Resilient Community Organisations is a toolkit to support community organisations build their resilience to disasters and emergencies. It includes:
The toolkit is informed by an international review of existing disaster resilience and climate adaptation tools for community organisations and has been created in consultation with subject matter experts. It adopts a risk management approach in line with the Australian/New Zealand Standard ISO 31000.
We know that the community sector is under resourced and time poor. For that reason, we have designed the Resilient Community Organisations toolkit to be flexible. Rather than creating a new and onerous process for organisations to implement, it aims to enable organisations to weave disaster preparedness activities into business as usual practices.
The project builds on ACOSS’ world-first research into the community sector’s preparedness for climate change and extreme weather events. This research was conducted in 2013 with funding from the National Climate Change Adaptation Facility.
The Resilient Communities Initiative was funded by the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department’s National Emergency Management Projects grants program.
The following people and organisations provided invaluable support, guidance and expertise:
The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is the peak body for the community sector and the national voice for the needs of people affected by poverty and inequality. Our vision is for a fair, inclusive and sustainable Australia where all individuals and communities can participate in and benefit from social and economic life.
The community sector in Australia is diverse and includes large and small non-government, not-for-profit organisations that provide social and welfare services, including aged care and disability support, refuge and accommodation services, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, emergency relief and financial support, community legal and advocacy services, child welfare and family services and employment services. The community sector contributes 5% to Australia’s GDP and 8% to employment annually, employing 919,000 staff and facilitating the participation of 2 million volunteers.
