Community preparedness and responses to the 2017 New South Wales bushfires

This report presents key findings, analysis and recommendations from a review of community preparedness and responses to bushfires in New South Wales, Australia, in 2017. The research team was tasked with reviewing the following themes:

Theme 1: Information and warnings

• The effectiveness of warnings delivered to the community during fire events and the resulting actions taken
• Did the warnings and information provided assist people to reduce the risk to agricultural assets?
• The delivery of Catastrophic fire danger messages to areas which were not impacted by fire, to investigate whether this may have an effect on future responses during fire events
• How people sought out information relating to the fires
• What were the drivers and motivators for those people who sought to reenter fire grounds? What was their perception of the risks associated with doing so?

Theme 2: Planning and preparedness measures

• An understanding of the perception of risk, particularly in the farming communities affected by fires
• Responses by the community and how people prioritised their protective responses (such as livestock, machinery and housing)
• The perception of risk to and value of agricultural assets vs homes
• What influence previous fire history had on their planning, preparedness and decisions
• Identified intervention strategies
• What information or advice people sought out in the lead up to the specific fire event