Natural Hazards Research Australia (the Centre), is currently funding an independent post-flood social research project in partnership with the State Emergency Services in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, with support from other emergency management organisations.
This research will explore community experiences of floods across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales between August 2022 and March 2023. It will be completed by academic researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Macquarie University and Monash University, each of whom has extensive experience conducting research with communities.
Community members affected by the floods will be invited via local broadcast, print, social media advertising and telephone to participate in an online survey. The survey will ask about people’s experiences of flood events, experiences of SES and other warnings and information before and during the floods, flood impacts, views on support received, and current health and wellbeing. In selected locations, community members will also be invited to participate in in-depth, face-to-face interviews to explore these topics in more depth. Interviews will focus on the experiences of Indigenous communities, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, as well as community experiences of slow on-set flooding. The survey will be open from early March until the end of April, and face-to-face interviews will begin in April.
The research will be overseen by the relevant university ethics committees and will be conducted in accordance with an ethics plan that manages communities’ and individuals’ sensitivities and trauma associated with the flood event. Community level engagement will be coordinated with local governments and relevant recovery agencies.
This research is also a part of a larger, integrated research project: Community experiences of the 2022 Australia floods. Data collection has concluded in areas of Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania that were affected by floods earlier in 2022, with a report on the findings from the research in Queensland and New South Wales available. In all states, research is conducted in partnership with the relevant emergency service agencies. In addition to state-based reports, an integrated, national level report of key research findings will be produced once the research has been concluded.
This research is likely to influence future emergency management policy regarding warnings and communication, understanding vulnerabilities, identifying ways to better help and support households and communities, and in providing guidance on the most effective approaches to support recovery, and the adaptation of housing to withstand future flooding. Benefits aim to increase individual and community safety, reduce losses for households, and improve resilience to future flooding.
