Building resilience together: Lessons from DR:FR Victoria

After four years walking alongside Korumburra, Myrtleford and Whittlesea Township and surrounds through FRRR’s Disaster Resilient: Future Ready (DR:FR) program, one thing is clear: resilience isn’t built in a straight line – it grows through relationships, trust and time.

Community-led, evidence-informed

This work has reaffirmed what many of us know intuitively: when communities lead, resilience deepens. The DR:FR Victoria initiative, supported by generous donors and research partners at the University of Sydney, has shown that place-based, community-led approaches are not only effective – they’re essential.

Earlier today, I was proud to co-host a webinar, where we shared the top insights from the DR:FR Victoria Insights Report. These included:

• Complexity thinking is essential: Communities must navigate non-linearity, emergence and dynamic contexts. Supporting them requires flexible funding and adaptive policy frameworks.
• The Resilience Dimensions framework is a useful guide for action: Decision-making, networks, information, self-organising systems, inclusion, communication and resources are all critical levers for resilience.
• Place-based, long-term investment works: The DR:FR model empowers communities to co-design solutions, build inclusive networks and sustain momentum beyond the program’s lifespan. This success should instil confidence in funders and policymakers considering similar investments.
• Support structures matter: Consistent resourcing, including ongoing support and early involvement of community coaches, streamlined funding access, and recognition of in-kind contributions are vital to success.
• Avoid over-formalisation: Community energy is best harnessed through organic, inclusive processes rather than rigid planning structures.
• Building resilience takes time: Funders and partners need to be patient and recognise that community life – and unexpected events like disasters or leadership changes – may slow progress. Flexibility is critical.

What does this look like in practice?

Each community brought its own strengths and challenges:

• Korumburra created the Helping Hub and launched Korumburra Staying Strong, a grassroots network now central to local emergency planning, social connection and volunteer coordination. Through community events and planning, they’ve strengthened relationships with local government and emergency services and have a clearer understanding of who needs support during disruptions like storms and blackouts.
• Whittlesea Township and surrounds developed Whittlesea Prepared, a project that’s strengthening local networks and positioning the community to be formally recognised within the emergency management system – a long-held aspiration following past disasters like bushfires.
• Myrtleford focused on The First 72 Hours, mapping critical connections, community assets and processes for the immediate aftermath of disasters such as floods or fires. Resilience-building is now embedded in the ongoing work of the Neighbourhood Centre, with clarity around roles, infrastructure capability and how best to collaborate with local government.

Small grants awarded by FRRR, activated over time, played a pivotal role in turning community-led ideas into action. A total of $135,001 was distributed across the three communities to support locally identified resilience priorities. These grants enabled a diverse range of initiatives – from developing emergency preparedness resources and coordinating volunteer networks, to mapping local assets and strengthening community hubs. Each project was designed by the community, for the community, ensuring relevance, ownership and long-term impact. The funding not only resourced practical solutions but also built confidence, capability and momentum for ongoing resilience work.

Over time, it became clear that these are not just projects but also human systems of care, connection and capability. They will yield positive dividends in the next storm, fire, flood or earthquake through their ability to respond in a skilled, informed and connected way.

“In my 16 years of working in the Myrtleford region, I have never seen these 12 community groups collaborating so well, sharing information about their facilities and activities, and how they can best work together in the next flood or fire.”

Jill, Manager of the Myrtleford Neighbourhood Centre

What can we learn from this work?

For communities, this is a call to keep leaning into your local strengths. Your knowledge, networks and lived experience are the foundation of resilience.

For donors, this is evidence that long-term, flexible funding works. It allows communities to adapt, evolve and sustain momentum beyond the life of a grant.

And for government, this is a reminder that policy frameworks must be as dynamic as the communities they serve. Embedding community-led models into disaster preparedness and recovery systems isn’t just good practice – it’s good governance.

The DR:FR evidence base identifies seven critical dimensions for community-led resilience: Inclusion, Networks, Communication, Information, Self-organising systems, Decision-making, and Resources, tools and support. These dimensions reflect the conditions that enable communities to lead, collaborate and adapt. They are not just theoretical – they are observable, measurable and practical foundations for long-term resilience.

Together, these dimensions offer a framework that supports communities to act with confidence, harness local knowledge and build systems that reflect their values and lived experience. This is resilience that is inclusive, adaptive and deeply contextual to place – as evidenced by the diverse projects, events and initiatives developed across the three communities.

Looking to the future

As we evolve this approach across Australia, we invite you to share our learnings, start more conversations around the value of resilience and reach out if you’d like to work with us to scale this proven model in other places across remote, rural or regional Australia.

When we build resilience together, we build futures that are ready for anything.