Expert warns community‑led resilience is now critical as severe weather intensifies
With heavy rainfall, flash flooding and destructive weather sweeping Australia, and Queensland preparing for a severe tropical cyclone, disaster resilience expert Dr Rebecca McNaught says Australia must urgently rethink how it prepares for worsening climate impacts by placing communities at the centre of disaster planning and recovery.
Dr Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, Sydney Environment Institute and University Centre for Rural Health.
Dr McNaught said:
“The idea that communities can ‘bounce back’ after disasters is now a myth, as disasters increasingly overlap and compound. The 2022 Northern Rivers floods, Australia’s costliest, exposed critical cracks: confused evacuation messages, overwhelmed emergency systems and cascading impacts on health, housing and insurance.
“When disasters hit, neighbours, local volunteers and informal networks carry the load alongside essential formal emergency response services. Resilience is built with communities, not simply delivered to them, and it’s time we properly recognise, resource and support these community-led resilience efforts.”
Dr McNaught can discuss:
- How escalating and overlapping disasters are causing long‑term physical, mental and economic strain in affected communities.
- The pivotal role of local residents, particularly women and First Nations groups, who step in when formal emergency systems are stretched.
- Why community‑led resilience groups and hubs are essential for early warnings, welfare checks, sharing food, emotional support and long‑term wellbeing.
- Her research that shows how grassroots organising strengthens mental health, accelerates recovery and fills response gaps no centralised system can fully meet.
- Why Australia urgently needs federal and state funding models that back community‑led, place‑based resilience, especially in rural and regional areas facing repeated climate shocks.