Disaster Scorecard Finds Gaps in Indigenous Emergency Preparedness Across Australia

Melbourne — Australian governments are failing to translate commitments to involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in disaster planning into consistent action, with a new national scorecard identifying funding shortfalls and deteriorating engagement in Queensland and Tasmania.

The 2026 Disaster Preparedness Scorecard, produced by Monash University’s National Indigenous Disaster Resilience (NIDR) program, found that 50 of 63 declared natural disasters over the past year disproportionately affected First Nations communities, yet no state or territory government provided direct funding for Indigenous-led disaster resilience projects in 2026.

The independent assessment measures emergency management agencies across Australia against three areas include their readiness to work with Indigenous peoples, funding for Indigenous-led disaster preparedness and whether disaster planning and decision-making are shared with Indigenous communities.

NIDR Program Lead, Professor Bhiamie Williamson, said local improvements were occurring but lacked strategic coordination under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, signed in 2020.

“Indigenous communities continue to face the consequences of governments’ failure to act and governments often aren’t sure where to start,” Prof. Williamson said.

He said the scorecard was intended both to hold governments accountable and help agencies target their efforts.

Queensland and Tasmania were rated “poor” across all three assessment criteria, with the report identifying a deterioration in engagement.

In Queensland, Local Disaster Management Groups removed First Nations representation and priorities from updated local disaster management plans over the past year, according to the scorecard.

Funding for Indigenous-led preparedness, mitigation and risk-reduction projects through the federal Disaster Ready Fund also declined.

New South Wales, the only state to have provided funding through the fund, did not allocate any to Indigenous organisations this year.

The report found improvements in cultural safety across several emergency management agencies, particularly in jurisdictions with regularly updated Reconciliation Action Plans, including New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia.

However, Prof. Williamson said no state or territory had established a clear, long-term strategy commensurate with its Closing the Gap commitments.

“This makes progress piecemeal, ad hoc, and exposed to changing political tides,” he said.

The scorecard also identified initiatives it said offered examples of progress, including research into colonial load within emergency management workforces, the establishment of an Indigenous advisory position in the Northern Territory and New South Wales government investment in Indigenous organisations such as Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation.

Jagun Alliance’s Good Fire Gathering program, supported by funding since 2025, brings First Nations communities and emergency management agencies together before fire season to plan preparedness measures.

Jagun Alliance Executive Director, Oli Costello, said sustained funding was necessary to enable communities to lead disaster preparation.

“When communities are resourced to lead, preparedness happens on Country, all year round, not just when an emergency arrives,” Costello said.

He said the program had grown each year as communities and agencies continued to participate.

The scorecard recommends that emergency management agencies include the required Priority Reform 3 indicators in their annual reporting, that the federal emergency management minister establish a dedicated AU$20 million funding stream for Indigenous organisations in each Disaster Ready Fund round and that governments formalise partnerships with Indigenous organisations to support shared decision-making before emergencies.

Prof. Williamson called for urgent action as Australia entered another high-risk weather season, including direct investment in First Nations leadership and measures to embed shared decision-making in emergency management.

“The solutions exist; what we need to see more of is a willingness to act,” he said.

The National Agreement on Closing the Gap commits governments to working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to improve outcomes across key areas, including through greater shared decision-making and stronger community-controlled organisations.