This is AIDR calling

The days continue to get shorter, and although there was some pleasant autumnal weather, the Antarctic blasts started to appear and remind us that we are pulling further away from the sun.

Early in May, we took part in the fabulous National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Gathering on Gunaikurnai Country at Lakes Entrance in Victoria. Taking the train and then cycling from Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance gave me time to reflect on where we were at, nearly 18 months into this new agreement.

The team has settled into their roles, and we are delivering what we set out to achieve: a second draft of the Recovery Handbook approaches; scoping for the Lessons Management Handbook has commenced; and a Disaster Risk Reduction Handbook remains firmly in our sights.

We have increased our web presence by using international days and other campaigns to amplify disaster risk reduction messaging and knowledge. Some of these include supporting Neighbourhood and Community House and Centre Week, National Volunteer Week, and using Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday to draw attention to nature-based solutions.

The 2026 Australian Disaster Resilience Conference program has been released, and it is always exciting to see it come together. As I have said before, the quality of the program was such that we could have had 24 hours of programming for 3 days straight. It strikes a good balance between strategic and practical, elevating voices not predominantly heard in the sector, and highlighting work that is shifting mindsets.

The Resilient Australia Awards are moving into the judging stage. Meanwhile, the Resilience Matters webinars are in full swing as we turn to some of the more compelling parts of disaster risk reduction.

The journey from Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance allowed me to prepare for my presentation at the Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA) conference in Brisbane, which was scheduled for the end May. Alas, my first cold in 18 months meant I could not attend. But I pondered: ‘How can we show media and public affairs professionals, who thrive on adrenaline, that DRR is engaging and saves lives?’

I had hoped to continue my bandwagon push that disasters are not natural, DRR saves and improves lives, and provides the groundwork for recovery.

I also wanted to focus more on preparedness, drawing on my Recovery Almanac essay, What Would Cheryl Do?, which argues for starting at the end and working backwards rather than scaring people into being prepared.

While on EMPA, the humble Australian Journal of Emergency Management (AJEM) – now in its 40th year – received a Highly Commended award in the Research category this year. We are very proud of this recognition, as the journal often goes under the radar.

AJEM appears like clockwork, but a great deal of work goes into keeping it running smoothly. Hats off to long-time Managing Editor Christine Belcher; Editor in Chief Melissa Parsons for her guidance; the Editorial Board, Managing Committee and AFAC/AIDR communications team (Ann, Emily, Toula, Ana, Alana and Zoe) for production; and Blythe McLennan for stepping into the role of content shepherd. A shout out, too, to the many editors over the past 40 years – we stand on the shoulders of giants such as Rob Fleming and Doone Robertson.

The National Indigenous Disaster Resilience (NIDR) Gathering was extraordinary, as outlined by my colleague Simone in a separate account. Sitting among mob from across the country, I was reminded of a story Bruce Springsteen tells about performing in Africa. He said the E Street Band were unnerved by the sea of African faces in front of the stage. Clarence Clemons, revelling in it, turned to him and said, ‘Man, this is what I experience every time we go on stage back home’. It was humbling to be in the minority.

As a member of the Gender and Disaster Australia advisory group, I was fortunate to take part in their learning and collaboration forum. Although research has advanced this topic significantly, much more remains to be done. This was the purpose of bringing together some of the finest minds and practitioners on the topic. These forums continue to remind me how we need to embed fundamental concepts – in this case gender, sexuality and equality – into all that we do.

It’s not often you get to do field work in disaster resilience, but it’s for staying connected to what’s happening in the ‘real world’. With that in mind, I headed out east to the peri-urban fringe one Thursday morning to take part in the Ready Maroondah Community Resilience Forum. Over 60 local community organisations were present, including a representative from the local ballet school, who joined our table because she recognised the importance of the work and the reach she had within her part of the community.

The social network analysis was a fantastic element of the program which mapped 297 connections from 60 organisations and showed how strongly Maroondah’s social infrastructure was connected internally and with council.

I had a terrific meeting with Diana Burnett and Craig Hunter from Community Broadcasting Association Australia (CBAA), the peak body for Australia’s community radio stations. Over 5 million Australians tune in to over 450 not-for-profit, community-owned radio stations each week. I am one of them, being a friend for a decade at the fantastic PBS-FM in Naarm. CBAA are looking to enhance their role – and the role of community radio stations – particularly in disaster preparedness and resilience. It was a fruitful discussion. In the same vein, I met with Lis Ashby from Biodiversity Australia as part of broadening our engagement into the natural values space.

In the last week of May, as I laid low with a cold, I reflected on our seemingly growing tendency to seek linear approaches to complex problems, and revert to a 1950s approach of engineering our way out of problems, when what is required are more connected, systemic approaches grounded in soft skills.

As part of my review of the 4 decades of AJEM – currently at decade 3 – I found this quote from Brenton Prosser and Colin Peters: ‘Linear thinking is inadequate to encompass the interactivity and complexity inherent in building resilience.’ It reinforces what those of us with messier brains have been pushing for some time now.

Fortunately, one of my favourite bands, German punk group Die Toten Hosen, released a stirring song, ‘The Show Must Go On,’ which got me back off the canvas, back into the fold, and into winter.