Published works

This project addresses the following problem statements: 1) what measures can best be used to capture individuals’ preparedness and planning for natural hazards?, 2) how effective are traditional strategies, such as community engagement groups vs. brochures vs. websites vs. advertising in increasing preparedness and planning by residents of hazard prone areas?, and 3) what are some of the key barriers and motivators for residents’ engagement with disaster resilience building activities, and how can strategies be improved to increase preparedness for natural hazards? All problem statements are being addressed within the context of bushfires and floods.

Over the past 12 months, this project has undertaken the following:

• We finalised addressing Problem Statement 2, and have presented the key findings for bushfires and floods in two Technical Reports 1,2.
• The key findings addressing Problem Statement 2 were presented at the AFAC BNHCRC conference in Adelaide3, and at the 2nd International Symposium on Disaster Management4.

To address Problem Statement 3, we developed and conducted a large survey study amongst residents of flood prone areas, with data collection initiated in September 2015. Unfortunately, this study had to be abandoned due to an exceptionally low response rate at Wave 1 (September 2015). Potential reasons for the low response rate have been presented in a report5.

In response to the low response rate of the September 2015 study, a revised approach to address Problem Statement 3 was developed and presented to end-users in a teleconference in November 2015. The outline for this new study was presented in more detail at the Research Advisory Forum in Hobart. This study will examine the role of perceived community culture in motivating residents to engage with resilience building initiatives and preparedness activities. Data collection for this study is planned to commence in September – December 2016.

In addition to the above, this year saw the publication of three project related papers in high quality peer-reviewed journals: one on the role of people’s expectations and values in their intended response to bushfires6, one on the role of indecisiveness and anxiety in preparing for bushfires7, and one on the role of constructive and unconstructive worry in preparing for bushfires7.

Finally, discussions have been initiated with end-users around the potential development of an all hazards household preparedness tool, similar to the bushfire household preparedness tool that was developed under the old Bushfire CRC. This tool would be developed in a utilisation stage (i.e., not included in current project).