CRC Bushfire Final Report formatted final 2014 08 15 - 12 PM

Education and capacity building strategies were assessed in terms of identifying and exploring the ways that organisations can optimise the relevance, quality and timeliness of information they provide, the modes of dissemination they employ, and enhance the willingness and capacity of people to hear, understand and act on safety messages. [...] Background With the events of 2009 and in particular Black Saturday and the Royal Commission, there is a renewed urgency to address the bases of communication and community mobilisation in the context of bushfire risks. [...] To locate this understanding of communication in relation to the long-term preparation and mobilisation of citizens in fire-prone areas and the role and place of emergency and fire-related authorities and agencies in this process. [...] Second, there is evidence of a general decline in the level of trust in government and authorities, and the members of a community may be shifting their focus from the public to the private and personal (Robinson, 2003). [...] The program concluded that education initiatives should be ‘targeted to residents and communities at high risk’ and that they should be ‘tailored to the priorities and capacities of local individuals and communities’ and be ‘flexible and responsive to differences and changes in individuals and communities’ (see Stevens 2007; Elsworth et al.