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Numerous international studies have corroborated the value of public–private sector partnerships in reducing vulnerability and building resilience to emergencies and disasters. This paper proposes a simple conceptual framework for public–private partnerships in emergency and disaster management that could be applied to research and policy analysis in Australia. The framework proposes three dimensions: sector types (public, business and community), partnership arrangements (legislated and formal to informal agreements), and partnership roles (strategic and resilience-building and response and recovery). This paper describes how the three sectors can work together under various partnership arrangements for preventive or responsive measures in emergency and disaster management. Public–private partnerships during and after the Queensland floods of 2010–11 are used to illustrate the relationships presented in the framework and to give a snapshot of these partnerships in Queensland. - See more at: https://ajem.infoservices.com.au/items/AJEM-30-04-09#sthash.vkQDUXUw.dpuf

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify hazard risks and factors impeding the implementation of disaster risk management policies and strategies in Dontse Yakhe in Hout Bay, South Africa.Design/methodology/approach– A case study approach was selected for this research. Interviews were conducted with community leaders and other relevant government and civil society stakeholders. Insights and perceptions of Dontse Yakhe residents were obtained from a focus group interview. Secondary data sources were reviewed and field observations made.Findings– The findings reveal a number of key risks and a complex web of geographical, political, social and environmental factors, and stakeholder interactions, prioritisations and decision making that has created barriers to the implementation of the aims and objectives of disaster risk management policies and strategies in Dontse Yakhe.Originality/value– The contribution of the research is that it provides insight into the complex factors that are stalling development and infrastructure provision, and implementation of risk reduction strategies, in Dontse Yakhe as outlined in disaster risk management policies and strategies, demonstrating a gap between policy rhetoric and practice.

Australian communities face increasing losses and disruption from natural disasters. Disaster resilience is a protective characteristic that acts to reduce the effects of, and losses from, natural hazard events. Disaster resilience arises from the capacities of social, economic and government systems to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural hazard event, and to learn, adapt and transform in anticipation of future natural hazard events. This assessment of disaster resilience estimates the status of these capacities and shows how they are spatially distributed across Australia. Composite indices are frequently used to summarize and report complex relational measurements about a particular issue. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index measures disaster resilience as a set of coping and adaptive capacities. Coping capacity is the means by which available resources and abilities can be used to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster. Adaptive capacity is the arrangements and processes that enable adjustment through learning, adaptation and transformation. Eight themes of disaster resilience encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access) or to adapt, learn and solve problems (social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Across the eight themes, 77 indicators were used to compute the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index in 2084 areas of Australia, corresponding to the Statistical Area Level 2 divisions of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The index was then used to undertake the first nationally standardised assessment of the state of disaster resilience in Australia. Disaster resilience is reported at three levels: an overall disaster resilience index, coping and adaptive capacity sub-indexes and themes of disaster resilience that encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards and to adapt, learn and solve problems (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access, social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Volume I (this volume) assesses the state of disaster resilience in Australia, using the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index. Volume I gives a brief overview of the design and computation of the index, then assesses the state of disaster resilience in Australia at different levels: overall disaster resilience, coping and adaptive capacity, and the eight themes of disaster resilience. Volume I also presents a typology of disaster resilience that groups areas across Australia that have similar disaster resilience profiles. Readers interested in the results of the assessment of disaster resilience in Australia should focus on Volume I.

Australian communities face increasing losses and disruption from natural disasters. Disaster resilience is a protective characteristic that acts to reduce the effects of, and losses from, natural hazard events. Disaster resilience arises from the capacities of social, economic and government systems to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural hazard event, and to learn, adapt and transform in anticipation of future natural hazard events. This assessment of disaster resilience estimates the status of these capacities and shows how they are spatially distributed across Australia. Composite indices are frequently used to summarize and report complex relational measurements about a particular issue. The Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index measures disaster resilience as a set of coping and adaptive capacities. Coping capacity is the means by which available resources and abilities can be used to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster. Adaptive capacity is the arrangements and processes that enable adjustment through learning, adaptation and transformation. Eight themes of disaster resilience encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access) or to adapt, learn and solve problems (social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Across the eight themes, 77 indicators were used to compute the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index in 2084 areas of Australia, corresponding to the Statistical Area Level 2 divisions of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The index was then used to undertake the first nationally standardised assessment of the state of disaster resilience in Australia. Disaster resilience is reported at three levels: an overall disaster resilience index, coping and adaptive capacity sub-indexes and themes of disaster resilience that encapsulate the resources and abilities that communities have to prepare for, absorb and recover from natural hazards and to adapt, learn and solve problems (social character, economic capital, emergency services, planning and the built environment, community capital, information access, social and community engagement, governance and leadership). Volume II (this volume) describes in detail the computation of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index. This includes resilience concepts, literature review, index structure, data collection, indicators, statistical methods, detailed statistical outputs, sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analyses. Readers interested in the technical aspects of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index should also consider Volume II. Volume II is comprised of six chapters: Chapter 1: Design of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index Chapter 2: Indicators Chapter 3: Computation of the Australian Natural Disaster Resilience Index Chapter 4: Statistical outputs: ANDRI, coping capacity and adaptive capacity Chapter 5: Statistical outputs: disaster resilience themes Chapter 6: Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis

Natural hazards, such as bushfires, cyclones, floods, storms, heatwaves, earthquakes and tsunamis, have always occurred and will continue to occur in Australia. These natural hazards frequently intersect with human societies to create natural hazard emergencies that, in turn, cause disasters.The effects of natural hazards on Australian communities are influenced by a unique combination of social, economic, natural environment, built environment, governance and geographical factors.Australian communities face increasing losses and disruption from natural hazards, with the total economic cost of natural hazards in Australia averaging $18.2 billion per year between 2006 and 2016 (Deloitte Access Economics, 2017). This is expected to almost double by 2030 and to average $33 billion per year by 2050 (Deloitte Access Economics, 2016). The social impacts of disasters are also substantial. Costs associated with social impacts may persist over a person's lifetime and can be greater than the costs of tangible damages (Deloitte Access Economics, 2016).Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and magnitude of some natural hazard types in Australia (BOM & CSIRO, 2018). An increasing population, demographic change, widening socio-economic disparity, expensive infrastructure and the location of communities in areas of high natural hazard risk also contributes to the potential for increasing losses from natural hazards.There are two prominent schools of thought about the influence of natural hazards in human societies:a vulnerability perspective, where distributional inequalities in physical, social, economic and environmental factors influence the susceptibility of people to harm and the ability of people to respond to hazards (Cutter et al., 2003; Birkmann, 2006; Bankoff, 2019).a resilience perspective, where people are learning to live with a changing, unpredictable and uncertain environment (Folke et al., 2002; Bankoff, 2019), of which natural hazards are a part. Resilience is a process linking a set of capacities to a positive trajectory of functioning and adaptation after a disturbance (Norris et al., 2008).This resilience perspective has been adopted in the Australian Disaster Resilience Index, with the aim of better understanding and assessing the disaster resilience of Australian communities nationwide.As such, disaster resilience can be understood as a protective characteristic that acts to reduce the effects of, and losses from, natural hazards. Resilience arises from the capacities of social, economic and government systems to prepare for, respond to and recover from a natural hazard event, and to learn, adapt and transform in anticipation of future natural hazard events.