---

States and non-government organisations respond to disaster affected communities around the world but face common, well identified legal issues that impact on their ability to provide timely, vital assistance. This book reviews the law that governs Australia s international, natural disaster response arrangements and benchmarks those arrangements against Guidelines issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It establishes that the Australian legal and policy arrangements do not adequately address foreseeable legal issues and recommends that the Commonwealth take steps to better prepare Australia to deal with catastrophic disasters. This book constitutes an important contribution to the legal literature in this field that will be of interest to emergency management practitioners and legislators. The identification of essential features for an Australian Act is a useful and practical contribution to the future evolution of legislation in Australia and for many other countries.

---

Dr Michael Eburn received his PhD from Monash University in 2009. A barrister and senior lecturer in law at the University of New England, he is the author of the text Emergency Law as well as numerous articles and conference papers addressing legal issues in Australian emergency management.

---