EMPA

EMPA EMPA is dedicated to building an international community of practice of emergency communicators.

EMPA Ltd is a registered not-for-profit company formed by like-minded professionals aiming to further the profession of the emergency or crisis Communicator. EMPA runs an annual conference intended to share experience and knowledge amongst crisis communicators from both government and industry. EMPA has also established the EMPA Research and Development Centre, which aims to act as a centre for research ideas, but also as a ‘clearing house’ for research ideas from government and industry.

Georgia Parker, Caitlin Cash and Rhiannon Rak closed out day two with a session on social media, and how different agenc...
29/05/2026

Georgia Parker, Caitlin Cash and Rhiannon Rak closed out day two with a session on social media, and how different agencies have unique approaches to engaging with their audience, and sharing critical information and updates.

From George the Queensland Health TikTok model, to the importance of publishing information regardless of polish or budget, the panel explored their strategies and goals of their different social media platforms.

Thank you to all attendees for your support, curiosity and questions.

A huge thank you to Brad Irvin from Victoria State Emergency Servicefor hosting our session on liquid fuel instability. ...
29/05/2026

A huge thank you to Brad Irvin from Victoria State Emergency Servicefor hosting our session on liquid fuel instability. After a recap of the events leading to the current increased fuel prices and preparedness activity across the world due to a possible fuel shortage, Brad opened up the floor to the room.

A great conversation was around what is being done and how the response is managed across different parts of Australia, and the compounding impacts of increased pricing, regional supplies and the recent Vivo refinery fire in Victoria.

A key observation made from the audience, noted that calling the response of fuel purchasing by the public ‘panic buying’ is both unfair and misleading. It’s not panic buying if people are responding to a real possible risk and taking action to be prepared.

Mark Ryan gave us an insight to his role as the General Manager of Disaster and Emergency Management and Local Disaster ...
28/05/2026

Mark Ryan gave us an insight to his role as the General Manager of Disaster and Emergency Management and Local Disaster Coordinator for the City of Gold Coast during the 2025 Tropical Cyclone Alfred and Associated Severe Weather event.

Using the example of predictive flood maps, Mark highlighted the importance of needing to commit to regular update intervals for the duration of the event.

This ensured trust was built within the community, by sharing information clearly and consistently.

Mark also spoke to the critical timing of communications. It was known that once communities lost power they would typically have up to eight hours to communicate the most important information to those impacted areas before their devices would die.

Knowing this, it didn’t matter what the exact source of the eventual hazard to impact the community was - wind, flash flood, riverine or storm surge - they knew to focus on the most actionable information as the priority.

Meghan Hibbert and Alice Atkins from the National Emergency Management Agency, introduced us to the new national warning...
28/05/2026

Meghan Hibbert and Alice Atkins from the National Emergency Management Agency, introduced us to the new national warning system - AusAlert.

Designed to replace the current telephony warning system - Emergency Alert - the new intrusive messaging system is a fast and reliable way to help people be informed during local and national emergencies.

Explaining how the technology works and the campaign strategy, they spoke of the vegemite toast theory. If you use too much vegemite (too technical) people won’t engage with the content - too much butter (to soften the comms) and the message is diluted.

A national test alert will be sent on Monday 27 July at 2:00pm AEST.
To find out more information, visit https://www.ausalert.gov.au/

Representing Queensland Health, Nicole Mandalios and Brad Gardner explored their approach to communicating key informati...
28/05/2026

Representing Queensland Health, Nicole Mandalios and Brad Gardner explored their approach to communicating key information about heatwaves and the health implications.

Heatwaves kill more than all other hazards combined. Queensland Health have worked in collaboration with other agencies and the healthcare system to increase the public’s knowledge of the risk. This includes an approach to educating people on what heatwave forecasts mean, how they’re calculated and what the human health impacts are.

To reduce contradictory information shared across agencies, they worked on sharing content and supporting created content by leading as subject matter experts.

The Steer Clear campaign from NSW SES was presented by Matthew Heap and Karen Akehurst, a research backed behaviour chan...
28/05/2026

The Steer Clear campaign from NSW SES was presented by Matthew Heap and Karen Akehurst, a research backed behaviour change communication campaign focused on driver safety during flooding.

Using analysis of drivers' behaviours and their justifications for driving through floodwaters, such as ‘my car can handle a bit of water’, the campaign leveraged the impact making a risky decision can have on the family unit.

Karen and Matthew explained the research that shows it is better to encourage the correct action rather than condemning the poor choice.

The tag line ‘steer clear’ makes it clear what the community is being asked to do.

Kelly McKinney joined the conference having travelled from the US, where he’s an emergency manager in New York. He spoke...
28/05/2026

Kelly McKinney joined the conference having travelled from the US, where he’s an emergency manager in New York.

He spoke about how critical emergency communicators are during the early stages of a response, reminding us that when everybody else is panicking, we have to remain calm. “We have to think not only for ourselves but for everyone else too.”

With society fracturing and the risks of AI, economic collapse and political distrust, Kelly explained that when people can no longer agree on basic facts, society is less able to act together in a crisis. It’s our role to help people see themselves in the emergency, and understand how it impacts them. That even if people don’t believe the emergency, weather or pandemic will happen, “public warning is truth before impact”.

This morning, we heard from Major General Jake Ellwood from Queensland Reconstruction Authority, who spoke about his app...
28/05/2026

This morning, we heard from Major General Jake Ellwood from Queensland Reconstruction Authority, who spoke about his approach to effective crisis communications.

He expanded on ensuring trusted, tailored, targeted, timely and timeless information, and the importance of focusing on the behaviour change as the purpose of what we do.

On the topic of timeliness, he explained that if you can change the behaviour of the youth, you can change the outcome of tomorrow.

Happy smiling faces from day one of the 2026 EMPA Conference 🧡
27/05/2026

Happy smiling faces from day one of the 2026 EMPA Conference 🧡

Dr Susan Grantham from Griffith University dove into the data behind influencers and their content during emergencies s...
27/05/2026

Dr Susan Grantham from Griffith University dove into the data behind influencers and their content during emergencies such as Cyclones Alfred and Kirrily.

Looking at how we can partner with influencers and leverage these new leaders in social media opens new doors to connect with younger generations.

To read more about Susan’s research, see her profile: https://experts.griffith.edu.au/9498-susan-grantham

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