Our Logo and History

EMPA Logo

The sphere represents the planet, with red and yellow colours and a radiating circle indicating a crisis. The strong red, breaking up from left to right, indicates the high energy and interest that is created during a disaster or emergency that then diminishes with time as the recovery phase takes over. The meridian lines denote the complexity of communication around the emergency, along with the resultant reverberation of the effects of the crisis.

The original design was gifted to EMPA by the USQ Media Service Unit in 2008.  

Controller Briefing

EMPA was founded in 2006 out of discussions between three public relations practitioners - Peter Rekers from the Queensland Department of Emergency Services, Barbara Ryan from the University of Southern Queensland and Alastair Wilson from the Australian Attorney General’s Department’s Emergency Management Australia Division. They met to discuss how to develop the field of emergency communication and bring practitioners together to network, further their skills and bring education and research faculties closer to practical emergency operators.

Out of these discussions came the idea of a national conference of media liaisons and public affairs professionals working in the emergency management sector and in emergency-related organisations.

In 2007, the inaugural EMPA conference highlighted:

  • the need to strengthen ties between disaster and crisis communication research and practice

  • the vast contribution emergency communicators make to the emergency management sector

  • confirmation that sharing lessons learned was extremely valuable for a discipline that, at times, feels isolated from mainstream public relations

EMPA quickly became an internationally recognised association - possibly the first of its kind in the world. Our annual conferences have continued and expanded to foster a growing community of professionals.

In 2009, the first EMPA-commissioned research paper was presented.

One of the core tenets of EMPA from the very beginning has been the bringing together of knowledge, experiences and research in the field of Communicating in Disasters. 

2011 saw the launch of EMPA’s international accreditation programme, the first of its kind worldwide, and the announcement of 10 inaugural fellowship recipients in recognition of their achievements and commitment to the organisation and our industry.

By 2014, EMPA expanded to New Zealand and was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and support. New Zealand's emergency communicators acknowledge EMPA as a leader in the sector, providing sought-after professional development through our annual conferences and events.

In 2021 EMPA adopted a new constitution to bring it into line with requirements for registered not-for-profit companies in Australia.   A strategic plan was developed with the aim of enhancing the “communities of practice approach” beyond the annual awards and conferences.  Emergencies such as the worldwide Covid 19 pandemic and climate change-related disasters have developed a greater awareness within EMPA circles of the importance of community-led engagement.  Development of partnerships and activities to reflect the changing environment continues to be a work in progress for EMPA.