Shared responsibility and its implications for legislative, policy and planning processes were examined at a recent Bushfire CRC online research forum, supported by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC.
A total of 91 participants from the fire and emergency management sector across Australia joined leading legal, planning and risk and community safety researchers online in the Power To The People forum.
Dr Blythe McLennan, Senior Research Fellow in Risk Management and Community Safety at RMIT told the forum that the idea of shared responsibility meant different things to different audiences, but was broadly recognised as the sharing of risk between governments and their citizens.
This concept, however, doesn’t fit within the current policy cycle and development process, she argues.
“To have shared responsibility between government and citizens, we need shared input and that input, particularly from a citizen’s perspective, means at the agenda setting stage,” Dr McLennan says.
Dr Michael Eburn, of Australian National University’s School of Law, told the forum there was no fundamental legal obstacle to progressing the principle of shared responsibility.
“Our thesis is that the amount of risk that citizens are willing to share in disaster management is a matter for community debate.
The Foundation Chair of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Canberra, Professor Barbara Norman, provided insights from research conducted in fire-prone communities in the south coast of NSW.
The findings underline the need for debate on urban development and redevelopment in fire-prone communities in the face of increasing bushfire risk.
To replay the Power To The People forum video, visit the Bushfire CRC website A range of resources, including Fire Notes and in-depth research reports are also available.
Power To The People is part of the Bushfire CRC’s Research To Drive Change online forum series.
The next forum is on next Tuesday 29 July – “What are you telling us?” - exploring the role and limits of communications in bushfire preparedness and response.