After experiencing the first dry spring since 2020 and a significant build-up of fuel loads, Australian communities are bracing for the most significant bushfire conditions since the 2019-20 Black Summer fires.
Memories and learnings from those fires have not faded and more frequent and severe natural disasters have become the reality of Australian life.
In addition to planning for the upcoming fire season, Australia needs a long-term strategy to enhance its disaster response capabilities while building greater resilience for the future.
Our strategic approach needs to consider how to strengthen the resources that already exist within our communities while reducing our reliance on partners that cannot always support us. It must also consider how best to apply technology innovation.
As fire seasons grow longer in the northern and southern hemispheres, it is becoming more challenging for countries including the U.S. to continue to share its firefighting resources with Australia. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has also provided significant logistical strength and humanitarian aid to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters in recent years.
As the ADF develops its long-term strategy, it too is forecasting that Australia’s states cannot always rely on its resources to respond to domestic emergencies.
Why crises need a ‘communications lifeline’
For any emergency response to be successful, all responding agencies, personnel and volunteers need the right training, resources, and technology to keep themselves and community members safe.
One of the most essential needs for responders on the frontlines of a disaster is robust and reliable, team-based communication. These technologies provide responders with a constant ‘communications lifeline’ and are needed in Australia more than ever before as we deal with the ongoing impacts of climate change.
The fast moving and unpredictable nature of disasters means that response teams comprising different agencies, organisations and individuals need to be formed quickly and efficiently. With integrated and interoperable communication networks, different organisations and teams can communicate seamlessly wherever they are, regardless of whether they use radios, smartphones or smart radios which combine voice and data technologies.
Data services to complement the use of voice communication are now vital to successful emergency response. With essential data such as mapping and location services, responders can work safely while sharing their precise location in the field with colleagues working in command centres.
When multiple data streams and workflows are streamlined within command centres, overall incident awareness is enhanced and resources in the field can be mobilised and deployed to greater effect.
In the aftermath of an earthquake or other high impact event, it may be necessary to send in drones to survey potential risks before human resources reach the disaster ground. If cellular networks are damaged, compromised or otherwise unavailable, field-deployable, private broadband kits can provide instant mobile voice and data coverage.
Disaster response and technology go hand-in-hand
There are many factors to consider in planning for Australia’s future emergency response capabilities.
A clear strategy must be developed to ensure effective governance and national coordination between emergency response organisations, communities and individuals, with parameters defined on how other parties including the ADF can provide support during the most extreme events.
When disaster response requires different agencies, organisations and communities to work together, dual-use technologies are required. In other words, the technologies used by professionals, volunteers and civilian responders all need to work together. These include radios, mobile communications handsets and easy-to-use software that connects both technologies.
Command and control functions also need to be established and aligned at federal and state levels to enable effective disaster management coordination, data sharing between agencies and centralised decision making.
The future of disaster management in Australia will be defined by technology that strengthens collaboration while keeping everyone involved in emergency response safe and secure.
Con Balaskas is Vice President and Managing Director Australia and New Zealand for Motorola Solutions, which provides mission critical, secure communications and intelligence solutions for Australia’s defence and public safety sectors.
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