Managing the national response: The Canberra story

Abstract

The paper briefly discusses the origins of the then Natural Disasters Organisation (NDO, now Emergency Management Australia) and the organisation’s initial role and organisation on its establishment in Canberra in July 1974. When cyclone Tracy struck barely five months later, NDO’s staffing arrangements and systems were still very much in development. Following an outline of the key issues and problems created by this unprecedented event, as seen at the time from a Canberra perspective, the paper describes the Federal Government’s initial response to the crisis and NDO’s early actions to develop new arrangements and systems to coordinate the national response. An overview of the response coordination operation is offered, together with an evaluation of the operation’s effectiveness and an indication of some of the major lessons learned. The presentation concludes with some anecdotal observations.