About the Emergency Management Professionalisation Scheme
The Emergency Management Professionalisation Scheme (EMPS) exists to advance the cause of professionalisation in the practice of emergency management in Australia and New Zealand. ‘Professional’ and ‘Professionalisation’ refer to the technical and ethical standards of practice that we set for ourselves: professionalisation is open to everyone regardless of whether they are paid or volunteer, and regardless of the particular emergency management function they undertake.
EMPS is supported by AFAC, the National Council for fire and emergency services in Australasia. As such, the professional standards used by the scheme are approved by AFAC and represent a national consensus on the training and experience that emergency management practitioners should demonstrate in order to be considered proficient (at registered level) or expert (at certified level) in their roles.
We are the only scheme that is endorsed by AFAC to issue national recognition of individuals’ professional skills and experience.
EMPS does not have a direct role in assessing individuals for technical competence, and it is not possible to be registered or certified under EMPS without an assessment of technical competence having been carried out by a third party other than EMPS. Applications for registration or certification must be supported by the applicant’s agency.
Registration or certification under EMPS is not a licence to practice in emergency management. Authority to practice in an emergency management role depends on jurisdictional laws and policies.
Publications about EMPS
We currently provide two publications with information about EMPS; a booklet setting out the details of the Scheme, and a two-page document giving a high level overview.
- EMPS: Becoming a registered or certified practitioner booklet
- Emergency Management Professionalisation Scheme overview brochure
Core Incident Management Team Capabilities
As part of EMPS development, AFAC contracted Dr Christine Owen, Dr Peter Hayes, Dr Ben Brooks, Cameron Scott and Geoff Conway to review the initial capabilities for the Incident Controller prepared at the Scheme’s inception. They were also tasked to undertake an assessment, based on research evidence, of the capabilities required to perform IMT functional roles. For the purposes of this work, a ‘capability’ refers to the cluster of behaviours expected from personnel to succeed in achieving their objectives. Their report can be downloaded below.
From the evidence outlined in that report, the EMPS Standard ‘Core Incident Management Team Capabilities’ was created. The capabilities required by candidates for certification under EMPS are based on that document. While the focus at the registered level is more directed towards training and experience, registered IMT members will find those core capabilities relevant to their practice as well.