People with Disability Emergency Preparedness project

This project helps people living with disability in Tasmania to be ready for:

  • Storms and floods
  • Bushfires, and
  • Other emergencies.

Access help to get ready for emergencies.

The project helps people with disability to plan for emergencies in ways that fits their life. The project uses the Person-centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) approach. P-CEP recognises:

  • Everyone is an expert in their own life. Planning starts with them
  • Getting ready for emergencies is ongoing, not a one-off event
  • Getting ready for emergencies involves working together with:
    • family and friends
    • Support providers
    • Neighbours and others in the community.
  • Emergency services.
Storms can damage trees, buildings and power-lines

What the project does

  • P-CEP workshops for people and households living with disability. This can be:
    • By our project team, often working with others
    • By other organisations supported by our project team or
    • By disability support providers or others, using project and P-CEP guides.
  • Support to build knowledge about P-CEP in Tasmania.
  • Scenario exercises to help disability support providers test their emergency plans.  They need to keep supporting people during emergencies.
  • New guiding materials on how to get ready for emergencies that aligns with P-CEP.  
  • Joining community events to talk with people about getting ready for emergencies.
  • Support disability inclusive emergency planning.

The project started in April 2024. It will go for 3 years. The project team works with:

Recently the team have:

  • Worked with others to set up the project
  • Been at two disability expos
  • Run a workshop in Hobart for disability service providers to test their emergency plans
  • Worked with the University of Sydney to run an on-line course on P-CEP
  • Started working with Paraquad to support their members to get ready for emergencies
  • Started working with the ‘Chickability’ ladies in northern Tasmania to get ready for emergencies.

To contact the project team, please email pcep@ses.tas.gov.au.

Look after children and pets

Why focus on people with disability?

If people get ready for emergencies well before they happen, if there is a bushfire or flood:

  • People are safer and more comfortable
  • They are less likely to lose what they value, such as their home.

People with disability are more likely to come to harm during an emergency. They may:

  • have extra things to think about, or
  • need support during emergencies.

Getting ready for emergencies needs to be a part of people’s everyday supports and fit their life.

Take a photo of damages

Further information

This project is to support the preparedness of people with disability and their support networks for emergencies such as severe storm, floods and bushfires. Being prepared is one of the best ways to reduce the impacts of floods, bushfires and other emergency events.

The project is to directly support people with disability to plan for emergencies in ways that recognise their personal circumstances. The project uses the Person-centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) approach developed in New South Wales. The Tasmanian State Emergency Service (SES) with the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) is managing the project with resourcing from the Australian Government’s Disaster Ready Fund.

The project proposal developed from a forum including people from emergency services and the disability sector (including people with disability) held in February 2023. The project’s steering committee and supporting advisory group are currently overseeing the project’s establishment.

Intended outcomes

  • People with disability:
    • actively participate in their own disaster preparednesshave increased levels of disaster resilience
    •  are safer during and after disaster events.
  • People with disability, support providers, and emergency services collaborate to improve the safety of people with disability during and after disasters.

Project Outputs/activities

The project will deliver:

  1. P-CEP Implementation – direct support for individuals and households living with disability in communities with high exposure to flood and/or bushfire (the primary focus of the project)
  2. Disability support provider emergency preparedness support focusing on flood and bushfire hazard awareness though:
    • providing local hazard exposure information and
    • facilitating discussion exercises for disability support providers to develop, test and refine their emergency plans.
  3. Redevelopment of the SES home emergency plan to incorporate P-CEP principles, easy English and a visual style, to help make preparedness information more accessible and useful for many people, including people with disability
  4. Direct community engagement activities with a focus on people with disability, including for example at Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods (BRN) events, Storm and Flood Ready (SAFR) program activities, agricultural shows and other local events
  5. A secondary aim of the project is to advocate for and support disability inclusive emergency planning, particularly in flood and bushfire planning.

Rationale

People with disability can be at increased risk during disasters. People with disability often have specific needs in the face of emergency events, which need to be considered alongside their other care needs and personal circumstances.  The lessons learnt from recent major bushfire and flood disasters drive the need for emergency planning for people at increased risk in emergencies due to disability. 

The project is supported by and supports the State Emergency Service’s Storm and Flood Ready (SAFR) program plus the Tasmania Fire Service’s Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods program.

Skill and knowledge development across SES, TFS and disability service providers will extend beyond the scope of this project.  This project will enable ongoing disaster preparedness capabilities in the disability support sector.  People in SES and TFS will also have a better knowledge of the needs of people with disabilities before, during and after floods, storms and bushfires.  There will be better connections between these two sectors, benefitting all Tasmanians beyond the scope of this project.  While this project is focused on storm, flood and bushfire events, there can be many aspects relevant across other hazards and climate change more generally.

To contact the project team, please email pcep@ses.tas.gov.au.

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