Strengthening disaster preparedness in human services organisations

Charles Sturt researchers collaborated with regional councils and organisations in the Riverina region of NSW to strengthen Disaster Resilience Plans with funding from the NSW Government Natural Disaster Resilience Program. The project was aimed at human services organisations, which are often unprepared for disasters and managing critical service delivery following disasters.

The Disaster Resilience Plans involved risk assessments and planning for business continuity to manage service disruption in post-disaster periods.

The research was undertaken in Wagga Wagga, a region that has experienced significant natural disasters in recent years, including the Black Summer bushfires of 2019–2020 and droughts, heatwaves and flooding of the Murrumbidgee region.

The research project took a collaborative approach, bringing together human service organisations, community groups, local councils, and emergency services to develop inter-professional collaborations.

Project steering committee member and Wagga Wagga City Council Director, Janice Summerhayes, commented on the project’s benefits: “The project is a really worthwhile and important response to supporting non-government organisations in being informed and prepared for their services when disasters occur locally.”

The project developed the ULTRIS model of disaster preparedness for building the capacity of human service organisations to be prepared for disasters.