Research leader
Research team
End User representatives
Student researchers
Building community resilience to natural disasters is a complex challenge that spans many policy areas. This project tackled this intricate problem by delivering policy options that could help governments and emergency services to strengthen resilience in communities. The research identified barriers to community resilience and potential policy solutions that could be factored into the preparation, response and post-event phases of emergency management.
Three research themes were covered:
- What is ‘community’ and how can governments share responsibility with both communities and individuals?
- How can insurers play a more active role in communicating risk and encouraging hazard mitigation?
- Is there a better process or institution for effective lesson sharing after natural hazard events?
Findings revealed significant tensions in the shared responsibilities between governments exercising power and community empowerment; between the conflicting needs of insurers and their clients; and within traditional models of post-disaster inquiries.
In regards to effectively sharing lessons after an event, the team has proposed the trialling of restorative practices as a powerful alternative to adversarial post-event inquiries. Having identified these inherent tensions across the three themes, the researchers propose new policies are needed that could resolve or ease the tensions identified, or, in the case of disaster insurance, highlight the need to develop better models.
This could be applied in various contexts, including the selection of appropriate policy choices to encourage communities to share responsibility for emergency management with government. It could also help agencies to be better informed about how policy options can be tailored to encourage or facilitate desired outcomes.
Australia could trial restorative practices for post-disaster events by starting locally, such as for internal inquiries into accidents and near misses. If the system is effective and fosters learning without harm, then the practice could be applied to larger inquiries involving the emergency agencies and broader community interests.
Year | Type | Citation |
---|---|---|
2020 | Book | Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice: Challenges for Australia and Its Neighbours. 368 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). doi:10.1007/978-981-15-0466-2 |
2020 | Book Chapter | Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice: Challenges for Australia and Its Neighbours 51-71 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0466-2_3 |
2020 | Book Chapter | Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice: Challenges for Australia and Its Neighbours 133-150 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0466-2_7 |
2020 | Journal Article | Emergency powers: Civil liberties in the face of disaster. Bulletin (Law Society of South Australia) 42, 6-8 (2020). |
2019 | Report | Restorative inquiries and natural disasters - symposium report. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2019). |
2018 | Journal Article | Can major post-event inquiries and reviews contribute to lessons management?. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 33, (2018). |
2017 | Book Chapter | Disaster Health Management: A Primer for Students and Practitioners (Routledge, 2017). at <https://www.routledge.com/Disaster-Health-Management-A-Primer-for-Students-and-Practitioners/FitzGerald-Tarrant-Aitken-Fredriksen/p/book/9781138911185> |
2017 | Conference Paper | Research proceedings from the 2017 Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Conference. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC annual conference 2017 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017). |
2017 | Conference Paper | Emergency management and policy: research impact and utilisation. AFAC17 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017). |
2017 | Journal Article | Shared responsibility: the who, what and how. Environmental Hazards (2017). at <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2017.1298510> |
2017 | Journal Article | Reviewing high-risk and high-consequence decisions: finding a safer way. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 32, (2017). |
2017 | Journal Article | You own the fuel, but who owns the fire?. International Journal of Wildland Fire 26, 999-1008 (2017). |
2017 | Journal Article | What's critical about critical infrastructure?. Urban Policy and Research 1-13 (2017). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2017.1282857 |
2017 | Report | Learning for emergency services: looking for a new approach. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017). |
2017 | Report | Policies, instutions and governance of natural hazards: annual project report 2016-17. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017). |
2016 | Book Chapter | Research Handbook on Disasters and International Law (Edward Elgar, 2016). at <http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/research-handbook-on-disasters-and-international-law> |
2016 | Conference Paper | Research proceedings from the 2016 Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC conference. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC & AFAC annual conference 2016 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016). |
2016 | Conference Paper | You own the fuel but who owns the fire?. AFAC16 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016). |
2016 | Report | Discussion paper: Learning for emergency services, looking for a new approach. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016). |
2016 | Report | Policies, institutions and governance of natural hazards: Annual project report 2015-2016. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016). |
2015 | Conference Paper | Learning from Adversity: What Has 75 Years of Bushfire Inquiries Taught Us? Conference Paper 2014. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Wellington Conference 2014 (2015). |
2015 | Conference Paper | Managing Critical Infrastructure in a Changing Climate: Risk, Roles, Responsibilities and Politics Conference Paper 2014. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Wellington Conference 2014 (2015). |
2015 | Journal Article | Are fire brigades liable for poor decisions?. Bulletin (Law Society of South Australia) 37, 8-11 (2015). |
2015 | Journal Article | Exposing hidden-value trade-offs: sharing wildfire management responsibility between government and citizens. International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, 162-169 (2015). |
2015 | Journal Article | Learning Lessons from Disasters: Alternatives to Royal Commissions and Other Quasi-Judicial Inquiries. Australian Journal of Public Administration 74, 495-508 (2015). |
2015 | Report | Policies, institutions and governance of natural hazards: Annual project report 2014-2015. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015). |
2015 | Report | Policies, Institutions and Governance (PIGS) of Natural Hazards Annual Report 2014. (2015). |
2014 | Journal Article | Exposing hidden value trade-offs: sharing wildfire management responsibility between government and citizens. International Journal of Wildland Fire 24, 162-169 (2014). |
2014 | Journal Article | Risk Management from a Legal and Governance Perspective. Journal of Integrated Disaster Risk Management 4, 61-72 (2014). |