Australia and the US have agreed to strengthen emergency management co-operation and co-ordination following natural disasters and other civil emergencies.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed in Washington on Friday, Emergency Management Australia and the US Federal Emergency Management Agency will create a framework to “work co-operatively together to prevent, respond and recover from” significant events such as bushfires and major storms.

The memorandum was signed by Attorney‐General Robert McClelland and US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Agreed arrangements between the US and Australia include exchanging technical experts in emergency management; sharing information on emergency management frameworks and public awareness programs; undertaking professional development for emergency management personnel; and “exchanging lessons learned”.

Mr McClelland says Australia and the US “share a long history of helping each other during significant natural disasters or emergency events, including most recently the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria and the Californian wildfires”.

“This memorandum will build on these experiences by strengthening the existing ties between personnel and between individual states, territories and emergency management agencies in order to increase the capacity of both countries to deal with emergencies and protect our communities.”