Building resilience through Community Flood Reference Groups

Building resilience through Community Flood Reference Groups

Building resilience through Community Flood Reference Groups (#120)

Steve Lawrence , Phil Campbell

Building Resilience - Community Flood Reference Groups

A range of community engagement strategies were undertaken with communities most affected by major flooding on the Mid North Coast of NSW during June 2011.

Two public forums attracted a total of 84 community members in the Lower Macleay (east of Kempsey) and Manning Point (east of Taree) areas. These forums were aimed at capturing community perceptions of the event including the identification of effective components and potential improvements to both agency and community flood response. The forums were also focused on exploring partnership opportunities between the NSW SES and the local communities in an effort to increase community preparedness.

The Community Flood Reference Groups (CFRGs) were developed as a result of the recommendations made at these post flood forums. The aim of these Groups is to develop and implement community owned engagement activities, influence emergency management planning and function operationally as a network for the dissemination of preparedness and response information.

The CFRGs have helped to start an ongoing conversation between the NSW SES Mid North Coast Region and the local communities. These groups have implemented a range of initiatives with the support of the local SES. Activities include doorknocking high risk areas with FloodSafe information, identification of support mechanisms and people for vulnerable community members and a sandbagging exercise where community members learnt how to fill sandbags and construct a sandbag wall.

The CFRGs have also been critical to the public information function in the operational context. The Groups have distributed information and messages directly to community hubs, fed flood and community intelligence back into the SES and contributed valuable community feedback to the After Action Review process following more recent flooding.

This partnership approach emphasises the importance of shared responsibility and the potential to improve emergency management outcomes by enhancing both community resilience and emergency service planning.

Authors contributing to this presentation.

Lawrence, S

Campbell, P

Phil Campbell is the Manager Corporate Communications for the New South Wales State Emergency Service (NSW SES) where he leads a small, integrated team in media, public relations, social media and web, and internal communications. Phil joined the NSW SES in 2002 after a career as a teacher, community educator and conference director. At the NSW SES he has worked to raise the profile of the Service and improve the processes by which the Service communicates with and engages with the community around and during disasters such as floods and storms. For his contributions to media and communication, Phil has received a Commissioner’s Commendation and Citation, and in 2010 was elected a Fellow of the Australian peak research body in disaster communication, Emergency Media and Public Affairs. Phil is also the current Chair of the Australian Council of State Emergency Services Communications Group. In addition to working on communications campaigns to better engage communities prior to disasters and help build community resilience, Phil has coordinated operational media for some of the most significant natural disasters to affect Australia in recent decades, notably the extensive flooding of 2011-12. Phil also assisted with media after the Black Saturday fires of 2009. Phil holds a Master of Science (Honours) in Geography, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), a Diploma of Education and Advanced Certificate (with Distinction) in Human Resources.

Building resilience through Community Flood Reference Groups (#120)

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Lawrence, S

Campbell, P

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