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vents during the 1970’s and 1980’s in Australia (Cyclone Tracy – Christmas 1974; Granville train disaster 1977; Ash Wednesday bushfires 1983, Hoddle Street and Queen Street shootings, 1987, Grafton and Kempsey bus accidents 1989) contributed to the increase in awareness about the effects of traumatic or critical incidents on emergency services personnel.  Programs of psychological support (or CISM) were introduced to assist staff and their families, so that “most emergency service agencies throughout Australia have had some form of debriefing/peer support program in place since the early nineties” (Robinson, R. (1995) Critical Incident Stress Management in Australia in G.S. Everly, Jr. Innovations in Disaster and Trauma Psychology, Volume One:  Applications in Emergency Services and Disaster Response. Baltimore: Chevron Publishing Corp, 1995).

Critical Incident Stress Management was a term first heard in Australia in the mid 1980’s.  Dr Jeff Mitchell from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, USA had developed a series of interventions that sought to allow organizations to manage crises by preparing for them, training key personnel and utilizing specifically selected and trained peers to deliver first line psychological first aid.  Emergency services were the prime target group for these programs, but over time the package spread to many other high-risk industries and organizations.

In 1986 Dr Mitchell was sponsored by the then Social Biology Resource Centre in Victoria, to tour three states in Australia, addressing many audiences of emergency service personnel, mental health workers and people involved in disaster planning.  A three day conference in Melbourne provided the impetus and guidelines for many delegates to instigate workplace education and to develop support services in their own agencies.  This built upon the earlier pioneering work in understanding the impact of disasters on emergency services personnel of Professor Beverley Raphael following Cyclone Tracy and the Granville train disaster (Raphael, B. (1977) The Granville Train Disaster: Psychological Needs and their Management. Medical Journal of Australia, 1, 303-305; Raphael, B. (1986) When Disaster Strikes. Sydney: Hutchinson).

The first Combined Emergency Service Critical Incident Stress Debriefing team in Australia was trained in Melbourne and began functioning in July 1987.  This was followed closely by the Adelaide Fire Services Debriefing team, with at least one emergency services team in place in each state or territory within four years.  Logical and sensible changes in some programs were made from what became known as the “Mitchell model” to cater for cultural and geographic factors as well as agency needs.  A cohesive group of practitioners (mental health and emergency services) were in regular contact with one another, sharing teaching and resource materials (Robinson, 1995).  In 1988 a second conference was held with key speakers from five nations who were expert in the field, and Australians reporting on the establishment of services and sharing experiences.  The establishment of systems of support in diverse organizations as defense force services, protective services, hospitals, education, welfare, banks and industries that experienced industrial accidents quickly followed.

The development of a professional association – the Australasian Critical Incident Stress Association (ACISA) occurred during this time, with its official formation and its draft constitution accepted by a general meeting of interested persons at a third international conference held in 1990.  ACISA was established to meet the needs of people throughout Australasia involved in the delivery of services after traumas and disasters.  It is an association of interested workers and mental health professionals aiming to ensure the provision of critical incidents stress management, education and information to everyone exposed to a traumatic or critical incident.

ACISA was incorporated as an association on the 3^rd of March 1993, and works closely with other professional associations of personnel involved in the field (for example, the National Association for Loss and Grief (NALAG), formed after the Granville train disaster; the Australasian Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress (ASTSS), formed about the same time as ACISA; and the Critical Incident Stress Management Foundation of Australia (CISMFA), formed more recently by some of the personnel involved in establishing ACISA).  An example of the close liaison between the professional organisations are joint conferences held in the past (the Hobart 1995 ACISA conference was conducted jointly with ASTSS and the Sydney 1997 ACISA conference combined with both NALAG and ASTSS) and deliberate planning to avoid conflict between conference dates.  Many members of ACISA also belong to one or more of the above organisations, and in some states joint education meetings are conducted.

Over time, the focus has shifted from its concentration on emergency services and the Mitchell model.  Today ACISA is a generalist professional organisation that aims to promote excellence in the delivery of and research into all services.  Its membership base has broadened to include people from a very wide range of interests, industries and professional affiliations and expertise.  However, it still recognises the importance of meeting the needs of emergency service personnel and values the input of those teams that originally set up services for their staff, including the contributions made by peers within such teams.  This is evident in the program for the 2003 conference, which includes a pre conference workshop focusing on peer support – selection, training and supervision, and a range of presentations within the conference from experienced emergency service personnel.

ACISA members receive four editions each year of our Australasian newsletter, FORUM.  This includes papers presented in the bi-annual conferences.  Sharing of knowledge and experiences among people who work in the field of trauma and those providing critical incident response also occurs through the newsletter and the divisional meetings.  Membership entitles an individual or organisation to discounted rates at conferences and divisional meetings, as well as other workshops run during the year.  The ACISA website allows for Australasian and international links that have proven valuable.  Currently our members come from all states and territories in Australia and New Zealand, as well as international members from the United States of America, Belgium and Cambodia.  ACISA welcomes reciprocal membership enquiries from similar organisations.

The public officer for ACISA is the Victorian President, as the association is incorporated in Victoria.  The Australasian executive consists of a representative from each division (usually the state president) and an Australasian President, Secretary and Treasurer.  Our President is Lenore Meldrum from Queensland, our secretary is Paulene Joslin, also from Queensland, and our Treasurer is Brian Gitsham from South Australia.  An annual general meeting occurs once a year, with teleconferences and frequent email communication throughout the year also assisting in running the association.  Each conference is run by a division of the association, with past conferences having been held in Sydney (New South Wales), Brisbane (Queensland), Perth (Western Australia), Hobart (Tasmania), Auckland (New Zealand) and Adelaide (South Australia).

2003 conference

The Victorian division of the Australasian Critical Incident Stress Association is hosting the 2003 international conference in Melbourne from October 3-5, 2003.  Pre conference workshops will be held on Thursday October 2, with a selection of two full day workshops and a half day workshop.  The post conference workshops will be held on Monday October 6, with a selection of three full day workshops by our keynote speakers.

Our keynote speakers are Dr Atle Dyregrov, Psychologist, Director of the Centre for Crisis Psychology in Bergen, Norway; Dr Gisela Perren-Klinger, Psychiatrist and President of the Swiss Society of Psychotraumatology, of Switzerland; and Major Erik De Soir, Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist and founder of the Fire Emergency Medical Stress Teams in Belgium, as well as the Royal Military Academy Stress and Trauma Research Centre.  Atle was a keynote speaker at our Sydney 1997 conference and Erik conducted workshops throughout Australia last year.  For further information about our distinguished keynote speakers please visit our website at www.acisa.org.au/conference 2003.  We also have invited speakers, including Ms Christine Nixon, APM, Chief Commissioner of Police for Victoria, who will open the conference; Mr Phil Cleary, Former Member of Parliament and author of Just Another Murder, published by Allen & Unwin, Australia; and Dr Gael Jennings, multi-award winning television science and medical journalist and current affairs presenter, who will facilitate the hypothetical.

An exciting program of papers (a selection of four varied papers during the concurrent sessions) from a varied range of practitioners and researchers in the field will be presented.  The presenters come from most states and territories in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Honolulu (USA) and Hawaii (USA).  Topics range from examination of the response after particular incidents through to looking at the effects on personnel providing the support.  Papers on work with children, emergency service personnel, counselors, mental health practitioners, sex workers, community members, defence force personnel and managers will be offered.  Aspects of our work involving the media, risk management, community resilience, remote deployment, arousal levels, preparedness and racial identity will be explored.

A key element of ACISA conference is the opportunity to network with others doing similar or diverse work, and learning from each other.  Breaks in the conference program and the social activities (the conference reception, conference dinner, tours and after conference informal meetings) provide a friendly and stimulating environment to be challenged and develop new networks of support and education.  The trade exhibition and resource material will also be an attraction for delegates.

The conference venue is the Carlton Crest, a four and a half star hotel overlooking beautiful Albert Park Lake.  Melbourne and its environs offer many attractions to the international delegate, including optional touring before and after the conference.  We encourage you to register for early bird rates before June 13, and look forward to welcoming you to Melbourne, Australia, for the ACISA 2003 International Conference!