Conference program
Date
19-20 August 2026
Australian Disaster Resilience Conference | Day 1
Wednesday 19 August
*Program subject to change
| 8.30am | Opening Ceremony | |
| 9.40am | KEYNOTE | From the Pitch to the Community - Leadership, Culture and the Power of Belonging Craig Foster - Former Socceroo Captain, Broadcaster, Adjunct Professor, Author, Filmmaker and Human Rights Activist |
|
| 10.30am | Morning tea and poster session | |
| SHIFTING MINDSETS FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE | LOCAL LEADERSHIP FOR EQUITABLE RESILIENCE | |
| 11.30am |
The mindset to avoid disasters
Gareth Byatt (Risk Insight Consulting)
|
The power of local - How councils are partnering with communities to build equitable resilience
Amy Crawford (Australian Local Government Association)
|
| 12.00pm |
Practicing the transformational community resilience mindset through partnerships
Dr Adriana Keating (Monash University)
|
Locally led, community powered: Transforming recovery governance through the Douglas Recovery Resilience Sub-Plan
Annette Plowman (Douglas Shire Council)
|
| 12.30pm |
Are we preparing for disasters?
Dr Kate Brady (HowWeSurvive, University of New South Wales)
|
Is the 'global' missing in the 'local'?
Dr Iftekhar Ahmed (University of Newcastle)
|
| 12.55pm | Lunch and poster viewing | |
| NATURE AND SYSTEMS FOR RESILIENCE | ADAPTIVE RESILIENCE AND SHARED RESPONSIBILITY | |
| 2.00pm |
An adaptive and systems-based mindset: Lessons from South Australia's harmful algal bloom
Miriam Lumb (Department of the Premier and Cabinet, SA)
|
Details coming soon
|
| 2.30pm |
Nature for resilience: Innovative disaster resilience solutions through nature
Sarah Hoyal and Dr Bek Christensen (NRM Regions Australia) and Dr Rachel Morgain (University of Melbourne)
|
Lessons in resilience: Organisational and community adaptation in Melbourne's West (2019-2025)
Dr Kate White and Dr Tehreem Chaudrey (Centre for Just Places, Jesuit Social Services)
|
| 3.00pm |
Energy resilient community hubs: Fusing infrastructure with social capital
Justin Murray and Nick Grant-Collins (Bass Coast Shire Council)
|
From emergency management to shared responsibility: Partnerships that shift systems for people most at risk
Kathy Mickan (South Australian Council of Social Service) and Sonya Gray (Australian Red Cross)
|
| 3.30pm | Afternoon tea | |
| YOUNG PEOPLE IN ACTION FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE | JUSTICE AND EQUITY IN DISASTER LAW | |
| 4.15pm |
PANEL
Opening your mind(set): Taking action with young people for disaster resilience and risk reduction
Ed Browne and Jasper Francis (Centre of Excellence, Young people & disasters)
Shelby Robinson (Curtain University)
Professor Lisa Gibbs (University of Melbourne)
Facilitator: Silkom Powell (Centre of Excellence: Young people & disasters)
|
PANEL
Shifting the scales: Embedding justice and equity in Australia's disaster law system
Andrew Coghlan (Australian Red Cross)
Dr Bronwyn Lay (Disaster Legal Help Victoria)
Dr Monica Taylor (Queensland University of Technology)
|
| 5.10pm | Day 1 program close | |
| 5.30pm | Networking Function in Resilience Lane | |
Australian Disaster Resilience Conference | Day 2
Thursday 20 August
| 8.30am | KEYNOTE | Human/AI decision making: how is the world changing? Professor Jenny George - Dean and Director, Melbourne Business School |
|
| 9.15am |
KEYNOTE | PANEL DISCUSSION |
|
| 10.05am | Morning tea and poster session | |
| INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP AND CULTURAL RESILIENCE | LONG-TERM RECOVERY AND WELLBEING | |
| 11.15am |
Maintaining and promoting dignity for Aboriginal communities in preparedness and recovery
Michelle Guthrie (Rogers) and Carlin Stanford (NSW Reconstruction Authority)
|
Separation in a bushfire and its long-term effect on mental health: Longitudinal findings
Dr Colin Gallagher (University of Melbourne) |
| 11.45am |
Embedding cultural heritage protection into disaster planning and response
Tom Robinson and Damien Skurrie (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
|
Long-term health impacts of the 2019-2020 bushfires in regional communities
Professor Jane Fisher AO and Dr Revathi Nuggehalli Krishna (Monash University)
|
| 12.15pm |
Vulnerable to valued: A national framework to enhance the resilience of Indigenous people and communities
Nell Reidy and Bhiamie Williamson (Monash University)
|
Resilient Lismore: Rebuilding homes, restoring wellbeing and enhancing resilience through trust-based community-led recovery
Elly Bird (Resilient Lismore)
|
| 12.50pm | Lunch | |
| RESILIENCE THROUGH ARTS AND STORIES | DIVERSE COMMUNITIES, SHARED RESILIENCE | |
| 2.00pm |
Don't forget the Arts! Harnessing creative pursuits that build resilience
Natalie Egleton (Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal)
|
When multicultural communities' leadership leads, systems follow
Richard Ogetti (Albury Wodonga Ethnic Communities Council) |
| 2.30pm |
Lightning storytelling: tales from accidental disaster resilience advocates
From lived experience to professional practice
Sabrina Davis (Australian Red Cross)
How and why the Keep Calm Committee became resilience advocates for Mount Beauty
Kitty Vigo (Keep Calm Committee)
From bushfire risk to community power: An accidental path into resilience leadership
Maureen Halit (Milgrove Residents Action Group)
Accidental resilience advocate
Hayat Doughan (Al-Emaan Women Organisation)
Turns out my admin superpowers were disaster skills after all
Rebecca Johnson (Coordinare)
|
Shifting disaster resilience in ageing populations: What can we learn from other countries?
Sunny Nguyen (University of Melbourne)
Yuxuan Yao (University of Osaka)
|
| 3.00pm |
Collaboratively supporting healthy childhood development, wellbeing and resilience in disaster settings: Thriving kids in disasters
Alisha Chand (Queensland Kids Partnership)
|
|
| 3.25pm | 5 Minute Transition Time | |
| BUILDING SOCIAL COHESION AMID CONVERGING CRISES | NAAVIGATING RELOCATION AND RETREAT | AFAC26 CLOSING KEYNOTE PRESENTATION (PLENERY) | |
| 3.30pm |
PANEL
Converging threats: Building social cohesion in the context of multiple disasters, disinformation and extremism
Dr Mark Duckworth (Deakin University)
Zena Armstrong (Cobargo Folk Festival)
Dr Ika Trijsburg (Australian National University)
Shelby Robinson (Curtain University)
Facilitator: Professor Lisa Gibbs (University of Melbourne)
|
PANEL
Relocation and retreat in practice: What's working, what's hard, what's next
Dr Annah Piggott-McKellar (Queensland University of Technology)
Rebecca Price (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action)
Professor Paula Jarzabkowski (University of Queensland)
Narelle Poole (Water Technology)
Facilitator: Jessica Van Son (Queensland University of Technology)
|
KEYNOTE | Details coming soon
Dr Jorian Kippax - Emergency Doctor and 2026 Tasmanian of the Year
|
| 4.30pm | Closing Ceremony | ||