Centre Members
- Justine Dandy
- Pierre Horwitz (external, adjunct ECU)
- Naomi Godden
- Trevor Ryan
- Zoe Leviston (external, ANU)
Other ECU
- Deirdre Drake
Other Non-ECU
- Francesca Perugia, Curtin University
Funding
Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (NDRR2324-029)
Partners
- City of Wanneroo
- The Peron-Naturaliste Partnership
- Department of Fire & Emergency Services
- Department of Health
- Southwest Migrant Women’s Association
- Ishar Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
Description
Increased exposure to four of the seven managed natural hazards – heatwave, bushfires, storms and flooding – will have consequences for liveability in Western Australia’s urban and peri urban areas. For some residents there will be mental and physical health outcomes; some will be forced to retreat, to move elsewhere, gradually or suddenly. Some residents will respond by putting pressure on local infrastructure, services and resources. Others will put the effort into protecting themselves.
This project addresses environmental disaster risk in community resilience by understanding community perceptions responses and experiences in urban and peri urban WA. There are currently no benchmarks for residents’ understandings of the risk and impacts of disasters for the Perth metropolitan and southwest areas, the influence of disasters on liveability and residents’ likely responses. Establishing a baseline will enable local and state governments to prepare and respond to specific events and to make better decisions about policies in future planning around infrastructure, adaptation and mitigation strategies.
This information is vital to understand how best to communicate risk and impact information to communities to enhance preparedness and response in ways that promote individual health and community well-being. Implementation of hazard response policy and strategy in communities will only be effective if we have a solid understanding of the extent and nature of community awareness of environmental hazards and risks, factors that influence how and when residents might respond to hazards, and their capacity and willingness to engage in practices to mitigate risk and/or adapt to environmental change.
Publications
Dandy, J., & Leviston, Z. (2024, February 16). Climate change is forcing Australians to weigh up relocating. How do they make that difficult decision? The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-forcing-australians-to-weigh-up-relocating-how-do-they-make-that-difficult-decision-221971