Towards Community-Led Emergency Resilience project

Adelaide Hills communities have faced several bushfires in recent years, including Sampson Flat, Cherry Gardens, and Cudlee Creek. These experiences highlighted the need for tailored preparedness and recovery approaches.

The Towards Community-Led Emergency Resilience (TCLER) Project, developed through close community collaboration, has addressed various needs and gaps identified during recent recoveries. It has encompassed six key areas:

• Recovery Ready Halls grant program
• Landscape Management Project
• Adelaide Hills Community Action Bushfire Network (AHCABN)
• Bushfires and Other Emergencies webpage
• New council policies, handbooks, and procedures, including a Recovery Operations Manual
• Preparedness workshops for people with disability, children and families, and community groups.

This project has required the Community Resilience Team to work closely with external stakeholders involved in emergency management and has also required a flexible design approach to allow the project to evolve in response to guidance from our community.

Funding

Funding for this program has been successfully gained through two Federal grants and one State funding opportunity:

• Preparing Australian Communities (Local Stream) Grant (PAC). Managed by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources on behalf of the National Emergency Management Agency

• Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant (BSBR). Managed by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources on behalf of the National Emergency Management Agency

• Preventive Health SA (PHSA)

The Recovery Ready Halls Grants Program was available to not-for-profit community organisations that manage facilities accessed by the community (e.g. town halls) in the Adelaide Hills Council area.

Groups were able to apply for the grants to purchase and install amenities and equipment that would assist facilities to be used as Community Support Hubs (CSH) following an emergency event (such as a bushfire). Projects valued up to $40,000 were eligible, and there were 12 successful applications. Each successful application demonstrated that the group had commenced planning for operation as a CSH, following emergencies.

CSH’s provide support to community members after the threat from a disaster has passed. Each CSH needs to reflect the unique needs of the community, the local demographic and the capacity of local volunteers and community groups to coordinate operations.

Some examples of works undertaken, and items purchased through this program are:

• Installation of a new, fire safer rainwater tank.
• Installation of solar panels.
• Purchase and installation of generators.
• Electrical upgrades.

For more information about this project, please contact Vanessa Inkster, Project Support Officer (Community Resilience): vinkster@ahc.sa.gov.au

This project was initiated in response to a lack of community education and understanding around ‘shared responsibility’ in vegetation management. There was previously little information breaking down the responsibilities of residents, Council and other agencies, including state government, in bushfire preparedness.

The outcomes of the project to date include:

• Publication of the AHC Bushfire Mitigation Landscape Strategy and quick reference guide
• Creation of a number of new resources in response to frequently asked questions, including the ‘shared responsibility’ guide, preparing for fire season brochure and Native Vegetation Marker Sites information
• Development of a verge policy and guidelines (currently in draft)
• Establishment of a Cross-Council Bushfire Action Group, with 5 Councils from the Adelaide Mt Lofty Ranges Bushfire Management Area sharing information and resources in vegetation management
• Delivery of a full fire track audit for the Adelaide Hills Council area

Information and resources delivered under this project have focused on the delicate balance between mitigating bushfire risk and protecting the valuable biodiversity of the Adelaide Hills area. The scope of the project has captured roadside verges, private property, Council reserves and state government land.

For more information about this project, please contact Pia Charlton, Landscape Management Project Officer, pcharlton@ahc.sa.gov.au

The Adelaide Hills Community Action Bushfire Network (AHCABN) is a group of volunteers from various hills organisations and community groups (e.g., Rotary, Progress Associations etc.) which aims to support and assist communities with preparation for and recovery from bushfires. AHCABN meets quarterly and a secretariat is currently provided by Adelaide Hills Council through the federally funded Towards Community Led Emergency Resilience program.

AHCABN's aims are:

• Understand the role and the resources which can be provided by a wide range of government and non-government organisations.
• Increase connectivity and collaboration between communities, non-government and emergency agencies.
• Engage and influence local government disaster planning and responses to a fire event.
• Assist local township emergency planning and share information learnt from CFS, local organisations, telco providers.
• Activate during the recovery phase to help affected local communities.

AHCABN was formed in June 2021 following the Cherry Gardens fire of January 2021. Unlike the Cudlee Creek fire of December 2019, which was declared a major emergency and involved significant recovery effort from all levels of government, the Cherry Gardens fire was smaller and not ‘declared’ under the State Emergency Act. As a result, the local community was largely responsible for much of the recovery effort. Smaller fires like this are likely to occur more frequently and the community believed that there needed to be a greater role for local government in these type of non-declared bushfire events especially in preparedness and recovery.

For more information about this project, please contact Vanessa Inkster, Project Support Officer (Community Resilience), vinkster@ahc.sa.gov.au

A key milestone of the Towards Community Led Emergency Resilience project was about improving council's emergency management processes, including recovery response to local communities impacted by natural disasters and other emergencies.

Adelaide Hills Council worked with a highly experienced consultant to:

• Undertake consultation across various departments and with the Executive Leadership Team
• Develop an emergency management policy (an overarching policy including a statement from council about its' role in recovery following various scale emergency events and encompassing incident operations and recovery operations).
• Develop a Recovery Operations Manual.
• Develop Departmental subplans.
• Provide training to relevant staff on implementation of the Recovery Operations Manual.

The Recovery Operations Manual and departmental subplans capture corporate knowledge and lessons learned from previous recovery activations and will be invaluable in guiding staff through future recoveries.

For more information about this project, please contact Vanessa Inkster, Project Support Officer (Community Resilience), vinkster@ahc.sa.gov.au

One of the aims of the TCLER project has been to update Council's website with more comprehensive information about preparing for bushfires and other emergencies. During the project, team members have each collated valuable resources related to the various arms of the project, including psychological preparation, landscape management, and information for various cohorts including families with young children, business owners and farmers.

The new section of the website is designed to be easily navigable by these groups, with information tailored to each cohort and links quickly available to relevant websites.

The Disability Inclusive Emergency Planning (DIEP) project, launched in July 2023 in partnership with The University of Sydney’s Centre for Disability Research and Policy, aimed to advance Person-Centred Emergency Planning (P-CEP) for individuals with disabilities. The initiative focused on empowering these individuals as key contributors to disaster management and increasing awareness of Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR).

Adelaide Hills Council collaborated with partners to:

• Host Community Information Sessions on P-CEP.
• Co-facilitate P-CEP Peer Leader training with Queenslanders with Disability Network.
• Establish the P-CEP Peer Leader Network for community education and advocacy.
• Participate in the People at Risk in Emergencies Network, facilitated by SACOSS and the Australian Red Cross, contributing to state-level emergency planning.
• Develop and test disability-inclusive emergency management tools with The University of Sydney.

These actions have increased awareness and involvement in DIDRR within Adelaide Hills and South Australia, supporting efforts to integrate disability inclusivity into emergency planning and response.

Adelaide Hills Council collaborated with Emerging Minds, the Department of Human Services (DHS), and the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) to enhance disaster preparedness by integrating a stronger focus on psychological preparedness within their community education workshops and resources. This collaboration included:

• Incorporating content from Emerging Minds’ Community Trauma Toolkit into DHS' Building Coping Skills in Children workshop.
• Creating a dedicated section on Council’s website for children and young people.
• Redesigning CFS workshops to address psychological preparedness, including strategies for preparing children for emergencies.

These initiatives offer practical support for individuals and families to better prepare for disasters psychologically.

We partnered with the Australian Red Cross to deliver RediCommunities workshops in several locations throughout our LGA. The workshops aimed to empower communities to build resilience by identifying strengths, vulnerabilities, and actions. Through these sessions, participants gain practical skills and knowledge to enhance disaster preparedness and response. The workshops focus on interactive training that helps communities develop effective emergency plans, coping strategies, and resource management techniques, tailored to their specific needs.

For more information about these projects, please contact Sophie Millsteed, Community Resilience Officer, smillsteed@ahc.sa.gov.au