Embedding disability inclusion and awareness into disaster management
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Such was the case for Southern Downs Regional Council, whose residents were badly impacted by the Southern Queensland Flooding event of 2022.
Despite their best efforts, Southern Downs Council, as a small regional local government, had struggled to meet the needs of residents with a disability or mobility issue during disaster events.
With an estimated one in five Australians having a disability, council saw the need to create an official disability-focused sub-group of their Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG).
The group would be co-chaired by a community member living with a disability, with other positions filled by service providers, community members, and interested disaster sector agencies.
To be known as the Southern Downs Higher-Risk Sub-Group (HRSG), the group’s aim was to embed disability inclusion and awareness into disaster management.
However, early efforts to establish the group found limited success.
When a Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (PCEP) training session for NDIS providers attracted just one person, council sensed it would be a long road.
Undeterred, Southern Downs Regional Council offered further training, extensively promoted PCEP at community events, and produced enough PCEP workbooks and resources for every local resident with a disability.
But the real game-changer was the 2022 flood event.
Following the flood, a community member named Christof entered the recovery hub with his support worker seeking disaster assistance.
Because of his bipolar disorder, Christof had limited recollection of the day’s events, including being evacuated, the procedures at the evacuation centre, his support worker stepping in, and being moved to alternative accommodation.
This traumatic experience motivated Christof to attend PCEP workshops and community forums that encouraged him to develop his disaster preparedness skills.
His enthusiasm for the training saw him become the first HRSG member.
Christof was later elected as the group's co-chair, in line with the philosophy that a lived-experience community member would co-chair the group.
From there the group flourished.
Community forums held between 2022 and 2024 featured 33 organisations across the emergency services sector, local and state government, community organisations, not-for-profits, disability service providers, and lived-experience community members.
That extensive engagement translated into having key stakeholders, including local government, QPS, NDIS, young people, and Indigenous health service providers, involved in the HRSG, together working on bettering outcomes for the region’s most vulnerable residents.
Importantly, council’s LDMG endorsed the HRSG, giving it credibility and a voice to its decisions and concerns.
The HRSG’s value was further recognised with its inclusion at district and state disaster management group levels.
The HRSG has highlighted the additional preparedness challenges faced by vulnerable residents while also offering the LDMG an opportunity to apply disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction practices informed by real-world experience.
The success of Southern Downs Regional Council’s HRSG was celebrated during the 2024 Queensland Resilient Australia Awards, with council receiving a Highly Commended award in the Local Government category.