Community Sector Resilience Program
Regional Directors Meeting
23 February 2016
Before we go any further, let us give you some background information on the project...
This project was born out of the desire from DHHS to support their funded agencies in the face of disasters and climate change - to make them more resilient
The fact is...community service organisations support the most vulnerable in our society who are most affected by disasters.
But as you know, community service organisations themselves are vulnerable to disasters.
ACOSS research indicated that 25% of CSOs exposed to a disaster cannot operate again at all, and 50% of organisations are out of operations for up to a week after a disaster.
If this wasn't reason enough...the demand for these vital services is likely to increase with social vulnerability characteristics increasing due to increasing disasters.
The Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research outlined that the best way to increase the capacity of CSOs to plan for changes in the climate is to facilitate adaptation or resilience planning.
They recommended the facilitators to 'live the following principles'...
So we are trying to live these principles in the Community Sector Resilience Program.
And that is why we are speaking to you....
You know the sector, and we have built the program flexibly to consider your insights.
The overarching objectives of the project are:
To activate resilience leadership and coordinated effort in the community sector
Partnering with people who effect change in the sector, peak groups and across networks;
Help to empower organisations understand disaster risks; and
Equip organisations with facilitated resilience planning.
Community Sector Organisations (CSOs) include all agencies funded by DHHS to deliver services, including:
local government
community housing providers
family and youth support
indigenous support orgs
elderly support
So what do we mean by resilience?
Resilience is the ability to become strong, healthy and successful again after a shock or disturbance. Resilience can include the ability to move or change to be able to cope or do things better.
Resilience to what?
Disasters and extreme events are becoming more prevalent. These include heatwave, bushfire, flood, storm events and increasing extreme in temperates.
So what does the project entail?
How can you help?
You can promote engagement in the project with your regional managers
(we already have some examples)
Help us to engage with as many CSOs as possible
Support ongoing funding of the program
Feel free to contact us prior to next Tuesday with any questions you may have.
Thank you for your time!