The Macedon Digest was the forerunner to the Australian Journal of Emergency Management. It was a quarterly newsletter produced by the then Australian Counter Disaster College (ACDC) at Mount Macedon from 1986. It focused primarily on disaster management, civil defence, and emergency research.

In 1993, the ACDC became the Australian Emergency Management Institute (AEMI). AEMI continued to produce the Macedon Digest. In 1995, from volume 10 onwards, its name was changed to the Australian Journal of Emergency Management.

This collection includes all issues of the Mount Macedon Digest, from volume 1 in 1986 to Volume 9 1994.

 

Australian Journal of Emergency Management AJEM 40: The First 10 Years

AJEM was first published as a 6-page newsletter in March 1986 as 'The Macedon Digest' to fill an information void within the counter-disaster community. In 1988, it was recast as the 'Australian Newsletter of Disaster Management' and the journal doubled in size as research became more valuable to the sector. In 1995, the publication was registered as the Australian Journal of Emergency Management that we know today.

Across 2026, this new issue of AJEM will review its 40-year legacy by looking back and forward at changes, challenges, achievements and progression of emergency and disaster management. Each issue will contain 40th anniversary content.

This issue includes a recap of AJEM’s first decade [1986 to 1996] and reflections by readers on influential past papers. An interview with a past Macedon Digest contributor shares reflections on their published work and offer directions for the future of AJEM. Sitting alongside research papers and other content, this anniversary year is a time to highlight the critical contribution that AJEM has had and continues to have as an accredited and trusted source of evidence and practice knowledge.