The project will focus on three communities that are impacted by a bushfire and/or grassfire incident between 2024 to 2026. The selection of the communities will depend on where fires occur and the requests of CFA members for social research over the next two fire seasons. By providing a structured and responsive approach to post event social research, CFA is better able to efficiently and effectively respond to research requests and future fire events.
Social research methods are well placed to understand how information was shared between state, regional and local actors before, during and after a fire and how this information influenced the decisions taken by members of the community and, therefore, the consequences of a fire by:
- understanding the roles of government personnel at state, regional and local levels as well as community members in the sharing of information before, during, and after a bushfire/grassfire.
- understanding how community members responded to bushfires/grassfires and what information/support informed their decisions.
- using the understandings gained from this project to identify opportunities for improvements to policy and practice.
Frequently asked questions
Q) Is there a preference for a project team to be from a single research organisation, or from across multiple organisations?
A) The Centre has no preference for either a single organisation or a multi-organisation project team. EOIs will be accepted from either and will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria in the same way.
Q) Can the proposed project team include researchers from government agencies or research consultancies, as well as university-based researchers?
A) EOIs will be accepted from multi-organisation project teams, and project teams can include researchers at government agencies and research consultancies. The proposed project team's capacity to undertake the project will be evaluated in the same way whether researchers are university-, consultancy- or agency-based.
Q) Would academic salaries (excluding administrative overheads) be eligible to budget?
A) Yes, academic salaries can be included within the project budget, but only when they are direct project costs and their salary is not already covered elsewhere. E.g. the salary costs of a contract researcher who is actively working on the project can be included up to the FTE component they are contributing. However, the salary costs of a tenured academic who is already paid through the university/research organisation would be included as an in-kind contribution up to the amount of their FTE contribution to the project.
Q) What do you mean by "peer review"?
A) This is a quality control process. The final report must be reviewed by someone who is an expert in the field and independent of the project.
Q) At what rate can salary on-costs be charged?
A) Administrative overheads are limited to direct salary-related on-costs. Indirect cost recoveries are not to be included. Other administrative overheads and indirect costs can be included as in-kind contributions. Where the salary on-cost rate exceeds 28% this will need to be justified.
Q) Can equipment costs be included in the budget?
A) Ordinarily, project funds are not to be used to purchase equipment. Where funds for equipment are requested, they will need to be justified
Q) What is the budget for the project?
A) The Centre has not specified a budget for this project intentionally. We request applicants to proposed a budget for what they think they project required to meet the outcomes. The research team should note and consider the value for money criteria when proposing their budget.
Q) Can international research teams apply? Alternatively, can international research teams be part of a consortium bid?
A) International research teams can be part of research projects when they are part of a consortium submission that is led by an Australian research organisation. The international team would need to be subcontracted by the lead Australian based research organisation. Please note that all budget submissions must be in Australian dollars and the lead organisation must bear the cost of funds transfer and responsibility for due diligence as required under Australian Foreign Interference regulations.
Q) Is there an option of registering my interest as an independent researcher that could assist a larger team or are you only able to consider proposals that address the entire project?
A) Yes, you can submit an EOI as an independent researcher addressing part of the project requirements. In the EOI submission form, please outline which aspects of the project you can address. Once the EOI closes, we can consider linking researchers together, although whether or not we can do that will depend on a range of factors, so we can’t guarantee that outcome.
Of course, the other option is to reach out to potential collaborators now about putting in a joint EOI submission that addresses the entire project.
Q) Are there preferred platforms or systems that agencies currently use for capturing and sharing lessons learned? And are there existing NHRA or CFA knowledge management systems you would like us to align with or build upon?
A) This would be discussed and worked through with the preferred provider and the CFA during project planning.
Q) For CFA18 and CFA15, are you seeking two separate providers, or can a group apply to both?
A) A group can apply for both.
