IGEM Report 1: 2017-18 - THE CYCLONE DEBBIE REVIEW

Inspector-General Emergency Management

Community engagement should not just refer to the one-way provision of information at community events, letterbox drops, inclusion in rates notices, on our agency websites, radio interviews with local experts, media articles and advertising/marketing campaigns. All of these efforts are worthwhile and required elements of community engagement but if they are not resulting in improved community outcomes then they are not meeting our society’s needs. We can invest our effort and resources to develop the most sophisticated early warning technology and systems. We can excel at producing an integrated system that ticks all the boxes in terms of interoperability, instant communications across the sector. But if the individuals within our communities don’t believe or understand their risks, if they don’t know what to do and where to go and how to protect themselves and what is important to them, it doesn’t matter how much effort and resourcing we’ve dedicated to the disaster management system, we will have missed the mark. The public/community are the key stakeholder group and client of the disaster management system. If they are unaware of the risk, or underestimate their risk and overestimate their capability in preparing and responding, despite all allocated resources and effort in planning, preparedness and warning, it will be really difficult to mobilise them to respond appropriately.

Our collective challenge is to move beyond the rhetoric, to improve our practice of engaging and mobilising community to ensure we can meet changing community needs and create public value. The prize of doing so is improved community risk perceptions and better community outcomes from warnings issued during disaster events. This will further enable our communities to be able to take the required actions to minimise impacts to them and their property. Shared responsibility and a coordinated approach have many ingredients. All agencies must work together. For the community to accept they have a role, our collaborative engagement practice requires honesty and transparency with our communities. Realistic expectations must be set. Awareness and understanding of risk must be built, roles and responsibilities understood by all and skills to achieve win-win outcomes developed. When the governments’ management of disaster response is implemented alongside an empowered community resilience model, there is a greater chance that activities will be better targeted, received and sustainable. 29 Such an approach recognises that, in disasters, communities: • are First Responders in most events • have the most to gain and the most to lose • know their community best; and

Underlying precepts

• have a vested interest in lessening future impacts, or stopping it happening again. 30

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The Cyclone Debbie Review

Lessons for delivering value and confidence through trust and empowerment