The experience from other natural disasters across Australia shows that people who have existing social and/or physical vulnerabilities are at a higher risk during emergencies.
In the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, people in social housing are a key community of concern in relation to floods. There are approximately 1,600 social housing properties at risk of flooding in the valley. Many social housing tenants would struggle to self-evacuate when directed, causing significant and even life-threatening issues for this community.
Infrastructure NSW has established a partnership program with Inner Sydney Voice and Wentworth Community Housing to build the capacity of social housing tenants to deal with natural disasters, particularly flood.
Inner Sydney Voice has worked extensively on community issues for social housing tenants. Wentworth Community Housing looks after 70 per cent of social housing in the valley.
The program includes briefings and workshops exploring the risks people face and the skills and networking needed to better survive natural disasters. In 2020, it will also include pilot projects in South Windsor and Riverstone, two key areas of high flood risk in the valley.
This partnership project is an initiative of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Risk Management Strategy.
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