Resilient Communities

In keeping with Tasmania’s Disaster Resilience Strategy 2020-2025, the community needs to be equally prepared as response agencies for the impacts of all hazards and, in particular, the impacts of natural disasters. Resilient communities are better able to withstand an emergency event and have an enhanced ability to recover from the event.

A ‘Community Safety Approach’  does not reduce government or agency responsibility in emergency management, but strengthens community participation and influence. It recognises that resilience is enhanced when communities play a key role in their own safety.

Community engagement could be hazard-specific or take an all-hazards approach. Regardless of the approach, it is important that messages are consistent and coordinated across all programs.

Click below to reveal Community education and awareness campaigns which aim to:

TEMA as a Resource

塔斯馬尼亞緊急事件管理辦法 are issued under the authority of the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management in accordance with the requirements of Section 32 of the Emergency Management Act 2006.  It now recognises that response and recovery agencies work in partnership with individuals and communities to ensure Tasmanians’ safety during and after emergencies. Watch the video below and click on the 主題 link to see the information on Community Engagement.

The importance of effective Communication in the community

Preparation for and resilience to catastrophic events begins in early engagement and education with communities. Community safety campaigns should stress that community members should not expect or wait for a warning in an emergency.

Prior to any emergency, community engagement will often identify local community groups or leaders who can act as dissemination channels during an emergency. A few examples include:

• Community radio stations
• Facebook groups
• Local emergency service units and brigades, or local clubs
• Community noticeboards.

During an emergency, it is not uncommon for individuals to emerge as key dissemination points for warnings. They typically have a personal connection to the impacted areas, and a limited background in warnings policy and practice.

Sometimes referred to as ‘influencers’, they can play an important role in amplifying the reach and impact of official messages.

People at increased risk in an emergency

Identifying vulnerable people within the Tasmanian community has been recognised in the Tasmanian Disaster Resilience Strategy (TDRS) 2020-2025. Vulnerability refers to the susceptibility of individuals, communities, assets or systems to the impact of hazards due to physical, social, economic and/or environmental factors.

The TDRS 2020-2025 Strategy recognises individuals are both resilient and vulnerable, as are the systems that connect our communities and economies. Disasters expose or exacerbate both individual and collective vulnerabilities.

這 Guide, People at Increased Risk in an Emergency  is a guide for Tasmanian government and non-government community service providers and was developed for people who find preparing for, responding to or recovering from an emergency challenging because they are experiencing factors that compromise their safety and security, health and wellbeing, knowledge, and/or social connection.

這 TDRS 2020-2025, and the 塔斯馬尼亞緊急管理措施 focus on how Tasmanian government and non-government community services providers can help to consider and address factors that can increase a person’s level of risk in an emergency.

Tasmanian community demographic factors impact on individual and collective vulnerabilities. Such factors include:

• An ageing population
• Literacy levels
• Educational attainment
• Social engagement or isolation
• Employment levels
• Access to health, transport and other services.

Other considerations are that many Tasmanian’s have specific needs, for example language or literacy issues, mobility or other health issues, as well as local risk factors. While Local councils directly support their communities through a variety of measures, in the future it has been suggested to leverage government and non-government community-based organisations as conduits into local communities, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Terminology

In the context of this module PUBLIC PARTICIPATION is a term often used for community engagement, both are interchangeable.

In the context of this module DISASTER is a term often used for emergency, both are interchangeable.

“Join Learn Be Ready” campaign launch. Hobart Tasmania Fri 17th Oct 2014 picture by Peter Mathew