Published works

Exposure to hazards may result in emergencies or disasters that have the potential to overwhelm the capacity of communities to respond and recover effectively. In terms of natural hazards, an increase in the incidence of extreme weather events linked to climate change is expected to result in greater disaster losses in the future. Resilience-based approaches have been adopted in Australia and overseas to deal with this problem.

Resilience is a term that is used across multiple disciplines, including in the physical and material sciences, psychology, ecology, environmental science and more recently, in emergency and disaster management (Alexander, D.E. 2013). Therefore, it has many definitions, several of which reflect its significance as the guiding principle for emergency and disaster management in Australia,

‘Resilience is the ability of system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management’ (United Nations Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2019), or

The definition developed for the 100 Resilient Cities Project in Melbourne:

‘Resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses and systems within a city to survive, adapt and grown no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience’ (Mulligan et al, 2016, p.10).

A definition of resilience has also been developed as part of the Australian Disaster Resilience Index (ADRI) project:

‘Resilience is the capacity of communities to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazard events and to learn, adapt and transform in ways that enhance these capacities in the face of future events’ (Parsons, 2016 p.6).

The National Strategy for Disaster Resilience was adopted in 2011 by all levels of Australian Government (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). This marked a policy shift away from an emphasis on dealing with the aftermath of disasters toward a stronger focus on disaster preparation and planning, and the reduction and management of hazards. In 2018, a National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (NDRRF)[i] (Commmonwealth of Australia, 2018) was introduced to guide disaster risk reduction activities for greater resilience. Importantly, the NDRRF deals with the increasing problem of disasters by considering the whole system and its interdependencies.  In doing so it incorporates sustainability and climate change adaptation goals.

While State Governments play the major role in emergency management, the hazards, risks and the nature and severity of disaster impacts vary according to highly localised social, economic and environmental factors (Cutter et al, 2008). The adverse impacts from natural disasters that are invariably experienced at the local level may be sustained for many years afterwards. Local Government is the level of government that is closest to the community and, as such, it maintains a long-term commitment to managing local issues associated with emergencies and disasters. This role is integrally linked to local government’s broader responsibility for the planning and provision of the majority of services and infrastructure in their constituent communities.  There are 597 local government areas in Australia (Australian Local Government Association, 2020) with 79 in Victoria (Victorian Local Government Association, 2020.) Therefore, the services provided by local government and the policies and plans that shape them have a profound influence on the quality of life and the wellbeing of the Australian population as a whole. Local government is in a unique position to strengthen community resilience for emergencies, both through its local emergency management policies and plans and also, and perhaps more pervasively, through opportunities to positively influence the determinants of resilience through its broad range of council policies and plans.

In order to explore some of these opportunities, Yarra Ranges Council and the Maroondah and Knox City Councils asked the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) to evaluate their policies in terms of resilience. They were seeking answers to the question: To what extent do our council policies support resilience for emergencies or disasters? This project, titled Assessing Community Resilience for Emergencies in Local Government Policies (ACRE) was developed to examine the alignment between existing local government policies and the characteristics that enable community resilience. Maroondah and Knox City Councils were chosen as case studies. As a starting-point, councils were interested in evaluating their policies in relation to the Community Reslience Framework for Emergency Management (Emergency Management Victoria, 2017), developed by the Victorian State Government.

The idea that social resilience is intrinsic to resilience for emergencies or disasters is a central message in the Community Resilience Framework for Emergency Management (ibid). It provides policy guidance to encourage local government to embed resilience into its everyday activities, not only to improve the general health, wellbeing and prosperity of their communities, but as a way of highlighting how local communities can play their part in improving their ability to plan, prepare for, and to withstand and recover from adverse events.

In order to explore their full potential for strengthening resilience, councils also sought to evaluate their policies more broadly. The two councils’ policies were assessed against resilience information found in the academic literature. This research complements the Community Resilience Framework for Emergency Management (ibid) and adds to the body of evidence about local government’s existing contribution and inherent potential to enhance community resilience for emergencies.