Bron Sparkes is a Director at the Australian Government’s National Emergency Management Agency. Working primarily in disaster risk reduction and national recovery policy, Bron is a strong advocate for community agency, and is passionate improving outcomes for people who are at greater risk in disasters.

Bron also brings to her professional role her lived experience of the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires, providing a voice for people, who have or will have the worst day of their lives, to emergency management policy development and implementation. Her lived-experience has and continues to be of interest to public media, and thus encourages media agencies to be sensitive, ethical and respectful when engaging with people who have been impacted by disaster.

Bron has recently completed a Masters in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development and holds United Nations Institute Training and Research (UNITAR) certifications in disaster risk reduction and sustainable development.

Until mid-2022, Bron was a member of the Australia New Zealand Emergency Management Committee’s Community Outcomes and Recovery Sub-committee, leading on national projects to build national capabilities in disaster preparedness and recovery. She was also an active member of the national Social Recovery Reference Group, and remains an advisory member of a national Children and Disasters Advisory Group. Bron has also been a Risk Management Advisor for the World Customs Organisation, and has worked across the Asia Pacific, and Eastern and Southern African regions to build operational, enterprise and strategic risk management capabilities for Customs organisations.