In late February to early March 2022, the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales experienced extreme rainfall and record floods, causing significant and lasting impacts on people, the environment and the economy.
In recognition of the significant recovery effort ahead and in response to the ongoing risk of future flooding, the NSW Government launched the largest program of its kind in Australian history – the Resilient Homes Program (RHP) – in October 2022.
Post-disaster reconstruction incentivisation programs, such as the RHP, have been adopted on the basis that investing in resilience measures in the home can significantly reduce the effort, cost and time to recover from disasters.
Overall, studies investigating key indicators for evaluating post-disaster shelters were too focused on outputs, rather than outcomes and the impact of resilience on communities. Therefore, this research will provide actionable findings that improve the responsiveness and efficacy of recovery activities and ultimately enhance the resilience of communities.
This research project will provide an evaluation of:
- Resilient Homes Program (RHP) and the RHP component of the Central West Recovery and Resilience Package design (CWRRP), implementation and engagement with stakeholders
- achievement of desired outcomes, including how key aspects of these programs have supported disaster-affected communities to:
- increase their resilience, thus increasing their ability to withstand and recover from future disasters
- become more sustainable, increasing their capacity to manage their own recovery without government assistance.
If you would like to contact the research team, you can email them at resilience@uq.edu.au
