A study of four natural disasters in Australia: how the human response to fire, flood and cyclone contributes to community resilience and recovery

Abstract

This research documents a scientific and systematic analysis of community resilience, as demonstrated through the experience of disaster response and recovery in Australia. It focuses on rural and regional communities affected by natural disasters including fire, flood or cyclone. Its aim is to identify whether the people within affected communities lead their community recovery process, what key factors influence that process, whether community leadership is demonstrated during and after disasters, and what lessons can be learned by listening to the lived experience of community members.

Australia’s disaster management policy framework has at its core the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience (2011), agreed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). At all levels in the Australian government and non-government sectors, disaster management policies and frameworks emphasize the central role of communities in disaster recovery, arguing that successful recovery engages communities and empowers community members to lead their own recovery. Such ‘community led recovery’ is advocated widely, however a systematic literature review has revealed little published scientific research about the community experience of disaster recovery, whether ‘community led recovery’ is a reality or a myth, or how to build resilient communities.

This research investigated different perceptions and experiences of natural disasters in communities in Australia; identifying factors considered by the participants to be important to community resilience and recovery, and describing specific actions community members and others take to help themselves and one another. This study gathers data from two different groups: initially by interviewing ten individuals who have held disaster recovery leadership roles; and then by conducting fieldwork in four communities across eastern Australia, interviewing 112 community members.

Both groups described their understanding of the key domains of community adaptation or recovery after natural disaster. They described the factors that support or hinder that process of community recovery, within each of these domains. Both groups described their observations and experiences of what occurs within disaster affected communities. In particular community members described their own actions and the actions of others.

Clear findings emerge from the analysis of this data. It reveals substantial evidence of the presence and effectiveness of community leadership, and the significant contribution of community actions and activities in strengthening and supporting community resilience and recovery after natural disaster. It identifies lessons that can be learned from communities affected by disaster. These lessons emphasise the importance of what happens before the crisis, include implications of what happens during the crisis, and describe actions and activities that support the process of community adaptation after the crisis had passed.

A significant feature of this research is that it provides a vehicle for the voices of community members: to share their experience of natural disaster and their powerful narratives about that experience. These narratives are of hope, courage and endurance and demonstrate the power of human connection, compassion and kindness.

The findings of this study have significant implications for how governments, organisations and communities themselves prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters in the future.