Purpose
Queenslanders, particularly those in the Gulf Savannah Region (Mareeba, Etheridge, Croydon, and Carpentaria Shires), are no strangers to the impacts of drought and climate change across farms, businesses, communities and households. These impacts carry significant environmental, social and economic costs. In response, Gulf Savannah NRM, in partnership with the Australian and Queensland Governments and supported by the Future Drought Fund, developed the Gulf Hinterland Regional Drought Resilience Plan (RDRP). A plan that is aligned with broader state and regional resilience strategies.
Throughout 2026, Gulf Savannah NRM is working to strengthen community and agricultural business resilience across the region in the face of drought, heat, fire and floods. This survey seeks your insights to understand what is working well, where the gaps are, and what support is needed. Your input will contribute to a broader gap analysis and help inform practical actions, partnerships and future investment to support a more resilient Gulf Region.
Resilience
What do we mean by resilience? For this survey, resilience means the ability to anticipate, absorb, accommodate or recover from the effects of a hazardous event in a timely and efficient manner (The World Bank, 2013).
Drought
What about drought? While there is no universally accepted definition of drought globally, in Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) defines drought as “a prolonged, abnormally dry period when there is not enough water available to meet normal use” (Bureau of Meteorology, 2022).
Queensland, on the other hand, has officially defined drought based on rainfall conditions. The Queensland Government defines drought as occurring when rainfall recorded over the previous 12 months (or longer) falls within the driest 10% of historical records (Queensland Government, 2025).
Climate change/ climate event
In this survey, the phrases climate change, climate event / extremes or disaster are used. These phrases are used to describe a climatic or weather event such as fire, flood, heat and variable/unexpected weather events that are often associated with changes in climate.
Confidentiality
The responses you provide as part of the Gulf Savannah Drought & Climate Resilience Survey will be treated confidentially. Demographic information is collected to enable analysis across relevant groups, industries, and regions, and where necessary, to follow up or clarify responses. Identifiable information will not be publicly reported or included in the gap analysis. Individual quotes may be used to illustrate experiences and perspectives. However, any quotes that are used will be anonymised. The overall findings will be reported in summary form only.
This survey should take 10 - 15 minutes. Participation in this survey is voluntary, and you may skip any question you do not wish to answer.
