Handbooks and glossary updates for the future

Three handbooks have been revised and 800 terms have been updated for contemporary understanding and use on the Knowledge Hub.

Three prominent handbooks have been revised and approved for publication by Emergency Management Australia. Each handbook provides a national approach to principles and practices for enhanced disaster resilience.

Australian Emergency Management Arrangements

This updated handbook includes additions to reflect changes in approaches to managing an emergency. It places a new emphasis on the education sector, the insurance industry, not-for-profits, natural resources management bodies, scientists and researchers.

The handbook references the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 and includes the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework. It also features a description about the differences between early recovery and medium to long term recovery and the transition between these phases.

Lessons Management

This handbook draws from and complements current and ongoing activity in lessons management. It builds on the capability and knowledge of organisations and individuals from across the emergency management, defence, disaster risk reduction and resilience sectors in Australia and internationally.

It also proposes frameworks and processes to support the successful implementation of lessons management, which is integral to the ongoing improvement of individual learning and collective resilience. There is an increased focus on the concept of a ‘just culture’ to address the evolution from a culture of blame.

This handbook will be launched at the 2019 Lessons Management Forum, which will take place in Sydney on 30-31 July.

Health and Disaster Management

The ongoing evolution in thinking and practice regarding disaster and the health system is the focus of this revised handbook. It focuses on how community wellbeing can be affected and maintained in the face of a disaster.

One of the key changes in this handbook is the inclusion of more detailed information regarding crisis communication and social media and the links between climate change and health. It references gender, vulnerable sections of the population and medical assistance during and after a disaster.

All three revised handbooks will be published on AIDR’s Knowledge Hub as part of the National Disaster Resilience Handbook Collection.

Australian Disaster Resilience Glossary Update

The Australian Disaster Resilience Glossary will also be updated, after a review of 800 terms. The review considered updates to existing definitions from the original glossary published by Emergency Management Australia in 1998.

The updated terms and definitions will assist to develop an integrated and consistent approach to terminology in the sector. It will also avoid ambiguity in the definition and use of words and terms associated with disaster resilience and emergency management.

The reviewed terms and definitions cover the categories of bushfire, urban fire, risk and core emergency management terms.

The review was conducted with assistance from the AFAC Rural Land Management Group, the AFAC Urban Operations Group and Ed Pikusa from the South Australian Department of Environment and Water.

These definitions will be soon made available the Knowledge Hub as part of the Australian Disaster Resilience Glossary.

For more information on the Glossary Project please contact Project Officer, Ella Wilkinson ella.wilkinson@aidr.org.au