This introduction by Board Chair Iain MacKenzie features in Natural Hazards Research Australia's Annual Progress Report 2022-23.
Natural hazards have a seemingly endless capacity to challenge us, not only in Australia but globally. Australia’s recent history of flood, fire, storm and heat have been matched by devastating events around the world.
The role of Natural Hazards Research Australia is to develop the knowledge and insights to better manage the impacts of natural hazards, as they combine with changes in climate, demographics, technology and other societal-wide factors. As conditions around us are changing at an alarming rate, so must we change and be innovative in what we think and what we do.
This Annual Progress Report 2022-23 presents our achievements in building upon our strategic direction with a growing network of Participants and a targeted national research program.
We have been working closely with the Australian Government on ensuring our growing research program remains aligned to our strategic direction. The involvement of Brendan Moon, the Coordinator General of the National Emergency Management Agency, at both the 2022 and 2023 Natural Hazards Research Forums, provided us with important guidance and support. In his 2023 Forum talk, he offered three questions that, in plain language, address the fundamentals of our strategy:
- How do we prepare communities to adequately respond to hazards and disaster events when they don’t know what’s coming, don’t understand their risk, and aren’t alerted early enough?
- How do we develop a nationally consistent approach to common emergency management challenges across the states and territories?
- How do we catalyse communities to put climate and sustainable development at the centre of their actions?
The Annual Progress Report 2022-23 shows exactly how we are starting to answer these questions.
We have moved beyond simply describing the problems, by building a network to work together on the solutions. This is what the Natural Hazards Research Australia does best – developing research that is useful, usable and used. Our research outputs are more than high-quality academic products – they are in the hands of those who are making decisions and creating policies in government, business and the community.
Our purpose is to provide a national natural hazards research capability – one that addresses the complex and difficult questions surrounding natural hazards. Our Be Ahead of Ready workshops this year were a further prompt for the sector to be more innovative in defining research that meets the challenge. As more Participants join the Centre, the research becomes enriched by both the depth and diversity of those who contribute.
Our strategy is based on utilisation and engagement on a national scale. Everything we do is driven by the Participants in the Centre and the communities they represent. The research is all shaped, developed, monitored and supported by those who will ultimately use it, giving it the best possible chance of being relevant and useful from the start. Our model is flexible, so that our funding decisions are responsive to the changing needs of the environment.
As the world seeks a better understanding of how to manage frequent and severe natural hazards, the Centre and its Participants take on that challenge for Australia. Together, that journey is well underway, and this Annual Progress Report 2022-23 is an informative account of our second year.
Below you can watch videos of Iain MacKenzie and CEO Andrew Gissing reflecting on the Centre's progress throughout the financial year.