Pat Hetherington

Interim Coordinator-General

Mr Patrick (Pat) Hetherington commenced as Interim Coordinator-General at the National Emergency Management Agency on 10 April 2026. Pat leads the agency to provide national coordination and leadership to support communities before, during and after disasters.

Pat was previously Chief Operating Officer for Department of Social Services (DSS). He led the delivery of the Department’s corporate and operations functions, as well as the Community Grants Hub and National Redress Scheme. 

Pat moved to DSS from the Australian Public Service Commission where he was the Deputy Australian Public Service Commissioner and led whole-of-service APS workforce reform. Pat joined the Commission following a secondment to Services Australia where he was involved in mobilising the Australian Public Service in response to COVID-19. 

Prior to joining the Australian Public Service Commission, he spent almost 20 years in the Department of Defence holding several senior executive positions across the finance, capability and HR domains. His roles included delivery of the Defence budget, employment policy, enterprise cultural reform and management of Defence’s Integrated Investment Program. He is a Certified Practicing Accountant with a Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University.

Dr Jill Charker

Deputy Coordinator-General,
Disaster Resilience and Recovery

Jill is responsible for overseeing policy and program functions at NEMA. These include Budget and Cabinet material, resilience and recovery policy, leadership of the Hazards Insurance Partnership, grants, program delivery assurance and evaluation and independent reviews. She is also responsible for supporting key emergency management governance forums such as the National Emergency Management Ministers’ Meeting, the Australia New Zealand Emergency Management Committee, as well aschairing the national Recovery Leaders Forum.

Prior to joining NEMA in 2023, Jill was a leader at McKinsey & Company’s public sector strategy and organisational practice. Jill has also held CEO and Deputy Secretary roles in the Australian Public Service over many years and across diverse portfolios, including employment, human services, immigration, superannuation and national statistics.

Jill holds a PhD in psychology and statistics and has completed an Executive Master of Public Administration. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a fellow of the Australian HR Institute and certified HR practitioner and also holds a postgraduate qualification in applied finance. 

Katarina Carroll APM 

Deputy Coordinator-General,
Emergency Management and Response 

Katarina is serving as the Deputy Coordinator-General for the Emergency Management and Response Group on an interim basis.  

She brings over 30 years of experience in disaster management and has served as the Commissioner for the Queensland Police Service and the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. She also served as the chair of the board of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.

Katarina has coordinated whole-of-state operational responses to multiple disaster events including the 2019 Queensland bushfires, the 2020 North Queensland Monsoon Flood and the 2022 Southern Queensland flooding. 

Her unique experience in senior operational roles and deep understanding of disaster management and recovery will be invaluable as we negotiate the next Higher Risk Weather Season.  

She combines this experience with exemplary leadership credentials, experience in managing change in complex organisations and extensive networks through the emergency management sector.

In 2008, Katarina was awarded the Australian Police Medal (APM) for distinguished service to the Australian police force. 

Sanandan Dasgupta 

Chief Operating Officer (COO) 

Sanandan leads NEMA's corporate and enabling services, communications and media, and strategic engagement.

He is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Public Accountant with over 25 years of experience spanning both public and private sectors in Australia and internationally. He joined NEMA in 2024 as Chief Finance Officer and was previously Deputy Chief Finance Officer in the Department of Home Affairs.

Sanandan has led teams responsible for Commonwealth budgeting, revenue management, financial operations and management accounting at Home Affairs. Before Home Affairs, he spent over 8 years in the Department of Finance across a number of budget and financial teams.

With extensive experience in managing financial operations in complex environments, Sanandan has led significant fiscal reform initiatives, overseen Machinery of Government changes, and provided strategic advice on critical financial and budgetary matters.