@article {bnh-7515, title = {Civil society mobilisation after Cyclone Tracy, Darwin 1974}, journal = {Environmental Hazards}, year = {2020}, month = {11/2020}, abstract = {

Major disasters challenge or exceed the capacity of the official emergency management sector to provide needed rescue services, support and relief. Emergency services in most jurisdictions do not have the surge capacity for unusual or extreme events without drawing on other jurisdictions or local people from outside the formal emergency management organisations. In such circumstances, those in the affected area need to organise themselves and make maximum use of local resources to cope with the immediate aftermath of impact. To find the required surge capacity, this suggests a whole of society response with the official system working with the capacities of people, commerce and organisations outside the emergency sector. An example is provided by the destruction of the northern Australian capital city of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy in December 1974. Informal volunteering and emergent leadership in Darwin and across Australia were critical to the immediate response and relief. Volunteering was widespread and worked well alongside official emergency management. With today{\textquoteright}s information and communication technologies and a strong national resilience narrative, we would expect to do at least as well. However, governments now exercise much more control over civil society. We examine the implications for surge capacity and adaptability.

}, keywords = {civil society mobilisation, Cyclone Tracy, Darwin, spontaneous volunteers, surge capacity}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2020.1838254}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RQNXEBDZWDSFG3PCZQMT/full?target=10.1080/17477891.2020.1838254}, author = {John Handmer and Pascale Maynard} } @mastersthesis {bnh-6491, title = {Disaster Resilient Communities: Engagement with Spontaneous Volunteer Groups}, volume = {Masters of Environments}, year = {2016}, month = {06/2016}, school = {University of Melbourne}, type = {Masters}, address = {Melbourne}, abstract = {

This study tackles the confliction between the willingness of the altruistic to assist in times of disaster against the capacity of the emergency management system to effective utilise the human resource effectively. The aim is to investigate the role of Spontaneous Volunteer Groups (SVGs) in strengthening community disaster resilience through a qualitative, context-driven research approach from a pragmatist viewpoint utilising open-ended questions. This approach is problem-driven occurring in the particular context of severe disaster events where traditional services are often overwhelmed and resources stressed. The data was collected from interviewees who have contributed significantly to the emergency management sector. The interviews were recorded, stored, analysed and emergent generalised and specific themes discussed in reference to the criteria set out in the national 2015 Spontaneous Volunteer Strategy.
The study contends that if the Australian community and emergency management sector are serious in achieving a society able to genuinely share responsibilities for resilience to disasters, and build community capacity, then the following should be promoted: inclusiveness {\textendash} including allowing SVGs to self-organise; power-sharing; transparency; engagement with volunteer motivations ; flexible volunteering models ; preparedness to manage volunteer emergence; disaster education and training, activities identification within all disaster phases; forming strong and lasting community links; addressing risk and liability; developing on-the-spot training procedures; sharing information , skills and knowledge; communication clarity; key liaisons; altering mindsets; social media engagement and essentially developing plans and actionable procedures for empowering people to demonstrate their resilience. Currently this path can be a difficult one to follow, despite its promotion with many national strategies, due to restrictions, barriers and complexities within the sector.
The expanded upon strategy can assist the government and Emergency Service Agencies (ESAs), in the face of limited policy, to recognise their responsibilities to operate together and engage meaningfully with alternative forms of assistance in a less restrictive emergency management system, to promote optimal protection of communities from future disasters. In complex environments ESAs must demonstrate flexibility to efficiently adapt, change and restore new and more resilient function to communities.

}, keywords = {communities, disasters, Emergency management, resilience, spontaneous volunteers, volunteer groups, volunteers}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/11343/229442}, author = {Gemma Gray} }