I am the National Resilience Adviser for Red Cross in Australia, responsible for policy and practice advice relating to disaster resilience. I also contribute to strategy development and government engagement at the national level. I am also an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne as part of the Beyond Bushfires Research Team. (www.beyondbushfires.org.au) I have extensive policy and operational experience in preparedness and recovery over the past 17 years, both nationally and internationally, being involved in, amongst other things, the Bali Bombings 2002, Alpine Fires in Victoria 2003 and 2006, Hurricane Katrina 2005, Black Saturday 2009, and the Queensland Floods 2011. I blog at http://sastrugi64.wordpress.com/ on disaster related stuff