Compact program here.
Session 1.2 | RISK MANAGEMENT INSTITUTION OF AUSTRALASIA (RMIA) PANEL
The evolution and revolution of risk management practice
Chair: Scott Ryrie, President of Risk Management Institution of Australasia (RMIA)
Risk professionals representing a wide range of industries operating in the region discuss how risk management practice has changed over the years. They explore the changing nature of risk management practice, the current dynamic challenges that risk managers face on the ground, and the need for new tools and approaches to risk analysis and mitigation in the face of the changing nature of risk. This is an unparalleled opportunity for risk practitioners and scholars to engage in an in-depth discussion on potential areas of collaboration to better understand and manage risk in an era of revolutionary change.
Risk professionals representing a wide range of industries operating in the region discuss how risk management practice has changed over the years. They explore the changing nature of risk management practice, the current dynamic challenges that risk managers face on the ground, and the need for new tools and approaches to risk analysis and mitigation in the face of the changing nature of risk. This is an unparalleled opportunity for risk practitioners and scholars to engage in an in-depth discussion on potential areas of collaboration to better understand and manage risk in an era of revolutionary change.
Session 1.3 | INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS (ISA) PANEL
Risk in global supply chains
Chair: Dr Joy Murray, Integrated Sustainability Analysis Group, University of Sydney
Input-output analysis (IOA) is an accounting procedure that documents the flow of money from one stakeholder to another throughout an economy. Following the flow means following expenditure as raw materials and means of production are transformed through numerous intermediary stages, finally to become embedded in goods and services destined to satisfy consumer demand. IOA can be applied to a household budget, the world economy, or anything in between. Since its invention by Nobel Prize winner Wassily Leontief in the 1930s this powerful technique has been extended to include the flow of environmental and social effects of trade. Often referred to as Footprints, the value of these environmental and social studies is only now being realised as early warning risk and opportunity analyses.
This multidisciplinary panel brings together researchers and practitioner from diverse backgrounds to discuss the power and practice of IOA. Hannah-Jayne Shilling discusses the mapping of slavery in global supply chains; Arunima Malik illustrates the use of IOA in disaster analysis with Tropical Cyclone Debbie as case study; Rachel Reyes tackles a different kind of disaster – the collapse of the pollinator population and its ramifications for economic risk. We end with applications of IOA as Fabian Sack discusses its employment by government and commercial organisations to inform strategic decision making, the Australian water industry’s ten years of use, and the emerging use by major lenders to stress test their portfolio exposure to climate change.
Panellists:
Input-output analysis (IOA) is an accounting procedure that documents the flow of money from one stakeholder to another throughout an economy. Following the flow means following expenditure as raw materials and means of production are transformed through numerous intermediary stages, finally to become embedded in goods and services destined to satisfy consumer demand. IOA can be applied to a household budget, the world economy, or anything in between. Since its invention by Nobel Prize winner Wassily Leontief in the 1930s this powerful technique has been extended to include the flow of environmental and social effects of trade. Often referred to as Footprints, the value of these environmental and social studies is only now being realised as early warning risk and opportunity analyses.
This multidisciplinary panel brings together researchers and practitioner from diverse backgrounds to discuss the power and practice of IOA. Hannah-Jayne Shilling discusses the mapping of slavery in global supply chains; Arunima Malik illustrates the use of IOA in disaster analysis with Tropical Cyclone Debbie as case study; Rachel Reyes tackles a different kind of disaster – the collapse of the pollinator population and its ramifications for economic risk. We end with applications of IOA as Fabian Sack discusses its employment by government and commercial organisations to inform strategic decision making, the Australian water industry’s ten years of use, and the emerging use by major lenders to stress test their portfolio exposure to climate change.
Panellists:
- Dr Joy Murray (University of Sydney) Analysis of social, economic and environmental impacts of trade using input-output analysis as a risk analysis tool – a potted history
- Hannah-Jayne Shilling (University of New South Wales) Risk and the hidden impact of slavery in supply chains, exposed
- Dr Arunima Malik (University of Sydney) Economic impacts of Cyclone Debbie
- Rachel Reyes (University of Sydney) Where have all the pollinators gone? Population collapse with major economic consequences
- Dr Fabian Sack (Director, Sustainability Pty Ltd) Applying this approach to risk and opportunity analysis in business and industry
Session 1.4 | SRA-ANZ CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RESEARCH PROJECT
Risky business: the ties that bind; the ties that unravel
Dr Sandra Seno-Alday, Discipline of International Business, University of Sydney Business School, President of Society for Risk Analysis – Australia and New Zealand (SRA-ANZ)
Strong and robust connections to suppliers, partners, investors and customers are critical to business success. However, are strong connections always good? This study explores the nature and structure of corporate governance networks (i.e., board interlocks) among major corporations in Australia, and investigates implications on the riskiness of these relationship networks to the Australian economy. Given the significant accountability of the largest corporations in the country for a sizeable portion of the nation’s financial capital, the assurance of responsible corporate governance is paramount. The study explores the extent to which the Australian economy may be vulnerable to possible future economic and financial crises in light of these corporate governance ties: are these ties that bind the economy to make it stronger, or are these ties that can potentially cause parts of the economic infrastructure to unravel?
Strong and robust connections to suppliers, partners, investors and customers are critical to business success. However, are strong connections always good? This study explores the nature and structure of corporate governance networks (i.e., board interlocks) among major corporations in Australia, and investigates implications on the riskiness of these relationship networks to the Australian economy. Given the significant accountability of the largest corporations in the country for a sizeable portion of the nation’s financial capital, the assurance of responsible corporate governance is paramount. The study explores the extent to which the Australian economy may be vulnerable to possible future economic and financial crises in light of these corporate governance ties: are these ties that bind the economy to make it stronger, or are these ties that can potentially cause parts of the economic infrastructure to unravel?
Session 1.5 | SYDNEY CYBER SECURITY NETWORK PANEL
Complex issues in cyber security
Technological development has brought about significant and rapid advancements in the power and sophistication of technological platforms, infrastructure and applications. At the same time, it has also given rise to unexpected behaviour among users, developers, other actors (such as policymakers), and even the technology itself (given the advent of machine learning). This introduces tremendous complexity in the cyber technology ecosystem, and considerably increases risk and uncertainty. As a relatively young area of risk (barely 30 years old), panellists explore the complex issues in cyber security risk management, highlighting the known knowns, the known unknowns, and raising questions on the possible unknown unknowns of risk in the field.
Panellists:
Panellists:
- Peter Coroneos (Asia Pacific CyAN) Understanding the role of human behaviour in cyber risk management
- TBC (Data61)
Session 1.6 | PEOPLE’S PUBLIC SECURITY UNIVERSITY PANEL
Geography, crime and terrorism
The panel features a series of studies that draw on a range of risk analysis tools to analyse the Global Terrorism Database to predict crime and terrorist attacks on urban areas. Studies analyse the nature of attacks, the parties behind them, timings, and geographic locations to gain insights into terroristic activity across the world over a 40-year period. Implications for urban terrorism risk analysis and prediction are explored.
Panellists:
Panellists:
- Yijia Li (People’s Public Security University of China)
- Lingfeng Qiu (People’s Public Security University of China)
- Zeng Tang (People’s Public Security University of China)
- Chaohui Zheng (People’s Public Security University of China)
Session 2.2
The business and economics of biosecurity and the environment
The interdependence and interconnectedness of ecosystems (encompassing environmental, business, economic and social ecosystems) require a systems approach to analysing and mitigating biosecurity and environmental risks. Connectedness that goes beyond the geographic boundaries of cities and countries introduces a further layer of complexity in risk analysis and mitigation in these fields of risk. On the one hand, innovative techniques and significant financial investment are required to analyse and mitigate highly complex biosecurity and environmental risks. On the other hand, short- and medium-term benefits of these efforts may not always be clear-cut. The papers in this panel explore case studies from China and Australia to investigate the business and economics of managing biosecurity and environmental risks.
Speakers:
Speakers:
- Xiadong Zhang (Peking University, China) A Tale of Two Cities: Green transformation of the textile, printing and dyeing industry in China
- Huanhong Li (Peking University, China) Environmental Risk and Risky Asset Investment: A Case of Chinese Households
- Yan Wang (Beijing Normal University, China) An Integrated Assessment of Cumulative Risks in Guangdong Province, China
- Dr Aaron Dodd (Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis) Estimating the monetary value generated by Australia’s biosecurity system
- Dr Paul Mwebaze (The Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation, Land and Water) Economic feasibility of a systems approaches to access high value markets for horticultural exports from Australia
Session 2.3 | ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITY (NEW ZEALAND) PANEL
Chemicals, food and the environment
Chair: Lee Bailey, Senior Advisor, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao
Chemicals are an important part of modern life. From the soaps and toothpastes that we use in the morning, to those used at work and the manufacture of new products, and those used to manage agricultural pests. These chemicals all have hazards. It is important for the health of people and the environment that the risks from these hazards are managed properly. The panel presents a variety of how New Zealand’s regulators look at these risks from a range of perspectives, including importing or manufacturing a substance for the first time, managing chemicals safely at work, and residues on the food we eat. Are there also non-chemical alternatives that could be used?
Panellists:
Chemicals are an important part of modern life. From the soaps and toothpastes that we use in the morning, to those used at work and the manufacture of new products, and those used to manage agricultural pests. These chemicals all have hazards. It is important for the health of people and the environment that the risks from these hazards are managed properly. The panel presents a variety of how New Zealand’s regulators look at these risks from a range of perspectives, including importing or manufacturing a substance for the first time, managing chemicals safely at work, and residues on the food we eat. Are there also non-chemical alternatives that could be used?
Panellists:
- Michael Berardozzi (Hazardous Substances Applications, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao) Importing and manufacturing pesticides
- Lee Bailey (Hazardous Substances Reassessments, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao) Legacy pesticides still in New Zealand
- Clark Ehlers (New Organisms, Environmental Protection Authority Te Mana Rauhī Taiao) Assessing the benefits and risks of releasing exotic organisms to manage invasive species in New Zealand
- Julian Jackson (Kaupapa Kura Taiao, Te Mana Rauhī Taiao) Cultural risk assessment tool for New Zealand
Session 2.4 | ECOSYSTEM AND FOREST SCIENCES PANEL
Risk in landscape fire management
Chair: Associate Professor Trent Penman, Bushfire Behaviour and Management School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne
Historically, landscape fire management has strong military links with a command and control mentality. Fires were likened to a war and communities strongly encouraged to band together to face the common enemy. This mentally fostered the expectation that fires were bad and out of control fires were the result of poor management decisions. Little attention was given to the natural role of fire in the landscape. Large wildfires across the world in since 2000 have resulted in significant shifts in the dominant fire management paradigm from command and control to risk management. Understanding fire risk is challenging due to the complexity of the landscape and the diversity of values within each landscape. Environmental, social and cultural values need to be traded off against quantitative and qualitative measures. In this panel, we will bring together risk researchers and landscape fire managers to discuss the history and future of “risk” in fire management.
Panellists:
Historically, landscape fire management has strong military links with a command and control mentality. Fires were likened to a war and communities strongly encouraged to band together to face the common enemy. This mentally fostered the expectation that fires were bad and out of control fires were the result of poor management decisions. Little attention was given to the natural role of fire in the landscape. Large wildfires across the world in since 2000 have resulted in significant shifts in the dominant fire management paradigm from command and control to risk management. Understanding fire risk is challenging due to the complexity of the landscape and the diversity of values within each landscape. Environmental, social and cultural values need to be traded off against quantitative and qualitative measures. In this panel, we will bring together risk researchers and landscape fire managers to discuss the history and future of “risk” in fire management.
Panellists:
- Professor Ross Bradstock (University of Wollongong) The history of risk in landscape fire management
- Dr Stuart Matthews (NSW Rural Fire Service) Working with fire risk
- Dr Katharine Haynes and Dr Joshua Whittaker (Macquarie University/University of Wollongong) Social dimensions of fire risk
- Associate Professor Geoff Cary (Australian National University) Role of simulation models in assessing fire risk
- Associate Professor Trent Penman (The University of Melbourne) A proposed framework for environmental fire risk assessment
Session 2.5
Risk thinking, risk perception and risk governance
The panel explores the challenges associated with incorporating human, social, organisational and cultural factors in risk analysis, risk evaluation and risk mitigation. Incorporating cognitive biases, cultural worldviews, social influences and organisational tensions certainly makes risk analysis more realistic, but also increases the degree of uncertainty in overall risk governance. Can we trust ourselves to objectively analyse risk? Can recognised experts truly rationally and impartially evaluate risk? And is there such a thing as ‘objective’ risk analysis and governance, devoid of subjective perceptions, judgements, and agendas? The panel investigates the impact of these human and social factors, and also proposes strategies to manage these factors in risk governance.
Speakers:
Speakers:
- Victoria Hemming (Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis) Quantile aggregation and performance weighting, does it improve judgement?
- Anna Kosovac (University of Melbourne) Cultural Theory, Worldviews and the Public Sector: an exploration of risk perceptions
- Marja Ylönen (Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT ) Decommissioning as a challenge to risk governance - risks and uncertainties in the governance of decommissioning of a nuclear reactor
Session 2.6 | QUALITY FOOD PANEL
Working with stakeholders for food safety in supply chains
Food safety is a paramount concern among regulators, agricultural businesses, and the public. Unmitigated risk in this area can have serious and widespread impacts that go beyond human health, including broad socioeconomic consequences (e.g., strain on healthcare systems, disruptions to business and international trade, contraction in tourism, and others). Efforts to ensure that food is safe for humans does not only occur at the farm or at the point of consumption but must in fact thread through the entire food supply chain. Therefore, the assurance of food safety requires the active involvement and engagement of the wide range of players and stakeholders across increasingly distributed supply chains. These efforts must also include the protection of both animals and plants from disease and pests using methods and products that are ultimately safe for humans and the environment. The panel explores the significant challenges of keeping us and our food safe in Australia.
Panellists:
Panellists:
- Walter Okello (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Land and Water) Evaluation and optimization of antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems in Australia
- Philip Martin (Australian National University) Beyond divergent approaches to AgVet chemical risk assessment regulation: informing Australia’s Risk Assessment Adaptation Strategy
- Hayriye Bozkurt Cekmer (Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney) Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Escherichia coli:O157:H7 in Lettuce from Farm to Consumption in Australia
- Hongshan Shang (Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney) Development of pre-harvest applications of electrolysed water and other chemical interventions in suppressing foodborne pathogens on leafy green vegetables
- Ingrid Zamora (Sydney Institute of Agriculture, The University of Sydney) Microbial food safety in the distribution of fresh produce in Australia
Session 2.7 | EXPANDING THE FRONTIERS OF RISK RESEARCH
Editorial perspectives and the Best Student Paper Award
Deepening and enriching our understanding of the nature of risk and developing corresponding relevant approaches to its analysis and mitigation requires the continued work of scholars across disciplines. Scholars from the various fields of risk must not only break down disciplinary silos to work with each other but must also engage collaboratively with risk professionals at the forefront of managing risk on the ground. Editors from two of the most influential scientific journals in the field share their thoughts on how to creatively and insightfully push the frontiers of risk research towards an increasingly complex future.
The Best Student Paper presented at this year’s conference will also be awarded in this session. The recipient of the award will receive partial funding to attend any conference or event of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) and its regional organisations anywhere in the world in 2019.
Editors:
The Best Student Paper presented at this year’s conference will also be awarded in this session. The recipient of the award will receive partial funding to attend any conference or event of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) and its regional organisations anywhere in the world in 2019.
Editors:
- Terje Aven, Associate Editor, Risk Analysis
- Dr Frith Jarrad, Managing Editor, Conservation Biology