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Supporting the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework, the National Emergency Management Agency has developed information and guidance material to provide people with the right tools and information to understand their risks and make better decisions.

Guidance for Strategic Decisions on Climate and Disaster Risk

The Guidance for Strategic Decisions on Climate and Disaster Risk is designed to assist primary decision makers across governments, industry and communities in contextualising the systemic physical impacts of a changing climate.

In particular, the Guidance provides direction on how to navigate the high levels of uncertainty when considering climate and disaster risk in strategic long-term planning and investment decisions.

The targeted flyers below point to helpful sections within the Guidance that may be of most use to the relevant sector:

Profiling Australia’s Vulnerability: The interconnected causes and cascading effects of systemic disaster risk

Profiling Australia’s Vulnerability Report provides a national risk assessment of systemic risk.

It recognises that traditional risk assessments are no longer fit for purpose to understand and manage risk as the world becomes increasingly complex, uncertain and ambiguous.

It describes a new way of looking at disaster risk – that hazards only lead to disaster if they intersect with an exposed and vulnerable society and when the consequences exceed people’s capacity to cope.

The report provides policy-makers, practitioners, businesses and community leaders with a different way of thinking about disaster risk.

The report is intended to:

  • Provide new knowledge about the complex and interconnected systems that support our society and influence our resilience or vulnerability to disaster.
  • Highlight what people value, and focus on how the tensions and trade-offs between different values influence priorities and choices now and in the future.
  • Promote discussion about the interconnected and cascading effects of the systemic causes of vulnerability and the implications of decisions on future preparedness and resilience.
  • Enable good intentions to be turned into focused and sustained action at various levels in our society, in ways that reduce vulnerability and build resilience.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation was a key partner in developing the report. Further information on the project can be found on the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's website.

Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub and Handbook Collection

The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience manages the Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub, a national, open-source platform that supports and informs policy, planning, decision making and contemporary good practice in disaster resilience.

The Knowledge Hub highlights current and emerging themes in the resilience sector, linking national guidelines with research and fostering collaboration among leading agencies and organisations.

The Knowledge Hub includes the Australian Disaster Resilience Handbook Collection which provides guidance on national principles and best practices for disaster resilience.

The National Emergency Management Agency and Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, working with representatives of state and territory governments, and the non government sector have developed the Systemic Disaster Risk Handbook, providing an accessible approach to reducing disaster risk in Australia.

National Disaster Risk Information Services Capability pilot

This pilot is a key part of putting the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework into action, delivering on its first priority ‘understand disaster risk’ and enabling progress on the framework’s three other priorities (accountable decisions, enhanced investment, and governance, ownership and responsibility).

Multiple sources of scientific and technical information about hazards, exposure, vulnerability and climate already exist, but this information is complex, exists across a range of sectors, and is not easily accessible.

In June 2020, then Emergency Management Australia completed a pilot project in the supply chain and freight sector to explore the feasibility and benefits of a national disaster risk information services capability.

The pilot was conducted in partnership with:

  • Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
  • Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
  • Bureau of Meteorology
  • Geoscience Australia
  • Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads
  • Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (including the University of Adelaide).

The pilot confirmed there was a clear benefit in Australian communities and businesses having better decision-ready information and advice. The pilot was fundamental in informing the design and delivery of our key partner, the Australian Climate Service.

For further information, see National Disaster Risk Information Services Capability pilot public outcomes report.

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