Rhetoric or reality: crisis coordination

Hazard Note 44 covers PhD research by Dr George Carayannopoulos, completed in 2017. The research explored the response to two natural hazards: the 2009 Victorian bushfires and the 2011 Queensland floods. As large-scale events, they epitomise the challenges of crisis management in Australia. The research examined how each state confronted the disasters from political and operational perspectives. It specifically framed the understanding of these events through a model that emphasised seven important factors. Foremost among them was a whole of government response, which involves public service agencies working across portfolio boundaries to achieve shared goals. The other key mediators were: crisis management; leadership; coordination; organisational culture; social capital; and institutions. The individual and combined impacts of these mediators defined the outcomes of these crisis events.

Further reading

Carayannopoulos G (2016), Whole of government: the solution to managing crises? Australian Journal of Public Administration, 76(2), pp. 251-265, doi:10.1111/1467-8500.12227.

Carayannopoulos G (2017), Executive summary of doctoral project outcomes, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, Australia.

Carayannopoulos G (2018), Disaster management in Australia: government coordination in a time of crisis, Routledge, London.