This is AIDR calling

I experienced part of the European Heatwave in Rome; a city not designed for heat. As we walked around the Coliseum, crowds were queuing for up to an hour with no shade in 37°C heat. I then noticed the Protezione Civile (the Italian Version of the SES), handing out water and umbrellas, and staffing a water spray cannon that was cooling people down. It was an example of a simple, lifesaving measure being deployed in response to an urgent issue.

The Disaster Ready Fund has opened and closed, and this is always a great time to see what people are thinking about and proposing to reduce risk. We have been asked to provide a significant number of letters of support for many proposals. It’s encouraging to see the range of projects being put forward. Each of these take time to consider and craft and often come with expectations of commitment of time and resources. We have been setting up a more systematic approach to how and who we partner with, aligned with our priorities, and also our resourcing and capacity to support.

Before I went on leave, I had the good fortune to be part of the National Emergency Management Agency led national Exercise NEXUS, designed to test how we work together when the country faces major compounding challenges. The exercise was unique in that it framed the challenges, upfront, with recovery. In my experience, recovery is usually introduced late on the final day of exercises, just as people are preparing to leave. It was wonderful to see recovery given such prominence, not only in framing the exercise but throughout, as participants were continually asked, ‘what are the recovery considerations?’ I was honoured to be part of a panel helping set this scene.

I reiterated for the audience that recovery is long term, often taking years to decades, and that peer-reviewed evidence informs this. We need to understand that the systemic consequences of disaster extend beyond emergency management to health, education, social services and treasuries. What is the long-term and societal impact of school children who fall behind in reading and numeracy?

The system is expanding. It is no longer a chosen few who have been part of inner club of government agencies, and relief-focused not for profits. Recovery and risk reduction involves all parts of the social infrastructure: social services, health services, education services, recreational services, and cultural services. Many of the winners of the Resilient Australia Awards in 2025 are what some people still call ‘non-traditional actors’. Most start their acceptance speech with ‘this is not part of our core business, but we did it anyway’.

The idea that we can build a recovery workforce from scratch after each event is outdated. Recovery is complex and depends on context and connection. We need a more systemic approach to capability building in resilient recovery.

The resilience of the system diminishes as the burden increases, and staff and volunteer wellbeing is compromised. I can speak to this from personal experience having spent more than 30 years of service contributing to a number of mental health episodes.

Increasingly, we need to see risk reduction resilience and recovery as a conjoined approach rather than parts of a continuum. Risk reduction aims to remove harm from the system, so lives are not disrupted. But because we cannot fully prevent risk or consequence, preparedness for effective response is also part of risk reduction. UNDRR, through the Sendai Framework, considers exercises such as Exercise Nexus as a risk reduction activity.

Also, according to the United Nations, resilient recovery, in turn, demands recovery readiness. Investing in non-structural risk reduction now helps build that readiness. Community-based resilience and governance build the system’s capacity and capability to reduce risk and identify strengths that support communities. These are important soft skills that build resilience. The networks that are built are precursors to recovery systems and lay the foundation of understanding the impacts of disaster and why we need work in this space. When we see resilience investment moving away from non-structural mitigation, we are losing the opportunity to build recovery relationships and resilience.

Winter has taken hold here; a shock from heatwave Europe. Jetlag still has hold as I write but should soon pass. The conference is looming large, and it’s time to focus. Distant Birds is the hypnotic new collaboration between Chris Abrahams (The Necks) and Dave Symes (Boy & Bear). It’s a fantastic immersive album that I have been to focus my activity or just get lost in for a while.