This is a foundational unit that introduces the fundamental concepts and frameworks that underpin the effective management of emergencies and disasters. You will gain a basic understanding of the nature of hazards and disasters and will Introduce the key stakeholders involved with emergency and disaster management, explore the historic and contemporary principles, policies, and legal frameworks guiding the field of practice. The unit will explore local and global concepts of emergency and disaster management and the models, systems and processes required to effectively mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from various disasters.

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Discussion with students

Ongoing technological difficulties connected to on-campus classes run over video conference, leading to disruptions and difficulty engaging with tutorials.

Tutorials will be re-designed for T3 2024 to eliminate the need for synchronous video conference-enabled classes. Melbourne and Sydney will have separate tutorials, and each location will have its own facilitator who works only with that class.

Feedback from Discussion with students, observations by unit co-ordinator and other staff

Spacing and progression of content impacts on learning experience, particularly material and concepts that are needed for assessments.

Additional adjustments will be made to the online learning materials for T3 2024: the current offering constitutes a partially-flipped classroom model, with some background material recapped or discussed at tutorial sessions. This will be adjusted to create a fully flipped classroom model where students have access to the entire unit, consolidating the content into division by module rather than week. This will allow students to complete the content in a manner that suits their own situation.