The definition of doctrine is "that which is taught". For AFAC member agencies a range of emergency management doctrine is use when delivering services to the community on behalf of their governments. 

Lessons learnt through the practical application of such doctrine is crucial so that the practice emergency management is continually enhanced and effective. Lessons learnt through research is also crucial. It is difficult for individual agencies to undertake deep analysis of factors relating to safety and effective operations which usually requires specialised skills and takes a number of years to complete. Agencies are partnering with the Bushfire CRC to do this analysis on their behalf and are actively working with researchers to ensure the new knowledge is factored into practice change.

The Groups and Networks in this practice area are primarily focused on supporting knowledge transfer and exchange as well as providing the data analysis to support evidence-based decision making.