Overview
This is a foundational unit that introduces the fundamental concepts and frameworks that underpin the effective management of emergencies and disasters. You will gain a basic understanding of the nature of hazards and disasters and will Introduce the key stakeholders involved with emergency and disaster management, explore the historic and contemporary principles, policies, and legal frameworks guiding the field of practice. The unit will explore local and global concepts of emergency and disaster management and the models, systems and processes required to effectively mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from various disasters.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Students enrolled in the CM40 Bachelor of Paramedic Science/Graduate Certificate in Emergency and Disaster Management must have completed a minimum of 48 credit points.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2024
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Discussion with students
Ongoing technological difficulties connected to on-campus classes run over video conference, leading to disruptions and difficulty engaging with tutorials.
Tutorials will be re-designed for T3 2024 to eliminate the need for synchronous video conference-enabled classes. Melbourne and Sydney will have separate tutorials, and each location will have its own facilitator who works only with that class.
Feedback from Discussion with students, observations by unit co-ordinator and other staff
Spacing and progression of content impacts on learning experience, particularly material and concepts that are needed for assessments.
Additional adjustments will be made to the online learning materials for T3 2024: the current offering constitutes a partially-flipped classroom model, with some background material recapped or discussed at tutorial sessions. This will be adjusted to create a fully flipped classroom model where students have access to the entire unit, consolidating the content into division by module rather than week. This will allow students to complete the content in a manner that suits their own situation.
- Evaluate the characteristics of natural and human-caused hazards and vulnerabilities particular to global, regional and national emergency and disaster contexts
- Explain the principles of Emergency and Disaster Management using the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery (PPRR) model
- Analyse how environmental, political and social vulnerability differs from traditional approaches to disasters and emergency management
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Conduct a social vulnerability analysis relevant to the emergency and disaster management context
- Identify limitations and opportunities that promote or restrict strategies for addressing vulnerability in the context of the United Nations' Sendai framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Presentation - 40% | ||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 60% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||||
| 4 - Research | ||||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||||
| 8 - First Nations Knowledges | ||||||
| 9 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
d.fanany@cqu.edu.au
Week 1
Begin Date: 04 Nov 2024Module/Topic
Module 1: Emergency and Disaster Management Background
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Prevention and Preparedness
Week 2
Begin Date: 11 Nov 2024Module/Topic
Module 1: Emergency and Disaster Management Background
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Response and Recovery
Week 3
Begin Date: 18 Nov 2024Module/Topic
Module 1: Emergency and Disaster Management Background
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Topic:
Assessing Vulnerability
Week 4
Begin Date: 25 Nov 2024Module/Topic
Module 1: Emergency and Disaster Management Background
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Systems Perspectives in Emergency and Disaster Management
Week 5
Begin Date: 02 Dec 2024Module/Topic
Module 2: The Emergency and Disaster Management Context
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Topic: Elements of Risk
Assessment 1 due Friday, December 6th at 4:00 PM
Poster Presentation Due: Week 5 Friday (6 Dec 2024) 4:00 pm AEST
Week 6
Begin Date: 09 Dec 2024Module/Topic
Module 2: The Emergency and Disaster Management Context
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Economic and Financial Perspectives
Week 7
Begin Date: 16 Dec 2024Module/Topic
Module 2: The Emergency and Disaster Management Context
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Political and Policy Approaches to Emergency and Disaster Management
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 23 Dec 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Vacation Week
Begin Date: 30 Dec 2024Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Week 8
Begin Date: 06 Jan 2025Module/Topic
Module 2: The Emergency and Disaster Management Context
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
International Perspectives on Emergency and Disaster Management
Week 9
Begin Date: 13 Jan 2025Module/Topic
Module 3: Emergency Management Futures
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Disaster-Conscious Economics
Week 10
Begin Date: 20 Jan 2025Module/Topic
Module 3: Emergency Management Futures
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Technological Advancement and Disruption
Week 11
Begin Date: 27 Jan 2025Module/Topic
Module 3: Emergency Management Futures
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Demographic Impacts on Emergency Management
Week 12
Begin Date: 03 Feb 2025Module/Topic
Module 3: Emergency Management Futures
Chapter
See study guide for discussion and reading activities.
Events and Submissions/Topic
Topic:
Climate Change
Assessment 2 due Friday, February 7th at 4:00 PM
Report on Risk and Mitigation Due: Week 12 Friday (7 Feb 2025) 4:00 pm AEST
Exam Week
Begin Date: 10 Feb 2025Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Presentation
Note: This is an individual assessment.
Early in the term, you will select a topic from the list of historical emergency management events which is available on the Moodle site (under the Poster Presentation section in the Assessments menu, available from week 1). You will produce a one-slide poster presentation with an easily-digestible summary of your findings. You may use PowerPoint's in-app notes function (which usually appears in the form of a text box at the bottom of the page) to add a small amount of additional content, eg. if there was anything that needed to be presented in shorter form on the poster but that would benefit from slightly more explanation. The main part of your submission must be the poster, and the poster should be able to stand on its own.
Examples of poster presentation layouts and templates are available on Moodle.
Your presentation and notes should cover:
- A description of the events that occurred and what impact they had on people living nearby (or farther away, if applicable);
- An identification of the characteristics of the incident which posed danger (the hazards), and the ways in which they threatened people living nearby or farther away (the risks);
- An identification of specific factors in nearby or farther-away communities which made them vulnerable to risks related to the event;
- A brief explanation relating some of the points you have identified to the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery framework (PPRR) and your opinion on an action that could have been taken to enhance one or more parts of this framework.
Upload your poster presentation to the relevant section of the Moodle site by the end of Week 5.
This assessment is worth 40% of the overall grade for this unit.
Week 5 Friday (6 Dec 2024) 4:00 pm AEST
Upload the completed poster presentation to Moodle; PowerPoint format recommended
Week 8 Monday (6 Jan 2025)
Assessment will usually be returned within three weeks of the due date
Description of events and their direct impact 10%
Characterisation of hazards and risks arising from the event 30%
Identification of factors impacting on vulnerability 30%
Discussion of PPRR applicability to the event 20%
Appropriate academic writing style and referencing 10%
Note: the complete marking rubric will be available on the unit's Moodle site, from week 1 of the term.
- Evaluate the characteristics of natural and human-caused hazards and vulnerabilities particular to global, regional and national emergency and disaster contexts
- Explain the principles of Emergency and Disaster Management using the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery (PPRR) model
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Conduct a social vulnerability analysis relevant to the emergency and disaster management context
2 Written Assessment
Note: This is an individual assessment.
Assessment 2 concerns the same topic that you considered in the poster presentation. It builds on your past work, and should incorporate any new knowledge and ideas you gained during the course of the term.
For this assessment, you will be considering the potential impact that a similar event to your presentation topic would have on the state of Queensland. Note that while none of the historical events in Assessment 1 took place in Queensland, there are parts of the state that are vulnerable to a similar event.
You will prepare a short report (maximum 1,500 words) describing the relevance of the event to Queensland, the risks it would pose to the state, and how the perspective of the Sendai Framework could assist the state government in reducing the risks. Your report should discuss:
- The characteristics of a similar event which would pose a risk to the state’s population
- Which parts of the state or sub-populations would be most at risk from a similar event (eg. urban vs rural populations; specific demographics; geographical regions, etc)
- Social factors and characteristics which put either the state as a whole or specific sub-populations at particular risk from a similar event
- Suggested strategies for the government and other stakeholders to reduce risk and vulnerability to a similar event, with attention to the perspective of the Sendai Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals and the factors they identify as relevant to social vulnerability
You may draw on your previous research on the event, such as you did for the first assessment, for the purposes of this report. Many of the issues and topics relevant to this report will be covered in the second half of the unit, and your study of those weeks' content may be a good place to start. To support your arguments and suggestions, you should also search for additional literature and sources. For example, there is extensive information available about Queensland's demographics, population distribution, and economic activity, which may be relevant to certain kinds of impacts.
You must use the CQU 7-step search strategy to carry out your search for additional sources, and you should also briefly describe the process you used as part of your report. This description should be provided as an appendix to your report (and does not count towards the main word count). The 7-step strategy is detailed in full on the unit's Moodle site, as well as the CQ University Library website.
This assessment is worth 60% of the overall grade. You must achieve a minimum score of 50% on this assessment to pass the unit (ie. 30 out of 60).
Week 12 Friday (7 Feb 2025) 4:00 pm AEST
Upload the completed report to Moodle in Microsoft Word or PDF format
Assessment will usually be returned within three weeks of the due date
Identification and discussion of risks that a similar event would pose to Queensland 15%
Identification of vulnerable populations or sub-groups 20%
Identification of characteristics causing increased vulnerability 20%
Discussion of risk reduction and mitigation strategies 35%
Appropriate academic writing style and referencing 10%
- Evaluate the characteristics of natural and human-caused hazards and vulnerabilities particular to global, regional and national emergency and disaster contexts
- Explain the principles of Emergency and Disaster Management using the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery (PPRR) model
- Analyse how environmental, political and social vulnerability differs from traditional approaches to disasters and emergency management
- Locate appropriate peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to emergency and disaster management
- Conduct a social vulnerability analysis relevant to the emergency and disaster management context
- Identify limitations and opportunities that promote or restrict strategies for addressing vulnerability in the context of the United Nations' Sendai framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
