){kind=logo}
){kind=logo}
Most police professionals think of AFAC as a fire services event. So did most of the police professionals who attended last year, until they walked through the doors and found the drone technology their agency was exploring, the PPE their officers were asking about, and the workforce support systems their organisation was looking to invest in.
This Is Not a Fire Services Event. It Never Was.
AFAC26 powered by INTERSCHUTZ is Australasia's premier emergency management event, and in 2026 it is coming to Melbourne, the state that has just lived through its most confronting bushfire season in years.
This is not a conference that talks about emergency management in the abstract. It is where the people who do the work and the organisations building the tools, technology, and systems that support them come together in one place.
The PPE on the floor is worn by police. The fleet solutions are built for police vehicles. The drone platforms providing real-time aerial support during public order incidents, the communication systems standardising how agencies talk to each other during major events, the workforce health frameworks supporting first responders across the country, all of it is here.
Fire and rescue agencies have made this event their own for years. August 2026 is the year policing does the same.
AFAC26 is where every first responder profession, including policing, comes to see what is next. The agencies that show up at AFAC shape the solutions that get built, the standards that get set, and the policy conversations that follow. Police are not guests in this space. They are essential to it.
Every Major Incident in Australia Has Police in the Middle of It
Procurement
Police procurement leads rarely have a single event where they can compare fleet solutions, PPE, body-worn technology, detection systems, and communications infrastructure side by side — with the engineers behind them in the room. AFAC26 is that event. Three days, hundreds of exhibitors, zero cost to attend.
Operations
Operational commanders attending AFAC26 see how partner agencies across fire, SES, and emergency management are integrating the same technology their teams will be working alongside at the next major incident. Understanding those systems before the incident is what makes joint operations work.
People
The workforce health challenge facing police is not unique to policing. The emergency services sector has been investing heavily in people systems, early intervention frameworks, and wellbeing infrastructure for years. That knowledge is on the floor at AFAC26, and it is directly applicable to police organisations.
Seven Collaborative Sectors. All of Them Relevant to Policing.
Every one of the seven collaborative sectors on show speaks directly to the work police do every day.
| Workforce The mental health toll on first responders is significant and growing. Extended deployments, compounding disasters, and the weight of what police witness during major emergencies take a real toll. AFAC's Workforce sector brings together the frameworks, people systems, learning and development platforms, and WHS solutions being applied across the emergency services sector — many of them directly transferable to police organisations navigating the same pressures.
|
Community Risk Reduction By the time a disaster is declared, it is already too late for risk reduction. Early warning systems, risk mapping, community preparedness education, and mitigation planning happen long before the fires start or the floodwaters rise. Police community engagement teams are central to this work. The solutions on the AFAC26 floor — from warning system technology to community resilience platforms — directly support it. |
| Capability - Fleet From managing mass evacuations along single-lane rural roads to maintaining operational capacity across disaster zones where infrastructure has collapsed, fleet capability is a frontline concern for police. This sector brings together manufacturers building the next generation of emergency response vehicles, with direct access to compare solutions, talk to engineers, and see what is coming to market. |
Capability - PPE The operational environments police enter during disasters are increasingly hazardous — smoke, chemical spills, structural collapse, and biological risks that were once rare are now part of a regular season. PPE technology is evolving to meet these conditions. This sector showcases the latest developments in protective gear designed for the unpredictable, high-risk conditions that define modern emergency response.
|
| Capability - Equipment From body-worn technology and field communications to detection systems and rescue equipment, this sector covers the operational tools that police and emergency services depend on daily. The Live Demonstration Program in the Loading Dock brings equipment to life in realistic scenarios — crash scene patient extrication, EV fire response, decontamination systems, and robotics — on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 August. |
Response Operations Situational awareness saves lives. Australia's first National Messaging System is being delivered in 2026. GIS-based mapping, AI-assisted incident coordination, drone surveillance platforms, and field communications infrastructure are all either in deployment or imminent. AFAC26 is where police can see these technologies demonstrated live, understand how partner agencies are integrating them, and make informed decisions about capability investment.
|
| Fire Safety Police are regularly the first agency on scene at structure fires — enforcing evacuation orders, managing bystanders, and working alongside fire crews in environments where building systems have failed. Understanding what is emerging in building fire safety standards and detection technology is not peripheral knowledge for police. It is operational. This sector covers the building fire safety systems, detection technology, and suppression solutions that define the environment police enter first. |
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)