The GAD Pod has developed a suite of resources to support increased understanding of the impact of gender on disaster, and to provide practical strategies to incorporate gender considerations into emergency management policy, planning, decision-making and service delivery. Our education and training resources include two comprehensive training packages and a Train-the-Trainer package.
The new 5.5-hour ‘Lessons in Disaster’ training package now combines the original ‘Family Violence After Disasters’ and ‘Men After Disasters’.
The ‘Lessons in Disaster’ training package aims to strengthen the capacity of the emergency management and health sectors and community organisations to challenge gender stereotypes, develop strategies to address gender inequalities, and to understand the relevance of family violence to the EM sector.

Aims
- Ensure the safety needs of women, men and children are met after disaster
- Understand the impact of gendered expectations on men and women
- Strengthen the capacity of the emergency management sector to challenge gender stereotypes
- Increase awareness of the value of building a gender-responsive and disaster-aware organisation.
- Ensure organisations understand the relevance of family violence in disaster
- To consider the role of strict gender norms in experience of emergency and disaster
- To understand the relationship between strict gender norms, family violence, drug and alcohol use and suicide at times of disaster
Objectives
- Knowledge of the concept of the social construction of gender and the impact on men and women’s experience of disaster
- Knowledge to identify the implicit and explicit behaviours of individuals, and the organisational practices that support rigid gender roles
- Strategies and actions to facilitate constructive responses by men in and after disaster and to ensure the safety needs of women and children are met
- Strategies to address gender inequalities
- Knowledge of how to respond and refer appropriately (links to targeted 'Responding to Family Violence’ training)
Pre-Reading, Videos and Podcasts
CORE
OPTIONAL
Trainer Bios



Steve O’Malley is a Leading Firefighter and the Fairness and Inclusion Officer with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. He has been an operational Fire-fighter for more than 30 years and is a graduate in the study of Human Rights.
Steve is currently the Secretary of Women and Firefighting Australasia (WAFA) and an Honorary Life Member of WAFA, a foundation member of the Emergency Management Victoria ‘Gender and Disaster’ taskforce and a trainer and facilitator of the Gender and Disaster Pod’s ‘Gendered Violence and Lessons in Disaster’ training package.
