Queensland's Disaster Management Arrangements

Queensland's whole-of-government disaster management arrangements are based upon partnerships between government, government-owned corporations, non-government organisations (NGOs), commerce and industry sectors and the local community. These arrangements recognise each level of the disaster management arrangements working collaboratively to ensure the effective coordination of planning, services, information and resources necessary for comprehensive disaster management.

The Australian disaster management arrangements are formed around three levels of government, Local, State and the Australian Government. The Queensland Disaster Management Arrangements acknowledge these three levels of government, however are based on a four tiered system to include an additional State government tier, between Local and State Governments and known as Disaster Districts, to enable a more efficient and effective operational service delivery in support of local communities.



The disaster management arrangements in Queensland are made up of several key management and coordination structures through which the functions of disaster management for Queensland are achieved.

The principal structures that make up Queensland’s disaster management arrangements are:

• Disaster management groups operating at local, district and state levels and which are responsible for the planning, organisation, coordination and implementation of all measures to mitigate/prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters; 
• Coordination centres at local, district and state levels that support disaster management groups in coordinating information, resources and services necessary for disaster operations; 
• State government functional agencies through which the functions and responsibilities of the state government in relation to disaster management are managed and coordinated; and

State government threat-specific agencies responsible for the management and coordination of combating threats.