Are you an innovator or software guru, keen to improve WA’s disaster preparation and emergency incident protection through technology and innovation? Want to share in up to $20,000 in prizes?
AFAC Hackathon, organised by DFES (The WA Department of Fire & Emergency Services), will be part of the AFAC25 conference from the Australasian Fire & Emergency Service Authorities Council, and will apply the most promising minds and solutions to apply to the big problems in emergency response.
The first step is to attend the Reverse Pitch session on June 5, where DFES leaders will talk about their business problems, giving participants the chance to start formulating their solutions. Get in touch to learn more!
The WA Department of Fire and Emergency Service (DFES) has a continuing focus on innovation and service improvement, and one of the critical tools it uses to support the community in disaster preparation and protection against natural hazards and emergency incidents is data.
After a long and collaborative history with WADSIH, DFES recognises our Hackathon series is one of the most valuable ways it can access the solutions of tomorrow that will assist in its mission. Hackathons provide the ideal forum for DFES to engage with the programmers, software engineers and data science and AI advocates who can build digital solutions to help it solve the biggest problems in its operations and processes, aligning perfectly with the Department’s priorities around digital transformation and cross-sector collaboration.
WADSIH and DFES encourage WA based technology providers and startups to participate. Participating in the AFAC25 Conference is a great way to showcase your capabilities to emergency management organisations.
Our colleagues at DFES have consistently told us they get immeasurable value out of the Hackathon format. It lets them isolate and identify several areas that need improvement or streamlining and connects them with a diverse number of teams who have a much wider variety of ideas than the Department could attract in a traditional tender or development cycle process.
At WADSIH, we’ve perfected a very compelling value proposition, and DFES have expressed their excitement at the benefits they expect from the Hackathon. They provide insight into the challenges they face and we provide the forum for the next generation of AI experts to solve them, facilitating connections with the collaborators they’ll work with to make them reality on an ongoing basis.
Hackathons are collaborative and innovation focussed events that see participants build prototype solutions to solve challenges. When we say ‘hack’ in this context we mean to encourage quick solving something through a prototype, not breaking into a software system.
Solutions are generally software-based programs, but they can also be new designs or even insightful improvements for processes and other issues. Given the time constraints (you’ll only have a week!) a prototype can be as simple as a small piece of code, a website or even a presentation. The point is to have fun helping our community.
The AFAC25 Emergency Management Hackathon is part of the AFAC25 Conference & Exhibition running at the Perth Convention Centre over the 26 to 29 of August. The Hackathon will be running within the Conference space with Challenges drawn from the Reverse Pitch event on June 5.
The Hackathon will be officially launched on Tuesday, 26 August 2025, the first day of the AFAC25 Conference. Teams will then have Wednesday and Thursday to build out their prototypes, before Shortlisted Teams present their final prototype on Thursday, 28 August 2025.
Challenges, supporting information and data will be provided by the WA Government’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).
The WA Data Science Innovation Hub is organising the Emergency Management Hackathon with the support of the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES). The Hackathon will be held during the AFAC25 Conference.
For the first time WADSIH and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services are inviting participants to solve the Challenge they want to focus on.
On Thursday 5 June 2025 DFES will be holding a ‘Reverse-Pitch’ presentation where senior decision makers from the organisation will talk through their business problems. We will invite all interested parties to propose how to resolve these Challenge Areas.
We will require that participants are part of a team for the AFAC25 Emergency Management Hackathon. We’ve noticed that participants have more fun as part of a team and that the prototypes which are built tend to be more impactful.
There’s plenty of time for you to convince your friends and colleagues to participate. The prizes on offer and exposure to innovative emergency service agencies might be just the kind of inspiration your team needs to come together!
Yes, but keep in mind the following requirements:
To participate in the AFAC25 Hackathon you need to submit an Expression of Interest by 18 July 2025. If your team’s EOI is successful you will be invited to attend the AFAC25 Hackathon.
We strongly recommend that you attend the Reverse-Pitch on the 5 June 2025 to find out what areas DFES is looking for help on.
Expressions of Interest will be opened on the 5 June 2025, at the conclusion of the DFES Reverse-Pitch. Teams keen to participate should submit their EOI using the Form that will be accessible through WADSIH’s Event Page.
We will assess EOIs according to the following factors:
No, you don’t. But it will be a major advantage if you do. At the Reverse-Pitch DFES will be outlining the areas they want to improve in and may also provide you with information about potential solution pathways and useful information sources.
Precise numbers of teams and participants will be decided through the EOI Process. We can host almost 100 participants at the Conference.
Yes. Data and supporting information will be provided for each of the Participant’s chosen challenges. This information will be provided by the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Teams are also encouraged to seek out and use other open data sources that might help them validate their solution.
Participants will be able to access the various data sets through the WA Data Science Innovation Hub Data Hosting Portal which will be opened at the Launch Event.
Yes, as this event is occurring at a professional Conference all participants must be over the age of 18.
We strongly recommend bringing along a laptop and a collaborative mindset! Catering, coffee, WiFi, mentors and information for your prototypes will all be provided at the Hackathon.
More details about the event will be released in the lead up to the event.
Lunch and some drinks will be provided over the course of the Hackathon week.
No! We’re completely realistic that everyone has other priorities. This is supposed to be a fun event where you can give back to our community by solving impactful Challenges. This isn’t supposed to feel like work. We anticipate that it will be very useful for you to talk with mentors and explore the supporting data sets.
We do anticipate that some teams will begin working on their prototypes before the Hackathon Weekend and that’s great, but you’re under no obligation to do so.
On the final day of the AFAC25 Conference (Thursday 29 August 2025) teams will have five minutes to ‘pitch’ their idea to our judges. Judges will also have an optional one minute of questions. This pitch can take whatever form you’d like – demonstrations are always a great way to show off what you’ve built. Using a defined Judging Criteria the Judges will award the prizes to these shortlisted teams.
Judges for the EOI are taken from decision makers within DFES, AFAC and WADSIH.
Judges for the Grand Finale will be announced closer to the AFAC25 Conference.
If you have any questions, you can contact WADSIH via LinkedIn or reach out to tim.sondalini@curtin.edu.au
We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which the WADSIH office is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation.
