COTA SA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the refresh of South Australia’s Disaster Resilience Strategy 2026–2030.

COTA SA’s Policy Council incorporates a Climate Change Group which was established after the 2019-2020 bushfires. It comprises older people who take an active interest in:

• Facilitating learning about why climate change matters, and how climate change impacts lives.
• Reflecting the concerns of older people to support action on climate change.
• Learning from and share stories of older people taking action on climate change.
• Partnering with other generations and organisations to support their work, find opportunities for collaboration and increase the influence and opportunities of older people to tackle climate change.

This group has identified disaster resilience as a critical issue for older people in South Australia, and their perspectives have contributed to the recommendations below..

COTA SA’s surveys indicate that older South Australians have reviewed the science and have seen the impact of climate change often firsthand. There is a prevailing view that the scale of the crisis has not yet been met with an adequate response from our leaders despite the consequences of inaction.

We welcome the commitment to build on Stronger Together: South Australia’s Disaster Resilience Strategy 2019–2024, including its principles of shared responsibility, community resilience, diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing, and recognition of local knowledge. We also note COTA SA’s participation in the PaIRE (People at Increased Risk in Emergencies) project with SACOSS and Red Cross, which supports outcomes related to this strategy, and is noted in the supporting paper.

Our central recommendation is that the refreshed Strategy retain its community-based strengths while translating principles into practical action and applying an explicit ageing lens across preparedness, response and recovery.