The boat disaster on Christmas Island led to the activation of an emergency management plan which was initially designed in January 2008 by the Emergency Management Committee. Optimal emergency management requires strong, coordinated and consultative relationships between government, non-government agencies and communities to allow for a fully integrated approach. Accounts of rescue efforts by frontline responders of the day confirmed that they had risked their own lives in order to save as many other lives as possible. Whilst critiques applauded the mariners for their heroic rescue efforts, they nonetheless raised a number of essential questions regarding internal Border Protection Command (BPC) communication, policy, decision-making, and response times. This paper is a review of key leadership issues during the response phase of the Christmas Island crisis. Several internal and external reviews relating to the emergency management response and arrangements on Christmas Island have been consulted to assess the quality of the core leadership and management of the disaster response. Topics that will be examined in relation to the disaster include: leadership, managing media and communication, psychosocial aspects, ethical challenges, standards of care, management challenges in mass fatality events, legal issues and standards, and legal and professional obligations of responders. Although the principal components of prevention and preparedness are paramount for disaster management, these will not be covered further because they are beyond the scope of this paper. Some references to the recovery phase efforts, such as search and recovery and morgue operations, will be made in order to assess these aspects of the crisis leadership during the Christmas Island boat disaster.