ABSTRACT
Governments and their agencies play varying roles in relation to natural disasters. Strategies and policies are developed internationally, nationally and locally. An, integrated approach is called for using general media campaigns as well as localised information and events. It also suggests that audiences are diverse, and consequently programs need to be varied in content and format to meet the specific needs of a range of different groups, such as cultural and linguistically diverse communities, schoolchildren and those who are more vulnerable to wildfire risk. This chapter outlines the kinds of communications outputs and practices that were commonly identified during the research. Wildfire safety or preparedness advice has become a significant responsibility for the relevant agencies and entails various management and communication perspectives. In Australia, communication products for wildfire preparedness have been developed separately by public agencies in individual states with considerable collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas occurring between various state bodies.
