PUBLICATIONS
Published works
From risk to resilience? Reframing shared responsibility in Australian disaster policy
| Title | From risk to resilience? Reframing shared responsibility in Australian disaster policy |
| Publication Type | Conference Proceedings |
| Year of Conference | 2012 |
| Authors | Handmer, J |
| Conference Name | IAWF 3rd Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference, Seattle, WA, 17-19 April 2012 |
| Pagination | 71-74 |
| Publisher | IAWF |
| Abstract | An important shift is occurring in national disaster policy discourse in Australia from the language of risk to that of resilience. This shift that is likely to influence the theory and practice of community bushfire/wildfire safety. The key elements in the shift are laid out in the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience, released by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in February 2011 (COAG 2011). The strategy, hereafter referred to as the ‘NSDR’, calls for a “whole-of-nation, resilience-based approach” (p.ii) to managing disasters. It states that “the concept of disaster resilience builds upon rather than replaces existing strengths and arrangements” (COAG 2011, p.3) in emergency management, suggesting that it may not be asking for significant changes to existing practices. Yet it is also described as heralding a “paradigm shift” in disaster management in this country (Wilkins 2010) and as potentially being the “single most significant policy initiative in the field of disaster management in Australia’s history” (McArdle & Archer 2011, p.1). This raises an important question: what is so different in the NSDR’s vision that warrants such claims, and what are its potential implications for community bushfire safety? ... |
| URL | http://www.iawfonline.org/pdf/3rd%20Human%20Dimensions%20Conference%20Proceedings%20-%20FINAL.pdf |
| Refereed Designation | Refereed |
Published Works
Publication Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Proceedings
Publication Year
Year of Conference 2012
