Three innovative projects, their researchers and end-users were recognised for their research excellence at the annual Natural Hazards Research Australia Awards, presented at the Natural Hazards Research Forum 2026 in Adelaide this afternoon.
Hosted by Natural Hazards Research Australia runs from 10 to 12 June at the National Wine Centre with the theme Leading to impact for safer, more resilient and sustainable communities reflecting the Centre’s commitment to translating rigorous research into practical outcomes for the people and communities most at risk.
POSTGRADUATE STUDENT AWARD
Sathurshan Mathavanayakam, Queensland University of Technology
Investigation on the axial and in-plane shear behaviour of masonry walls made of mortarless interlocking concrete blocks
Demonstrating high quality research through a combination of innovation, thorough testing and practical relevance, Sathurshan Mathavanayakam from Queensland University of Technology addresses the important and growing challenge of safer, faster and more affordable housing reconstruction after natural hazards.
Using LEGO-inspired interlocking concrete block systems and adapting them for structural housing purposes, Sathurshan’s project explored mortarless interlocking concrete masonry systems to significantly reduce building time, lower labour demands and decrease construction costs while still maintaining the structural performance required for housing.
Sathurshan’s project findings support the potential for faster post-disaster rebuilding, reduced labour dependency, lower construction costs and safer housing outcomes while achieving performance comparable to traditional construction systems.
This has important real-world impact, especially in post-disaster recovery, where rapid rebuilding can reduce displacement, restore housing sooner, and support affected communities more effectively.
RESEARCH TEAM AWARD
Dr Peter Hayes, CQ University and the Enhancing decision making in emergency management research project team
Adopting a human centred design methodology, Dr Hayes and his team put active end-user knowledge to co-create, develop solutions and evaluate products at the centre of their project.
This helps create a national approach to ways of working, training systems, processes and the management of decision making across the sector to build towards next generation capability that ensures Australia’s disaster management capabilities are a step ahead in the coming decades.
Developed in close conjunction with end-users, forming a development team of industry partners from Tasmania Fire Service, Fire & Rescue New South Wales, NSW SES, and the SA National Parks and Wildlife Service. This group was separate from the Project Management Committee and was instrumental in iteratively developing and field testing the project outputs.
As stated by end-users, “the research, reports, journal articles, resources, aide-memoires, and checklists have had a meaningful impact…in elevating the overall capability of incident managers in the sector,” and “using these resources has measurably improved how we prepare for complex incidents. The guidance is practical, easy to apply under pressure, and has strengthened decision consistency across our teams.”
LEADING TO IMPACT AWARD
Emergency management volunteering: More than just words project
Celeste Young and Roger Jones, Victoria University
This end-user-led project has built a bridge between federal government policy development and practical application of action through the AFAC Volunteering Management Technical Group (VMTG).
Ms Young and the team from Victoria University’s innovative transdisciplinary approach uses a systems-based approach to ensure project outputs can be integrated into existing systems.
The eco-system approach considered emergency management volunteering from community, organisational and policy perspectives. Focused on action, the project required an approach that would bring together theory and practice to support and enable the action required.
The project’s Emergency Management Sustainable Volunteering Blueprint: Strategic Framework and Emergency Management Sustainable Volunteering Blueprint: Interim Action Plan are both endorsed by the VMTG, with the group is using the Interim Plan to inform their annual plans and activities for the group.
The collaboration with the VMTG has been central to the research and they have been active participants in the research process. The group scoped and championed the research proposal with the Centre, actively contributed and participated with the research through three workshops, meetings and feedback for outputs and research findings during the process.
QUOTE
“Each of this year’s award winners has taken a real-world problem facing the emergency sector — rebuilding homes after disaster, making life-of-death decisions under pressure, sustaining our volunteer workforce — and produced research that agencies and communities can actually use. That is the measure of research excellence, and I congratulate all three on thoroughly deserved recognition.”
— Andrew Gissing, CEO - Natural Hazards Research Australia