Resilience Community of Practice – Responding to trauma

Resilience Community of Practice – Responding to trauma

An essential connection to services and assistance

The Energy Charter’s Disaster Response Playbook recognises that following a disaster event, utility service providers are often a first point of contact for people as they provide an essential service for recovery.

They are an important part of the disaster response and recovery ecosystem as a ‘connector’ to other services and assistance. However, sometimes staff:

  • Lack the training and feel unprepared to support customers and peers who have experienced trauma, which can have negative impacts for mental health and wellbeing of both parties.
  • Are unclear on what the scope of their role is when responding to a disaster (i.e., when to refer to another service) which leaves them trying to ‘do it all’.
  • Experience personal trauma as a result the disaster, while also playing professional role in disaster response and recovery activities.

In our July Resilience Community of Practice, Alexandra Howard, Director, Disasters and Public Health Emergencies at Phoenix Australia offered strategies to help staff better recognise and respond to trauma in disaster impacted communities.

Here’s our key takeaways from Alex’s session

Disaster impacts are multi-faceted with impacts across multiple areas.

Within the essential services sector, we can often be focused on responding to build environment and economic/financial impacts. However, whether we know it or not, most of us in the disaster eco-system, also have a role in human phyco-social impacts

Image: “Multi-faceted impacts of disaster”, Pheonix Australia presentation

Acknowledging this, it can be helpful to apply a ‘trauma lens’ to all of the disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities we undertake.

This is not about making everyone a counsellor or psychologist, rather the purpose is to help us to set boundaries and act within our skill set, taking a ‘no harm’ approach.

There are four common reactions to trauma and each can play out in several ways:

  1. Changes in mental or cognitive capacity
  2. Physiological or bodily changes
  3. Changes in behaviour
  4. Emotional changes.

All of these reactions are linked to our “Fight, Flight and Freeze response (our neurobiological responses to threat)

Image: “Common Responses”, Pheonix Australia presentation

It’s likely that all people will experience these responses, however, for most these will subside over time. However, sometimes we can get stuck in a ‘Fight, Flight and Freeze’ heightened awareness loop, constantly scanning for danger and being on high alert.

One of the things that puts people at greater risk of this over the long term, is exposure to secondary stressors.

Research has shown that even 10 years after the 2009 bushfires, impacted communities experienced higher rates of mental health disorders, difficulties with schooling and other challenges.

So, what can we do to reduce secondary stressors and support better long-term outcomes for disaster impacted communities?

Here’s a few quick tips:

  • Reduced memory and concentration, as well as difficulty planning and making decisions are common trauma responses. It’s important to consider an individual’s capacity to engage with complex processes immediately after disaster.
  • Feeling on edge and avoiding reminders of trauma are also a common trauma responses. We can help by reducing the number of times we ask customers and communities to re-tell their story. We can also avoid asking for unnecessary detail that is not essential to the task.
  • It’s not unusual for people to feel as if they are ‘going crazy’ and are out of control. We can help by giving people a sense of choice and the opportunity to regain a level of control over their personal situation.
  • Connectedness is one of the most important protective factors after disaster and energy. Essential service providers play a critical role in repairing the physical infrastructure that enables connectedness by resorting power and phone networks. They also play a key role within physical community spaces, such as emergency recovery and evacuation centres that support physical community connectedness during and immediately after a disaster event.

Key reflection points

During the session, Alex asked participants to reflect on a few simple things that could have big impacts in supporting better personal, organisational and community outcomes. Take a moment to consider…

Where’s the opportunity to create a learning loop?

It’s essential to share back to enable continuous improvement. Who else in your organisation has a “front-line” role? How can you share learnings, training options and resources with them? 

How can you prepare to support your own ‘connectedness’ needs?

How can you build the networks you might rely on in a disaster now? What can you do to keep these networks present and familiar, so it feels natural and intuitive to lean on them when you need to?

Session resources 

Recognising & Responding to Trauma Presentation
The Disaster Mental Health hub by Phoenix Australia
Education & Training by Phoenix Australia
Peer Support Guidelines by Phoenix Australia
About this event

This event is part of the Energy Charter’s Resilience Community of Practice dedicated to helping customers and communities better prepare, respond and recover from disaster events. 

Every second month, the Energy Charter host a Community of Practice, including expert-led discussions building on the topics covered in the Energy Charter’s Disaster Response Playbook:

  1. Communication and Education – where do communities get information, how is it delivered and who needs to know? This includes sharing learnings on successful communication and education campaigns as an essential aspect of disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
  2. Coordination and Collaboration – what are the opportunities to better work together across the energy sector and within the broader eco-system? This includes better practice case studies on successful collaboration.
  3. Planning and Preparedness – what is our role in building community and individual capacity to plan and prepare for a disaster? This includes opportunities to build resilience ownership and literacy within communities, so they can better respond in a disaster.
  4. Learning loops – It’s essential to share back to enable continuous improvement. This includes sharing insights from recent disaster events and building a resilience learning library.
Learn more on the dedicated Resilience Community of Practice page here.

Humanising the renewable energy transition

The Australian Clean Energy Summit 2023 (ACES23) brought together leaders across the renewable energy sector to discuss the state and outlook for the Australian clean energy industry, together with challenges and opportunities in realising Australia’s potential as a renewable energy superpower.

Our Executive Director, Sabiene Heindl presented at ACES23 on opportunities for social licence collaboration on 18 and 19 July in Sydney, and shares below the leadership of the Energy Charter on this very human element of the energy transition.

The state of play

Clearly the transition to clean energy is well underway. The sector is rapidly growing in terms of both household and large-scale renewable generation deployment and the necessary build of transmission and distribution network assets to support the move way from fossil fuel generation. While ambition and optimism to meet climate targets are high, social licence in communities remains a key challenge for both generation and transmission.

Humanising the renewable energy transition - Event 1

Social licence

Minister Bowen’s keynote address highlighted the importance of social licence. Speakers, including State Energy Ministers lamented the challenges in communities and the need for shared value. Community members Lee Kingma, Grazier from Tumut and Rosemary Hadaway, Chair of the Mudgee District Environment Group shared their insights from the ground:

  • Communities will wear the “product” for the long term
  • The benefit to the wider community is different to the local community
  • Local knowledge is key to decision
  • Regional and rural people have a strong sense of place and attachment to their land
  • Renewables are being imposed and people feel ignored
  • There are already insufficient local resources in terms of workers, accommodation, water supply and waste capacity
  • Community benefits should be just that, a benefit, not the provision of government services
  • Disturbance and vegetation loss should be minimised
  • The community is totally exhausted and need to be supported to engage meaningfully

They want leadership, open acknowledgement of all the costs, better communication and ethical behaviour. The bigger question was how?

Humanising the renewable energy transition - Event 2

Better Practice Social Licence Guidelines

The Energy Charter recently released a comprehensive Better Practice Social Licence Guideline (see below for the launch details). The Guideline was co-designed by the National Farmers Federation, Queensland Farmers Federation, NSW Farmers Federation, Victorian Farmers Federation, AgForce Queensland, Cotton Australia and Energy Charter signatories APA Group, Powerlink Queensland, TransGrid with support from Essential Energy and Jemena.  The Social Licence Guideline is underpinned by the Better Practice Guide to Landholder and Community Engagement which was launched at a National Farmers Federation event in September 2021.

Every stage of the Social Licence Guideline was collaboration – from designing the landholder survey, to analysing the results and developing the Social Licence Guideline.

  • Our dedicated Community Outcomes Group (COG) included representation from the Ag Energy Taskforce (representing over 30 ag bodies), Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, Bundaberg Regional Irrigators Group, National Farmers’ Federation, National Irrigators Council, RE-Alliance, Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, Queensland Farmers’ Federation and Victorian Farmers Federation. 
  • Our Industry Collaborators included Energy Charter signatories Transgrid (NSW, ACT), Powerlink Queensland (QLD), TasNetworks (TAS), AusNet Services (VIC) + ElectraNet (SA).
  • Our research partner into the voice of landholders was KPMG Australia.

Importantly, Energy Charter signatories have committed to reporting against how they are meeting the Priority Actions of the Guidelines through their annual Disclosure Reports in the Energy Charter Accountability Process.

Training of Land Agents

This month we were involved in training land agents together with Andrew Dyer, the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner on bringing the Social Licence Guideline to life at a practical level.

AG Energy Social Licence Roundtable

Last year at the request of the ag sector, we established the Ag Energy Social Licence Roundtable. It most recently met in Dubbo in June following the Ag Renewables Conference to discuss challenges and opportunities for collaboration through the renewable energy transition.

Evaluating Transmission Undergrounding

Finally, we have recently kicked off a #BetterTogether initiative on evaluating transmission undergrounding which builds on our Social Licence Guideline. It aims to improve the experience of host landholders and communities by collaborating with community representatives and stakeholders to:

  • Validate community concerns, considerations and expectations for how the viability of underground compared to overhead transmission designs should be evaluated by transmission businesses
  • Co-develop a shared knowledge and evidence-base, including Better Practice approaches to assessing and evaluating social costs and mitigating impacts
  • Identify and address public information and evidence gaps, sources of (dis)information and practice (in)consistencies.

Working hand in hand with community, transmission businesses and other relevant stakeholders (through a Community Outcomes Group), we will collect and consider a wide variety of perspectives and evidence to bring greater transparency to how the viability of underground compared to overhead transmission designs are evaluated. This includes considering the insights gathered through the NSW Inquiry into the Feasibility of Undergrounding Transmission Infrastructure.

We’re proud to be supporting collaborative initiatives that highlight the human face of transition.  There’s no doubt that social licence challenges will only be solved #bettertogether.

Community of Practice – Engagement with Older Australians

Diversity and Inclusion Energy Charter blog

Many older people have AND are carers and may have another person who regularly acts on their behalf. Older people are more likely to struggle with smaller print, quiet audio and long wait times.

They are also more likely to be unable to live without utilities!

The Energy Charter’s Better Practice Customer Engagement Toolkit acknowledges the robust processes businesses need to understand their customers and communities. The Toolkit provides practical strategies for energy businesses on ways to incorporate feedback into their decision making.

Essentially, all energy businesses are here to serve customers and communities (whether they are residential, small & medium business, or large commercial and industrial). To deliver energy products and services in a way that meets customer and community needs and expectations, we first need to understand: what are those needs and expectations?

That’s why engaging with customers and communities is critical.

In our June Know Your Customer + Communities – Community of Practice, we heard from Elise Lloyd and Sharmilla Zaluski from the Council of the Ageing (COTA), South Australia (SA) and The Plug-In who work with Australians aged 50 and over in the design of products and services and the delivery of research.  

Who are the subject matter experts?

Elyse is Acting Research Manager at the Plug-in. She is a psychological scientist and data analyst with experience in market and social research across an array of sectors. She has previously worked as a specialist in ageing research, focusing on quantitative methodologies.

Sharmilla is an Associate at The Plug-in. Sharmilla is an original member of The Plug-in start-up team and now contributes her expertise on a project basis as an advisor, co-researcher and workshop facilitator. She has previous experience working in policy, community engagement and customer service roles in local government.

 

Why is it important for energy businesses to engage with Older Australians?

Australia has an aging population with 34% aged over 50 in 2020 and 21% of Australians expected to be 85 or over by 2066.

Older Australians are diverse. For those over 65, 37% were born outside of Australian and 18% speak a language other than English at home. More than a third live in regional or remote areas. The aging experience for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is different from that of the non-indigenous Australians with only 16% aged over 50 (compared to 34% of non-indigenous Australians).

How do you effectively engage with Older Australians?

  • Have a clear purpose! Older Australians need to know what you need from them.
  • Be inclusive. Make sure you engage and provide opportunities for older Australians to be part of the engagement in an appropriate way (see more on this later).
  • Reflect the diversity of older Australians. One size does not fit all. Older Australians are multi-lingual, live in cities and regional areas, and are identified as older over 50 in First Nations communities.
  • Work with older Australians not for them, provide processes where they can participate in the design, delivery, and outcomes of your engagement with them.
  • Build relationships. It can be difficult to get communities on board if there is not an existing relationship with them. Consider how you will build trust with communities and the organisations who represent & support them.
  • Be respectful. Be mindful of the language that you use particularly terminology that can be invertedly ageist, for example instead of a dementia sufferer use strength-based terms such as a person with dementia OR person living with dementia OR person with a diagnosis of dementia.
  • Reflect, adapt and improve. Close the loop when you engage with communities to check in on what you heard and feedback how the engagement has been incorporated into the product or service.

What considerations and adaptations are important when reaching out to older Australians?

Digital access and literacy vary. Most older Australians are online (93% of 65+ age group have internet access at home) however, they still experience low digital literacy which impacts how they use digital tools. For example, many use social media (43% on FB or Instagram) but are unable to use apps. It is important to offer offline alternatives and make sure it is easy to find these alternatives. This includes options for a third-party such as a family member or carer, to assist.

Consider older Australians preferred methods of communication and engagement. Conversations are often much easier and preferred by older people. It is also important to consider if your customer contact options are potentially discriminatory. If your service has limited its methods of contact i.e., an online contact form only, this can open your service up to increased risk of regulation or action by consumer advocacy bodies.

There are current examples of consumer action against the rental and property sector (who only offered applications online), airlines (who provided age-based discounts to passengers because they required less support) and television suppliers in Australia (who supplied TVs without audio descriptive technology).

Older people are more likely to have physical health issues and therefore will have carers or family to support them. Be aware that another person may act on their behalf, consider if your processes accommodate the carer. Consider how your service uses small print, quiet audio and if customers experience long wait times, these barriers will impact the service you can provide to older people.

Helpful resources 

Watch the ‘Engagement with Older Australians’ session

If you would like to watch the Know Your Customers + Communities – Engagement with Older Australians session that looked at how to work with Australians aged 50 and over in the design of products and services and the delivery of research, you can watch the recorded session here.

About this event 

This event was part of the ‘Know Your Customers + Communities’ Community of Practice dedicated to building capability around robust and fit-for-purpose customer, community, and stakeholder engagement, and building organisational cultures that value the customer voice in decision making. 

Know Your Customers + Communities is a collaboration with between the Energy Charter and Water Services Association of Australia under our Collaboration Memo of Understanding (MoU). 

To become a regular member of this Community of Practice, please contact Bec Jolly, Director Collaboration  bec.jolly@theenergycharter.com.au. 

Community of Practice – Lived Experience Voices

Diversity and Inclusion Energy Charter blog

Context vs. Content: when designing products and services for our customers, context expertise (or lived experience) is just as important as including content expertise..

The Energy Charter’s Better Practice Customer Engagement Toolkit acknowledges the robust processes businesses need to understand their customers and communities. The Toolkit provides practical strategies for energy businesses on ways to incorporate feedback into their decision making.

Essentially, all energy businesses are here to serve customers and communities (whether they are residential, small & medium business, or large commercial and industrial). To deliver energy products and services in a way that meets customer and community needs and expectations, we first need to understand: what are those needs and expectations?

That’s why engaging with customers and communities is critical.

In our May Know Your Customer + Communities – Community of Practice, we looked at a case study that involved the energy sector co-designing a lived experience advocacy program with Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) for customers who experience low-income.  

The panel included: 

  • Dr Lucy Mercer-Mapstone; Community Voices Lived Experience Program Coordinator at the TasCOSS, who was key in the development of the Community Voices Program – a lived experience advocacy program which trains and mentors community members to influence a services’ systems, policies, and decisions to become more equitable for people living on low incomes. 
  • Jarrah Keenan, who is a Community Voices Program Partner. He shared his lived experience in creating change, making sure services and decisions which affect Tasmanians on low incomes are truly fit-for-purpose.
  • Amy Abraham who in her previous role at Aurora spoke about how they embedded the lived experience into their work and the steps it took to make it happen.  

Why is lived-experience important for energy businesses?

When designing products and services for our customers, context expertise (or lived experience) is just as important as including content expertise – and it should be paid for accordingly.  People with lived experience can help shape the policy decisions and processes that impact them, ensuring better customer uptake of what is delivered.

To support this, businesses and organisations should ensure they have the right capability to do so and are aware (and adhere to the principles) of safe and respectful engagement with people with lived experience and their advocates. TasCOSS has developed resources and provides mentoring to deliver engagement that enables a safe space.

Jarrah Keenan provided some insight on what it means to be a Community Voice Partner. His experience with government included a project for communities who experience low literacy. His key takeaways include:

  • Support people from within the community to carry out engagement and to ask the community for their input. This will enable people feel safe in their own environment and in turn, provide honest insights.
  • Be aware that those with lived experience may not feel comfortable providing their input within a group environment. Consider one on one engagement to enable a depth of insight from individuals.
  • Engage after the engagement! This will help show how the original engagement has been included and will support further feedback – it’s worth the additional cost! Jarrah noted this step restored the community’s trust in the government.

“That they (the government) made the effort to engage with those that were ‘hard to reach’ and that they were genuine in seeking and incorporating their input, this made all the difference.”

  • The process is important. Community Voice Partners receive excellent training, but the biggest motivator Jarrah explained, “is that our opinion is valued, and we feel heard. It is an excellent innovation in how people can contribute and be heard by government, business and other organisations.”

Amy Abraham talked about her experience working with Aurora. The program was a new approach to engagement specifically to engage with those members of the community we had not worked with before in the co-design of our programs. Key insights include:

  • The process helped us recognise our unconscious bias and made it clear that we needed people with lived experience to be part of the co-design process.
  • For example, the introduction of a ‘quick exit button’ for people who experience family safety issues, was included in the design of services and support for customers once we listened to people with lived experience of family violence.
  • Reflect on the capability and maturity of your organisation in making the engagement safe for people with lived experience. Consider if it is better to partner with expertise to set this up to ensure it is done well.
  • Bring others along on the journey: validating problems and solutions along the way. As Amy explained, “it’s about doing the right thing, but it is also about designing a more efficient and sustainable process and experience for people that can solve the problem.”

Helpful resources 

Watch the ‘Lived Experience Voices’ session

If you would like to watch the Know Your Customers + Communities – Lived Experience Voices session that looked at a case study that involved the energy sector co-designing a lived experience advocacy program with Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) for customers who experience low-income, you can watch the recorded session here.

About this event 

This event was part of the ‘Know Your Customers + Communities’ Community of Practice dedicated to building capability around robust and fit-for-purpose customer, community, and stakeholder engagement, and building organisational cultures that value the customer voice in decision making. 

Know Your Customers + Communities is a collaboration with between the Energy Charter and Water Services Association of Australia under our Collaboration Memo of Understanding (MoU). 

To become a regular member of this Community of Practice, please contact Bec Jolly, Director Collaboration  bec.jolly@theenergycharter.com.au. 

July 2023 News Update

In the July 2023 News Update, CEO Council Chair, Guy Chalkley welcomes new Signatoriy SA Power Networks and celebretes the launch of the Knock to Stay Connected Customer Code. 

We also take a deep dive on social licence for transmission and hear insights from our Communities of Practice. 

Read More News