Hazard and risk

About 

The Queensland Government is delivering a suite of reforms to Queensland's disaster and emergency management system. 

For the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA), the reforms mean expanded prevention, mitigation and preparedness responsibilities. QRA’s existing roles and functions in resilience and recovery will remain. From 1 July 2024, QRA will be responsible for:

• state-level Hazard and Risk functions (including the state risk assessment tool) 
• certain Community Engagement and Education projects and activities, and
• certain Community Awareness Campaigns (including the expansion of QRA’s Get Ready Queensland brand in October 2023 to include the If It’s Flooded Forget It campaign).

On 1 July 2024 the state-level hazard and risk functions previously performed by the former Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Hazard and Risk Unit transitioned to the QRA. 

From 1 July 2024, QRA responsibilities include leading state-level hazard and risk functions, comprising: 

1. overall responsibility for Queensland’s disaster risk management approach, including the ongoing refinement and evolution of risk assessment tools/frameworks such as the Queensland Emergency Risk Management Framework (QERMF)
2. coordinating and implementing policies related to potential disaster risk assessments across Queensland 
3. maintaining disaster risk management reporting and assessment functions, such as the State Disaster Risk Report, State-level risk assessments (such as the State Earthquake Risk Assessment) 
4. supporting state and local stakeholders to develop and implement disaster risk assessments, including improving and evolving hazard and risk information and accessibility over time 
5. coordinating state-level relationships and collaborations for specific hazards or products, including with other state agencies like the Department of Energy and Climate, and with Geoscience Australia, the Australian Climate Service, and research organisations such as Natural Hazards Research Australia and universities.  

Current status and transition arrangements 

• QRA has been working closely with the former QFES to ensure the transition is as seamless as possible. Detailed transition arrangements have been formulated to transfer key frameworks and products previously delivered by the former QFES Hazard and Risk Unit to the QRA, including: 
  • QERMF 
  • State Disaster Risk Report 
  • state level risk assessments, including the State Earthquake Risk Assessment, State Heatwave Risk Assessment, Severe Wind Hazard Assessment, and Tsunami Guide for Queensland 
  • various presently unreleased state-level hazard and risk investigations and products, including the proposed Queensland Risk Information Portal (QRIP). 
•  QRA is in the process of communicating with Chairs of Local Disaster Management Groups (LDMGs) and CEOs of local councils to advise of the formal transfer of specific disaster management responsibilities to QRA and will provide contact details for any queries relating to the transitioning functions.
• Throughout the reforms, disaster management agencies have committed to no degradation of service. QRA will continue to work with the new Queensland Fire Department (QFD) following the transition of the hazard and risk function, to ensure there is limited impact to disaster management stakeholders.
• QRA has commenced the enhancement of its internal Hazard and Risk Management capability, combining their well-established Flood Risk Management and Geographic Information System (GIS) Teams, with further business and resource planning underway, to ensure an ability to mature and deliver this new state function. 
• QRA will continue to work collaboratively across government to ensure state hazard and risk is well understood and informs community risk profiles, as well as mitigation initiatives for resilience building, particularly in the face of climate change. 
• QRA will continue to work with relevant State agencies to provide support to key stakeholders and align Guidelines, training and support across the QDMA. 
• QRA will continue to seek feedback from key disaster management stakeholders, in particular councils and disaster management groups on the effectiveness of the current risk management approach and methodology in Queensland, as the QRA’s delivery of this function evolves.

Forward directions 

Disaster risk management governance from local, to district to state to national is a foundation of disaster management arrangements in Queensland. This includes the development of scientifically informed disaster risk assessments and impact tools for disaster risk management for Queensland, to ensure there is shared understanding of risks, and that they are managed to reduce the impact of disasters on the community. 

Our understanding of disaster risk is deepening as we experience and analyse the impacts and consequences of each disaster season in Queensland. Our awareness of what constitutes risk and the information and tools needed to effectively manage these changing risks is also improving. 

This means that our approach to disaster risk management in Queensland also needs to evolve, so that we can ensure our information, intelligence and processes are up to date in supporting risk-based planning and decision making by all stakeholders. 

QRA is developing its capability to effectively respond to and support others in responding to this evolving disaster risk management space as envisaged by the recent disaster management reforms. This process of capability increase will take time, and more information will be provided as it is available.   

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