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Panel | Shifting the scales: Embedding justice and equity in Australia's disaster law system
As climate driven disasters grow in scale and complexity, they continue to expose and deepen structural inequities across Australia. Communities already experiencing marginalisation—including First Nations peoples, multicultural communities, people with disability, older people, young people, and rural and remote communities—face disproportionate legal, social, and economic harms before, during, and long after disasters. These inequities manifest in systemic failures across housing, insurance, tenancy, employment, debt and family violence, all of which intensify in the aftermath of crisis.
This panel examines how domestic and international legal frameworks shape these inequities and how policy and governance reform can redistribute power to communities most affected. Drawing on the Sendai Framework, emerging international treaty developments, and Australia’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework, panellists analyse the fragmented legal architecture that contributes to risk—highlighting jurisdictional inconsistencies, unclear roles, and gaps in accountability that continue to impede fair and coordinated responses.
The session will share examples of community led and co designed approaches emerging across the legal assistance sector, including trauma informed, place based legal services that embed equity, agency, and cultural safety. These models demonstrate qualitative improvements in access to legal support for vulnerable groups and provide early evidence of reduced secondary harm through integrated service partnerships.
Panellists will outline actionable reforms to embed fairness in disaster governance: integrating legal services into preparedness and mitigation; strengthening national consistency; adapting funding models toward long term, community led legal assistance; and expanding the Red Cross auxiliary role to elevate local leadership within humanitarian decision making.
This panel examines how domestic and international legal frameworks shape these inequities and how policy and governance reform can redistribute power to communities most affected. Drawing on the Sendai Framework, emerging international treaty developments, and Australia’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework, panellists analyse the fragmented legal architecture that contributes to risk—highlighting jurisdictional inconsistencies, unclear roles, and gaps in accountability that continue to impede fair and coordinated responses.
The session will share examples of community led and co designed approaches emerging across the legal assistance sector, including trauma informed, place based legal services that embed equity, agency, and cultural safety. These models demonstrate qualitative improvements in access to legal support for vulnerable groups and provide early evidence of reduced secondary harm through integrated service partnerships.
Panellists will outline actionable reforms to embed fairness in disaster governance: integrating legal services into preparedness and mitigation; strengthening national consistency; adapting funding models toward long term, community led legal assistance; and expanding the Red Cross auxiliary role to elevate local leadership within humanitarian decision making.
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