Victoria’s emergency management agencies have adopted a common vision of ‘A safer and more resilient community’. Underpinning this vision is the shared responsibility mantra that highlights the relationship between resilient communities and resilient emergency management organisations. To pursue this vision, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Fire Services Commissioner have collaborated with their stakeholders on a project to better understand how resilient the Victorian community is, as well as their expectations and needs of the emergency management sector.

The work applies an all-hazards, all-agency approach; providing a holistic, sector-wide view of community resilience and expectations. The study capitalises on the Fire Services Commissioner’s 2021 Research Program by implementing a unique methodology to explore likely future needs and expectations of the Victorian community. The project also outlines how the evidence is used in service delivery planning.

This qualitative study comprised in-depth, face to face interviews with people from a range of backgrounds, locations and community groups. The interviews were comprehensive, generating a breadth of knowledge on topics such as Victorian’s experiences of emergencies; their perception of ‘community’; and what they see their role as being in an emergency, both now and in future.

This research highlights the vast differences between and among community groups, exemplifying the need for nuanced approaches by emergency management to promote shared responsibility between the community and the emergency services sector. The future orientated methodology also identifies pathways for the sector to better understand drivers of change, and anticipate changes in community expectations.

This presentation will outline the first step in a program of research that will enable the sector to effectively encourage more resilient communities.