Call for papers has closed.

The AFAC/ Bushfire CRC Conference is Australasia’s foremost annual emergency services conference, attracting over 1,000 delegates from all over the world.

AFAC represents all fire, land management and emergency services agencies in Australia and New Zealand, while the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre is the peak research body for the fire industry in this region.

The theme of the 2010 Conference is:
‘Same, Same, but Different – Learning lessons in a changing world”.

This theme explores the challenge that if the world is changing, are we and can we manage emergency services the same way we have done in the past?

Abstracts, specifically linking to the conference theme, for both oral and posters are invited from emergency services and management professionals, volunteers, researchers and academics, industry and government bodies.

The deadline for abstracts is 27 February 2010.

It is expected that all speakers, once accepted, will prepare an extended paper of their talk of approximately four pages.  This will need to be submitted by end of June 2010 and will be included on the conference proceedings CD.  Failure to produce this will result in withdrawal of the invitation to speak.

Competition for speaking at this conference is high, so not all abstracts will be accepted for a speaking slot. Unsuccessful abstracts will be considered for poster presentations and possibly for other opportunities to share your work with the industry.

The themes for the Conference include (but not limited to):
•    Royal Commissions and Inquiries – emerging issues from intensive, independent reviews of the performance and effectiveness of the industry; what does it mean for future service delivery?
•    Climate and demographic change – ecology and biodiversity, rural/urban interface issues; the challenge of communities understanding the risks we all face and what do they value?
•    Lessons from the Asia Pacific region – response to natural disasters, best practice in bushfire management, urban fire and rescue, fuel management
•    Managing and sharing information to provide real knowledge and situational awareness – unlocking access to crucial information
•    Emergency management in remote, under-privileged or indigenous communities – community engagement, resilience and protection

GENERAL INFORMATION
Means of Submission - Online
By clicking on the link, you will be taken to a web page where you can cut and paste your abstract in several simple steps. The benefits of this system are many but include:
i. Allowing you to preview your abstract and make modifications to your satisfaction.
ii. Ensuring you know your lodgement is completed as you will receive an immediate email confirmation
iii. Ensuring accurate indexing of all authors in the abstract book
iv. Ensuring consistent presentation of all abstracts in the proceedings (overarching formatting is imposed).

BEFORE YOU START
Are you using one of the following browsers
INTERNET EXPLORER (ver 5.5 or newer)
NETSCAPE (ver 7.4 or newer) or
MOZILLA (ver 1.3 or newer)
If not the screen will tell you if it detects you are using the wrong software and you would be better to change to a computer with one of them installed.
Is your abstract text less than 300 words – it will not allow you to paste larger submissions. The word count does NOT include your title, authoring or cited references
Have you got your abstract open and running on your own computer? – you need to be able to cut and paste it onto the web.
Have you got an image in your abstract? If you have, you must have saved it as it's own image file on your computer first. (It should be a .tif .gif .png or .jpg file)
Have you got a table in your abstract? If you have, it may copy and paste straight into the submission. This is likely if you have used the Times New Roman font and it is not physically large (try and keep it less than 12 cm wide on an A4 sheet). Otherwise you should save a copy of your table as an image file on your own computer first and upload that. (It should be a .tif .gif .png or .jpg file)

THE PROCESS
Firstly you will need to complete your personal details. Importantly on the first page you must let us know if you are not the actual person who will be going to the meeting to present the work. If this is the case, you need to know the presenting person's email address.
There is a preliminary page of questions, this is where you are asked about your presentation preference, the category your work falls into, and so on.
When you get to the final confirmation page, you will be invited to go on and register. If you do it at this stage, you will not have to enter your personal details again.

WHEN YOU'VE FINISHED THE SUBMISSION
As long as you haven't incorrectly filled your own email address, you will get an immediate confirmation which includes a .pdf copy of your submission for your records. On the last screen of the lodgement page
YES - YOU CAN MAKE CHANGES AFTER YOU HAVE SUBMITTED!!
Your confirmation email will have instructions on how to go back and edit your work or make small changes. This will remain open and possible until the program committee allocates your work to the program.

ACCEPTANCE NOTIFICATION
Notification of programming decisions will come from the secretariat shortly after the expiry of deadlines and the working program will be posted to the web site. The notification will include specific presentation instructions but in the interim, those preparing posters should note the maximum size allowed is 100cm wide by 120cm deep. Velcro will be available to fix the poster to the boards. Computer data projection is the preferred presentation method for orals.


Please Submit your abstract HERE