Understanding the resilience of lifelines for regional and remote communities

Informed by a cross-disciplinary, international literature review, stakeholder engagement and testing of methods in a case study setting, the project will help establish common understanding of lifeline resilience and the knowledge needed to improve it. 

It addresses the following questions: 

• What is known about lifelines in general and in the Australian context specifically? What are the key issues? 

• How can lifeline resilience be conceptualised? What elements need to be incorporated? 

• How can lifeline resilience be analysed? What do different disciplines, approaches and methods offer? 

• Overall, what are the key research questions and needs around lifeline resilience in Australia?

Through the collaborative development of a framework for lifeline resilience, this project will deliver five main outcomes: 

1. Increased knowledge about Australia’s lifeline characteristics, interconnections, vulnerabilities, strengths, needs and opportunities for improving resilience, of relevance to practitioners and researchers. 

2. New connections and conversations between professionals in diverse sectors and areas about their shared role within and reliance upon lifelines, improving resilience literacy and enhancing the potential for collaborative solutions.  

3. New understanding of the insights that different research approaches and disciplines can provide around lifeline resilience. 

4. New insights about the case study region (proposed to be NE Victoria) and the relationship between critical infrastructure and the main hazards recently experienced in the area. 

5. Understanding of the primary research needs and opportunities around lifeline resilience in Australia to strategically inform future work at NHRA and other organisations.