The goal of this collaboration is to apply knowledge from psychological constructs and theories on decision making, cognitive and community behaviours to behaviour by residents of bushfire prone communities, and to develop ways to reduce the risk posed by bushfires.
Research overview
Our research focuses on three main topics, each with a different level of analysis:
- Communities project: At the top level we investigate the role of community-level factors in predicting community resilience to bushfires and individual preparedness behaviours.
- Communications project: At the middle level we investigate the impact of communications, such as leaflets about preparedness and warnings during an actual fire, on individual levels of preparedness and behaviour during actual bushfire emergencies.
- Cognitive dispositions project: At the bottom level we investigate how dispositional factors related to the experience of bushfire threat might impact on the tendency to prepare for bushfires and the ability of individuals to cope during bushfire emergencies.
Disaster knowledge sharing
We regularly invite experts on disaster research to share their knowledge with us in our Disaster Research Seminar Series. Please feel free to join us for their disaster talks, or to enroll in one of their master classes. Also, our own team members regularly give presentations at conferences, symposia, etc.
How you can contribute
Are you a member of a fire prone community keen to share your experiences or simply interested in helping us out, but don't know how? We are always looking for people to participate in our projects. So contact us to see how you can contribute.
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
