Closing the Gap in emergency management
Indigenous peoples and communities hold legal rights and interests in many high disaster risk and affected areas on Country. This includes native title, statutory land rights and cultural responsibilities. These connections mean disasters can have unique and far‑reaching impacts for Indigenous peoples, underscoring the value of recognising Indigenous rights, knowledges, and relationships to Country within emergency management policy and practice.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap (2020) is Australia’s guiding policy framework to address entrenched socio-economic disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. While much of the National Agreement focuses on outcomes such as health, education and housing, it also includes commitments that are highly relevant to emergency management and disaster resilience.
Clause 64 recognises the importance of engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples before, during, and after emergencies, including natural hazards to the National Agreement. The clause recognises the need for government decision making to consider impacts on Indigenous peoples, support equitable outcomes, and enable recovery at a comparable rate to non‑Indigenous Australians.
This clause provides an important point of connection between the National Agreement and emergency management practice. Increasing awareness of this commitment creates opportunities to better integrate emergency management considerations into broader Closing the Gap planning, reporting, and implementation processes. This also creates opportunities to enhance emergency management arrangements and better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Researchers from NIDR are contributing to this understanding by examining the distinct impacts of environmental hazards and disasters on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Their work highlights how disaster risk, preparedness and recovery can look different for Indigenous communities and why these differences matter for effective emergency management.
NIDR’s new Closing the Gap in Emergency Management Explainer highlights Clause 64 and the Priority Reforms that can guide the sector in its commitment to the National Agreement.
For more detail, NIDR’s Disaster Preparedness Scorecard – the first national assessment of its kind – draws on Australian Bureau of Statistics and Disaster Assist data to explore disaster impacts across jurisdictions. The analysis shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are overrepresented in disaster‑affected populations, reinforcing the importance of culturally informed and inclusive approaches to disaster risk reduction and resilience. Where data is publicly available, it also documents governments’ progress on Closing the Gap on emergency management.
Meanwhile, AIDR’s role is to support improved disaster risk reduction practice through evidence‑informed knowledge, capability building, and collaboration.
The Planning Evacuations with Indigenous Communities guide is a companion document to AIDR’s Evacuation Planning Handbook and considers the complexities for Indigenous peoples and communities when making the decision to evacuate.
AIDR also supports learning and capability development through resources such as the Community Inclusive Recovery Practice: Working with Indigenous communities in recovery from disasters module. The module is designed to build shared understanding of the intrinsic strengths of Indigenous communities and the unique ways disasters can affect them, supporting more inclusive recovery practice. The accompanying slide deck is available as part of the module materials: Download Module Slide Deck (PDF 961KB)
Additionally, the Resilience Matters webinar series highlights the foundational knowledge of Indigenous disaster resilience knowledge.
In April 2025, AIDR published an Indigenous‑focused edition of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management, bringing together Indigenous‑led research and practice from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The edition supports greater visibility and understanding of Indigenous knowledges in disaster risk reduction and resilience.
Together, these resources contribute to ongoing national conversations about how emergency management systems can better align with the intent of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap – including Clause 64 – and support inclusive, culturally informed approaches to disaster risk reduction and recovery.
Additional resources
Further insights are available through a series of videos featuring Dr Bhiamie Williamson from Monash University, which explore key considerations for working with Indigenous people in disaster recovery: