The State Risk and Capability Project, which began in 2013, focused on evaluating credible worst-case and near-worst-case scenarios for seven sudden onset natural hazards: bushfire, cyclone, earthquake, flood, heatwave, storm, and tsunami. These hazards were re-evaluated in 2017 using the 2015 National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines (NERAG), and the findings were detailed in the report titled "Western Australia's Natural Hazards Risk Profile 2017.”
By mid-2018, state-level risk assessments for 26 of 28 hazards (excluding terrorism, as per consultations with the WA Police Force) had been completed. Additionally, the risk of telecommunication disruption was evaluated, and three specific events (Cyclone Christine, the Parkerville Fire, and the Kununurra Floods) were reviewed using the same criteria.
From the analysis of the assessed hazards, it was found that:
- No risk statements were classified as extreme risks.
- 15.7% of the statements presented high risks.
- 29.7% presented medium risks.
- The remaining 54.6% were assessed as low risks.
This report presents Western Australia’s (WA) second iteration of a state-level risk assessment and fulfils the State’s obligations under the National Partnership Agreement (NPA) on Natural Disaster Resilience and presents the results of the updated state-level risk assessment of its natural hazards – bushfire, cyclone, earthquake, heatwave, flood, storm, and tsunami.
The risks from these seven hazards have been analysed by their impacts to the state’s economy, its people, public administration, the environment and the social setting. The approach used follows the ISO 31000:2009 standard and the methodology outlined in the National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines (NERAG) 2015.
