...and are predicted to cost a staggering $73 billion per year by 2060 (Deloitte Access Economics 2021) 

• Every $1 invested in pre-disaster resilience saves $3-$13 in post-disaster recovery (Source:  _______)
• Nearly half of Australia’s population live in communities with a low-to-moderate level of disaster resilience (BHNRC 2020)
• Surrounded by dense forest and with the Yarra River running through it, Millgrove is classified as one of the highest bushfire-risk communities in Victoria and is also prone to significant flooding.

With the support of The Resilience Canopy, The Millgrove Residents Action Group (MRAG) undertook deep dive sessions to assess community risks and to plan proactively.

Strengths and challenges were identified through numerous community engagement forums and mapping exercises. 

After much hard work and deliberating, Millgrove created its Resilience Plan, which contained nine priority projects.

Unsurprisingly, given the community’s susceptibility to fires and floods, the plan featured a number of disaster-related projects, primarily to:

According to MRAG, one of the main benefits in addition to providing valuable contacts was that this process allowed the community to ‘dream big’.

As a result, Millgrove has been successfully galvanising the support of community, council, government programs, funding bodies, and partners to realise their ‘big dream’ emergency preparedness ambitions. 

Increase community awareness and preparedness

Three community open days, sponsored in part by the local Bendigo Bank, have been run so far as part of this campaign to engage locals in emergency preparedness.

Featuring informative workshops, guest speakers and celebrations of the Millgrove Plan and achievements made to-date, these have been well received by the broader community.

MRAG has also engaged Millwarra Primary School, which the group sees as being pivotal in involving youth in community projects and resilience education. This will build intergenerational resilience and help keep Millgrove as strong and together as possible.

MRAG has also invested in an informative website and Welcome Pack to increase connectivity, as well as first aid training for the committee and the CFA to develop essential skills for emergency situations.