About Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR)
Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DIDRR) means making sure the needs and voices of people with disability are included in disaster risk management. To achieve this, council is partnering with the Queenslanders with Disability Network, the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at The University of Sydney and the Queensland Government, to promote the DIDRR Framework and Person-Centred Emergency Planning for people with disabilities and their carers.
Why?
People with disability are more vulnerable to injury and social isolation during a disaster, but this risk can be reduced through emergency preparedness. Emergency preparedness means taking steps to ensure you are safe before, during and after an emergency.
How - People with disability, their families and their carers
What you can do to prepare for disasters and emergencies:
- Create a Person-Centred Emergency Plan tailored to your individual support needs.
- Discuss your Emergency Plan with your support networks so you can all act together to stay safe during emergencies.
How - Community and disability support services
Community service and support workers have intimate knowledge of client capability and support needs and can use this knowledge to build preparedness together.
What you can do to help the people you care for get ready for disasters and emergencies:
- Support your clients to create a Person-Centred Emergency Plan.
- Create a business continuity plan to ensure your organisation is able to remain operational before, during and after an emergency or disaster so that you can continue caring for your clients.
How - Local disaster management and emergency services
What council is doing to create more inclusive disaster risk management programs:
- Council worked with people with disability in Ipswich throughout 2020-21 to promote DIDRR and make its emergency management program more inclusive. You can read more about it here.
- Council hosted an inclusive stakeholder engagement workshop to share experiences and exchange ideas to reduce disaster risk for people with disability. You can read about it in this report.
- Council is undertaking a review of its disaster and emergency management materials to identify ways to make them more inclusive and accessible – watch this space!
- Council will share the valuable contributions and lessons learned throughout these processes with the City of Ipswich Local Disaster Management Group so that emergency services can contribute to more inclusive disaster risk management.
More Information
- Person-Centred Emergency Plan
- DIDRR Framework and Toolkit
- Queenslanders with Disability Network
- Queensland Government advice about disaster preparedness for people with disability
- The Deaf Society emergency preparedness resources