A set of 26 evidence-informed community service announcements co-developed with our researchers has been used by the ABC across Australia, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners with clear and actionable information on what to do during an emergency.
During an emergency, there’s usually one place that people turn for trusted information – the ABC.
Over the past five years, the ABC’s emergency service has recorded a significant increase in activations, up from 191 in 2020–21 to more than 650 in 2024–25, says the ABC’s Emergency Broadcast lead, Pat Hession.
"Our streaming audience numbers consistently see large spikes during major emergencies, as people turn to a source that they can trust. We get a lot of positive feedback about the value we provide during an emergency," he says.
Flood risk community service announcements that the Australian public are used to hearing on their ABC local radio were co-developed with funding from the Centre.
The Centre’s project on flood risk communication commenced in 2017, and further work brought together researchers with expert ABC communicators to develop a national set of 26 community service announcements launched in 2021.
These are 30 to 60-second short messages provide high-level, general advice and have been played continually on ABC local radio across the country.
They are typically used by ABC Emergency to compliment rolling broadcasts, between local state and emergency service warnings and on-the-ground reporting.
Mr Hession says the community service announcements have proved useful for broadcasters.
"Because they are general in nature, we are able to use them anywhere at any time, and they are useful to spark listeners’ interest because they use a different voice."
The centre’s research was incorporated into AFAC doctrine and developed into key messages by AFAC SES Community Safety Group and AFAC Community Engagement Technical Group, which comprises the ABC, Bureau of Meteorology and national SES.
Mr Hession says working with researcher Associate Professor Melanie Taylor enabled the team to produce messages that were evidence-based and that would resonate with the public.
"We were committed to making messages the best that they could possibly be. While we can consult with the agencies, we were never going to be able to have the depth of research that Mel offered; having the confidence that the messages are all on point is absolutely invaluable to us."
An unexpected further impact of this work was that ABC communicators have been better educated in what messaging works to reach different audiences during an emergency.
