The Tasmanian Fire Service Community Development Pilot: Evaluation of a Grass Roots Community Engagement Approach

Acceptance of the fact that bushfires can exceed the capacity of fire-fighting resources makes facilitating household and community bushfire preparedness a crucial risk management goal. This goal cannot be accomplished simply by making information available to people.

This view was echoed by the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission that called for more innovative approaches to public bushfire education that accommodates the need for bushfire preparedness to be seen as a ‘shared responsibility’ between communities, fire agencies, and governments.

This presentation discusses the development and evaluation of a bushfire community engagement initiative being trialled by the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS). The Pilot sought to identify how to engage with communities to increase bushfire safety becoming a collective responsibility between the TFS and communities.

The benefits accruing from the Pilot, which range from more cost-effective use of agency resources to increasing the likelihood of sustained bushfire preparedness, provide a cogent argument for continuing and expanding bushfire risk communication programs based on community engagement and empowerment principles.