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emergency management for communities

Community Engagement

Emergency Management Australia sponsors a range of programs and activities that engage communities in building resilience to the effects of emergencies and disasters.

Australia is a nation prone to a range of natural, technological and human-caused emergencies. Since 2000, on average each year 24 people have lost their lives as a direct result of natural disasters, almost 600 have been injured and up to 390,000 affected in some way. The economic cost to communities of natural disasters has been in excess of $3.6 billion annually. Many more people are also affected by human caused emergencies and disasters, with a further significant cost to the nation.

Australia’s pool of emergency management response and recovery volunteers numbering some 350,000 plays a vital role in assisting communities to manage the full range of emergencies and disasters.

The National Emergency Volunteer Support Fund (NEVSF) recognises the need to build and train this pool of volunteers to be ready to respond to the whole range of possible emergencies. The NEVSF provides practical support and recognition for our volunteers building and improving our national preparedness to manage emergencies.

The NEVSF was previously an element of the “Working Together To Manage Emergencies” initiative which concluded in Financial Year 2007-2008.

EMA is continuing to sponsor and facilitate activities and research in the area of community engagement and information is regularly updated.

Community Awareness & Safety

A fundamental challenge for the emergency management sector when aiming to achieve 'safer sustainable communities'  is how to effectively engage the community. An 'engaged community' involved in the decision-making processes associated with emergency management activities is more likely to be responsive and self-managing when emergencies do arise.

To assist emergency management organisations, EMA have collated information on the different approaches available when working with communities, including best practice examples, supporting tools and guidelines. 

EMA also provides a wide range of free community awareness and and education publications covering background information as well as advice on preparation for and coping with severe storms, floods, bushfires, cyclones, earthquakes and heatwaves. Specific publications and resource kits to support hazard studies at secondary school level are available to teachers.