First Nations knowledge takes centre stage at national disaster resilience gathering

Indigenous-led research and community leadership in disaster resilience will be showcased next month at the 2026 National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Gathering on Gunaikurnai Country in Victoria’s East Gippsland region.

The biennial gathering, hosted by the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience (NIDR) program at Monash University, will run from 5 to 7 May 2026 at Lake Tyers, in partnership with Jagun Alliance, the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust, and the East Gippsland Shire Council.

Since 2007 more than 700 environmental disasters have struck Australia, with disproportionate impacts on Indigenous people and communities. Already in 2026, remote and regional communities have been battered by multiple cyclones in the Kimberley, Top End, Pilbara, and North Queensland.

NIDR program lead Associate Professor Bhiamie Williamson said the event aimed to create space for First Nations leadership in disaster planning, recovery, and resilience.

“It’s well understood that climate change is accelerating the impacts and frequencies of major environmental hazards” Associate Professor Williamson said.

“The NIDR Gathering is really a way to come together, to acknowledge all of these hazards, these increasing threats that we all face, and kind of start to ask the question ‘What might we learn by considering the tens of thousands of years of deep history held by Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people?’ — people who know these hazards not as threats, but as necessary cycles of Country. “

Jagun Alliance executive director Oliver Costello said the event would showcase First Nations practitioners working in fire and water management, emergency response, and recovery.

“What Indigenous communities have been doing – caring for Country through fire, through water, through deep knowledge of place – that’s at the heart of disaster resilience” Mr Costello said.

The 2026 program features keynotes, panel discussions, and on-Country activities, with Lake Tyers chosen for its deep cultural significance to the Gunaikurnai people.

The 2024 NIDR Gathering was held on Bundjalung Country in Lismore, one of the most flood-prone urban centres in Australia. The Wilsons River at Lismore reached a record 14.4 metres in 2022, and in March 2025 Tropical Cyclone Alfred saw the river peak at 9.7 metres.

The 2024 event was convened in collaboration with Jagun Alliance, the Koori Mail, and Resilient Lismore. According to a National Emergency Management Agency briefing, sessions ran from 24 to 26 September that year and included on-Country activities such as a Lismore Floodplain tour led by Resilient Lismore executive director Elly Bird, and a Dorrobbee Grass cultural burning demonstration led by Jagun Alliance.

Senator Tony Sheldon, Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery, attended the 2024 gathering and said involving First Nations leaders in emergency management was essential.

“As a government we must continue to actively involve Indigenous leaders and organisations in our processes to ensure that Aboriginal voices are heard” Senator Sheldon said.

The Australian Government’s Disaster Ready Fund (a $1 billion program) has funded several First Nations-led projects, with reduced co-contribution requirements for Indigenous organisations under Round Three.

Expressions of interest for the 2026 NIDR Gathering are open via the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience program at Monash University.