As many New South Wales residents and businesses are yet again beginning their clean up and recovery journey, the Bureau of Meteorology has just forecast above average rainfall for the next three months for the eastern two-thirds of Australia.

We know disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity, so how can we be better prepared for the next one and whose responsibility is it?

The recent From Risk to Resilience Summit held in Sydney in partnership with the Australian Institute of Disaster Resilience brought together a range of presenters and attendees to answer this question - they all agreed it is the responsibility of everybody in every community across the country to reduce the risk of disasters – and everybody needs to be involved, have a voice and act on that responsibility now.

Urgent action, collaboration and inclusivity were central themes of the Summit which is the final engagement event to develop the Second National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Working together is the only way to tackle disaster risk

Hannah Wandel OAM, Acting Executive Manager Policy and Programs, National Emergency Management Agency, spoke about how important it is to bring people together from government, industry and community to debate and agree as to what needs to be done to reduce disaster risk for the benefit of all Australians.

She outlined that with climate change, new disaster risks are evolving faster than existing risks can be reduced and what we are doing today is no longer enough to reduce the risks ahead of us.

Hannah explained that while many projects, strategies, and initiatives are currently underway, it is a united effort from everybody in all areas that is needed.

“Everyone has a role to play to reduce systemic disaster risk and build resilience across the country. We know that disaster risk is increasing so what we need to do is to work collectively together to make Australia safer and to make Australia a prosperous place for us all to live.”

Everybody needs to be heard and have a seat at the table

A key focus of the Summit was ensuring different parts of the community were heard. Specifically, decision makers who deal with climate and disaster risk need to hear from a range of voices, including First Nations, the Disability sector and youth.

Activist and student Anjali Sharma urged attendees to give youth and marginalised communities a seat at the table for climate action and disaster risk reduction.

“Young people aren’t given the tools they need to address climate change - the burden falls on us to educate ourselves by choice, or coincidence” she said.

Action is needed now

One of the initial sessions of the Summit focused on the theme ‘Our world at risk’. Tom Kompas, Professor of Environmental Economics and Biosecurity, provided an address about the drivers of disaster and the cost of inaction. “We have lost a decade of action and when it comes to climate change, this is significant. The longer we wait, the faster we need to act and the more significant the reductions need to be” he said.

Disaster risk reduction is sometimes not fully understood but it is really about decisions that are made by all sectors in society and influences things like where we choose to live and how we build. It also determines where key infrastructure of our towns and cities are located. As members of communities, we can all play a part by understanding the disaster risks of where we live to ensure we have done everything to reduce risk to our homes and safety, so that we can be better prepared for the next flood, cyclone or bushfire.

One of our current programs driving preparedness and resilience action in communities is the Disaster Risk Reduction Package (DRR), a joint funding program between the Commonwealth and the State and Territory governments to reduce disaster risk in Australia. The DRR Package acknowledges and intends for us to take action to address the causes of disaster risk, which will strengthen resilience and enable communities to withstand, adapt to and continue to thrive in a changing environment.

The Summit is one of the ways we’re bringing all parts of the community and government together to create a plan of actions needed to strengthen Australia against future disasters.