective Diocesan Catholic Education Office. To
achieve this CEC developed the Diocesan Emergency Management System (DEMS). Once Diocesan offices receive
emergency notifications via CECEMS, they can then transmit the information to their respective schools and agencies
via DEMS. This tool was distributed to dioceses to be used at their discretion through a deed of gift. This web app is
being put into operation by seven of the eleven dioceses.
Emergency situations have always involved responsibility for schools and Diocesan offices. But since 2009 this
responsibility has escalated to the level that schools must be able to send emergency information, at very short notice,
to their parents and staff. This has placed direct responsibility on Principals to make decisions in circumstances totally
unfamiliar to most of them. To alleviate this, CEC, in cooperation with the Rural Fire Service and other agencies, is
currently developing tools to support Principals' decision making in emergency situations.
Ms Becky Paroz
Knowledge Custodian, Aust Project Management Mentors and Assoc (APMMA)
Project managers and disasters
How does Project Management apply to the real world, in particular when a crisis or disaster occurs? The use of Project
Management methodology can assist in focusing people and talent on areas that require immediate response in times
of need, such as a disaster. What do you focus on? How do you build the team in a short time? Will it work, or is it
another layer of “management” that can be done without, in an effort to get things done without delay? This
presentation offers lessons learnt from an award winning global summit that saw approximately 100 young project

managers from around the world challenged to come up with a recovery plan for several disaster scenarios. Inspired by
the floods of 2011, this IPMA Young Crew workshop was held for the first time in the southern hemisphere, in Brisbane,
10 months after disaster hit that city (and state). The teams, created on the day, were each given a disaster that had
occurred globally in the previous 12 months and tasked with developing a crisis management plan for that scenario
using project management principles. The obstacles included language barriers, cultural differences, alternative
training context and content, time factors and changing requirements. The “real-life” situation of disaster management
was duplicated as much as possible to allow the teams to get a true sense of what it may be like to be involved in
recovery and management plans. The presentation offers insight into the techniques used and the benefits realised
from the 2 day workshop.
Dr Mahesh Prakash
Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
Co Author - Mr Stuart Mead, Graduate Fellow, CSIRO. Dr James Hilton, Research Scientist, CSIRO.
Coastal Inundation: Simulation and visualisation strategies for better community
engagement and risk assessment
Estimating coastal inundation due to extreme weather conditions such as storm surges and cyclones, a tsunami event
or due to sea level rise caused by climate change have become an important topic of consideration for managing
existing structures as well as for planning purposes to build new coastal infrastructure. Flow modelling including
computational fluid dynamic simulations is now used regularly to determine inundation levels, arrival times and flood
maps for various coastal inundation problems. However current techniques are not able to provide a clear visual
account of such events due to limitations including inability to capture the large scale flow in three dimensions and
poor visualisation caused by lack of integration of the flow modelling with state of the art 3D visualisation methods.
Using case studies this paper presents the value of integrating 3D flow modelling techniques with the latest
visualisation methods for coastal inundation. The ability of this integrated approach in assisting authorities for better
informed planning, mitigation and management will be discussed.
Miss Carol Readshaw
Senior Policy Officer, Disaster Preparedness & Management Unit, WA Health
AllocateME – A Smartphone application to track and communicate casualty details in a mass
casualty incident
The accurate allocation of casualties to definitive care in a mass casualty incident ensures better outcomes for patients
as well as reducing the burden on resources. Real time information is critical to determine appropriate patient
allocation to health care facilities, based on injury type and the capability of the receiving facility (Killeen, Chan, Buono,
Griswold & Lenert, 2006). To correctly allocate casualties decision makers need clear, accurate and timely access to
information. Traditionally radio communications have been heavily relied upon to transmit information. Details
received can be difficult to hear and may not be presented in a logical, sequential or timely manner. To address this
issue I have created ‘AllocateME’, an application that utilises Smartphone technology to communicate casualty details
from a disaster site to a central location in real time. With AllocateME casualty details are sent to a central database.
Key information communicated includes priority, triage tag number, gender, age group, primary and secondary injury,
name, a photo to assist in reunification, intubation status and a recommended care setting. Decision makers can view
information in real time and are able to make informed hospital allocation decisions which can be relayed to the
transport nurse at the disaster scene. The application can also capture transport details such as departure time and
mode of transport. Tracking of patient from the incident scene to definitive care is made possible by linking the unique

identifying SMART tag triage number used in Australia to the hospitals unique medical record number. Additional
functions such as grouping of family members/school groups, bar code scanning and photographs of injuries may be
added to the application to streamline patient allocation and tracking. The application is designed to be simple to use,
cost effective, portable, user friendly and transmits concise relevant data in a timely manner.
Dr Stephen Robinson
Coordinator, NSW Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network
The training and integration of clergy and chaplains in post-disaster response and recovery.
Clergy and other faith leaders have historically been heavily involved in personal support and community recovery
following traumatic events. These people have provided practical, emotional and spiritual care to individuals and
groups within their communities through their long-standing commitment as both community leaders and servants. In
recent times, with increased emphasis on the role of government and agencies in community recovery, faith
communities, such as churches, and their leaders have often found themselves disenfranchised and dislocated from
local recovery efforts. Ministers, while often having wide professional and interpersonal skill-sets, are often not
educated in the effects of disaster and trauma and – working in isolation from the wider effort - are vulnerable to stress
and burnout in seeking to care for their communities. The NSW Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network (DRCN) was
established in 2009 after consultation with the relevant welfare committee of government and other response agencies.
This multi-denominational, multi-faith network uses good quality contemporary material to train professional ministry
agents in best practice chaplaincy. This network of chaplains stands ready to be called upon at the request of Disaster
Welfare Services, or combat agency chaplaincies, to work in a cooperative way with other disaster response partners.
The DRCN also seeks to work cooperatively with local church and faith groups in disaster affected areas to share
trauma and recovery education and resources to local clergy, connect them with government initiatives and ensure
they are supported and integrated into the recovery processes. This paper will give an overview of important lessons
learned in the establishment of a network which utilises and supports the resources of church and faith groups, and
integrates them in the process of holistic community-led recovery.
A/Prof Jane Shakespeare-Finch
Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology
Co Author - Ms Susan Savill, Counsellor, Queensland University of Technology
An investigation of the lived experiences of Intensive Care Paramedics
Intensive Care Paramedics (ICPs) attend to only the most clinically challenging of emergency medical cases, often
working in a chaotic and frenetic atmosphere. They are regularly exposed to human tragedy and with that, the potential
to experience traumatic events is not uncommon. There is very little known about the well-being of ICPs; how they
cope with the demands of their role, or about their mental health in general. Nineteen experienced ICPs (4 female, 15
male) participated in a semi-structured interview. Themes were extracted from the data using an Interpretive
Phenomenological Analysis approach. All participants discussed a work-related event they attended that traumatized
them, usually experienced in the earlier parts of their career. Some spoke of an immediate overwhelming of their
capacity to cope and others of a gradual onset of traumatic stress when reflecting on the event at a later time. More
than half of the participants described events that involved children as the most difficult but others spoke about trauma
occurring as a result of the way they perceived they were treated by colleagues post-event. Data revealed four
superordinate themes: Social Support, Cognitive Coping, Proactive Coping, and Long Term Effects. Each superordinate
theme comprised a number of constituent themes which are presented in this paper and exemplified with participant
quotes. Although ongoing distress was described by some participants, all of the ICPs interviewed discussed positive
aspects of their job; things that made the role worthwhile and fulfilling. This research highlights the important factors

involved in coping with, and growing from, the extraordinary events that ICPs face. Results have implications for
employing organizations and staff support services as well as for paramedics more broadly as they learn to cope with
events inherent in their career. Findings indicate that positive adaptation and personal growth as a result of exposure
to extremely high levels of potentially traumatic experiences is not only possible, but highly probable.
Ms Tania Somasundaram
Emergency Sheltering Project Coordinator, Australian Red Cross
Co Author - Mr Tim McInerny, International Aid Delegate, Australian Red Cross
Emergency Sheltering: More Than Just a Roof
In Australia emergency shelters are often established before or after disasters to support members of the public who
evacuate their homes or accommodation. The primary purpose of these shelters is providing accommodation or
physical protection from the elements. In reality, these shelters do more than merely provide a roof. People accessing
emergency sheltering have been affected by disasters in a variety of ways and arrive with a range of emotions.
Separation from family and friends, damage to people’s homes and belongings, concern for pets and uncertainty about
the future can make people feel anxious, vulnerable, powerless or angry. In this context, emergency sheltering involves
meeting a combination of basic human needs beyond physical protection. The presentation demonstrates that
emergency sheltering is a process rather than an object. Looking at emergency sheltering from the user’s perspective,
the presentation explores the basic needs of affected people who access shelters and how emergency sheltering can
respond to these. This includes recovery needs as emergency shelters can be the location where people’s recovery
begins. Different types of emergency sheltering will be discussed as well as phases of emergency sheltering, thus
illustrating the process-driven nature of emergency sheltering. The presentation will also highlight recent initiatives by
Red Cross in this field, including the Red Cross Preferred Sheltering Practices for Emergency Sheltering in Australia, a
landmark articulation of best practice in emergency sheltering in Australia.
Ms Hayley Squance
Programme Director / Lecturer, Massey University
Co Authors - Ms Kate Hill, Senior Lecturer Veterinarian, Massey University. Ms Rachael Stratton, Lecturer Veterinarian,
Massey University.
Review of Police and Urban Search and Rescue dogs health survey during Christchurch
deployment
On Tuesday 22nd of February 2011 at 1251pm the region was struck with an earthquake measuring 6.3, 5km deep
with the epicentre in the Lyttleton region. Due to the time of day, depth of the earthquake and proximity to the city
centre of Christchurch, it had devastating consequences. Structural damage occurred and in many cases was significant
enough to cause complete structural collapse of multi-story buildings in the city centre. Many people were trapped in
these buildings with 1000’s of people sustaining serious injuries. National and international police and urban search
and rescue dogs from four countries were deployed immediately to assist with search and rescue efforts along with
victim location. The dogs worked on sites that consisted of smoke, tight spaces, crane rides, extreme noise, hazardous
material and other extremely challenging conditions. The Massey University Veterinary Emergency Response Team
self-deployed and arrived in Christchurch 132 hours post event to assess and treat all police and USAR dogs working in
the red zone. A complete clinical examination was performed on over 30 dogs every day and many required treatment
for dehydration, pad injuries and superficial wounds. This presentation will outline the role of the Veterinary

Emergency Response Team with the police and USAR dogs during the earthquake response along with the results of a
health survey conducted during the deployment.
A/Prof Lois Surgenor
Associate Professor in Psychological Medicine, University of Otago at Christchurch
Co Authors - Dr Deborah Snell, Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Otago at Christchurch. Associate Professor Martin
Dorahy, Associate Professor in Psychology, University of Canterbury.
Police staff well-being following the Canterbury earthquakes: What factors are associated
with anxiety and alcohol problems 12-18 months later?
AIM Canterbury Police were amongst the largest group of first responders to the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake
(EQ) series yet this workforce were also personally affected alongside the population they were assisting. This crosssectional
study reports on the well-being of sworn (n = 528) and non-sworn (n = 159) police staff 12-18 months later,
and investigates work and non-work factors involved in well-being. RESULTS Most participants reported multiple and
significant non-work personal/home repercussions immediately following the EQs. At 12-18 months later, one-in-five
reported anxiety symptoms of at least some clinical concern, and 12% probably met diagnostic threshold for posttraumatic
stress disorder. Eight percent met criteria for hazardous alcohol use. Likelihood of these health problems
was associated with multiple factors including the burden of non-work EQ repercussions, specific first-responder roles
(including ‘backroom’ duties), and selected coping styles. IMPLICATIONS While psychological screening (and public
recognition) following a disaster typically focuses on the welfare of first responders involved in highly traumatic work
roles (victim recovery, victim identification etc.), this approach may miss important risk factors for detecting adverse
health outcomes. These findings may have implications for the type and timing of well-being screens in future disaster
responses.
Mr Andrew Tagg
Group Manager - Floods, HR Wallingford
Co Author - Mr Mark Davison, Senior Scientist, As above. Steven Molino, Principal, Molino Stewart PTY Ltd.
Experiences and advances in the use of the Life Safety Model to assist flood evacuation
planning : case studies from around the world
The Life Safety Model (LSM) is a dynamic, agent-based model that investigates the behaviour of people during flood
events, and can be used to derive or test evacuation plans. The model is sophisticated enough to test a range of
emergency management options, such as location of warning centres and safe havens, characteristics of the warning,
evacuation routes and use of single-direction roads, vertical versus horizontal evacuation, and building collapse.
Although the model was created originally to consider floods from dam failure, it can be used for any flood hazard
which can be modelled with a 2D hydrodynamic model. The model has now been used to investigate both historical
floods, providing a measure of ‘calibration’, plus used in planning for other major hazards, such as tsunami and coastal
sea surge. This paper will provide an overview of the model architecture, and illustrate how the application of the
model to a range of hazards, can provide new insights into the nature of these hazards, and the suitability of different
management options. The examples will include tsunami risk on Vancouver Island, sea surge in England and the
Netherlands, and a new application to fluvial flooding in Windsor, NSW. In one application, the use of the model has
been combined with more traditional traffic modelling, allowing investigation of the strategic and local road network.
In another application, LSM has been combined in a modelling DSS suite, to illustrate where flooding and could occur

from a failure of a flood defence. Examples will be provided of running the model ‘dry’ (to test an evacuation plan), or
‘wet’ to determine potential fatalities and injuries.
Dr Joanne Travaglia
Senior Lecturer, University of NSW
Co Author - Mr Nick Nicholas, Managing Director, The Demographer's Workshop. Mr Hamish Robertson, Doctoral
Candidate, University of NSW.
Vulnerability in an Ageing Society: Neuroepidemiology and Emergency Preparedness
Australia's population is ageing rapidly. By the middle of this century more than a quarter of the population will be
aged over 65 and there will be approximately two million people aged 80 and over. Older people are more vulnerable in
disasters because they are often physically frail but also because their cognitive capacity is reduced including their
capacity to understand, process and respond to complex instructions. Current projections of dementia prevalence, and
specific conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, indicate that this vulnerable cohort will be a significant factor in
disaster planning and preparedness. Recent projections by the AIHW (2012) suggest there will be almost one million
people with a dementia by 2050. The majority of these elderly people are likely to have significant co-morbidities
increasing their vulnerable status.
Knowing where these people will be located and their likely interactions with emergency services needs to become an
important part of emergency planning. The 2011 tsunami in Japan illustrated the vulnerability of many groups, but
especially the elderly who were vulnerable during and after the major event. Australia's situation is likely to be very
similar by 2050 in the context of shifting weather patterns, natural hazard events and environmental stresses
associated with rising temperatures.
In this paper we draw on modelling work we have conducted in the fields of ageing and vulnerability. The results
illustrate forecast patterns of population ageing and health effects across Australia and link these to current emergency
services including fire, ambulance, SES and police. Each specific service will face its own geography of ageing' and
collectively all emergency services will need to better understand the implications of an ageing society for their work.
Population vulnerability will only rise with predicted environmental and social changes and ageing has huge
implications for emergency services in the coming decades.
Ms Kim Wright
Social Scientist, GNS Science
End-to-end tsunami evacuation planning in Samoa.
Samoa has a well-established, all hazards disaster management programme in place. This programme included
formerly identifying tsunami inundation modelling and evacuation mapping as priorities in 2008. Unfortunately the
devastating tsunami of September 29th, 2009 occurred before these projects could be undertaken. However, the
tsunami did provide the opportunity for directed funding from the NZ Aid Programme to meet this need and resulted in
the partnership between the Samoan Government and GNS Science.
The partnership produced evacuation zone maps for all of Samoa and detailed tsunami evacuation mapping and
signage installation in pilot communities. The project involved input from tsunami source and wave behaviour
scientists, mapping and surveying experts and social scientists from GNS Science and a wide range of agencies incountry
including government departments and non-governmental organisations. The project commenced in February
2011 and was completed in December 2011.

We focussed on a science to practice approach, ensuring that robust tsunami science underpinned best practice in
emergency management planning and community consultation. Where possible, the expertise and local knowledge of
Samoan counterparts was utilised, with considerable effort throughout the project to provide training and skills incountry.
On completion, evacuation maps, signs, and information boards had been produced, installed and evaluated in
eight villages. The capacity and skills to continue the process throughout Samoa had been identified and confirmed, and
the project evaluated as relevant, successful and sustainable.
Public education in villages included workshops on tsunami sources and tsunami wave behaviour, the types of
warnings possible and experienced for local, regional and distant source events, appropriate actions in response to
warnings, and location and marking of at-risk zones, evacuation routes and safe locations. This presentation will
describe the various stages of the project, its challenges and successes, and is delivered on behalf of a large team of
researchers and practitioners.