Forum Proceedings

 

This year, more than 110 delegates and presenters, representing a broad range of sectors and from locations as diverse as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, participated in the two-day Lessons Management Forum 2018 at The Windsor Hotel in Melbourne. The event also included three break-out workshops for practitioners, as well as a post-forum dedicated Lessons Analysis Workshop.

Keynote speakers from sectors such as agriculture, health, maritime, local government, Bureau of Meteorology, defence, community and emergency shared their learning, insights and perspectives on effective lessons management, resilience, teamwork, culture, research utilization and innovative operational capability to name a few. Many key themes were explored over the two days, including culture, methodologies, capability development and leadership.

A highlight of day two was a live cross to the forum by Nick Milton from Knoco in the UK who outlined their national approach to evaluating lessons.

The inaugural AFAC Lessons Management Award was presented to Logan City Council, further affirming the key role of local government in the lessons space. The award celebrated the development and delivery of a formal lessons management program, spearheaded by Carla Bailey, Laura Cooper and Margaretta Burton; supporting the council’s existing disaster management function. The Lessons Management Award was made possible this year by the generous support of ISW, a recognised leader in lessons management software solutions.

From L to R: Dr Noreen Krusel, Director, Knowledge and Research Implementation, AFAC/AIDR; Michel Kasteel, ISW Development; Carla Bailey, representing Logan City Council, winner of the inaugural Lessons Management Award 2018; Mark Anderson, ISW Development

Presenters from across jurisdictions shared their own experience on lessons identified from major hazards and events and provided insights into lessons learnt and implemented by their organisations.

Day 1 - Tuesday 14 August 2018

TOPIC	PRESENTER
National Lessons Management	Rob Cameron, Emergency Management Australia
We learn as one – lessons from Victoria	Tony Murphy, Emergency Management Victoria
The pre-hospital response to Bourke Street	Brett Drummond, Ambulance Victoria
What’s right in disaster management? Learning, trust and accountability	Rowena Richardson, Inspector-General Emergency Management
Lessons Management Program (Lessons Management Award 2018 winner)	Carla Bailey, Logan City Council, Queensland
Lessons from Defence’s domestic operations	Lieutenant Colonel Scott Fletcher, Australian Defence Force
Lessons from agriculture biosecurity operations and exercises	Jason Males, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
Knowledge is Power – learning from when the lights go out	Leanne Adams, South Australia State Emergency Service
Lessons learnt from the Community Experience	Louise Mitchell, Department of Health and Human Services; Sarah U’Brien, Dungog Shire Community Centre; Kris Newton, Mountains Community Resource Network
Turning lessons identified into lessons learnt	Brian Welsh, Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP), United Kingdom
WORKSHOPS
Communications for lessons management	David Bruce, Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC
Having a ‘no blame’ approach … equals more gain – preliminary results from the CFA	Roger Strickland and Tammy Garrett, Country Fire Authority, Victoria

Day 2 - Wednesday 15 August 2018

TOPIC PRESENTER Learning in real time – operationalizing lessons management Adair Forbes Shepherd and Mark Stephens, Emergency Management Victoria The challenges of developing a system-wide lessons management program Karla Hartnett, Inspector-General Emergency Management, Qld; Paul Algie, Queensland Police; Meg Lowe, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services EM-Share: how technology is supporting the way we learn Lisa Marie Jackson, Emergency Management Victoria Improving lessons management in the NSW emergency management sector: the journey so far Jim Henry, NSW Office of Emergency Management Army’s lesson management approach Major Russell Underwood, Centre for Army Lessons AMSA’s approach to lessons management David Imhoff, Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Learning lessons about teamwork Associate Professor Chris Bearman, Central Queensland University and Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC Managing lessons from the frontline Carla Bailey, Logan City Council, Queensland Learning from After Action Reviews Eric Claussen, National Parks NSW Weather: from impact forecast to post-event review Grace Legge, Bureau of Meteorology Operationalising the emergency management assurance framework – Queensland Health’s approach to building a disaster resilient health system Jo Dyson, Queensland Health Community resilience networks – strengthening relationships between communities and emergency management Wendy Graham, NSW Office of Emergency Management Evaluating lessons Nick Milton, Knoco Ltd., United Kingdom WORKSHOP Observations, Insights and Lessons (OIL) model Mark Cuthbert, Department of Home Affairs

Lessons Analysis Workshop

Following the Lessons Management Forum, the one-day Lessons Analysis Workshop was held on 16 August 2018 with two objectives:

1. identify recurring insights and/or lessons across sectors and jurisdictions
2. identify potential/emerging insights and/or lessons

Lessons Management processes were used to theme and analyse observations to produce insights.