Promoting Disaster Resilience: Domestic and International challenges

Australia is no stranger to disasters and their cascading effects.   Natural disasters are a perennial problem globally, regionally and locally. They trigger significant damage to infrastructure, both critical and important, economic health and the wellbeing and livelihoods of communities.

Australian approaches to promoting and enabling resilience to the effects of disasters on a national and international scale are currently evolving. 

The Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security, the Hon Angus Taylor MP, recently announced the establishment of a National Resilience Taskforce within the Department of Home Affairs.  The Taskforce will lead nation-wide reforms to reduce the impact and financial burden of natural disasters on the Australian community. An initial priority for the Taskforce is the development of a five-year national mitigation framework in consultation with the public, private and community sectors.

The recent Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade White Paper includes intent in support disaster resilience building as part of humanitarian aid and outreach: particularly across the Indo-Pacific region.  Future projections identify the Oceanic economies as being particularly vulnerable to the natural disaster impacts.

Given these developments it is timely to better understand the challenges and opportunities inherent in promoting and enabling resilience to and from the effects of disasters on a national and international scale.

The Risk and Resilience Program at ASPI is hosting a discussion to examine emergent approaches to these challenges and opportunities in relation to domestic needs and near-international contexts.