Understanding risk is a key tenet of the National Disaster Resilience Strategy and inherent to this is the discoverability, accessibility and availability of risk information. Access to this information is critical for land use or infrastructure planning decisions. Not only if this information required prior to the decision is made, but at some future date when investment is required to mitigate any created or residual risk. The community affected by these decisions also require the risk information so they can understand the hazard and risk and make decisions accordingly. Here, we showcase a suite of risk information developed by Geoscience Australia that can support land use and infrastructure planning decisions. GA officially adopted the Creative Commons 4.0 licence in 2009, recognising the investment made by the Australian Government in its development and the value it can serve to a range of stakeholders in government, industry, academia and the public. We contrast this with the case-study of the National Flood Risk Information Project where procurement practices of flood hazard and risk data have failed in delivering on the requirement of improving the community’s understanding of flood hazard and risk. We show how these challenges can be overcome so that ultimately decisions (for example in land use and infrastructure planning) can be made to minimise risk to the Australian community.

University of Newcastle researchers captured media attention in 2017 with the release of a study modelling tsunami risk for the city of Sydney. The study considered a range of scenarios from minor disruptions through to rare, one-in-5000-year disasters. It’s possible the study made headlines in part for the novelty factor. This is not to say Australians are flippant about tsunamis; as a nation, we have grieved the traumatic impact of tsunamis in our region. We just don’t think it will happen to us. However, the science says otherwise. The historical and prehistorical record indicates that tsunamis have affected Australia in the past and could do so again. To Australia’s north and east lie thousands of kilometres of tectonic plate boundaries, where undersea earthquakes could generate tsunamis that reach Australia in a matter of hours. Given half the Australian population lives within 10 kilometres of a coastline – not to mention the scores of interstate and international visitors to our beaches – it’s imperative we take tsunami planning seriously. That’s why the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) partnered with the Australian Tsunami Advisory Group (ATAG) to revise and refresh national guidance for tsunami emergency planning in Australia. ATAG is the leading national group for tsunami capability development, bringing together the expertise of policymakers, scientists and emergency services practitioners from around Australia. The review produced the Tsunami Emergency Planning in Australia Handbook, an authoritative resource for emergency managers, local and state governments, port authorities and commercial operators in coastal areas. Replacing its 2010 predecessor, Manual 46: Tsunami Emergency Planning in Australia, the handbook was published on 5 November 2018 to mark the United Nations World Tsunami Awareness Day. In clear, accessible language, the handbook outlines the causes and characteristics of tsunamis, separating fact from fiction and highlighting key terms. It introduces planners to both ‘Marine Threat’ and ‘Land Inundation Threat’ – key categories in the tsunami warnings framework – and explores the corresponding planning considerations for coastal communities as well as more transitory ‘maritime’ communities – including fishers, boaters and swimmers. Maritime communities also encompass a range of commercial and government activities, including offshore oil and gas enterprises, military exercises and tourism. The handbook steps users through the responsibilities, processes and warning types that comprise the Australian Tsunami Warning System that was established by the Australian Government after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. ATAG has actively contributed to the management of tsunami risk by promoting research, knowledge management and education. In 2018, ATAG also partnered with AIDR to develop the Tsunami hazard modelling guidelines that represent the most up-to-date view of tsunami hazard nationally. A key companion to the revised handbook, the guidelines present a principles-based approach to developing tsunami hazard information for different purposes; from emergency management to infrastructure development and insurance. The guidelines don’t dictate the use of a particular software; they ask questions to support cooperative approaches between scientists and end users. As for the handbook, stakeholder consultation was key to the development of the Tsunami hazard modelling guidelines. Geoscience Australia, an ATAG member, led the process in partnership with public and private sector representatives and with Commonwealth funding support through Emergency Management Australia. The guidelines emerged from a community-driven development process that engaged different end users and recognised the impact of a range of factors on modelling approaches and decisions (such as the use case and available data). A workshop held in Canberra in 2017 was a key step, bringing together tsunami modelling experts from government, industry and academia. The handbook and companion guidelines are complimented by the Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment from Geoscience Australia. This resource informs local tsunami inundation modelling, which feeds into evacuation planning and community safety. The Tsunami handbook is also supported by Tsunami: The Ultimate Guide – an online learning resource developed collaboratively by ATAG and led by Surf Life Saving Australia. The guide raises tsunami awareness through the education of school-aged children and achieved a highly commended award in the 2014 Resilient Australia Awards. The Tsunami Emergency Planning in Australia Handbook and the suite of companion resources is part of the Australian Disaster Resilience Handbook Collection. The Handbook Collection represents nationally agreed principles on a range of salient disaster resilience themes; supporting organisations across sectors to adopt best-practice approaches aligned to national policy.

In 2018, Geoscience Australia updated and released the Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA), which outlines the tsunami hazard for all of Australia and its offshore territories.

The Geological Survey of Canada's 5th Generation seismic hazard model for Canada forms the basis for the seismic design provisions of the 2015 National Building Code of Canada (NBCC). We deaggregate the seismic hazard results for selected cities to help understand the relative contributions of the earthquake sources in terms of distance and magnitude. Deaggregation for a range of probabilities and spectral accelerations (Sa) from 0.2 to 10.0 seconds is performed to examine in detail the hazard for two of Canada's largest urban centres at highest risk, Vancouver in the west and Montréal in the east. A summary table of deaggregated seismic hazard is provided for other selected Canadian cities, for Sa(0.2), Sa(2.0) and peak ground acceleration (PGA) at a probability of exceedence of 2%/50 years. In most cases, as the probability decreases, the hazard sources closer to the site dominate. Larger, more distant earthquakes contribute more significantly to hazard for longer periods than shorter periods. The deaggregations allow better-informed choices of scenario events and for the selection of representative time histories for engineering design.

<p>Geoscience Australia has recently released its 2018 National Seismic Hazard Assessment (NSHA18). Results from the NSHA18 indicate significantly lower seismic hazard across almost all Australian localities at the 1/500 annual exceedance probability level relative to the factors adopted for the current Australian Standard AS1170.4–2007 (R2018). These new hazard estimates, coupled with larger kp factors, have challenged notions of seismic hazard in Australia in terms of the recurrence of damaging ground motions. As a consequence, the new hazard estimates have raised questions over the appropriateness of the prescribed probability level used in the AS1170.4 to determine appropriate seismic demands for the design of ordinary-use structures. Therefore, it is suggested that the ground-motion exceedance probability used in the current AS1170.4 be reviewed in light of the recent hazard assessment and the expected performance of modern buildings for rarer ground motions. <p>Whilst adjusting the AS1170.4 exceedance probability level would be a major departure from previous earthquake loading standards, it would bring it into line with other international building codes in similar tectonic environments. Additionally, it would offer opportunities to further modernise how seismic demands are considered in Australian building design. In particular, the authors highlight the following additional opportunities: 1) the use of uniform hazard spectra to replace and simplify the spectral shape factors, which do not deliver uniform hazard across all natural periods; 2) updated site amplification factors to ensure continuity with modern ground-motion models, and; 3) the potential to define design ground motions in terms of uniform collapse risk rather than uniform hazard. Estimation of seismic hazard at any location is an uncertain science. However, as our knowledge improves, our estimates of the hazard will converge on the actual – but unknowable – (time independent) hazard. It is therefore prudent to regularly update the estimates of the seismic demands in our building codes using the best available evidence-based methods and models.

A community Safety Capbility Flyer was produced to showcase the work undertaken in the Community Safety Value Stream. The flyer includes an introduction to the Community Safety Value Stream, case studies of the work Geoscience Australia does in this space and information on how to engage with Geoscience Australia via the products, tools, models and applications that are produced. This flyer is intended for use a conferences and where promotional material would beneficial to showcase the work undertaken at Geoscience Australia such as the Floodplain Management Association Conference on 19-22 May 2015.

The service contains the Australian Coastal Geomorphology Environments, used to support a national coastal risk assessment. It describes the location and extent primary geomorphological environments (both dispositional and erosional) present along the Australia coast and the processes acting on the features within.

The service contains the Australian Coastal Geomorphology Landform Subtype Classifications, used to support a national coastal risk assessment. It describes the location and extent of landform subtypes identifiable at scales between 1:25,000 and 1:10,000. It also provides further detail to the Landform Type, with particular reference to feature stability (e.g. dune types) and mobility (e.g. channel types).

Geoscience Australia has recently released the 2012 version of the National Earthquake Hazard Map of Australia. Among other applications, the map is a key component of Australia's earthquake loading code AS1170.4. In this presentation we provide an overview of the new maps and how they were developed. The maps take advantage of significant improvements in both the data sets and models used for earthquake hazard assessment in Australia since the map currently in AS1170.4-2007 was produced. These include: - An additional 20+ years of earthquake observations - Improved methods of declustering earthquake catalogues and calculating earthquake recurrence - Ground motion prediction equations (i.e. attenuation equations) based on observed strong motions instead of intensity - Revised earthquake source zones implementing a multi-layer model - Improved maximum magnitude earthquake estimates based on palaeoseismology - The use of open source software for undertaking probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, which promotes testability and repeatability Hazard curves are presented for a range of response spectral acceleration (RSA) periods between 0.0 and 1.0 s and for return periods between a few hundred to a few thousand years. These curves and maps are compared with the current earthquake hazard values in AS1170.4-2007. For a return period of 500 years, the hazard values in the 0.0 s RSA period map are generally lower or the same as the hazard factor values in the AS1170.4 map. This is also true for most of the other RSA periods up to 1.0s for the cities in Australia with Darwin being the main exception. By contrast, the hazard for return periods above 1000 years is higher than the values derived from the tables in AS1170.4 for all RSA periods.

A multi-hazard and exposure analysis of Asia. A GIS study that incorporates regional data for: landslide, tsunami, earthquake, tropical cyclone, volcanic, drought and flood hazard.