Community recovery in cascading and compounding disasters: roundtable discussions

In March 2026, AIDR, in partnership with the Australian Red Cross, co‑hosted a series of invite‑only roundtables focused on community recovery for cascading and compounding disaster events.

The events were delivered through an in‑person session in Melbourne and a follow‑up online roundtable, and brought together community leaders, practitioners, policymakers and researchers with diverse experience in community recovery at local, state, and national levels.

The roundtables explored how overlapping, repeating, and compounding disaster events are reshaping recovery needs and placing increasing strain on communities and recovery systems across Australia. Participants shared insights on how community experiences and impacts differ from single disaster events, and what this means for recovery practice, planning, preparedness, and resilience.

Discussions focused on the need for shared language and definitions, how recovery work must adapt in complex disaster contexts, and what new or expanded guidance is needed to better support inclusive, adaptive, and resilient recovery approaches. These insights will directly inform future updates to the AIDR Community Recovery Handbook and contribute to a discussion paper to guide ongoing engagement and discussion on this critical topic.

AIDR and Australian Red Cross thank all participants for their thoughtful contributions and leadership in advancing this important conversation.