A virtual panel urges that disaster management for resilience be a core concern for leaders and says locally-led recovery from natural disasters, supported by state and federal governments, is key to improving hazard resilience within Australian communities.

Experts on the panel, held by Griffith University, included Suncorp Executive Manager Government, Industry & Public Policy Joshua Cooney and Brendan Moon, CEO at Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA), which is Australia’s only permanent disaster recovery agency.

Mr Moon says communities in his state have found themselves in a “perpetual state of recovery” after experiencing 80 natural disasters in Queensland, from floods and cyclones to bushfires, since 2011.

Regions reconstruct buildings only to have them damaged and destroyed in events only two years later.

“We require deep connections between all sectors between local, state and the Commonwealth governments, but importantly the private sector and also academic institutions,” Mr Moon said. “We need to collaborate because this is a multidisciplinary problem.”

“In 2022, our aim is to not only have that ability to support recovery, but it is also to have locally-led and place-based approaches to strengthen disaster resilience.”

Griffith Sciences’ School of Engineering and Built Environment Associate Professor Cheryl Desha told the panel Australia is facing “unprecedented complexity” in attempting to manage multiple disasters at the same time, including COVID, and this was “leaving us in an ‘always on’ environment for decision-making and our leadership.”

Ms Desha said leaders were facing the “here-and-now” question of how to rapidly adapt.

“Colleagues and organisations around Australia and internationally are engaging with disaster management for resilience, tackling unprecedented challenges and, perhaps, unprecedented opportunities for improving our resilience of infrastructure in our communities for future disasters,” she said.

Also on the panel were Queensland Inspector-General of Emergency Management Alistair Dawson and representatives from the Australian Red Cross and local government.