Indonesia is one of the countries most prone to volcanos, earthquakes, and tsunamis, with over 90% of the population exposed to natural hazards.

In June 2024, the country’s Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (National Disaster Management Agency) recorded a staggering 891 natural disasters for the prior year, with 261 deaths, 27 people missing and 3.9 million people impacted. Successive Indonesian governments have worked hard to improve disaster management systems and processes ever since the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and now it sits high as a national development priority.

As a close neighbour and partner, Australia has worked with Indonesia on a range of disaster preparedness activities since the tsunami aftermath. Since 2019, this support has been channelled through the Australia-Indonesia Partnership in Disaster Risk Management, otherwise known as the SIAP SIAGA program.

As the implementing partner for SIAP SIAGA, Palladium was recently awarded the 2024-2027 AU$20 million follow up contract.

“As DFAT’s implementing partner for SIAP SIAGA I, Palladium adapted and responded to constant change through a challenging time – including the entire COVID pandemic,” says Matt Spannagle, Palladium Project Director for SIAP SIAGA.

“Disaster risk management isn't just about reacting when things go wrong; it's about understanding the risks and taking steps to prevent disasters before they happen,” he says. “Working closely with DFAT and our Indonesian partners, the SIAP SIAGA program has worked hard to improve Indonesia’s ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from rapid and slow onset disasters.”

The SIAP SIAGA team know firsthand that disaster management in a large and decentralised country like Indonesia needs to address system-wide challenges rather than focusing on individual institutions. For the past few years, the team has worked closely with Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority, the ministries of National Development Planning, Home Affairs, Social Affairs, and Foreign Affairs, numerous provincial and district level governments, as well as civil society partners.

“The program has established collaborative relationships and built trust with Indonesia’s disaster risk management senior civil servants at all levels of government,” explains Lucy Dickinson, SIAP SIAGA Team Leader.

“With our partners, we’ve been able to achieve some impressive milestones in the first phase of the program.”

“We supported the Indonesian Government to organise the first Global Forum on Sustainable Resilience, we helped draft and review over 120 disaster management policies, developed new tools to strengthen disaster coordination, and reached more than 200,000 people through our Disaster Resilient Villages grants.”

For SIAP SIAGA II, Dickinson highlights the importance of civil society partnerships, especially those advocating for gender quality and disability inclusion as part of disaster risk management.

“It’s key that we promote the effective, meaningful and systematic participation of women, vulnerable groups, and people with disabilities in disaster risk management at the planning, implementation, and learning stages. These groups are often hit the hardest by natural disasters.”

Looking ahead, the SIAP SIAGA team will continue to pursue transformational gender and disability inclusion, from the national to the village level. A large part of this agenda will be ongoing support to partner provinces as they operationalise their Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines and gender responsive planning and budgeting. The team will also continue to help set up local disability service units and drive local government commitment.

For more, contact info@thepalladiumgroup.com.