Disaster Resilient: Future Ready

Disaster Resilient: Future Ready is a national initiative that supports remote, rural & regional communities to lead initiatives that improve wellbeing, increase preparedness and strengthen resilience. This enables them to have greater capacity to endure, adapt and evolve positively when faced with the impacts of climate, disasters and other disruptions.

Over several-years, FRRR works at a hyper-local level with grassroots organisations and community representatives to build local knowledge of climate risks, catalyse leadership and facilitate collective action to enact solutions that build on local knowledge and strengths at the intersections of people and place to strengthen social capital and build community resilience.

Why is community resilience so important?

The occurrence of natural disasters in rural, regional and remote communities is on the rise, with significant consequences, including mental health issues, impacts to health and wellbeing, and increased disadvantage.

Communities that are engaged, connected, empowered, and have high social capital tend to respond and recover better from natural disasters and other disruptions than those with less capacity in these areas. FRRR and our partners know that they are also best placed to determine the most effective approaches to building their capacity and capabilities for their situation and context.

Read about the History of DR:FR

This program is for partner communities only, and not for public application.

Supporting community led approaches to disaster preparedness: Evaluation of the Get Ready Disaster Resilient: Future Ready pilots

Led by FRRR in partnership with Resilience NSW and researchers from the University of Sydney, the ‘Get Ready Disaster Resilient: Future Ready (DR:FR) pilots project’ worked with three diverse NSW communities to explore how best to ensure that rural communities are more disaster resilient and future ready.

How the program works

As a multi-faceted model incorporating facilitation and development support, grants, and action research, DR:FR is focused on supporting and building the evidence base for community-led processes that strengthen resilience to natural disasters and other major shocks and stressors. DR:FR invests in social capital and in fostering the enabling conditions required for collaboration and innovation within communities and the ecosystems they are part of. The table below outlines how we do this.

Impact Areas

The Disaster Resilient: Future Ready program has three key impact areas:

  • Community Resilience: We work alongside people and communities to build on assets and catalyse leadership, collaboration and collective action that strengthens social capital and builds community resilience.
  • Collaborative & valued relationships: We facilitate cross-sector and inter-community collaboration and support stakeholders to be led by and work with communities to enhance their resilience.
  • Sector change: We advocate for community led resilience approaches across the sector, by leveraging and sharing insights from our embedded participatory action research process with communities.
DR:FR

The DR:FR Support Model

Through a community-driven process, FRRR works with community working groups, and relevant stakeholders to support them to activate ideas that strengthen their capacity to adapt, enhance disaster preparedness and helps community resilience grow and flourish. 

Support activities include facilitated activities, relationship building and community-generated conversations around resilience that are held at a pace and style that is appropriate for each local community.

Community teams plan, lead, and navigate their design journey, carrying out a range of activities that helps gain valuable insights and knowledge to inform the design of initiatives. 

Community teams can tailor their processes, activities, tools, funding and support to suit their unique context, need and focus.

The program adopts an all-hazards approach to understanding potential disruptions, climate risk and disasters. Whilst not specifically focused on emergency planning for disasters, emergency preparedness activities may be identified and prioritised as part of a community’s DR:FR journey.

Community Outputs

Depending on their collective purpose and starting point with DR:FR, community working groups (and the broader community) may develop the following through a DR:FR Community Partnership:

  • Shared Community Vision for a resilient and thriving future
  • Community Resilience Insights
  • Community Resilience Action Roadmap
  • Detailed design concepts and implementation plans for priority initiatives
  • Tested and iterated priority actions / projects
  • New collaborations, partnerships and networks
  • Community Initiative Impact Framework
  • Etc.

Participatory Action Research

Working in partnership with the University of Sydney, the DR:FR program leverages participatory action research to understand, describe, and analyse what supports community resilience and preparedness for disasters. The action research team works alongside communities, FRRR and others to build capacity, facilitate action learning processes and guide evidence-based, contextually specific approaches to community resilience. Through this work, FRRR and program partners are developing an evidence-based framework and documenting practical methods, approaches and tools that communities can adapt to lead and strengthen resilience.

The history of DR:FR

The Disaster Resilient: Future Ready program began in 2017 after FRRR and program partners agreed that applied research was required to understand what it takes for communities to be better prepared, and critically, develop practical and evidence-based methods that communities can adapt to be Disaster Resilient:Future Ready.  Since then, through the DR:FR program, FRRR and partners have been working with communities to explore, learn and build on their existing strengths and capacities with a specific focus on adaptive capacity and increasing resilience to natural disasters.

In 2015, FRRR and The Prince’s Trust Australia co-hosted a roundtable with a range of interested parties, including Red Cross Australia, Phoenix Australia, Regional Australia Institute, and several philanthropic organisations interested in disaster preparedness.

There was agreement among this group, and others, that research was required to understand what it takes for community groups to be better prepared, and critically, develop practical and evidence-based methods that communities can adapt to be Disaster Resilient: Future Ready.

Leveraging our experience in community support, bridging disaster recovery and preparedness with community development approaches, FRRR and program partners established Disaster Resilient: Future Ready in 2017 to work with communities and explore and understand effective approaches, methods and tools that support community resilience, and how resilience is defined and measured in different communities.

The program is underpinned by a participatory action research methodology, which supports partners to understand and measure the Process, Activities and Solutions at a program and community level.

Since 2017 the program has been developed over several stages including a Literature review, framework co-design and place-based pilots in NSW. It is now currently operating in the National Extension phase with place-based programs across Australia.

DR:FR Methodology
DR:FR stages

The first iteration of the Disaster Resilient: Future Ready program was piloted in three communities in NSW from 2017-2020. In response to learnings from the pilot project and new research and practices in disaster recovery and community-led resilience, the model has been reviewed and adapted for the Victorian iteration in 2021-23.

Further Information

More partners welcome

If you share our views about the urgency of this issue and have an interest in working collaboratively to develop systemic, sustainable and community-led, place-based responses, we encourage you to read the resources above and get in touch to explore how you can join the partnership and be part of leveraging a solution. Please contact Nina O’Brien, Disaster Resilience and Recovery Lead.

“Every dollar you spend upfront in some type of resilience initiative can be helpful to prevent the same recurring events that happen if all you do is respond after disasters.”

Joe Ruiz, Director of UPS Humanitarian Relief Program
X

Amy Crawford

Amy Crawford has an extensive career in complex public policy and its intersection across government and communities.

Amy is the Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), representing 537 councils across the nation. Amy holds over 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service. She has a deep understanding of federal government policies and structures, with over 10 years’ service in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has worked for the federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. Amy has shaped a wide range of policies and programs including regional development, telecommunications, immigration, emergency management, social policy and pandemic preparation.

Amy is a Board Director of Austroads and represents ALGA on the Public Skills Australia Industry Advisory Group, and the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee. She is also a Board Director for the Canberra Youth Theatre which provides voice for Canberra’s youth through intelligent and challenging theatre.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Laws (honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) from the University of Queensland, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumnus of the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. Amy was appointed to the FRRR Board in January 2025.

X

Kylie Hansen

Kylie brings leadership and management experience from across academic, corporate, not-for-profit, social enterprise and impact investment sectors, having deep dived into a myriad of specialisations and systems. Her six tertiary qualifications are equally as diverse and complimentary, covering commerce, politics, international development, community development, project management and law. Her breadth and depth of experience enables her to draw on a number of disciplines and innovative ways of working and thinking, and she is well recognised as consistently delivering work and services of a high quality.

Kylie uses her strong background in sustainability, governance and impact measurement to support collaborative initiatives across sectors oriented at improving social outcomes, and to support socially conscientious businesses to articulate their social impact. As founder and director at Impact Seed she has been instrumental in developing the impact measurement, evaluation, learning and ESG practice which advises numerous corporates, and is passionate about supporting First Nations empowerment particularly in the context of regional economic development.

Kylie is also a Director of the WA Social Enterprise Council, a member of the B Council (B Lab Australia and New Zealand), and a Governor of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

X

Hon. John Anderson AC

The Hon. John Anderson AC is a sixth-generation farmer and grazier from NSW, who served in the Australian Parliament from 1989 to 2008.

He was a senior Cabinet minister in the government led by John Howard (1996 to 2005), including six years as Leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister.

In the latter role, Mr Anderson played in important role in FRRR’s history, working closely with Baillieu Myer AC and others on a proposal to establish a philanthropic organisation to benefit rural Australia. The concept was discussed at the National Regional Summit in 1999 and FRRR was established shortly thereafter.

Mr Anderson currently hosts a regular podcast, where he is in conversation with thought-leaders from around the world, and is a regular media commentator.

X

Regina Cruickshank

Partnerships Specialist (WA)

Regina supports FRRR as the WA Partnerships Specialist. With over two decades of experience in partnerships and marketing, she has a deep understanding of Western Australia’s social impact landscape. She brings a strong passion for leveraging purpose-built networks to create positive change.

Regina previously worked with Playgroup WA and founded a Health Promotion Charity dedicated to supporting Social Emotional wellbeing for underserved communities. She’s excited about the opportunity to connect with partners and explore ways to make a meaningful difference in WA.

She lives in Perth with her family and enjoys mindful moments of connection to Country, whether on horseback, on foot or underwater.

X

Anna Palmer

People and Culture Manager

Based in Central Victoria, Anna is a senior Human Resources, Organisation Development and Industrial Relations professional, with significant private and public sector experience across every facet of people and culture leadership.

Her most recent roles have been with Don KR in Castlemaine and Mount Alexander Shire Council. She has also held senior HR roles with Victoria Legal Aid and the TAC among many others.

From Mildura originally, Anna has postgraduate qualifications in Change Management and a Masters in Organisation Dynamics.

Anna is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts to balance her creative pursuits and work as an HR professional.

X

Philippa Twaddle

Management Accountant

Carolyn joined the FRRR team in March 2017, and is responsible for providing executive support to the CEO, effective coordination of the FRRR office and general administrative support to the management team. A key responsibility is supporting the administration of FRRR’s Donation Account Services.

She has over fifteen years’ experience working in local government in the Tourism and Arts Sector, Civic and Event Management and Community engagement.

Carolyn has a Bachelor of Arts in Librarianship, majoring in psychology, and grew up on farming communities in Cohuna and Echuca and currently lives in Bendigo.