The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 identifies the need to promote cooperation between research entities and those involved in emergency management to develop new products that enhance disaster resilience. The Australian National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (PDF 4.4MB) translates the first three Sendai Framework priorities into action for the Australian context with a requirement to strengthen the link between research and operational expertise.
The Disaster Resilience Research Group accepts these challenges and in doing so, aims to enhance their research leadership in disaster resilience both locally in Tasmania, nationally in Australia and internationally.
The Disaster Resilience Research Group spans three colleges at the University of Tasmania. It is based within the College of Arts, Law and Education and run collaboratively with the College of Sciences and Engineering with researchers from the College of Health and Medicine. We are locally based but have a global reach working with a range of stakeholders that represent the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Our goal is to work with government and industry to collectively strengthen society's resilience to disasters.
Banner Image Credit: 2016 Tasmanian Floods, The Examiner
Alignment with CALE Research
The Disaster Resilience Research Group is collaborating with the Department of Premier and Cabinet to identify a horizon scanning framework that will align with the priorities from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework to integrate a suite of plausible future scenarios into Tasmania’s Emergency Risk Management prevention and preparedness planning program.
In partnership with The Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management, the University of Tasmania assisted in undertaking the 2021 Tasmanian State Disaster Risk Assessment. This project enables an all hazard and multi-disciplinary understanding of disaster risks affecting Tasmania. The Disaster Resilience Research Group led a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Tasmania to ensure that specific research subject matter expertise was encompassed into the project.
On behalf of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Disaster Resilience Research Group completed a project that explored how communities impacted by the 2018/19 Tasmanian bushfires recovered in the context of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from this research project can be generalised to the broader Australian recovery efforts.
The Disaster Resilience Research Group worked with the Tasmanian Premier's Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council (PESRAC) and Secretariat to use stretch-thinking techniques in COVID-19 recovery planning for a 3-year time horizon. This project also worked closely with the PESRAC Secretariat and Tasmanian peak bodies to identify strategic opportunities in the state's recovery planning.
This research grant was awarded by the Tasmanian State Emergency Management Program to assist the Tasmanian State Emergency Management Committee in delivering programs to address significant disaster resilience initiatives. The project developed a practical guide so practitioners in the public and not-for-profit sectors can enhance collaboration in the recovery phase of emergency management. The project worked with stakeholders from Tasmanian not-for-profit organisations and those representing multiple public sector agencies that were involved in the 2016 Tasmanian floods.
The team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group were invited by the Australian Department of Home Affairs to update and enhance the current the Organisational Resilience HealthCheck Tool and Organisational Resilience Good Business Guide to ensure it is contemporary and fit for purpose, particularly following the recent amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act 2018.
The team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group led by Dr Stellmach are part of a broader national project that is investigating the community experiences of the 2022 eastern Australia floods project, but will focus on learning firsthand from people who were impacted by the 2022 floods in northern Tasmania and apply their lessons to future flood preparedness
The team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group were approached by Natural Hazards Research Australia to provide research expertise for a collaborative thought leadership piece between Natural Hazards Research Australia and KPMG. The project developed a series of case studies for industry that explore how technology can be maximized for intelligent decision-making in uncertainty within the context of emergency management.
The team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group have been awarded a 3-year Australian Research Council project. Commencing in December 2021, this project will create new knowledge by exploring how Futures-Thinking Teams can be implemented into organisations in the context of crisis management, and how they can enhance collaboration and build trusting relationships within and between teams.
In Phase 1 of the COVID-19 Recovery Project, the Disaster Resilience Research Group collaborated with the Western Australian (WA) Government State Recovery Coordination Unit. Using Stretch-thinking techniques, the project identified a series of recovery scenarios for WA across a 12-month time horizon that explored the likely consequences, constraints, and opportunities for the social and economic recovery environments.
In Phase 2 of this project, the team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group collaborated with Emergency Management Australia and multiple Australian jurisdictions to identify recovery scenarios for a 12-month and 3-year time horizon. This project used Stretch-Thinking Loops to develop a national picture of the potential post COVID-19 recovery landscape.
A 3-year research grant supported two interrelated projects. The first project explored decision-making in dynamic, complex, and uncertain situations where decision makers are required to manage their cognitive limitations, so they can successfully manage the consequences of their decisions. The second project worked to better understand the enablers and constraints to utilising research to support development of evidence-informed practice.
A 12-month research utilisation grant developed training materials and activities that were used to up-skill a cohort of personnel from participating end-user agencies. These personnel are now to able train their colleagues in the use of the non-technical skills and practices so they can be embedded as part of core business in emergency management.
The team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group is collaborating with the University of Southern Queensland as part of an international project led by EDHEC Business School. The Future FITness project seeks to investigate an organisation’s capability to anticipate and assess drivers of change, understand systemic effects and foresee consequences to take a proactive posture towards change. The project will work with Australian companies to compare the need and maturity of their strategic foresight capabilities.
This research was part of the Bangladesh Urban Resilience Project funded by the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh and managed by C3NTRE. The overarching goal was to create a professional emergency management training track across various levels of government in Bangladesh. The Disaster Resilience Research Group conducted an evaluation of leading research related to the proposed training tracks to identify best evidence-based practice that was incorporated into the curriculum. The Disaster Resilience Research Group also contributed to the development of a monitoring framework, including performance indicators to monitor and evaluate the progress, and effects of the program.
Ben is a human factors researcher with interests in measuring and improving human and organisational performance in high risk work environments.
Steve is a human factors researcher with an interest in understanding how we can improve human capabilities to enhance organisational resilience.
Chris is a human factors researcher investigating communication, co-ordination and teamwork practices in high intensity and safety critical work environments.
A medical anthropologist, Darryl studies how individuals and organisations understand and respond to large-scale human crisis. He has a special interest in collaborative frameworks for disaster response.
Cameron is a public policy researcher with an interest in disaster resilience policy focussing on how public policy can contribute to enhancing infrastructure resilience.
Adeel is an experienced humanitarian worker whose thesis is investigating the role of emotional intelligence led trust in improving the capability of disaster response teams.
Olly is a research assistant with an interest in quantitative methodologies and is currently studying psychology.
Ebba is a social scientist with an intertest in qualitative research techniques that she uses to unpack complex social problems.
26 June 2023
The Disaster Resilience Research Group was invited by Mel Bush from the ABC to participate in the Tasmania Saturday’s radio program. Darryl spoke on the Saturday morning show about the Natural Hazards Research Australia flood study project, and specifically the Northern Tasmania flood project he is leading. The interview focussed on how the work feeds into broader federal agendas for disaster preparedness.
24 March 2023
The Disaster Resilience Research Group was invited by the Australian Department of Home Affairs to present at the inaugural Cyber and Infrastructure Security Conference. The conference was attended by 550 in person participants and 1000 participants that joined via the live stream. Steve provided an interactive presentation titled ‘Assessing Your Organisation’s Resilience’ that was based on the work the University of Tasmania was conducting updating the Australian Government publication, Organisation Resilience Good Business Guide.
31 October – 2 November 2022
In collaboration with the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), Ben and Steve presented at this international conference in Denmark on Scenario Planning in Crisis Governance. Together with Jacob Jeppesen from DEMA, the team explored how their collective research is advancing Pandora Cells in the public and private sectors.
13 October 2022
The Disaster Resilience Research Group was invited by Natural Hazards Australia Research to take part on a panel session at their inaugural research forum. Cameron presented on the 'Resilient and sustainable built environments' session with Dr Adriana Keating from Monash University, Prof Alan March from the University of Melbourne, and Jeremy Mansfield from Lend Lease and Green Cross Australia, to examine how a focus on lifelines and interactions within complex human-built environment systems can deepen our understanding of resilience and support the goals of the Australian Disaster Risk Reduction Framework.
29 July 2022
The Disaster Resilience Research Group were invited by Fire and Rescue New South Wales to attend the retirement function of the Assistant Commissioner Rob McNeil. The Assistant Commissioner led the Australian Urban Search and Rescue Team to Japan in 2011 and has been working with the team at the Disaster Resilience Research Group to conduct research on his decision-making. On behalf of the University of Tasmania, Ben and Steve presented the Assistant Commissioner with a certificate of gratitude for over a decade of contribution to research at the University.
26 July 2022
The Disaster Resilience Research Group was invited by nbn to facilitate a roundtable panel discussion as part of the global Business Continuity Awareness Week 2022 campaign. Steve facilitated the virtual interactive session with a panel of resilience subject matter experts from Chorus NZ, the ABC, the Business Continuity Institute, and nbn. The event was livestreamed to nbn personnel across the country.
7 June 2022
The Disaster Resilience Research Group was invited by the International Association of Emergency Managers (iAEM) Oceania Council to present at their webinar series. The webinar was attended by emergency managers representing local government, state government, and Australian businesses. Steve presented at the webinar exploring the role of scenario planning in the context of emergency management.
22-24 March 2022
The Disaster Resilience Research Group was invited by Special Response and Counter-Terrorism at Tasmania Police to provide a presentation on organisational resilience. The Crowded Places Forum was attended by people from local government, state government, and the business sector. Steve presented to the forum in Carrick and in Hobart exploring with the participants how scenario planning could be used to enhance organisational resilience in the context of crowded places.
17-18 February 2022
The Disaster Resilience Research Group hosted Michael Fearne from pivotalplay who conducted a LEGO® Serious Play® facilitator training workshop with members from the Disaster Resilience Research Group and personnel from the Tasmanian State Service. The workshop allowed all the participants to explore how they could encompass this innovative technique into their emergency management work..
9 September 2021
The Disaster Resilience Research Group were invited by the National Security College at the Australian National University to present at a meeting exploring the latest futures thinking techniques. Ben presented on the Stretch Thinking Loops and applicability for government scenario planning. He joined other presenters, that were all futures thinking scholars, from Stanford University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Queensland.
23 August 2021
Ben and Steve conducted a workshop with Tasmania Government personnel on their latest Futures Thinking research. Participants were introduced to Stretch Thinking Loops, a structured analytical technique for scenario planning that has been used for COVID-19 recovery planning with state and federal governments. The interactive workshop explored how Tasmanian Government agencies could implement a Futures Thinking team into their current arrangements.
28-29 June 2021
Ben and Steve conducted workshops with Tasmania State Emergency Service and Tasmania Fire Service as part of a utilisation project with the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC). Ben and Steve took the participants through a training workshop, based on research from a previous BHHCRC project, that can be delivered to their agency's personnel to enhance their decision-making capabilities. The workshop was conducted with both face-to-face and virtual participants in a positive learning environment.
Photo by Cheryl Ames (Tasmania SES)
22 February 2021
The Disaster Resilience Research Group were invited to participate in the inaugural Tasmanian Red Cross Community-Led Recovery Roundtable. Ebba represented the Disaster Resilience Research Group and heard from an expert panel session discuss community-led recovery in practice. The participants then worked in small groups to explore the recovery opportunities and challenges in Tasmania.
Photo of Craig Limkin, Deputy Secretary, Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the Tasmanian Government. (Photo by Ebba Herrlander Birgerson)
4 & 5 March 2020
Collaborating with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services in Western Australia, Ben and Steve conducted a series of workshops on stretch thinking in the context of disaster recovery. Training sessions were provided on cognitive tools for creating psychological safe decision-making environments, managing bias and enhancing creativity in decision-making. The participants used these and stretch thinking techniques to imagine potential recovery scenarios for a hypothetical high consequence but low probability disaster.
13 February 2020
Ben and Steve conducted a workshop for SunWater on stretch thinking in crisis management. The interactive workshop explored decision making in high consequence but low probability disasters in the context of catastrophic dam failures. The participants explored the influence of psychological safety, managing cognitive bias and explored examples of best practice decision-making in the critical infrastructure sector.
10 October 2019
Ben and Steve worked with Seqwater to facilitate a multi-agency emergency management discussion exercise that created both a training and learning environment for participants that was based on contemporary research. The training exercise introduced participants to a psychological safety checklist and cognitive biases aide mémoire that were used during the exercise. Ben and Steve provided the teams with coaching throughout the exercise on how to use cognitive tools and explored how they could be used in operational practice.
6 September 2019
In partnership with the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet and a research utilisation grant from the Bushfire and a Natural Hazards CRC, Ben and Steve conducted two 1-day stretch-thinking workshops in the context of disaster recovery. The workshops held in Adelaide used Ben and Steve's research on creativity in decision making to explore a complex scenario that would challenge South Australia's current emergency management arrangements. Participants also represented recovery agencies from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
8 August 2019
Steve presented the research outputs from the Disaster Resilience Research Group's involvement with the Tasmanian State Emergency Management Program at this local forum for organisations representing the not-for-profit sector. The research output, a practical guide titled, Collaborating in emergency management: a guide for Tasmanian not-for-profit participation, was launched by Mellissa Gray, State Recovery Advisor at the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
10-12 June 2019
Steve presented at this international conference in Sweden on the research he and Ben have conducted with the commander of the Australian USAR team that were deployed to Japan following the megadisaster in 2011. This opportunity afforded the DRRG to foster relationships with a number of internationally recognised Disaster Research Centres from Europe and North America.
One of the fundamental goals of our research is to translate the knowledge created into educating and training people about disaster resilience. We have used our research and expertise in this area to develop a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate units aligned to the topic of disaster resilience.
The Australian National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (PDF 4.4MB) outlines a national, comprehensive approach to proactively reducing disaster risk, now and into the future. The following table outlines how our research is contributing to the four priorities identified in the 'Framework' at a micro-level.
National Priority 1: Understand disaster risk
Strategy D: Integrate plausible future scenarios into planning
Contribution: During the discussion exercises in our decision making workshops, participants explore scenario-based risk assessments that are designed to inform complex decisions that are used for navigating future uncertainties.
National Priority 2: Accountable decisions
Strategy C: Build the capability and capacity of decision-makers to actively address disaster risk in policy, program and investment decisions
Contribution: Our research is producing guidance materials to build the capability of decision-makers, so they can manage their cognitive limitations when addressing current and future disaster risks and the potential impacts within their area of responsibility.
National Priority 3: Enhanced investment
Strategy D: Identify additional current and future potential funding streams
Contribution: Together with our end users, we are proactively utilising existing funding pathways available at the BNHCRC for utilisation projects that transition research outcomes to changed practices that meet the needs of organisations with a role in disaster governance arrangements.
National Priority 4: Governance, ownership and responsibility
Strategy D: Create clear governance pathways for pursuing disaster risk reduction projects
Contribution: Our research investigating creativity in decision complexity is aligning these decision-making practices across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to allow a holistic approach to prioritising disaster risks and formulating potential actions to reduce and manage them.
A full range of publications relevant to the Disaster Resilience Research Group can be found on our researcher's full profiles linked above. These include journal articles, books, chapters in books, reviews, conference publications, thesis, and other public outputs.
