Studies of how Community Sector Organisations (CSOs) negotiate their role in place-based disaster risk reduction and resilience reveal a fundamental disconnect between the policy aspiration of ‘shared responsibility’ and its operational reality at a grassroots level.
A recent paper published in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management presents findings from an empirical study in South East Queensland about how workers in frontline community sector organisations interpret the concept of shared responsibility. Seven representatives from 6 different community sector organisations were interviewed about what shared responsibility meant to them. The study found that these workers understand this term to involve horizontal service coordination and teamwork between service organisations rather than vertical lines of accountability between government and the community. Study participants described shared responsibility in very context-specific ways and perceived that their role in shared responsibility was often minimised and misunderstood by government agencies. This study also found that the responsibility of property developers and strata scheme operators in risk reduction is confusing and poorly understood. This remains an underexamined area of research. This paper recommends actions that move accountability towards these influential private sector actors. This study demonstrates that despite shared responsibility being a key principle of risk reduction policy, community sector workers are unfamiliar with the term. Reform of policy needs to meaningfully detail how responsibility is shared.
This paper was authored by a research team from QUT Centre for Justice including Monica Taylor, Fiona Crawford, Laurelle Muir, Oscar Davison, Professor Rowena Maguire and Associate Professor Bridget Lewis.
Read the full paper here
This research team have also authored a QUT Centre for Justice Briefing Paper titled, “Community-led disaster management: insights from flood-affected communities across South-East Queensland” as part of a Disaster Justice Briefing Paper Series. See the full series here.
Dr Monica Taylor will be involved in a panel discussion on Friday 21 November at QUT Gardens Point campus hosted by QUT Centre for Justice and QUT Centre for Environment and Society titled, “Navigating Uncertainty: From Reliance to Resilience”. This panel will discuss the complexities of disaster management in a changing world and will include:
Panel Speakers:
- Chair: Professor Vivienne Tippett (Chair, Queensland Disaster Research Alliance)
- Cr Matt Constance (Councillor for City of Moreton Bay and Chair, Local Disaster management Group)
- Jimmy Scott (General Manager Resilience and Recovery, Queensland Reconstruction Authority)
- Melinda McInturff (Community Resilience Coordinator, Community Plus+)
- David Grant (Queensland State Disaster Coordination Centre Meteorologist, Bureau of Meteorology)
- George Hodgson (Director, National Emergency Management Agency)
- Kate Retzki (Director Research and Communications, Office of the Inspector General Emergency Management)
- Dr Monica Taylor (QUT Centre for Justice and School of Law)
You can read more about Monica’s research here
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