The Women in Rescue program is an industry-led capability and inclusion initiative designed to strengthen technical rescue proficiency, leadership confidence, and operational pathways for women in emergency response roles across the resources sector. An EM CoP initiative, the program combines hands-on rescue disciplines with incident command workshops to break down professional isolation, develop technical mastery, and elevate emergency capability in high-risk operational environments.

Watch: The 2026 Women in Rescue Program in Action

Experience five days of intensive, all female-led technical rescue training, from live-fire attack and road crash extrication, tactical command and control, to to deep-dive workshops on resilience, mindset, and team leadership.

Core Focus Areas

  • Leadership & Mindset: Moving beyond technical skills to focus on the psychology of emergency response. Facilitated by performance and leadership coaches, our workshops build critical self-awareness, teaching responders how to regulate their internal states, overcome negative mindsets, and make clearer decisions under high-stakes pressure. Participants then undertake a 90-day mentoring program to embed these cultural leadership skills back on site.
  • Industry Research: Identifying and addressing the practical operational barriers female responders face. The program captures critical industry insights to drive solutions in equipment design, inclusive PPE fit, ergonomic body mechanics, and the transition to modern, site-aligned battery-powered rescue equipment.
  • Member Stories: Addressing the professional isolation women often experience in emergency response roles, by sharing operational case studies and field experiences. By utilising highly experienced female trainers and subject-matter experts, the program provides living proof that advanced technical and command pathways are attainable, a design choice participants repeatedly cite as critical to accelerating confidence and creating a sense of belonging.
  • Events & Networking: Delivering immersive, multi-provider training that pairs intense tactical rescue scenarios with targeted connection workshops. We intentionally cultivate a psychologically safe learning environment that establishes enduring peer networks and cross-company collaboration.

Sponsorship Opportunities To keep the program accessible, remove barriers to access and delivered at the lowest possible cost to participants, EM CoP offers exclusive program-level sponsorship packages. Sponsors receive prominent website and event visibility, direct engagement with emerging rescue talent, and the opportunity to champion practical diversity in high-risk operations. In accordance with our governance as a registered not-for-profit, all sponsorship funding for the Women in Rescue Program is applied exclusively the program delivery and capability advancement.

Get Involved Nominations for the 2027 Women in Rescue program will open on Friday 9th of October. Subscribe to the Emergency Management Community of Practice website to be notified when nominations open. Operational personnel can register for upcoming cohorts, while industry partners and suppliers can connect directly with EM CoP to sponsor or support future program deliveries.