What is Disaster Resilience Education Tasmania?

Disaster Resilience Education Tasmania (DRET) offers a unit of five lessons for teachers to facilitate, aimed at students from Grade 5 to Grade 8.

The idea is that students will gain an understanding of their local risks, take action at home and in their community to reduce hazard impacts and ultimately help prevent hazards from becoming disasters.

As climate change makes hazard events such as floods, storms and bushfires more frequent and more intense, it is increasingly important that the whole community understands their risk, where to find emergency information, what to do when an emergency occurs and how to support each other through recovery.

Research shows that if children and young people are provided with the necessary guidance and support, they can increase their own safety and the safety of others in the face of such hazards.

DRET unit success criteria

By the end of this unit, students and teachers should:

  • know what being disaster resilient means for individuals and communities;
  • be able to identify local natural hazards;
  • begin to understand key concepts of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery;
  • understand how preparation, planning and emergency drills can help people to respond more safely in an emergency, and;
  • know where to find information and advice to help plan and prepare for floods, storms and bushfires in Tasmania.

Will teaching my students about disaster resilience cause fear or anxiety?

Learning about disaster resilience can actually reduce students’ fears. However, if you know of a student who has experienced a traumatic event in the past, you should follow necessary procedures to ensure that the welfare of this student is carefully considered.

DRET unit Australian Curriculum links

The five lessons of the DRET unit cover the Australian Curriculum (V9) learning areas for students from Grade 5 to Grade 8, in Humanities and Social Sciences, Digital Technologies, Science and Health; general capabilities of Literacy and Personal and Social Capability; and cross curriculum priority of Sustainability.

Detailed information on the DRET unit and links to Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum.

Scope and sequence

This DRET scope and sequence document provides the curriculum learning links, the order of the five lessons along with the learning intentions, concepts, assessment tasks/activities and helpful resource links.

Helpful resources