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DISASTER MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY EDUCATION STRATEGY – UPDATE C. Fitzgerald:HW: 17/24/1-06 #2533613v1

RECOMMENDATION That Council notes this Report.

INTRODUCTION: In October 2009 Council endorsed the Disaster Management Community Education Strategy, which was implemented for the 2009-10 cyclone season. This report provides an update on the Strategy and summarises the outcomes from the endorsed activities and in particular the extension of the Facebook/Twitter social networking trial.

BACKGROUND: On an annual basis, the Disaster Management Unit (in consultation with the Local Disaster Management Group and Corporate Communication Branch) has delivered a cyclone season public awareness campaign. In 2009-10 this process was formalised in a Community Education Strategy developed by the Local Disaster Management Group's Community Education Sub-Committee. A summary of Community Education activities for the 2009/10 Cyclone Season are as follows: • 'Preparing for Cyclones' brochure - print 15,000 and distribute; • Sponsor and provide copy for the 'Cairns Post Cyclone Survival Guide' inserted in

Friday Cairns Post (111,000 distribution); • Distribution of 3000 additional copies of the Cyclone Survival Guide; • Social Networking trial period (Facebook & Twitter); • Sunbus advertising on 3 buses for the duration of the season; • Dedicated ‘disaster’ web address available via council's website -

cairns.qld.gov.au/disaster; • Sponsorship of the cairns.com.au/cyclone website with links to the Council website; • Advertisements in several local publications including Post-Ed section of the Cairns

Post, Home insert in the Cairns Post and cairns.com.au magazine; • Regular cyclone tips in newspaper’s Council Corner; • Cyclone preparedness displays at Council libraries; • Colouring-in competition; • Media updates (TV, print and radio); • Community and school presentations (includes mail out to all schools in region);

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Agenda – Infrastructure Services Committee 21 April 2010 - #2536968

• Information provided to Council displays (Cairns Show, Carnival on Collins, Baby Expo etc);

• One page advertisement in the Port Douglas and Mossman Community phone book; • Online multi-lingual guides (Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Italian, Japanese and Thai); • Online Tsunami Guide; and • Update and promote the Evacuation and Recovery Register.

COMMENT: The following comments are provided on the major elements of the strategy: ‘Plan Pack Listen’ Campaign The Disaster Management Unit developed a consistent ‘message’ and associated branding for their education activities. The ‘Plan Pack Listen’ message encouraged people to have a household emergency ‘plan’, ‘pack’ an emergency kit, and ‘listen’ to updates and stay informed. A graphic designer assisted in developing the Plan Pack Listen logos that were used throughout the strategy to ensure the message was easily recognisable and memorable. A selection of the materials displaying the Plan Pack Listen branding (including banners, brochures, advertisements etc) are included at Attachment A. Social Networking A major initiative of the strategy was the trial use of online social networking tools, Facebook and Twitter, to expand our ability to disseminate messages from the Disaster Coordination Centre to the wider community. This proved very popular with almost 2000 Facebook ‘fans’ to date and over 30 ‘followers’ on Twitter. The sites were also cross-promoted in many of the print materials produced throughout the strategy. The URL for each is www.facebook.com/CairnsDCC and www.twitter.com/CairnsDCC. Examples of each site and statistics are included at Attachment B. Due to the popularity and positive feedback of the trial, the Disaster Management Unit intends to continue to maintain these sites. Disaster Website With the assistance of Corporate Communications, the Disaster Management Unit established a ‘smart’ URL to direct people to the disaster information on the Council website www.cairns.qld.gov.au/disaster. This URL was also promoted throughout the strategy on all print materials and via links on the Twitter and Facebook sites. Analysis of the visitation to the sites showed distinct increases in activity before potential disasters events such as Tropical Cyclones Olga and Ului. Further information is provided at Attachment C.

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Media Updates Press releases continued the promotion of the Plan, Pack, Listen campaign and general cyclone preparedness information through various media outlets (print, radio and television). This included various print publications (brochures, Cyclone Survival Guide etc), cyclone season radio launch (with Emergency Management Queensland and Ergon) and television news reports. This was the first year we distributed all additional Cyclone Survival Guides prior to the completion of cyclone season (3,000 + those inserted in the Cairns Post) and over 10,000 ‘Preparing for Cyclones’ brochures. In preparation for the 2010-11 cyclone season the Community Education Sub-Committee will re-convene to review the outcome of this year’s initiatives and make recommendations for the 2010/11 cyclone season. Next season the Disaster Management Unit will be operating out of the new Woree Multi-Purpose Community Centre which will increase the capacity for the unit to promote disaster preparedness presentations, and displays to community groups and schools.

CONSIDERATIONS: Corporate and Operational Plans: Corporate Plan Goal 4.5 - Effectively prepare for natural disasters Operational Plan – Disaster Management Activity Statutory: Qld Disaster Management Act 2003. Policy: N/A Financial: Funding for the implementation of the Disaster Management Community Education Strategy was contained within the Disaster Management Unit’s operational budget ($23,000). Sustainability: N/A

CONSULTATION: The strategy was implemented in consultation with:

Local Disaster Management Group – Cairns Region Manager Technical Support Services Emergency Management Queensland. Disaster Management Unit Corporate Communication Branch. Infrastructure Services Communications Officers.

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CONCLUSION: The Disaster Management Community Education Strategy was successful in disseminating Council’s disaster preparedness message throughout the 2009-10 cyclone season.

ATTACHMENTS:

A. Example ‘Plan Pack Listen’ cyclone season materials B. Social networking summary C. Website visitation analysis

Cheryl-Lee Fitzgerald Disaster Management Operations Officer Jack Mitchell Acting Manager Technical Support Services Ross McKim General Manager Infrastructure Services

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Attachment A: Example ‘Plan Pack Listen’ cyclone season materials

Bannerstands

Sunbus Advertising

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Cyclone Preparedness Brochures

cairns.com.au Magazine Advertising

Council Corner Advertisement

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cairns.com.au/cyclone Online Advertisements

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Attachment B: Social Networking Summary FACEBOOK (as at 8th April 2010) Total members: 1937 fans The following graph illustrates when fans joined the Cairns DCC site. The major spikes are around Cyclone Olga (January) and again for Cyclone Ului (March).

The following graph illustrates the fan demographics including gender and age.

Fan Interactions: The following graph illustrates interaction on the facebook site from fans. The spikes are generally around the time new content was posted (ie Cyclone Olga in January). Interactions were in the form of comments and ‘likes’ from fans.

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The following graph illustrates the page views throughout cyclone season. The day of highest visitation was during Cyclone Olga in January with approximately 800 of the 2,000 views being ‘unique’ page views (this means a unique visitor, not repeated visits by the same individuals).

Below: Snapshot of Facebook page www.facebook.com/CairnsDCC

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Below: Snapshot of Twitter page www.twitter.com/CairnsDCC

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Attachment C: Website Visitation Analysis The following graph illustrates the visitation to cairns.qld.gov.au/disaster during the months of January- March 2010. The dark blue line represents January, with a dramatic spike during the five days of Cyclone Olga (21-25 Jan). Another small increase occurred in March (light blue line) around the time of Cyclone Ului. TC Ului did not pose a direct threat to the Cairns Region but it was monitored for a period of about a week as it made its way across the Pacific Ocean from Vanuatu.

Website Traffic - cairns.qld.gov.au/disaster

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The following graph illustrates the sources of visitors to the disaster website. ‘Direct Entry’ accounted for 41% our visitors - this means they have physically typed our URL into their web browser (ie www. cairns.qld.gov.au/disaster). This suggests our new 'smart' URL is proving very successful in driving visitors to our site. It also suggests that our print media is working - ie brochures, buses, Cyclone Survival Guide etc as this is where the community would be finding this URL advertised. 30% of visitors to the disaster pages have come via other pages on the Council website. The online cairns.com.au/cyclone ads & their news articles also seems to be driving visitation (12%).

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