Robert Jensen is a good man for a crisis. From the aftermath of the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake to the Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill, the American public affairs expert has been there leading the US government's communications.
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He arrived in Canberra on Friday as part of a one-month Australian tour.
One of the Department of Homeland Security official's main messages is a government cannot do it all in a disaster.
''The key thing I want you to know is that the messaging has changed: we [the federal government] are not the whole team, we are part of the team,'' he said.
''That includes states, local government, citizens - there is a shared responsibility across all these stakeholders who have a role.
''There's not enough people and not enough money for us to do it all - we have always talked about being prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours.''
Mr Jensen was the deputy director of the External Affairs office in the Federal Emergency Management Agency for three years, and worked as the relevant operational director for more than 30 disasters.
For a year during this period he was seconded to the White House as a senior figure in the National Security Council press team.
He will speak to public relations teams at Defence, the federal Attorney-General's Department and the ACT Emergency Services Agency during his six-day tour, with a public lecture at Australian National University on Monday.
The communications expert said the importance of local leaders in addressing public concerns during a crisis was often underestimated.
''In many times the community leaders are going to be trusted more than [the federal government] are - when the disaster comes, it's those leaders who are going to help us most.''
Deficiencies in communication were highlighted in the McLeod Inquiry after the 2003 Canberra bushfires, with information provided to the public before and during the devastating event described as ''seriously inadequate'' in the final report.
The report also detailed concerns about inconsistent messages from authorities on evacuating or defending homes.
September 2011's toxic chemical fire in Mitchell also highlighted public awareness issues, as the Emergency Service Agency's early-morning phone warnings failed to reach 80 per cent of inner-north residents threatened by the potentially dangerous smoke plume.
As part of a $60 million federal government upgrade, a new filter screening out invalid telephone numbers has since made the alert system more efficient.
Mr Jensen will meet with US Ambassador Jeff Bleich and Dr Brendan Nelson while in Canberra.
The Washington-based expert - who is on leave from his official role as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at Homeland Security - will speak at the not-for-profit group Emergency Media and Public Affairs' annual conference next month.
