Preparedness of Australia Government and Citizens for Natural Weather-Induced Disasters

This research proposal reviews preparedness of the Australian government and its citizens to combat natural weather-induced disasters. It explores the approaches used to prepare for and combat natural weather-induced disasters, implementation patterns of disaster management, obstacles faced, and guiding principles used by the government and citizens.

Research Proposal 1
A REVIEW OF PREPAREDNESS OF THE AUSTRALIA GOVERNMENT AND ITS
CITIZENS TO COMBAT NATURAL WEATHER-INDUCED DISASTERS
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Research Proposal 2
RESEARCH QUESTION
More entirely, this examination aims at responding at particular questions intended to explore
preparedness of the Australia government and its citizens to combat natural weather-induced
disasters.
Primary question
What are some of the approaches that Australia government and its citizens use to prepare in
combating cases of natural weather-induced disasters?
Secondary question
1. What are some of the Implementation patterns of disaster management in Australia?
2. What are obstacles that arise while combating natural weather-induced disasters in Australia
by government?
3. What are some of the coordination set in place for provision of Australian government
assistance in the event of natural weather-induced disaster in Australia?
These essential research inquiries will eventually assist in responding to crucial target of this
mission. The enquiry for this proposal will be essential in enlightening basic justification for
diverse ways that Australian government and its citizens used to prepare in combating instances
of natural weather-induced disasters in the region (Kanyama 2014, p. 17). Therefore, results
from these survey inquiries will remain useful in offering well options or approaches that the
Australian government and its citizens can follow appropriately to combat natural weather-
induced disasters in their daily operations.
INDUSTRY PROBLEM

Research Proposal 3
Due to the perceived influence of changes in climate together with other geological processes
around the entire global society and Australia in large, it appears that nations are becoming
aware of frequent natural weather-induced hazards. Some of these natural weather-induced
disasters that affect Australian community include hazards such as floods, hurricanes, hailstorms,
bushfires, earthquakes, as well as tsunamis (Haimes 2012, p. 1456). Throughout Australian
history, certain natural weather-induced disasters have served as the “focusing events” leading to
the development of advanced policy, legislation, practice, and planning. The situation of natural
weather-induced disaster is further complicated with the rise in instances of terrorism in
Australia and other human-made disasters owing to technological hazards. Such instances have
been an ever-increasing vulnerability of Australian population, and it has also forced the
authority to pay extra attention to their emergency sector of management (Sadiq and Graham
2015, p. 1044). Moreover, Australia is exposed to natural weather-induced disasters as it
experiences cases of bushfires, floods, tropical cyclones, and hailstorms in addition to the few
earthquakes together with human-made hazards. Australia government and its citizen's
experience in the management of emergencies has encouraged their operations to become
innovative, committed, and progressive to offering safer, strong, along with more resilient
communities across the nation prepared to manage any situation that is emergent. This research
proposal reviews preparedness of the Australian government and its citizens to combat natural
weather-induced disasters. The paper also presents some of existing literature under which the
management of emergency sector in Australia develops and flourishes and historical review of
major natural weather-induced disasters.
Causes of natural weather-induced disasters

Research Proposal 4
Some researchers in the region had reported that the incidents of natural weather-induced
disasters in Australia are increasing possibly due to the effects of human activities that result in
global warming and consequential changes in climate. The preparedness of the Australian
government to combat cases of natural weather-induced disasters varies across the country for
different reasons (Chhetri, Corcoran, Ahmad, and KC 2018, p. 12). One of the reasons in the
variation is that the country’s large size as well as longitudinal range. The other reason is that the
country is divided into federal structure of governance. The magnitude along with latitudinal
spread results in some climatic zones from the tropical north through the sub-tropics to temperate
southern regions and the arid central deserts. The prone of the country to natural weather-
induced disaster causes huge destructions of property and in some instances leads to loss of
human and other animals’ lives. It is evident from various investigative works that natural
weather-induced hazards like floods, bush-fires, and humid cyclones arise commonly across
Australia (Howes et al., 2014, p. 761). Such disasters have caused over one point one billion US
dollars damage every year to homes, business operations, together with infrastructure of nation
and severe disruption to communities
Outcomes of natural weather-induced disasters
In the event of occurrences of natural weather-induced disasters in Australia, they often lead to
personal and financial hardship for people, government, and Australian community and can
result in loss of ecosystem. All these effects that come as a result of natural weather-induced
disasters have made the government support activities that prepare to control and combat such
disasters from occurring (Cvetkovic 2016, p. 113). For instance, Australian Red Cross
Organization that deals with emergency (REDiPlan) has outlined some of the steps to prepare for

Research Proposal 5
any form of emergency in industrial sector. They have ensured that people get to know risk that
they might face when they continue with activities that induce natural disasters. They have
ensured that community gets connected so that they can assist each other in the emergency and
during process of recovery after occurrences of natural weather-induced disaster. The
organisation by Red Cross help in ensuring that the community is organized as they think
through what might occur during and after the emergency and take corrective action to protect
the important things in their lives. Moreover, they help community to get packing by identifying
every device that might help them to survive in the emergency and get back to normal operations
as quickly as possible (Baek, Lee, and Koo 2018, p. 92). It is evident from records of Red Cross
in Australia that in the past few years, the region has witnessed more cases of natural weather-
induced disasters that cost billions of dollars to control.
LITERATURE REVIEW
It is evident from various research works that area that surrounds Australia is the most natural
weather-induced disasters prone region in the global community. The region is highly vulnerable
to instances of disaster such as floods, earthquake, drought, bush-fires, tsunamis, and other
hazards (Teeuw, Leidig, Saunders, and Morris 2013, p. 118). However, Australian government
together with its citizens has a lasting history towards responding to natural weather-induced
disasters. The instances of response to these disasters can be pleased with the massive
achievements that the authority and Australians have made towards management of natural
disasters through mitigation processes. Therefore, Australia remains to be the key player in
management of disaster and humanitarian assistance efforts in the region around Pacific Island
(Huang 2012, p. 16). Over eighty-five per cent of individuals that have lost their lives or affected

Research Proposal 6
by natural weather-induced disasters has been from Indo-Asia-Pacific area. Natural weather-
induced disasters are becoming more frequent and more severe. The influences of change in
climate around Australia are expected to change the severity, frequency, and unpredictability of
events that relate to weather-induced disasters across the region. Increase in the intensity of
hazards has resulted in several effects that include influence to Australian stability, resources,
health, as well as infrastructure (Vink and Takeuchi 2013, p. 67). These effects make Australia
vulnerable to natural weather-induced disasters hence relying on external assistance for disaster
aid.
Australian government and its citizens have always aimed to combat natural weather-induced
disasters by collaborating with several nations around the global community. Countries within
Pacific Island are some of the nations that are essential for Australia’s partners (Forbes,
O’Donnell, and Bryant 2016, p. 661). Moreover, during the preparation to combat these
disasters, Australia always work to have interest in the stability and development of Pacific
Island nations to focus on greater regional prosperity as well as reducing the development of
threat from various hazards comprising of environmental vulnerability and changes that relate to
climate. Moreover, Australian government has invested in the range of activities that aim at
reducing risk at the bilateral, regional, and community level in over thirty nations. These
activities that had been set in place by the Australian authority consist of:
 Idea of strengthening international leadership as well as collaboration - this includes support
for international strategy set by United Nations for reduction of disasters. The program
focuses on mainstreaming reduction of risk that result from natural weather-induced disaster
in the area (Raggatt, Butterworth, and Morrissey 2013, p. 3).

Research Proposal 7
 Funding vital initiatives in the region – this initiative include the Asian centre for disaster
preparedness, Asian network for reduction and response of disaster that respond to emergent
cases of hazards.
 Strengthening partnership with government agencies – Australian government has increased
its operations ready to combat different disasters by including national offices for managing
disasters to prepare for and mitigate disasters and technical agencies to map various dangers
from such hazards like a volcanic eruption, typhoons, and earthquakes (Heazle et al., 2013, p.
167).
Supporting activities of community-based groups – Australian government has ensured that they
support every operation that aims at combating natural weather-induced disasters organized by
different groups through funds (Gruenwald 2014, p. 1649). The funds from government help
these groups in improving their response and recovery to protect people against the loss of
likelihoods and mitigating potential hazards in the region.
Guiding principles by Australian government and citizens to combat disasters
Government of Australia derives its essential approaches to deal with occurrences of disasters
from different guiding principles. These guiding principles help in directing the work priorities
of different organizations and departments on decision-making processes. Moreover, these
guiding principles have been vital as they assist leadership and promote coordination and
cooperation for the achievement of shared national objectives (Hossain and Uddin 2012, p. 341).
These principles that help Australian government and its citizens include:
 Employment of collaborative and flexible approach to be used in combating disasters
 Leverage diversity of culture together with operations of different organizations to ensure
that cases of induced hazard are well handled.

Research Proposal 8
 Strengthening proactive multiagency engagement in ensuring that every operation work as
per the set strategies
 Promotion of common understanding among people in Australia to focus on improving lives
of people to avoid instances of engagement in activities that might lead to natural weather-
induced disasters in the region
 Delivering of comprehensive results and committing to continuous improvement in
supporting effective ways of operations that minimize influences that can lead to disasters.
Adherence to different principles as set by Australian government helps different people in the region
to focus on maintaining unity of purpose and economy of effort. It also helps international partners to
understand approaches that the government is using to prepare to combat occurrences of disasters
(Fitzgerald and Rego 2017, p. 99). However, some challenges do occur while the government prepare
to combat disaster since the civil and military forces are constantly needed to share the same
humanitarian and physical space. Nevertheless, Australians and their government have produced
several policies, arrangements, frameworks, and they have signed more bilateral and multilateral
agreements with their partners and stakeholders in disaster response (Cavallo and Ireland 2014, p.
186). Such agreements have ensured the region to be ready to combat instances of natural weather-
induced disasters.
Implementation patterns of disaster management in Australia
Australian government work on different implementation patterns that aim at eliminating cases of
disaster occurrence or little harm to lives and property in case a disaster occurs in the region. All
operations are controlled and planned by different agencies and departments of governments.
Additionally, implementation of the chosen pattern needs appropriate planning, organization of
events, mobilisation of resources, and completing stages. In case any person in lowest government

Research Proposal 9
level can handle implementation process, then they are offered the opportunity of showing their
operation (Cvetkovic 2016, p. 59). The key departments of Australian departments and agencies
responsible for handling disaster and management include department of Prime Minister Cabinet,
Department that deals with Defence, Department of Attorney-General, and the Federal Police of
Australia.
Several structural issues affect process of implementation of different patterns that Australian
government and citizens use to combat natural weather-induced disasters. Some of these issues that
affect implementation include poor cross-agency along with coordination of departments, inadequate
communication channels amongst different levels of authority, poor understanding, inadequate
understanding and utilization of planned program that has to created and restructured (Baek, Lee, and
Koo 2018, p. 91). The implementation aim at controlling cases of wind event known as cyclone
disaster that is prone to the region followed by bushfire, torrential rains that in most cases lead to
flooding and drought to heat waves in the region. From different data, below are some of the worst
natural weather-induced disasters that had been experienced in Australia up to the current times. They
include:
Cyclone Tracy that occurred in early days of 1974, earthquake of Newcastle that happened in 1989,
Brisbane Floods in 1974, Victoria Bush-fires that happened in Black Saturday in 2009, Tasmania
Fires in 1967, Black Friday Fires, Victoria that occurred in 1939 (Bruns and Liang 2012, p. 18). Other
disasters in history of Australia include Queensland Floods that occurred between 2010 and 2011, Ash
Wednesday Bush-fires that happened in 1983, and many more natural weather-induced disasters.
Obstacles to combating natural weather-induced disasters in Australia
Some of the known obstacles that affect disaster management by Australian government and its
citizens are the need to mitigate different approaches. Mitigation of different programs tends to be

Research Proposal 10
expensive in line with prevention of different issues from occurring (Cavallo and Ireland 2014, p.
187). Other obstacles remain to be some of the existing cultural and social issues such as some of the
native cultures around the globe also exist in Australia. Affected individuals also have diverse needs
after disasters and understanding every need tends to be tough among the departments that offer such
care. For instance, Aborigines found in Torres Strait Islanders posses the hue love towards piece of
land that they reside in, in case Australian government need to move them away, it becomes tough and
it might not o well making process of implementing different patterns to combat disaster to be hard to
attain (Gruenwald 2014, p. 1650). Moreover, different management models set by Australian
government and its people still need a lot of work on geographical setting because Australia has the
lowest and driest parts regions in the world apart from Antarctica. Hence, government of Australia has
the mandate to develop their plan for combating disaster by focusing at several needs of different
areas while figuring out ideal approach to deal with such issues as they occur.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Primary objective of this investigation is to investigate the preparedness of the Australia
government and its citizens to combat natural weather-induced disasters. The primary objective
that helps in designing of the survey is that the topic is more concerned with opinions of different
government workers and Australians. The use of systematic along with purposive techniques of
sampling will be utilized to gather vital data for the investigation (Filipovic 2017, p. 119). The
data collection approaches that can be used include administration of well-structured
questionnaires together with interview guides for different respondents. The research is vital as
there have been several instances of natural disasters in Australia that affect wellbeing of society.
These disasters include bushfires, floods, tsunamis, and tropical cyclones among other hazards
(Cvetkovic 2016, p. 92). Al these disasters possess the potential of reaching catastrophic sections

Research Proposal 11
if they are huge enough, prolonged in occurrence, they can influence vulnerable or unprepared
society and result in massive property damages. In this survey, model of cross-sectional survey
adopted to find the aim of the work. The use of cross-sectional survey will focus on
observational research kind that concentrates on analysis variable data gathered at any point
across the sampled unit or the subset that have been pre-defined (Bruns and Liang 2012, p. 3).
The investigation examines various works by different authors, case studies, and examines them
with appropriate procedure of cross-sectional design of research. The use of various sources will
assist in compilation of information concerning preparedness of Australian government for
weather-induced disasters and responses to warnings of weather conditions through the use of
administrative or survey information.
For the examination, data gathered during survey will be collected from organization s that deals
with management of municipal emergency. These organization that will provide data remain to
play vital function in implementation as well as preparing management plans for municipal
emergency (Goswami, Chakraborty, Ghosh, Chakrabarti, and Chakraborty 2018, p. 362). Hence,
they represent important source of data because this approach uses qualitative methods and to
analyze. The study will use qualitative research approach in collection of data. Qualitative
technique tends to be more transparent and flexible. The technique enables room for greater
spontaneity and adaption of the interaction between the researcher and the target groups or
participant. Besides, use of qualitative research method yield results that are more descriptive
rather than predictive that offer clearer picture of entire situation. Moreover, qualitative research
method will be utilized due to the fact that it can be utilized at stage of collecting and analyzing
data of the project. The method also is vital as it offers highest, average, as well as lowest
percentages of capability in the study (Cvetković 2016, p. 57). Initially reports at preliminary

Research Proposal 12
level of disaster along with their reviews will be collected from vital personnel's found in
municipalities, organizations dealing management of disaster and from survey reports that are
officially documented. This examination ends with acknowledging advantages of management of
natural weather-induced disaster and functions, together with responsibilities of each Australian
stakeholder.
Methods of collecting data
Process of gathering data for accessing preparedness of the Australia government and its citizens
to combat natural weather-induced disasters vary on different factors. These factors of variation
include nature of problem, time-frame, and budget of study. However, process of data collection
in this study is vital as it helps in attaining the main target of the research (Shuckburgh, Mitchell,
and Stott 2017, p. 354). This study will use different techniques of gathering data that include
administration of well-structured questionnaires, case studies, accessing databases, observations
by researchers, and interviewing of respondents (Berbegal‐Mirabent 2013, p. 333). Moreover,
major techniques vital in collection of data on preparedness of the Australia government and its
citizens to combat natural weather-induced disasters are use of online surveys and administration
of data. Technique of online survey was useful in gathering of data on the perceived risks of
weather-related disasters, degree of preparedness of municipalities, value of warnings of weather
and response to these warnings, among several issues.

Research Proposal 13
LIST OF REFERENCES
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Cvetković, V. (2016). Influence of employment status on citizen preparedness for response to
natural disasters. Nauka, bezbednost, policija, 21(2), pp.49-94.

Research Proposal 14
Cvetkovic, V. (2016). Influence of income level on citizen preparedness for response to natural
disasters. Vojno delo, 68(4), pp.100-127.
Cvetkovic, V. (2016). Marital status of citizens and floods: Citizen preparedness for response to
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Management, and Communication. Risk Analysis, 32(9), pp.1451-1467.

Research Proposal 15
Heazle, M., Tangney, P., Burton, P., Howes, M., Grant-Smith, D., Reis, K. and Bosomworth, K.
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Natural Disasters. Risk Analysis, 36(5), pp.1040-1053.

Research Proposal 16
Shuckburgh, E., Mitchell, D. and Stott, P. (2017). Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria: how
natural were these ‘natural disasters’?. Weather, 72(11), pp.353-354.
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