Margaret’s first career was with the federal government, working in a range of social policy areas; developing policy, managing programs and preparing advice for successive governments for over 33 years.

She left that career to undertake original community-based research. Her research identified key factors that contribute to disaster recovery and resilience. She gathered and compared the views of national leaders of recovery, and community members who had been directly affected by four separate emergency events.

Margaret has since developed a strong reputation as a disaster resilience specialist, working to build community resilience in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders and led by communities themselves.

As Executive Director at AIDR, and together with her team, Margaret is focussed on developing and sharing knowledge, resources and experience across a range of sectors, to lead or contribute to efforts that enhance community resilience to natural hazards, across Australia.