Delivery of Local Social Preparedness Assets Project in the Northern Rivers
NSW Reconstruction Authority
NSW is experiencing more frequent and more severe disasters, yet 97% of disaster spending still goes to response and recovery, with only 3% invested in prevention and preparedness.
Shifting this balance through a focus on creating social wellbeing, cohesion and connection in impacted communities, is a priority in the NSW State Disaster Mitigation Plan and is critical to reducing the human, social, and financial costs of future disasters across the entire Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery spectrum.
Evidence consistently shows that the communities most impacted by disasters – and those experiencing higher levels of socially vulnerability – are least able to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. Strengthening social wellbeing, cohesion and connection is therefore central to building disaster resilience.
Social assets – including community places, spaces, services and networks – are the building blocks of disaster resilience. They support people before, during and after disasters, helping communities stay connected, informed and supported when it matters most.
The Disaster Resilience Social Assets Assessment provides the social resilience component of Disaster Adaption Plans. It offers a structured, place-based approach to identifying, mapping and evaluating social assets that reduce vulnerability, strengthen preparedness and support recovery – creating more connected and resilient communities.
HOW WE DID IT
CRED Consulting worked alongside the NSW Reconstruction Authority to deliver the pilot social assets assessment program applied across the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley Region and Northern Rivers Region. In parallel, we developed the DRSAA methodology, Delivery Guide and Toolkit to support consistent rollout across NSW.
We delivered:
- Stakeholder engagement with councils and communities, agencies and communities to understand social vulnerabilities across diverse places and cohorts, and social asset provision, gaps and opportunities.
- Research and spatial analysis / mapping of social, hazard and place-based vulnerability data
- Inventory, GIS mapping and gap analysis of key social assets and their role in disaster resilience.
- Collaborative workshops to determine local and regional social asset priorities.
- Regional Social Assets for Disaster Resilience Priority Reports
- A comprehensive Disaster Resilience Social Assets Assessment Delivery Guide and Toolkit for future DRSAA’s across NSW’s regions including engagement approaches, inventory templates, case studies and baseline-to-best-practice survey tools.
Image credit: CRED Consulting
OUTCOMES
The pilot established a clear, scalable and repeatable process for assessing social assets for disaster resilience across NSW. It also delivered region-specific priorities for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley and Northern Rivers, providing a practical evidence base to inform future investment, planning and coordination.
The DRSAA now enables NSW agencies and local governments to embed social resilience into disaster planning, ensuring prevention and preparedness efforts are grounded in local context and community strengths.