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 have developed and finalized two survey studies that address Problem Statement 3. These studies examine the role of perceived community culture in motivating residents to engage with resilience building initiatives and preparedness activities. The first study examines this in the context of bushfires, and the second does so in the context of floods.
• Data collection for the two studies addressing Problem Statement 3 was conducted between October 2016 and March 2017. The bushfire study contains two waves of data, one collected at the start of the bushfire season, and one collected towards the end of the fire season. This data was collected in four states across Australia, namely Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania. The flood study contains a single wave of data collection, which was collected in February 2017. This data was collected in New South Wales and Queensland.
• In addition to the above, this year saw the finalization of a paper on bushfire preparedness in households with versus without children, written in collaboration with Prof Kevin Ronan. This paper has received an invitation to be resubmitted with minor revisions from the journal “Natural Hazards”.
• Finally, this year was the final year of the first stage of the BNHCRC (2014-2017). The project leaders of this project were informed that the project will not be continued in the second phase due to a requested shift in focus to recovery rather than preparedness for natural hazards by its end-users. Subsequently, discussions were held with end-users around the potential utilization of the project outcomes, and a 3-month extension was put in place in order to finalize technical reports on the community culture study. These reports will be finalized in the first quarter of the 2017-2018 financial year.