The impact of the devastating 2009 Victorian bushfires has led to significant changes across the emergency management sector and the wider community. Research is vital to understanding the impact of the changes and to build an evidence base for the new and revised approaches.

Country Fire Authority’s Research & Evaluation Unit conduct periodic post season telephone surveys in high bushfire and grassfire risk areas to explore a range of community safety issues, and to gauge the current state of householder preparedness. The topics covered in the surveys include awareness and understanding of bushfire and grassfire risk, attitudes to bushfire and grassfire risk, information needs, individual and household level preparedness, intended response, warnings and shelter options, community expectations, and key community safety programs and services.

Since the 2009 bushfires, the post season surveys have taken place on an annual basis to monitor key changes in the attitudes, intentions and actions of individuals and households. The findings help to inform community safety program design and delivery, community messaging and program evaluation. The surveys have evolved to address specific areas of interest, such as heightened grassfire risk in recent summers. However, a core set of questions has been retained to allow monitoring of issues over time. In addition, the findings from the surveys have underpinned several other research projects that have focused in more depth on specific issues, for example community response to Fire Danger Ratings.

This paper presents findings from the growing evidence base of five years of study. It illustrates how the research has been put into practice to help CFA, and the broader emergency management sector, to better understand and respond to the needs of Victorian communities in the context of the changes that have occurred since the 2009 bushfires and the subsequent Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission.