Community-led disaster resilience: Strengthening preparedness and recovery in regional Australia

Community-led disaster resilience is an emerging concept in disaster risk reduction that emphasises local leadership, grassroots coordination and adaptive strategies to enhance preparedness and recovery. It is based on community knowledge, lived experience of emergency events and readiness to work collaboratively to towards improving resilience, often with support from external organisations. This paper explores community-led resilience models through the case study of the Australian Red Cross Community-Led Resilience Teams (CRT) program in regional New South Wales in Australia. Drawing on qualitative data from the formative evaluation of the program in 2024, we analyse the strengths of community-led resilience efforts including their ability to enhance trust, social cohesion, and responsiveness to local needs. We also critically examine key challenges, such as sustaining long-term engagement, navigating resource limitations, and ensuring inclusivity, particularly in reaching marginalised groups. Drawing from our data, we present a four-factor framework for practitioners, indicating how community-led resilience can be supported: 1. Relationships and inclusive networks for sharing knowledge, skills, resources and enhancing community cohesion; 2. Supporting motivation by engaging at the appropriate time, enabling growth mindsets and risk perception; 3. Supporting emerging community-backed leaders willing and able to step up, and 4. Developing skills and knowledge and supporting mental capacity. This paper contributes to the broader conceptual understanding of how communities can be supported and empowered to drive their own resilience-building strategies. We incorporate evaluation practice and resilience theory to offer insights for policymakers and practitioners on fostering sustainable and inclusive community resilience. • Community-led resilience initiatives can support disaster preparation and recovery. • Four factors play a role in designing and implementing successful community-led disaster resilience initiatives: • Community motivation and the ability to self-organise; • The availability of capacity and community leadership; • Timing and a sense of readiness within the community; • External support from government, services and organisations.