Emergency management encompasses all activities involved in planning for, responding to, and recovering from disasters.
Emergency management is often described as a cycle spanning:
- Planning – Identifying risks and priorities, and developing executable strategies to support strategic and tactical response to emergencies, including training and capability building.
- Prevention – reducing risks before a disaster occurs, through mitigation actions.
- Preparedness – preparing in the lead-in to disasters, refining tactical plans, securing permits and resources.
- Response – taking action once an emergency happens, to protect assets and people.
- Recovery – restoring damaged environments and assets, working with communities to rebuild and recover.
- Resilience – long-term work to grow and sustain the ability of natural and human systems to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner.
 Australia’s NRM sector plays a key role in contributing to emergency management and disaster resilience. For example, regional NRM organisations:
- Develop and maintain emergency preparedness and response plans for natural and agricultural assets
- Support asset protection and rapid response with data, prioritisation, and advice, and in some jurisdictions act as first responders for agriculture and/or natural assets
- Play a pivotal role in short and long-term recovery following natural disasters and emergencies.
- Trial and adopt novel nature-based solutions to enhance disaster resilience
- Have embedded disaster resilience into core planning and programs, including through nature-based approaches
- Facilitate participatory and community-engaged approaches, and
- Support First Nations caring for Country
