Building better plans to survive future disasters

How can we improve governance in order to reduce disaster damage? This was the focus of the 2020 United Nations’ International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, held around the world each year on 13 October.

This year, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC acknowledged the occasion with an online event with the theme ‘It’s All About Governance’, featuring Craig Reucassel from ABC TV’s new three-part documentary series Big Weather (and how to survive it), which launched on the same day.

“It’s an ideal conversation to be having on this day – Big Weather looks exactly at this issue, of how we reduce the risk of disaster events, and it pulls on a lot of the knowledge that [the sector] has contributed to this space,” Mr Reucassel said.

Asked what Australia should focus on to accelerate disaster risk reduction, Mr Reucassel shared some of the key insights he learned from the community while filming Big Weather.

“More education, getting more people to engage more actively, not just in the back of their mind, about the threats that are coming, is the way forward. That needs coordination at the state and federal level, and it needs education, advertising, people going into schools. I know this already happens but we need more of that kind of stuff to make sure it moves from that back-of-mind to being really front-of-thought and really practiced.” 

The online event, which saw more than 260 people watching from across Australia, emphasised the importance of effective collaboration across government, community groups and the private sector, including the role of media companies like the ABC in helping people and organisations understand resilience and how they can improve it.

Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO, Chair of the CRC, opened the event and spoke about the importance of continued effective collaboration and utilisation of research across all levels of government.

“Research is not only for scientists. Everyone involved in natural hazard emergency management needs to better understand how research is being used and how it can be used in the future,” Dr Woodthorpe said.

A panel discussion and Q&A session included diverse perspectives from the following experts:

• Kirsten Jenkins: Municipal Recovery Manager, Maroondah City Council
• Melissa Pexton: Director Risk, Capability and Analysis, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Western Australia
• Prof Lisa Gibbs: Director of Community Resilience, Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne, and Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC
• John Richardson: National Resilience Adviser, Australian Red Cross
• Stephen Oliver: Manager of Documentaries, ABC

Kirsten Jenkins at Maroondah City Council spoke of the important role that local governments play when providing support in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, unlike the longer-term strategies of Federal Government.

“We do more than roads, rates and rubbish. When decisions are made to meet immediate needs following disasters, local government are usually the ones that are there for the long run. We enact regulatory standards, we have to find a balance between supporting recovery outcomes and actually reducing public health and wellbeing risks following a disaster,” Kirsten said.

Prof Lisa Gibbs at the University of Melbourne reiterated the importance of ongoing resilience research when seeking to understand the impact of disasters and governance on the everyday lives of Australians.

“The research that we’re doing has been focused on the recovery after disasters, and what can we learn that will reduce the impact of that disaster experience,” Prof Gibbs said.

“People living with the disaster experience are dealing with it on so many different levels. Now we try and take account of the influence of the natural environment, social capital, financial, cultural, political and human capital, and how they all influence each other in the recovery experience.”

The event was hosted by Dr John Bates, Research Director at the CRC. You can read more about the event here.

You can watch the highlights reel above, and the full recording is available to watch below.

The day is an initiative of the United Nations and is backed by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the International Council for Science and the International Social Science Council. Each year is themed around one of the Sendai Seven Framework targets – this year’s target was to increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies. The CRC hosts the Australian National Committee for the ISDR. Visit the UNDRR site to learn more about the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.