The Hunter River of NSW has a long history of flooding. The Hunter Region experienced its largest flood in recorded history during the flood of February 1955. Maitland, located in the Lower Hunter Valley, was severely impacted by this flood. Since 1955, only three major floods have been recorded on the Hunter River at Maitland, including the June 2007 flood that followed the ‘Pasha Bulker’ storm.

Maintaining a high level of flood awareness and preparedness is critical for building flood-resilient communities in Maitland and the Lower Hunter Valley. In 2005, the former Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority and the NSW State Emergency Service embarked on a community flood education strategy that implemented a range of initiatives to raise awareness and preparedness for flooding, and to raise the profile of the function and limitations of the Lower Hunter Valley Flood Mitigation Scheme. The project included a five-year, social research program that concluded in 2010. The research indicated that the level of community awareness and preparedness had increased during this time.

February 2015 was the 60th anniversary of the 1955 Hunter Region flood. As part of the commemoration, a series of community workshops were conducted in Maitland to help citizens learn more about local flood risks and consider useful initiatives they could implement to stay safe during a flood. The workshops were organised by the NSW State Emergency Service and the Hunter Local Land Services.

These workshops provided an opportunity to extend the previous social research program by surveying participants about the status of their own flood awareness and preparedness. The results of the survey and comparison with previous surveys are provided in this paper, with limitations noted. The results provide direction for evaluative strategies, the delivery of community engagement and building community flood resilience in the district.