In their Time of Need

Steven Bullard is a senior historian in the Military History Section of the Australian War Memorial.

• Part I. Australia's Disaster Policies: 1. From arbitrary assistance to organised chaos: the history of international disaster relief; 2. Capable, available and willing to respond: Australia's overseas disaster policies; 3. 'A plurality of mandates': the context of overseas disaster policy; Part II. Australia's Disaster Relief Operations: 4. Combatting the Spanish lady: Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji influenza pandemic, 1918–19; 5. A tale of two mountains: volcanoes at Rabaul in 1937 and Mount Lamington in 1951; 6. A sustained relief effort: new Hebrides cyclone, 1959–60; 7. Goodwill in a time of tension: Indonesia, 1960–63; 8. Help for the highlands: influenza and famine relief, 1969–72; 9. Back to Bali: earthquakes in Irian Jaya and Bali, 1976; 10. Regional assistance: disasters in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, 1977–82; 11. Disaster relief in post-independence PNG, 1975–94: earthquakes, famine, floods, cyclones and volcanoes; 12. 'The unleashed fury of Mother Nature': cyclones in Fiji and Vanuatu, 1979–88; 13. 'An outstanding overall effort': Cyclone Namu in the Solomon Islands, 1986; 14. Cyclone relief in the Pacific, 1990–93: Cyclones Ofa, Betsy and Kina; 15. El Niño drought relief: Operation Sierra/Ples Drai, Papua New Guinea, 1997-98; 16. Famine relief in the midst of chaos: Operation AusIndo Jaya, Indonesia, 1998; 17. Ples bagarap: Operation Shaddock, Papua New Guinea, 1998; 18. 'The worst in living memory': Operation Niue Assist and disasters in the Pacific, 1998–2004; 19. Waves of destruction: Indian Ocean tsunami and the international response, 2004-05; 20. The road to Banda Aceh: ADF planning, deployment and airlift mission; 21. 'We saw the worst of it': medical and engineering support in Operation Sumatra Assist; 22. Getting the job done: enabling Operation Sumatra Assist, threats and withdrawal; 23. 'Here is your loved one back and this is their name': Operation Cawdor and Operation Thai Assist, Thailand, 2004–06; 24. 'In their time of need': Operation Sumatra Assist II, 2005; 25. The 'Day of Judgement': deploying on Operation Pakistan Assist, 2005–06; 26. 'They have won our hearts forever': operation Pakistan Assist, 2005–06; 27. Conclusion: Australia's overseas emergency relief operations, 1918–2006.