Presentations & abstracts

Professor Bela Stantic

Director "Big Data and Smart Analytics" Lab - IIIS, Griffith University 

Social media and evidence-based decision-making

Traditional methods of monitoring the opinion of social communities relies on methods such as questionnaires and interviews to collect statistical data. Thanks to the advances in communication technologies, people are connected not only in the physical dimension but also in a virtual dimension via social media, in which people are sharing their opinions and individual/social activities.

The availability of social media data opens an opportunity to capture the opinion of the community in near real-time regarding the different aspects and enables timely interventions. This talk will elaborate how on social media along with Big Data analytics were used to analyse how people reacted to the Southeast Queensland rainfall and flooding event in February-March and captured different perspectives from multiple stakeholders. The finding can be good resource for better preparation for future disasters and proposed methodology can enhance evidence-based decision-making.

Dr Barbara Ryan

School of Humanities and Communication, University of Southern Queensland

From wild ideas to useful tools – Building research relationships

A PhD on how people get information in a disaster, which was triggered by experience in the field during a 2003 bushfire, started Dr Barbara Ryan on a research pathway that has been guided by 15 years of conversations with practitioners.  What’s working, what is not, and insights into obstacles that agencies face when it comes to their communities have led to a range of research partnerships with agencies from around Australia. 

Barbara will talk about how spending time developing and maintaining relationships with people who are practicing in the fields she is interested in, doing a lot of listening (and asking many questions), plus starting small and local, has led to larger, funded projects that have provided tools for practitioners at grass roots level.  

She will also stress the importance of researchers presenting and packaging their research findings as tools to solve problems, rather than a mass of insights that need translating into practice.

Professor Cordia Chu AM

Director, Centre for environment and Population Health, Griffith University

An overview of Healthy Environment and Lives (HEAL): The national Australian  network for human health and environmental change  

Climate change is intensifying and increasing the severity of disasters and extreme events, displacing people, and posing global health security threats.  Despite mounting evidence that impacts will jeopardize even our next generation, research has provided few actionable solutions. In this context, the NHMRC set “resilience to environmental change, emerging health threats and emergencies” as one of its strategic priorities for action in 2018-21.

It initiated a $10Million grant to provide a catalyst for improving Australia’s capability and capacity in human health and environmental change research, by supporting a single, multidisciplinary, nationally-focused, collaborative network of researchers across Australia. The winner of this competitive grant was a national network: the Healthy Environment and Living (HEAL) network, with 100 investigators across the nation.

This presentation will provide a brief overview of the HEAL network. It will first discuss the global context driving the funding agencies’ agenda and priorities. It will then explain the Network's aims, research agenda, governance and membership, and introduce its activities thus far.   

Associate Professor Fiona Charlson

HMRC Research Fellow at the Queensland Centre of Mental Health Research and School of Public Health, University of Queensland

A transdisciplinary research network for the mental health impacts of climate

A/Prof Charlson works as a psychiatric epidemiologist and health services researcher with strong experience addressing the most challenging global mental health research questions. She leads UQ’s ‘Mental Health and a Changing Climate Transdisciplinary Impact Research Network’, which she established in 2019 in response to the growing need for an evidence base that supports adaptation and mitigation strategies that address the mental health impacts of climate change.

A/Prof Charlson’s technical expertise is highly sought after and has led to collaboration and advisory roles with a wide range of Australian and international stakeholders, including the World Health Organization, United Nations Development Program, US National Institutes of Health, and numerous government and non-government organisations.

Mr Wayne Preedy

Team Manager Emergency Management, Infrastructure & Operations, Townsville City Council

Dr David Henderson

Cyclone Testing Station, James Cook University

Mitigation through communication: Researchers listening to local government and local government listening to researchers

The Townsville City Council and the Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University have had an ongoing conversation and collaboration since 1977.  The longevity stems from the community we serve and our common values of a safer and resilient community. 

This ongoing collaboration is nurtured and continued by many different people over the time as we see ourselves as custodians of the partnership. The TCC is a benefactor of the CTS and is a member of the Station’s Advisory Board.  Just as roles and responsibilities of disaster management have evolved within TCC, so too has our collaboration which in the early years was with the city Architect and building inspectors to now working with the TCC Local Disaster Management Group with a focus on mitigation strategies and community awareness.

Mr Andrew Gissing

CEO, Natural Hazards Research Australia

 Australia’s Natural Hazards Research Capability

Natural Hazards Research Australia is the national centre for natural hazard resilience and disaster risk reduction. 

Our purpose is for research to be useful, actionable and supportive of better decision-making to save lives and protect communities. We are a new Centre but we are building on two decades of research through the Bushfire CRC and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Our research will serve government, industry and the community – we want our partners to have high expectations.

As a Centre, we need to conduct the ‘right’ research that builds safer, more resilient and sustainable communities. Despite the gains, Australia can’t keep doing things the same – we need new thinking and new knowledge. We want to hear your ideas, explore partnership opportunities and get participation in our programs. Be active, be engaged.

Dr Lochlan Morrissey

Hazard and Risk Unit, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services

Enhancing the knowledge base for tropical cyclone risk in Queensland: A collaboration between science and emergency management

This presentation will provide an overview of the development and finding the Severe Wind Hazard Assessment for Queensland – SWHA(Q).

The SWHA(Q) was a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia (GA) and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) which provides the realistic and tangible potential physical impacts of a tropical cyclones to Queensland communities and the environment.

As part of this project, five regional areas were chosen for targeted assessments: Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone, and the Gold Coast. The project has also carried out additional impact assessments for the indigenous communities of Yarrabah, Pormpuraaw and Kowanyama.  The SWHA(Q) utilised scenarios from Geoscience Australia's Tropical Cyclone Hazard Assessment (TCHA18), integrating the most up to date building exposure and vulnerability information available in Queensland into the National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) to determine potential impact. This analysis has enabled the project to develop the information required to guide planning and long-term risk mitigation strategies for Queensland’s tropical cyclone futures.

Dr Lisa Schuster

School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, Queensland University of Technology 

Professor Amisha Mehta

School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, Queensland University of Technology 

Connecting the dots: What community understanding of floods means for warning design

Following natural hazard emergencies, Government Reviews, Inquiries, and Royal Commissions, often recommend the enhancement of disaster resilience education and emergency information and warnings systems. To support the translation of these recommendations into policy and practice, this presentation shares evidentiary research at this nexus between community education and warnings. Specifically, this presentation aims to connect the dots of community perceptions and understanding prior to, within, and following flood events to support positive outcomes for the sector and community.

This presentation draws on findings and insights from a sustained program of research including:

• community and expert interviews in 2021 about general flood risk and knowledge in South East Queensland
• community interviews in 2022 about post-flood responses in South East Queensland
• flood warning re-design and community testing in New South Wales in 2018
• community focus groups, dam release notification re-design, and community testing in 2016.

This body of work highlights the importance of locating community members at the heart of education and warning design and good practice principles for community disaster education and warnings to support disaster management practice and community safety.

Dr Alastair Stark

Associate Professor in Public Policy, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland

Lesson-Learning and Dynamic Capacity in Queensland’s Disaster Management Community

Effective lesson learning requires much more than identifying a lesson and drafting it into a recommendation. A framework of activities is required to bring lessons off the page and into reality. In this regard identified lessons need to be translated and communicated into a variety of contexts; they need to be properly resourced and implemented with energy; and, perhaps most importantly, they need to be institutionalised in ways which ensure they are still alive when the next event arrives. In other words, lessons need to have ‘dynamic capacity’ which is defined as an ability to move across organisations and survive across time.

In collaboration with the Inspector General of Emergency Management, this project is examining the barriers and facilitators of dynamic capacity in relation to lesson learning in Queensland via interviews with disaster management agencies in the state. The findings produced will be used to start a collaborative conversation with those agencies about how we can translate, implement, and remember lessons more effectively. The end goal is to develop a ‘dynamic repository’ for learned lessons in Queensland.

Mr Collin Sivalingum

State Emergency Services Manager, Queensland, Australian Red Cross

Click here to view Collin's poster

Lesson-learning and dynamic capacity in Queensland’s Disaster Management community

Evidence shows that Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities are disproportionately impacted by disaster events due to a variety of factors, ranging from inadequate access to or knowledge of information and support services; communication and language issues; and social isolation. As Australian society continues to diversify and disasters increase in frequency, complexity and intensity, culturally inclusive emergency management strategies are needed to build resilience at the community and sectoral levels, in order to alleviate long-term systemic pressure.

This Australian Red-Cross led project, in collaboration with Griffith University and relevant Queensland key stakeholders, aims to

1. better equip CALD community leaders and migration support organisations with knowledge and skills to support their communities before, during and after disasters;
2. enhance capacities of emergency management stakeholders to provide culturally informed services to disaster-impacted communities at all phases of emergency management;
3. increase connections, mutual understanding and trust between emergency management actors, CALD communities and migration support organisations;
4. empower CALD communities with representation in emergency management decision-making forums; and
5. develop relevant and usable tools for risk communication and integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation planning to build resilient and future-prepared communities.
6. The presentation will explain the concept, aims, methodology and partnership formation of this project

Dr Samantha Lloyd

Manager, Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium, Healthy Land and Water

Mr Michael Castiglione

Graduate Scientist, Knowledge and Research, Healthy Land and Water

A Post-Disaster Rapid Landscape Assessment Tool: Fire and Floods in Queensland

Healthy Land and Water’s Rapid Landscape Assessment Tool is used to assess actual and potential impacts to ecological assets following natural disasters. South East Queensland (SEQ) has experienced two major natural disasters in recent years, the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires and February 2022 floods.

During September to December 2019, over ten bushfires affected some of SEQ’s highest-valued natural areas, including World Heritage listed Border Ranges, Noosa and coastal sand islands, covering over 100,000ha. Bushfires were mapped on public and private land during and post the event. Real-time satellite imagery was sourced from the Sentinel Hub, including atmospheric filters and short-wave infra-red bands. Fire impacts were assessed across all tenures and included matters of environmental significance, threatened species, waterways, known cultural heritage, and economic impacts. Results informed funding applications and subsequent recovery investment.

The February 2022 rainfall event affected many SEQ catchments, with >1m of rain contributing to major river heights and widespread flooding. Rapid Landscape Assessment recorded volume of sediments mobilized, and impacts to waterways, biodiversity assets, and known cultural heritage. Flood imagery was sourced through the Queensland Government Spatial Imagery Subscription Plan and Nearmap. The inclusion of an online reporting tool allowed community to upload photos and stories, aiding in the validation of desktop assessment and flood recovery efforts.

Key strengths of the Rapid Landscape Assessment Tool include the application of a tenure-blind, comprehensive database to landscapes and catchments, supporting immediate engagement with key stakeholders, facilitating the efficiency of recovery responses and better informing resilience planning to mitigate future risk.