Politics, Policies and Paradigms: Challenges of Change in Future Emergency Management

Senior fire and emergency services personnel have to manage many complex challenges and
these demands are going to increase in the future. Part of that complexity comes from a range of
interdependencies of social, technical and infrastructure systems. A core challenge for the emergency
management sector is that the number and intensity of adverse events is increasing, while factors driving
social and ecological vulnerabilities to those events are also changing. This places considerable tensions on

Moving Beyond “women are the problem”: How Can We Better Understand the Gendered Nature of Bushfire in Australia?

Emergency management in Australia is noticeably male-dominated. Recent research into rural fire services
in Australia has shown that women make up less than a quarter of volunteers and that many are placed in
non-operational or administrative roles.
This situation is not unique to Australia and many emergency and disaster management organisations
around the world still lack significant female membership. Fortunately, there is now increasing recognition

Winter Hazard Reduction Burning Reduces the Fuel Load in Themeda and Phalaris during Summer

This is a paper presented at the 2013 Bushfire CRC Research Forum.

Hazard-reduction burning is an important component of the bushfire mitigation program in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Burning is particularly important in grass fuels at locations that are unsuitable for slashing/mowing or grazing. Ideally grass fuels are burnt in spring however this work is constrained by weather, resource availability and ecological considerations. It would therefore be helpful if the burning season could begin on sunny winter days when grass fuels are well cured.

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