The human capacity demands of an emergency manager in Australia

This research analysed all Australian judicial and semi-judicial reports of emergency events over 20 years to discover the role of human capacity in emergency management. Human capacity in this research will refer to contextual expertise in addition to the experience, skills and qualifications of the designated emergency manager. Recognising the complexity of bringing together a range of emergencies, in disparate Australian jurisdictions over an extended period, a Gadamerian Philosophical Hermeneutical examination was used to explicate the human capacities of the emergency manager.

The research findings highlight that both vocational and tertiary education contributes to professional development in this field. Certification processes that recognise this knowledge also play a crucial role. There is an opportunity for Australian-based certification models to be used in the professionalisation journey of emergency management.

The research contributes to the emergency management sector in three ways:

1. Defines the role of an ‘emergency manager’, distinguishing it from ‘response managers’ and ‘recovery managers’ and clarifying the roles involved in emergency management. The proposed definition for the emergency manager is a person who undertakes a managerial function, working within or across government, private or community sectors, to holistically plan, prevent, prepare for, respond to and/or recover from an emergency or potential emergency event.  
    
2. Introduces the Emergency Management Disciplinary Spectrum, visually representing how different principles, skills and theories drawn from multiple disciplines are employed in emergency management.  
    
3. Contributes the Emergency Management T-Shaped Transdisciplinary Model, providing a theoretical and visual model of the newly defined roles to support capability building in the sector.