Neil Dufty
I am a Principal at Molino Stewart Pty Ltd, an Australian environment and natural hazards consultancy with research interests in the community aspects of emergency management and disaster resilience. My environmental research interests include linear reserve environmental management, environmental education and environmental reporting.
I have expert capabilities in:
- Facilitation
- Stakeholder engagement
- School and community education
- Designing early warning systems
- Evaluation
- Strategic planning
- Publications.
I have expert capabilities in:
- Facilitation
- Stakeholder engagement
- School and community education
- Designing early warning systems
- Evaluation
- Strategic planning
- Publications.
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Papers by Neil Dufty
To better understand the effectiveness of the WFMS implementation, an innovative research framework was developed to provide insight into the complex nexus between:
• contributing factors (e.g. flood experience, risk perception, demographics)
• indicators of community preparedness and response
• possible interventions (e.g. flood education and engagement, warning systems, insurance).
The research framework was used in a social research project covering six flood-prone communities in the Wimmera region. A community survey related to the research framework was developed and distributed to selected residences across five flood risk categories up to the PMF.
The social research provided intriguing insight into the psychological and sociological complexities and interrelationships in which the WFMS is bedded. It found low preparedness levels across the region, potential reasons for these low levels and possible interventions to help increase the levels. It identified aspects of community response which require attention including unwillingness to evacuate and willingness to drive through floodwaters. The high levels of social capital in the region auger well for community support mechanisms in future floods.
This methodology has universal appeal in helping to understand and improve community disaster preparedness and response.
• understand the potential use of community engagement in the floodplain management process
• practise a range of community engagement methods suitable to the floodplain management process
• design a community engagement plan
• communicate flood information in non-technical terms for a community audience
Disaster resilience education (DRE) equips young Australians with the skills and confidence to take protective actions before, during and after an emergency or disaster.
The guidance in this handbook provides organisations with high-level principles and strategies to design, implement and evaluate learning programs and initiatives for young people. It provides a context for youth engagement and learning communities as part of a broader community engagement and capacity-building strategy to reduce disaster risk and enhance resilience.
In Australia, state and territory governments have primary responsibility for protecting life, property and the environment within their jurisdictions. The Australian Government plays an important role in partly funding the emergency capacity of the states and territories, coordinating response for emergencies that occur across jurisdictions, and partly funding disaster relief and recovery. For some hazards such as flood, tropical cyclone and tsunami, the Australian Government provides warnings to potentially impacted communities. Local government is responsible for local emergency management and decision-making and plays a key role in emergency management due to its knowledge of its own economy, infrastructure and social environment, including community needs and capabilities
All state and territory emergency agencies rely heavily on volunteers. Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) such as the Australian Red Cross play an important role in increasing preparedness and providing recovery support.
There is no overarching national disaster legislation and therefore no single legal position on emergency management arrangements in Australia. Each state and territory government has established emergency response agencies tailored to its hazard risks, as well as overarching emergency or disaster management legislation and plans in which the roles of various agencies are set out.
There is a move toward building disaster resilience in Australia particularly through the implementation of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience. This is required due largely to the future risks associated with climate change and increasing costs of disaster recovery.
In 2016-17, Australia committed $3.61 billion (USD) to emergency management across all levels of government. The fire services attracted by far (94%) the highest level of funding.
The annual expenditure by Australian emergency agencies involves close to an equal split between infrastructure and equipment, and other costs such as salaries. There is some evidence to show that the expenditure has provided benefits such as reduced response times and lower death rates.
However, a SWOT analysis related to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction found some gaps and possible improvements in Australia’s civil protection system. As a result, five recommendations are made:
1. Develop a National Heatwave Emergency Plan
2. Provide greater funding to disaster preparedness and resilience-building, as opposed to recovery
3. Move towards shared responsibility for civil protection
4. Increase funding to non-fire emergency agencies
5. Understand the impacts of climate change on emergency management capacity.
The approach described in the book extends on that promoted by the Australian Government for the development of a TFWS. The extension mainly involves mechanisms to better understand and promote community response, encourage community participation in the development of the local TFWS, and to integrate the components of the TFWS.
I trust the e-book assists in the development of improved flood warning systems, not only in Australia, but around the world.