Good article in The Weekend Australian today by Anthony Bergin director of research programs Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Do we have any of these problems with our disaster management systems in The Grove?
[ul]inadequate situational awareness
poor communication interoperability
insufficient focus on prevention
poor transition from response to recover operations[/ul]
Do we have the time skills and resources to develop the next-generation systems leverage technology and meet the needs of the many stakeholders?
Are we ensuring skills transfer and capacity building?
Well basically this is what Transition The Grove is aboutpreparing for our future here in the upper Kedron Brook valley paying attention to some of the big crises looming on the future horizon.
The defence forces currently do not have disaster response as a primary activity. The Commonwealth Disaster Response Plan (COMDISPLAN) is based on the principle that commonwealth assistance will only be provided when the resources of a state or territory government are inadequate exhausted or can’t be accessed in time.
There is no counter-disaster training for the vast majority of ADF personnel. Defence assistance to domestic disasters isn’t allocated a budget. Nor does it have detailed capability requirements.
According to analysis by Munich Re the reinsurance company the number of weather-related disasters has more than doubled in the past 30 years. There were 828 weather catastrophes involving death and economic damage globally last year compared with 317 in 1980.
There will be more frequent extreme weather events because of climate change and increased vulnerability of the growig populations in coastal areas and in bushfire prone areas and reduction per captia in the number of emergency services personnel.