By Professor Lee Godden -
Snapshot
- Disasters, both man-made and natural, are becoming more frequent and severe, and the role of law and lawyers in building disaster resilience is crystallising for those in the space.
- This article explores the legal responses to proliferating disasters of immense scale in Australia and internationally while highlighting the diverse roles for lawyers in strengthening Australia’s disaster resilience.
- It also discusses how changing conceptions of humanity’s role in contributing to disasters frustrate traditional doctrine.
While it may seem a bleak perspective on the world, there is increased attention to national and global disasters, and the role that law, regulation and soft law can play in responding to them. Disasters occur at multiple scales and locations but a commonly acknowledged definition is that a ‘disaster’ occurs when the impacts of the event exceed the capacity of the local organisations and community to respond. Clearly disasters are not a new phenomenon. Apocalyptic and catastrophic events have long been evident in human societies. Historically these visitations of disaster were seen to arise independently of human action and/or as retribution for human transgressions. The view that disasters are events that arise independently of human action is changing. There is growing recognition that even natural disasters are influenced by human exposure and vulnerability to hazards.
