Every year, Australian communities face devastating losses caused by disasters. Bushfires, floods, storms, other hazards and their associated consequences have significant impacts on communities, the economy, infrastructure and the environment. Over the past decade, governments have collaborated on reforming disaster management approaches. On 6 November 2008, the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management – Emergency Management agreed that the future direction for Australian emergency management should be based on achieving community and organisational resilience. To build on this work, on 7 December 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to adopt a whole-of-nation resilience-based approach to disaster management, which recognises that a national, coordinated and cooperative effort is needed to enhance Australia’s capacity to withstand and recover from emergencies and disasters. The National Emergency Management Committee (NEMC) was tasked by COAG to drive and coordinate the development of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience (the Strategy). A Working Group, consisting of federal, state and territory representatives under the auspices of the NEMC, has developed the Strategy. Application of a resilience-based approach is not solely the domain of emergency management.