Host: Australian Red Cross
Languages: English
Specific objectives of this workshop are to:
- Highlight an award winning innovation in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) collaboration between Australian Red Cross and the corporate sector
- Demonstrate how such partnerships can contribute to DRR outcomes through directly influencing public policy
- Discuss the value of a broad advocacy campaign to promote disaster preparedness
The National Strategy for Disaster resilience was launched by the Australian Government in 2011. The following year the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience (the Roundtable) was formed.
The Roundtable consists of CEOs from Australian Red Cross, Insurance Australia Group, Investa Property Group, Munich Re, Optus and Westpac Group. Its aim is to use evidence to influence public policy on the need for investment in effective DRR.
The Roundtable commissioned research which demonstrated that carefully targeted pre-disaster resilience investments of $250 million per year could generate budget savings of $12.2 billion for all levels of government in Australia and would reduce natural disaster costs by more than 50 percent by 2050. This report was one of the drivers for a Productivity Commission review of natural disaster funding arrangements, which subsequently found that there should be more significant investment in mitigation.
The work of the Roundtable was awarded a UN Sasakawa Award commendation at the 2015 Global Disaster Risk Reduction Conference in Sendai, for its innovative approach to providing an effective mechanism for policy change in DRR.
Workshop presenters include Australian Red Cross and a corporate sector representative. There will be opportunity for discussion about the applicability of the Roundtable model and proposed mitigation measures in other countries. Participants will also be encouraged to share their approaches to DRR and preparedness campaigns.