National Disaster Risk Reduction

Funded by the National Disaster Risk Reduction (NDRR) Grants Program, GGA will lead a body of work in Western Australia to build preparedness and resilience in Grower Groups to enhance relief and recovery efforts following an emergency response.

As Western Australia is expected to suffer increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters, past events have highlighted critical challenges including restricted access to rural areas, communication breakdowns, an appropriate focus on densely populated townsites. In these situations, grower groups are called upon to address immediate crises in their communities, a role for which they are historically unprepared for.

This project seeks to engage and prepare the grower group network, and their 4000 farming enterprise members, to respond immediately and participate effectively with appropriate emergency service agencies and to further build their natural disaster preparedness and resilience.

Natural disaster response and recovery is not a typical role of grower groups, but often times groups can be ‘thrown in the deep end’ of a disaster with minimal understanding of roles, responsibilities and what is required to support their communities and members.

This project seeks to understand the areas of support that may be requested of Grower Groups in the aftermath of an emergency and to build their preparedness and resilience through a capacity building program.

Project Stages

This project will involve 2 phases:

Phase 1

• Identify 5 grower groups across WA that have been impacted by natural disasters in the past; develop a report of lessons learnt and undertake a gap analysis from their lived experiences involved in responding to natural disasters (bushfire, flood, storm, cyclone),
• Develop a ‘toolbox’ of information resources,
• Develop preparedness activity plans including templates for common hazards,
• Develop and deliver pilot training program for 5 grower groups.

Phase 2

• Develop and deliver pilot training program for 5 grower groups
• Review pilot program with grower groups and agencies, implement improvement to training program
• Deliver second workshop (open audience)
• Ongoing – toolbox of resources easily accessible and maintained

Timeline

Project Updates

Key Findings Summary

This report is the first phase of a three-part project to improve emergency preparedness and recovery capacity across Western Australia’s grower group network. It documents the lived experiences of grower groups involved in five major emergencies, drawing on in-depth interviews to identify common challenges, enabling factors, and lessons learned. These insights inform a framework to better integrate grower groups into the State’s emergency management system. Read the report here.

News

Follow Grower Group Alliance and Department of Fire and Emergency Services

Resources

Resources still in development.

Project Team

Contact

For any enquiries please contact Alison Lacey, Project Manager, at alacey@gga.org.au

Collaborators