After years of floods and heavy rains, Australian authorities should prepare for widespread grass fires on a scale never-before experienced, the Climate Council and Emergency Leaders for Climate Action warn in this report.

This review report provides critical insights into Victoria's preparedness for and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunities for continuous improvement.

In March 2022, the NSW Government commissioned an independent expert inquiry into the preparation for, causes of, response to and recovery from the 2022 catastrophic flood event across the state of New South Wales. This report outlines the findings.

Major flooding in NSW in February-March 2022 was a catastrophic disaster, causing widespread devastation and damage – particularly in the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury regions. This inquiry was set up to consider the NSW Government's preparedness, coordination and response to the flooding events. While this...

The Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) plays a critical role in Victoria’s emergency management response model. This review considered all aspects of ESTA’s operating model and assessed ESTA’s capabilities against the core services it delivers.

This paper examines the experiences of Aboriginal people and communities during the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, capturing their stories and unique impacts. The author also explores the response by Aboriginal communities and organisations to reveal how these community and cultural governing institutions rallied to support...

Acknowledging the significant impact of COVID-19 on community services, researchers sought to understand the ways in which organisations in the aged care, disability and emergency relief sectors had innovated during COVID-19.

One group of older Australians vulnerable to not being able to age well at home with independence and dignity are those living with hoarding and/or challenges maintaining a healthy home. This report focuses on the experiences and needs of Tasmanian service providers and statutory agencies...

This report details widespread reports of incivility, disrespect, discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation. It presents 24 recommendations, detailing changes that can be actioned immediately by Ambulance Victoria to begin rebuilding a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace.

This report evaluates the relief and recovery efforts activated before, during and after the 2019–20 Victorian fire season. The Victorian Inspector-General for Emergency Management makes a series of observations and findings related to both relief and recovery, and proposes 15 recommendations to government.

This issues paper was prepared in response to the lived experience and literature presented at the Disability and Disaster Resilience forum, held in August 2020. It builds a picture of the roadblocks to safety and wellbeing for Australians with disability in emergency management.

This review focused on preparedness and response to the K’gari bushfire event. The review makes a number of recommendations to address opportunities for improvement related to enhancing the management and protection of world heritage and cultural values.

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements concluded that the Commonwealth Government has the power to, and should, play a greater role in relation to natural disasters on a national scale. This document outlines how the government intends to respond.

This report focuses on broader questions of national arrangements and responsibilities, in relation to all phases of natural disasters – before, during and after. This inquiry required the Commission to consider whether these existing arrangements are as effective as they can be in a future...

The 2017 Fire Services Statement articulated the Victorian government’s vision for the reform of the state’s fire and rescue services. This report outlines the government's commitment to the Fire Services Statement and a shared course of action.

The Victorian emergency management sector has undergone significant reform in the 10 years since the 2009 Victorian bushfires. This review report makes eight observations, thirty-three findings, and five recommendations identifying good practice and opportunities for continuous improvement.

As the devastating 2019–20 bushfire season showed, all Victorians are at risk from bushfires. This audit was conducted to examine if the responsible state agencies are effectively working together to reduce Victoria’s bushfire risk.

A new version of the Australian Government Crisis Management Framework (AGCMF) has been released, which comes into effect from Monday 12 October 2020. The updates ensure that arrangements which set out the Australian Government’s response to emergencies and natural disasters are up to date in...

The economic crisis caused by lockdown measures in response to COVID-19 has distorted the Australian economy. The economic costs of lockdowns have not been equally shared across the country. This paper outlines five key pieces of evidence that lockdowns, rather than freezing the economy in...

This report represents the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council's work to understand and reform sentencing for assaults on public officers.

This paper argues that lockdowns and social distancing regulations introduced to manage the health concerns associated with COVID-19, have imposed significant social, economic and institutional costs, while being of debatable efficacy.

In January 2020, the Victorian Premier announced an independent inquiry into the 2019–20 Victorian fire season. Phase 1 of the inquiry reflects upon broader issues around the management of fire emergencies in this state. In relation to the 2019–20 fires, it examines how well prepared...

The use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic — allowing governments to restrict individual freedoms, suspend constitutional norms and bypass normal parliamentary scrutiny —prompted intense public debate across Australia. But how long can a state of emergency remain in place in jurisdictions around Australia?

The fires that occurred over the 2019/20 Australian summer were unprecedented in scale and had a devastating impact on large parts of the country. This paper estimates the economic costs of bushfires between 2020 and 2049, and the potential reduction in these costs from investments...

This report outlines the interim observations from the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. The observations relate to some of the more pressing issues that the Commission expects to address in the final report, which is currently due for release in October 2020.