The Faculty of Education has had a strong relationship with the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) since 2006 through the work undertaken by Dr Christine Owen and her research team
Dr Owen’s current Bushfire CRC project “Organising for Effective Emergency Management” is examining what enables and constrains effective performance at the strategic level of emergency management. The research team has been investigating:
Over the course of the past six years the research group has produced many publications, and had a significant impact on national thinking in human factors and decision-making within emergency management, particularly in enhancing capacity in both training and organisational learning. The research team are actively sought after as speakers and advisors on the development of simulation and for after-incident investigation.
As the research project comes to a close, the team will conduct a final industry consultation on the implications of the research findings to the emergency management sector. A multi-jurisdictional industry-wide discussion paper has been developed for this purpose. The outcomes of the consultation with decision-makers, policy-developers and other stakeholders who need to ensure that the sector is able to meet future challenges, will inform the development of a change framework to guide the direction of strategic emergency management.
The project’s final research report will be made available on the Bushfire CRC website at the end of 2013.