IGEM Report 1: 2017-18 - THE CYCLONE DEBBIE REVIEW

The Cyclone Debbie Review

Queensland is at the forefront of disaster management in Australia and the findings from our review into the effectiveness of arrangements relating to Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie bear testament to this. Our review set out to examine whether there was a robust approach to continuous improvement across all aspects of Queensland’s disaster management system. Specifically, the review sought to ensure that lessons learnt from these events are captured; that common themes for improvement are identified; that the sharing of good practice was enabled, and any issues arising are fully understood and improvement strategies were highlighted. This review included: • attendance at key post-Debbie local and district disaster management group debriefs in the identified review areas, • a significant number of individual interviews with stakeholders, • consultation and engagement with 80 key groups and organisations, • a commissioned attitudinal survey of 1200 residents, and • comprehensive referencing against both national and international good practice and Queensland’s Standard for Disaster Management. What we found was a disaster management system that generally performed well in preparing for and responding to the Debbie event, and one which adopted a positive transition to recovery. What we uncovered was a series of lessons for the disaster management sector, which, if acted on, will deliver greater public value and confidence through trust and empowerment.

Under these broad findings our review identified: • the value of timely, contextualised, informative, consistent and understandable public messaging, • the continued need for addressing information sharing in disasters and interoperability of systems, • the need for fatigue management planning for sustained events such as Debbie, • the benefits of coordinated exercises across all levels of the System that focus on information flow and integration of roles and responsibilities; and Importantly, within these findings, we saw direct and repeated evidence of tangible improvements within the System arising from past events, enquiries, reports and reviews. These improvements are already leading to better disaster management outcomes for communities across Queensland. We need however to capitalise on these improvements for the benefit of all Queenslanders and take the findings and recommendations from this review to the next level. Accordingly, our principal recommendation from this review is for Queensland to embrace a learning framework which is firmly embedded in future plans. When this occurs and when we truly grasp the concept of continuous improvement through a culture of a learning, disaster management in Queensland will move to heights of excellence and improved community outcomes not seen before in Australia. • the benefits of improved business continuity planning across state agencies, businesses including tourism, and communities, to help build resilience.

Conclusion

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6 THEMES • 7 CONCLUSION

Conclusion