Currently, there is limited data collected by fire agencies to understand the impact and effectiveness of communication and engagement with community members before, during, and after a specific bushfire incident. A lack of quality data creates challenges for evidence-based improvements to current public-facing communication, education, engagement and warnings.
Post-event social research was conducted in Pomonal after the February 2024 fires. Valuable lessons were learnt from that research regarding community preparedness, response and recovery, as well as how well information was shared across different levels of governance and why.
The Montrose March 2025 fire provides an opportunity to conduct a comparable study to better understand information provision and community comprehension and use of bushfire information before, during and after that fire specific bushfire incident.
Using social science research methods, the project will seek to understand:
- the information sharing roles of state, regional and local actors and how information was shared between them before, during and after the fire
- how this information influenced the decisions taken by members of the community, and, therefore, the consequences of the fire
- how the insights generated can lead to improvements to policy and practice.
Frequently asked questions
Q) Is there a preference for a project team to be from a single research organisation, or from across multiple organisations?
A) The Centre has no preference for either a single organisation or a multi-organisation project team. EOIs will be accepted from either and will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria in the same way.
Q) Can the proposed project team include researchers from government agencies or research consultancies, as well as university-based researchers?
A) EOIs will be accepted from multi-organisation project teams, and project teams can include researchers at government agencies and research consultancies. The proposed project team's capacity to undertake the project will be evaluated in the same way whether researchers are university-, consultancy- or agency-based.
Q) Would academic salaries (excluding administrative overheads) be eligible to budget?
A) Yes, academic salaries can be included within the project budget, but only when they are direct project costs and their salary is not already covered elsewhere. E.g. the salary costs of a contract researcher who is actively working on the project can be included up to the FTE component they are contributing. However, the salary costs of a tenured academic who is already paid through the university/research organisation would be included as an in-kind contribution up to the amount of their FTE contribution to the project.
Q) What do you mean by "peer review"?
A) This is a quality control process. The final report must be reviewed by someone who is an expert in the field and independent of the project.
Q) At what rate can salary on-costs be charged?
A) Administrative overheads are limited to direct salary-related on-costs. Indirect cost recoveries are not to be included. Other administrative overheads and indirect costs can be included as in-kind contributions. Where the salary on-cost rate exceeds 28% this will need to be justified.
Q) Can equipment costs be included in the budget?
A) Ordinarily, project funds are not to be used to purchase equipment. Where funds for equipment are requested, they will need to be justified
Q) What is the budget for the project?
A) The Centre has not specified a budget for this project intentionally. We request applicants to proposed a budget for what they think they project required to meet the outcomes. The research team should note and consider the value for money criteria when proposing their budget.
Q) Can international research teams apply? Alternatively, can international research teams be part of a consortium bid?
A) International research teams can be part of research projects when they are part of a consortium submission that is led by an Australian research organisation. The international team would need to be subcontracted by the lead Australian based research organisation. Please note that all budget submissions must be in Australian dollars and the lead organisation must bear the cost of funds transfer and responsibility for due diligence as required under Australian Foreign Interference regulations.
Q) Is there an option of registering my interest as an independent researcher that could assist a larger team or are you only able to consider proposals that address the entire project?
A) Yes, you can submit an EOI as an independent researcher addressing part of the project requirements. In the EOI submission form, please outline which aspects of the project you can address. Once the EOI closes, we can consider linking researchers together, although whether or not we can do that will depend on a range of factors, so we can’t guarantee that outcome.
Of course, the other option is to reach out to potential collaborators now about putting in a joint EOI submission that addresses the entire project.
