ANZDMC 2013 conference: 80 presenters, 30 poster displays, 300 delegates

Australian Emergency Management Institute

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Contributed by the Australian Emergency Management Institute

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The Australian & New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference was held in Brisbane at the end of May. This year’s conference theme was around community resilience and aspects of ‘whole-of-nation’ resilience-based approaches to disaster management. Presentations, both academic and practice, considered the national, co-ordinated and co-operative efforts needed to withstand and recover from emergencies and disasters. The conference focused on Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.

Plenary streams covered risk and crisis management, social media, volunteerism, animals in disasters, business continuity, and relief and recovery. Practical workshops provided good opportunity to explore the issues around animals in disasters, business continuity, resilience and trauma, and disaster mental health.

Assoc Prof. Brett Aimers, dressed in St John Ambulance Australian uniform, is speaking from a lectern to a seated audience. On the large screen behind him are images of disasters.

Image: ANZDMC

Assoc Prof. Brett Aimers presented on ‘Taking Care of Business – a national response to a jurisdictional emergency’.

The Hon Jack Dempsey MP, Minister for Police and Community Safety opened the conference and keynote presentations were by:

  • Grant Morrison, Director, Disaster Prevention and Risk Reduction, AusAid
  • Associate Professor Brett Aimers, Chief Nurse, St John Ambulance Australia, and, now, Assistant Director, AEMI
  • Ian Stewart, Queensland Police Commissioner
  • Dr Ian Dacre, Disaster Management Operations Director, Asia Pacific, World Society for the Protection of Animals
  • Craig Lapsley, Fire Services Commissioner of Victoria
  • Scott Milne, Response Manager and Global Director of the International Association of Emergency Managers
  • Professor Philip Morris, President, Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association
  • Dr Rob Vertessy, Director and CEO, Bureau of Meteorology

Organisers indicate that new streams for 2014 conference are being added and they will include Australia’s first Search and Rescue forum. Expressions of interest are now open

The conference is a joint initiative between the not-for-profit organisations of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services, the Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Organisation Inc, and the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc.

ANZDMC

May 2014

Brisbane

A crowd of people are looking at stands displaying information posters in a long wide hallway.

Image: ANZDMC

The conference poster series provided a wealth of additional information.

Chris Austin (left) thanks Grant Morrision, AusAid standing on a stage in front of a seated audience with large screens behind them displaying images of disasters.

Image: ANZDMC

Chris Austin thanks Grant Morrision, AusAid after his presentation on ‘Developing a new Hydro Framework for Action in Disaster Risk Reduction’.