Australian Journal of Emergency Management | AJEM

I continue to reflect on the conversations and ideas shared at the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference in August, and am pleased that the Australian Red Cross could contribute to the success of this year’s event through the steering committee, presentations, panel sessions and attendance.

This year saw the largest number of abstracts submitted to the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference, and the resulting program reflected a diversity of people, experiences and perspectives. The scale of interest in the conference and the significant increase in attendance highlights the growing role of resilience and its relevance to the broader emergency management sector. This was reinforced with the introduction of Resilience Lane into the AFAC23 Exhibition, a great initiative that showcased grassroots and community-based resilience initiatives, and created another resilience touchpoint within the wider AFAC23 Conference.

We welcomed a record 569 delegates in Brisbane this year, spanning representation from state and local government, fire and emergency services, non-government organisations and not for profits, community, consultancy, health and academia. Notably, 75% of delegates were attending the conference for the first time and we were delighted to welcome so many new people to the conversation.

Andrew Coghlan
Head of Emergency Services, Australian Red Cross