Participation, Partnerships, Respect and Resilience: Emergency Management in a Multicultural Society

Coming up in May at AEMI, Mt Macedon, Victoria

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Article

In collaboration with the Australian Multicultural Foundation, the Attorney-General’s Department is hosting a Forum on May 21st 2010, to identify key strategies to support the continued strengthening of community disaster resilience. A highlight of the Forum will be the launch of a publication with presentations of evidence-based achievements from successful community engagement initiatives that have resulted from the Inclusive Emergency Management with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities program.

Recognising that the four central concepts in emergency management—Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery (PPRR) each have a social component, this Forum offers the parallels of Participation, Partnerships, Respect and Resilience as its core premise.

In line with the Australian Government’s National Compact with the Third Sector a national partnership between the Attorney-General’s Department, the multicultural sector and the emergency management sector will be initiated. This partnership will be launched at the Forum.

Participants will be invited to attend. A report outlining the outcomes of the Forum will be developed.

Forum aim

To advance national action on strengthening disaster resilience for all Australians

Forum objectives

1. To launch the publication “Partnerships, Participation, Respect and Resilience - National examples of emergency management in a multicultural society” showcasing successful state and territory community partnership projects
2. To highlight the achievements, the four-year program, Inclusive Emergency Management with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities
3. To launch a national partnership, representative of the Attorney-General’s Department, multicultural and emergency management sectors, that will continue to advocate for and support disaster resilience in our multicultural society
4. To seek participant input into future directions for building disaster resilience in a multicultural society
5. To enlist membership of a national web-based network that will allow for on-going information exchange and collaborative learning between all states and territories