ADRI informs national policy

The Australian Disaster Resilience Index (ADRI, recently updated to ADRI-2), was developed to provide evidence-based measurement of how well Australian communities can cope with natural hazards to support smarter, place-based disaster planning and resilience investment.

ADRI is referenced and used in an extensive suite of policy documents, reflecting Australia’s strategic shift from reactive disaster response toward proactive, evidence-based resilience building.

The widespread use of ADRI underscores the importance of coordinated national action that integrates social, economic, environmental and health dimensions of resilience.

The policy documents present building resilience not only as a matter of disaster readiness but as a fundamental component of national wellbeing, sustainability, and prosperity in the context of a changing climate.

The Australian Treasury

Treasury used ADRI as the measurement of climate resilience in its first national wellbeing framework, Measuring What Matters, released in 2023.

Measuring What Matters identifies 50 wellbeing indicators to measure and track Australia’s health, security, sustainability, cohesion and prosperity. These are used by government in addition to other ways of measuring the economy.

Climate resilience is tracked via a dashboard, using ADRI-2 as the metric.

The Regional Australia Institute (RAI)

ADRI is the measure of disaster resilience used by RAI in its Regionalisation Ambition 2032.

This framework is designed to help direct the actions of government, industry and the community towards achieving a greater proportion of Australians living prosperously in the regions by 2032 and beyond. It tracks 25 targets annually, including communities’ ability to withstand disasters.

In 2025, RAI used ADRI data in its digital dashboard, which makes Ambition data accessible at national, state and local government area (LGA) levels. The aim is to give councils, policymakers and communities local data they use to find solutions in their own areas.

NSW Treasury

NSW Treasury used ADRI for their Performance and Wellbeing Framework to help better analyse the distributional impacts of natural disasters, supporting more informed decision making and effective policies to enhance collective wellbeing.

US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

FEMA’s Community Resilience Challenge Index uses data-driven research to prioritise locations for targeted investment and strengthen local emergency management planning.

FEMA drew on ADRI in developing a process to assess social vulnerability and community resilience for multi hazards.

Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network (Country to Coast Queensland)

Country to Coast Queensland applied ADRI to develop a comprehensive health and wellbeing indicator framework. It used ADRI to determine the level of community risk and adaptive capacity to climate change driven disasters, particularly flooding.

ADRI’s use of the LGA classification according to disaster resilience factors guided priority setting and resource allocation, enabling collaboration with local government and community organisations to strengthen infrastructure and communication systems and support disaster preparedness efforts aimed at improving wellbeing and reduce inequalities.

The Australian Disaster Resilience Index (ADRI, recently updated to ADRI-2), was developed to provide evidence-based measurement of how well Australian communities can cope with natural hazards to support smarter, place-based disaster planning and resilience investment.

ADRI is referenced and used in an extensive suite of policy documents, reflecting Australia’s strategic shift from reactive disaster response toward proactive, evidence-based resilience building.

The widespread use of ADRI underscores the importance of coordinated national action that integrates social, economic, environmental and health dimensions of resilience.

The policy documents present building resilience not only as a matter of disaster readiness but as a fundamental component of national wellbeing, sustainability, and prosperity in the context of a changing climate.

The Australian Treasury

Treasury used ADRI as the measurement of climate resilience in its first national wellbeing framework, Measuring What Matters, released in 2023.

Measuring What Matters identifies 50 wellbeing indicators to measure and track Australia’s health, security, sustainability, cohesion and prosperity. These are used by government in addition to other ways of measuring the economy.

Climate resilience is tracked via a dashboard, using ADRI-2 as the metric.

The Regional Australia Institute (RAI)

ADRI is the measure of disaster resilience used by RAI in its Regionalisation Ambition 2032.

This framework is designed to help direct the actions of government, industry and the community towards achieving a greater proportion of Australians living prosperously in the regions by 2032 and beyond. It tracks 25 targets annually, including communities’ ability to withstand disasters.

In 2025, RAI used ADRI data in its digital dashboard, which makes Ambition data accessible at national, state and local government area (LGA) levels. The aim is to give councils, policymakers and communities local data they use to find solutions in their own areas.

NSW Treasury

NSW Treasury used ADRI for their Performance and Wellbeing Framework to help better analyse the distributional impacts of natural disasters, supporting more informed decision making and effective policies to enhance collective wellbeing.

US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

FEMA’s Community Resilience Challenge Index uses data-driven research to prioritise locations for targeted investment and strengthen local emergency management planning.

FEMA drew on ADRI in developing a process to assess social vulnerability and community resilience for multi hazards.

Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network (Country to Coast Queensland)

Country to Coast Queensland applied ADRI to develop a comprehensive health and wellbeing indicator framework. It used ADRI to determine the level of community risk and adaptive capacity to climate change driven disasters, particularly flooding.

ADRI’s use of the LGA classification according to disaster resilience factors guided priority setting and resource allocation, enabling collaboration with local government and community organisations to strengthen infrastructure and communication systems and support disaster preparedness efforts aimed at improving wellbeing and reduce inequalities.