The Society’s annual conference was held virtually due to travel restrictions. It was held over two days on 25-26 November 2021.

On Thursday afternoon (25 November 2021) the conference included a session dedicated to the update to the AS1170.4-2007 Commentary, followed by a special session on the Mw5.9 Woods Point earthquake.

The recent spate of natural disasters (drought, bushfires and pandemic) highlights the need for improved resilience against natural hazards.  Improved seismic resilience for Australia is an important aspect of improving the nation’s disaster preparedness.  This year’s conference invites authors to submit papers which address:

• Adequacy of current design standards;
• Compliance with current standards (from both a design and a construction perspective);
• Challenging current design standards
• The role of seismology in developing building codes for areas of low seismicity;
• Disaster planning, response, recovery and resilience studies;
• The performance of non-structural parts and components;
• Structural monitoring;
• Seismic retrofit of existing structures;
• The performance of lifelines, large-loss facilities and critical infrastructure including power distribution systems and dams;

The committee also welcomed papers on general earthquake engineering and engineering seismology.

Keynote Speakers

Professor Ken Elwood (University of Auckland)

Associate Professor Mark Quigley (University of Melbourne)