Background to the Scheme

The Emergency Management Professionalisation Scheme (EMPS) was established to support the recognition of fire and emergency services as a profession, not just a professional service. Created by AFAC, the scheme provides a framework for recognising practitioners' education, experience and commitment to professional and ethical standards.

EMPS commenced in 2015 with a professional standard and credential for Certified Incident Controllers, open to practitioners across Australia and New Zealand.

Following its success, AFAC expanded the scheme in 2017 to provide credentials across all Incident Management Team (IMT) functions within the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS), as well as other specialist and technical roles.

By the end of 2018, registration was available for all IMT functions, except Investigation Officer, and a range of specialist roles. EMPS also introduced certification for selected high-risk, high-consequence roles, beginning with Certified Public Information Officer.

Today, EMPS continues to expand and mature, with updated professional standards and new credentials in development to support a diverse and evolving emergency management workforce.