Emergency Management
Banner Image: Conducting bushfire research at Kinglake, Victoria after the Black Saturday bushfires. Credit: CSIRO Wikimedia Commons
What is Emergency Management?
Emergency Management is more than flashing blue lights, sirens and responding to emergencies.
The impacts of climate change and human threats necessitate that communities, governments and organisations work together to strengthen society's capacity to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to and recover from incidents and disasters.
Studying Emergency Management will provide you with a comprehensive understanding about the mechanisms and arrangements that contribute to enhancing society’s resilience to disasters.
With this knowledge you can make a difference to the neighbour in your local community or help affect change in the global community in times of humanitarian, environmental and financial crises. Learn about the management of incidents, disasters, and crises as complex social phenomena.
Make a real contribution to disaster resilience.
Why study Emergency Management with us?
Studying Emergency Management will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of local, national and international emergency and disaster management arrangements.
Flexible online study allows you to learn at your own pace and focus on specific areas of interest that will complement your existing studies and future employment opportunities.
Learn from teaching staff that have real world experience working in emergency and disaster management across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
What careers are available for those who have studied Emergency Management?
Our graduates can literally work anywhere! Emergency and disaster management spans small local community groups to virtually any type of organisation across the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. Careers within emergency and disaster management are available with:
- The United Nations
- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- Oxfam
- Save the Children
- Médecins Sans Frontières
- Environmental groups
- Police
- Fire agencies
- Health Services
- Parks and Wildlife
- Military
- Local councils
- Education departments
- Banks
- Electricity companies
- Supermarkets
- Water corporations
- Oil companies
- Airlines
- Telecommunication providers
How can I learn about Emergency Management?
Emergency Management units that can be studied in the Bachelor of Justice and Bachelor of Natural Environment and Wilderness Studies degrees include:
Our research in Emergency Management
The research team have a long history of conducting contemporary research in emergency and disaster management working previously with the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (2005-2013) and currently collaborating with the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (2013-2020). Current research explores creativity in complex decision-making and organisational learning in the context of emergency and disaster management.
Our work is published in leading journals and translated into tangible state and federal government guidance documents for industry. These include a series of cognitive aides to enhance decision-making and a guide on collaboration in time constrained environments.
We welcome proposals from qualified applicants to undertake higher degrees research and are pleased to discuss research proposals that are multi-disciplinary across the College of Sciences and Engineering, College of Business and Economics, and College of Health and Medicine.
Featured Researcher | Dr Steven Curnin
Steve is a Senior Lecturer in Emergency Management. He specialises in measuring and understanding human capability in the context of disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The strength of Steve's research and that of the research team is centred on impact, as is demanded by the partner organisations representing the not-for-profit, public and private sectors.
View Steve's full researcher profile Browse our academic staff profiles
Featured Research
Research Utilisation
The strength of Steve's research and that of the research team is centred on impact, as is demanded by the partner industries and organisations. The research that Steven is involved with provides tangible outcomes for end-users that can be embedded into current practice. This video by Assistant Commissioner Rob McNeil from Fire and Rescue New South Wales provides an overview of the research Steven is currently conducting with the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and highlights the benefits to industry.
