Department of Home Affairs Australian Journal of Emergency Management VOLUME 36 NO. 1 JANUARY 2021 ISSN: 1324 1540 NEWS AND VIEWS REPORTS RESEARCH Forcasting and Using community voice Forecasting the impacts warnings to build a new national of severe weather warnings system Pages 11 – 21 Page 50 Page 76 SUPPORTING A DISASTER RESILIENT AUSTRALIA Changes to forcasting and warnings systems improve risk reduction About the journal Circulation The Australian Journal of Emergency Management is Australia’s Approximate circulation (print and electronic): 5500. premier journal in emergency management. Its format and content are developed with reference to peak emergency management Copyright organisations and the emergency management sectors—nationally and internationally. The journal focuses on both the academic Articles in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management are and practitioner reader. 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Contents News and views Reports Foreword The Royal Commission and the Australian Tony Pearce 4 Constitution Dr Michael Eburn 5 Australian Warning System Anthony Clark 11 Australia’s intergovernmental agreement on bushfires, floods and extreme events Research to improve community warnings for Dr Ray Canterford, Mark Crosweller and Chris Beattie 44 bushfire Dr Joshua Whittaker and Anthony Clark 13 Using community voice to build a new national warnings system for Australia Hope for our future generations Peta O’Donohue and Fiona Dunstan 50 Marta Yebra 15 The total flood warning system: a review of the Australia’s Black Summer heatwave impacts concept John Nairn CF, Dr Matt Beaty and Dr Blesson M Varghese 17 Neil Dufty 60 The New South Wales air quality alert system: a Testing the effectiveness of your warning brief history system without having a flood Matthew Riley 21 Andrew Northfield, Michael Cawood and Hench Wang 64 Queensland investigates contemporary review How to improve alert systems: the technical, methods human, environmental and structural aspects Alistair Dawson 25 Esteban Bopp, Dr Béatrice Gisclard, Professor Johnny Douvinet, Professor Karine Weiss and Gilles Martin 67 New technology boosting early warning capability in New Zealand Sarah Stuart-Black 26 Why some people don’t respond to warnings: writing effective short warning messages Research Dr Sally Potter 29 An Australian alternative to alerts Forecasting the impacts of severe weather Gavin Bernstein 31 Dr Serena Schroeter, Dr Harald Richter, Dr Craig Arthur, Dr David Wilke, Mark Dunford, Martin Shifting the paradigm: emergency management Wehner and Dr Elizabeth Ebert 76 to disaster risk management in Tonga Suresh Pokharel 32 Implications of artificial intelligence for bushfire management Emergency management evaluations: beyond the lessons-learned paradigm Dr Seyed Ashkan Zarghamiand Dr Jantanee Dumrak 84 Emeritus Professor Frank Archer, Dr Caroline Spencer, Facebook as an official communication channel Dudley McArdle, Dr Suzanne Cross and Professor Leanne Boyd 33 in a crisis Resilience rewarded as projects meet Susan Atkinson, Dr Chris Kim and Dr Jee Young Lee 92 challenges of unique year Alana Beitz 35 Book Review: The Principles of Effective Contributions in the Research section of the Australian Journal Warnings of Emergency Management are peer reviewed to appropriate Reviewed by Julia Becker 43 academic standards by independent, qualified reviewers. NEWS AND VIEWS Foreword Recognising the importance of the subject matter it was a pleasure to be invited to contribute to this edition of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management on the topic of warnings. The Australian journey regarding warnings has been Having a technologically advanced warning system a long one, and while the concept of a national is one thing, however, its capacity to provide warning system had been under consideration for enhanced community safety outcomes relies on some time, momentum really started to gain pace more than just technology. Community awareness Tony Pearce following the development, testing and analysis of of risk is important to ensure that warnings are Inspector-General for the Community Information and Warning System received in context and community education about Emergency Management in Victoria in 2004. While the systems, processes the purpose, capacity and limitations of the system Victoria and technology used for the trial were ahead of is important. It is crucial that a warning system their time, Australia has not sat on its laurels. Since be more than just a method of providing a call to Permissions information for then, Australia has developed and implemented a action. It also needs to provide timely and accurate use of this content can be national warning system, Emergency Alert, which information to assist in community decision- found at https://knowledge. aidr.org.au/ajem has progressed in leaps and bounds. making as, after all, we are increasingly expecting communities to share responsibility for their safety It would come as no surprise that the issue outcomes. of warnings and public information comes up frequently in inquiries. In the 2009 Victorian Warning and information systems are integral Bushfires Royal Commission and numerous inquiries as part of a broader functional community since including, most recently, the independent safety system. Ongoing research, education and Inquiry into the 2019–20 Victorian Fire Season, the appropriate investment are enablers to continuous Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster improvement in this