Empowering our communities in shared responsibility in disaster management is discussed prominently in theory but it is often viewed as a herculean task in practice as a result of the perceived scale of the engagement and the financial and human resources involved. This is particularly true for local government where populations continue to grow and rapidly diversify.

While it is true that we cannot identify and connect with all members of our all communities all of the time, communities often have existing formal and informal leaders, respected elders and trusted informants who are trusted to convey information and link their communities into broader society. By identifying existing networks and group leaders we can connect with and support them in their leadership and provide them with the skills and tools to assess their community’s risks to all hazards and implement long term sustainable change.

The Western Areas Resilience Project is a collaborative resilience project between Melton and Wyndham City Councils in Melbourne’s outer west. With many new and emerging communities they represent two of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia. The Project utilises a modified version of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience Community Engagement Framework to identify and work with community leaders and representatives from all areas within a community, building their capacity through various methods, including participation in an emergency resilience leadership program and community forums and workshops. The Project will strengthen partnerships between communities and councils by fostering ongoing collaboration with and between groups and embedding the engagement structure long-term. By creating a socially inclusive and connected group of leaders we will build a resilient group of leaders who are capable of helping their communities prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies both now and into the future.