Strengthening Capability Across Jurisdictions Through a Shared Exercise Platform: Lessons from a Federated National Implementation
Tracks
Southport Room 2
| Tuesday, July 28, 2026 |
| 10:45 AM - 11:15 AM |
| Southport Room 2 |
Overview
Miles Macdonald, 4C Strategies &
Russell Dippy, Charles Sturt University
Details
Three Key Learnings
1. A shared platform enables scalable collaboration across jurisdictions without eroding local ownership.
2. Real-time data capture and visualisation improve the quality and credibility of evaluation.
3. Consolidated cross-event data strengthens system-wide readiness discussions and informs capability investment.
Speaker
Dr Russell Dippy
Adjunct Academic
Charles Sturt University
Strengthening Capability Across Jurisdictions Through a Shared Exercise Platform: Lessons from a Federated National Implementation
Biography
Russell is a dual internationally certified emergency manager who holds a Doctor of Public Safety from Charles Sturt University. He is the Emergency Management Coordinator for South Australia Police. He holds leadership positions on two international emergency management professional bodies. He actively participates in many of Australia’s national emergency management policy areas. He contributes to Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience Handbooks, National training packages and other national publications. He has been deployed nationally and internationally to emergency events.
Russell has a large number of publications in the area of Emergency Management Professionalisation and regularly presents at conferences on the topic.
Miles Macdonald
Vice President APAC
4C Strategies
Strengthening Capability Across Jurisdictions Through a Shared Exercise Platform: Lessons from a Federated National Implementation
Abstract
The Australia–New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee (ANZCTC) provides national coordination across jurisdictions to strengthen preparedness and capability. As part of this mandate, jurisdictions are jointly investing in a shared digital exercise platform designed to support cross-agency capability development under a federated governance and co-funded delivery model.
This presentation shares lessons emerging from the ongoing implementation of this national initiative, with direct relevance to the broader emergency management sector.
Historically, complex exercises across emergency management have often been designed, delivered and evaluated within jurisdictional silos. This limits visibility of shared capability gaps and reduces opportunities to reuse effort across agencies. The shared platform is enabling collaborative design, adaptation of scenarios and structured reuse of exercise content across jurisdictions, reducing duplication while improving consistency of approach. Standardised workflows and shared libraries support more efficient development of multi-agency activities at scale.
Governance arrangements underpin the platform’s operation. A federated model balances national coordination with jurisdictional data ownership, permissions control and operational sensitivities. The shared funding approach reinforces collective responsibility for capability uplift while preserving local autonomy, a model applicable to other nationally coordinated emergency management initiatives.
Technology is also strengthening how lessons are captured and applied. Training objectives are mapped during design, performance observations are collected in real time, and data is consolidated across events to provide greater visibility of capability trends. Rather than isolated after-action reports, exercise insights are contributing to a connected, evidence-informed readiness picture.
Three key learnings are emerging for emergency management agencies:
• A shared platform enables scalable collaboration across jurisdictions without eroding local ownership.
• Real-time data capture and visualisation improve the quality and credibility of evaluation.
• Consolidated cross-event data strengthens system-wide readiness discussions and informs capability investment.
This case study offers transferable insights for agencies seeking to enhance whole-of-system preparedness through shared digital infrastructure and collaborative governance.
This presentation shares lessons emerging from the ongoing implementation of this national initiative, with direct relevance to the broader emergency management sector.
Historically, complex exercises across emergency management have often been designed, delivered and evaluated within jurisdictional silos. This limits visibility of shared capability gaps and reduces opportunities to reuse effort across agencies. The shared platform is enabling collaborative design, adaptation of scenarios and structured reuse of exercise content across jurisdictions, reducing duplication while improving consistency of approach. Standardised workflows and shared libraries support more efficient development of multi-agency activities at scale.
Governance arrangements underpin the platform’s operation. A federated model balances national coordination with jurisdictional data ownership, permissions control and operational sensitivities. The shared funding approach reinforces collective responsibility for capability uplift while preserving local autonomy, a model applicable to other nationally coordinated emergency management initiatives.
Technology is also strengthening how lessons are captured and applied. Training objectives are mapped during design, performance observations are collected in real time, and data is consolidated across events to provide greater visibility of capability trends. Rather than isolated after-action reports, exercise insights are contributing to a connected, evidence-informed readiness picture.
Three key learnings are emerging for emergency management agencies:
• A shared platform enables scalable collaboration across jurisdictions without eroding local ownership.
• Real-time data capture and visualisation improve the quality and credibility of evaluation.
• Consolidated cross-event data strengthens system-wide readiness discussions and informs capability investment.
This case study offers transferable insights for agencies seeking to enhance whole-of-system preparedness through shared digital infrastructure and collaborative governance.
Biography
