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 72 credit points. Students enrolled in the CC59 Bachelor of Public Health must have completed a minimum of 72 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 - 2026
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 Task | Part Weighting (% of assessment) |
Assessment Security Level | Gen AI Guidance Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. ASSESSMENT 1 (40% of unit · 1 part ) | |||
| Part 1 – Presentation | 100% of 40% | Low | AI-Assisted (Guided Collaboration) |
| 2. ASSESSMENT 2 (60% of unit · 1 part ) | |||
| Part 1 – Written Assessment | 100% of 60% | Low | AI-Assisted (Guided Collaboration) |
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
- Academic Progression Policy and Procedure
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- 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 Formal feedback, discussion with students
Some students have requested additional discussion and clarification on how to meet the requirements of the unit's specified level of permitted generative AI use.
Additional discussion on permitted uses of generative AI will be incorporated into assessment instructions and in-class discussion, beginning later in 2026.
Feedback from Discussion with students, instructor reflection, discussions with EDM staff
Supplemental materials on anthropogenic disasters would add an additional dimension to the unit's focus, and in particular support the existing content on politics, policy, and systemic issues.
Ongoing review of extension materials and incorporation of new material will include a focus on appropriate studies of anthropogenic disasters, especially material that directly relates to existing content on politics and policy.
Feedback from Self-assessment
Assessments to be reviewed for GenAI security as per the Guided-Assured Assessment Model.
Review assessments for the next offering to consider the Guided-Assured Assessment Model.
- 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.
Assessment 1
(40% of unit)
Part 1 -
Presentation
|
||||||
|
2.
Assessment 2
(60% of unit)
Part 1 -
Written Assessment
|
||||||
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.