Disasters Aren’t Equal: Why Gender Matters

Hello and welcome to Doing Disasters Differently, the podcast with Renee Handman, which is all about inspiring you to start thinking and doing disasters a little bit differently too.

Welcome to the next episode of Doing Disasters Differently, where we're talking about disasters aren't equal, why gender matters with Dr. Margaret Morton.

So a little bit about Margaret.

Dr. Margaret Morton is the CEO of Gender and Disaster Australia and one of Australia's leading voices on inclusive disaster resilience.

With decades of experience spanning government, community development and emergency management, Margaret has dedicated her career to ensuring that disaster planning, response and recovery work is for everyone, not just the average person.

Her work has challenged long-held assumptions about disaster management by highlighting how gender, inequality and social expectations influence people's experiences before, during and after disasters.

Through research, advocacy and education, she continues to shape national conversations about creating emergency management systems that are safer, fairer and more effective for all Australians.

Now, as you know, I like to talk about how we met.

Now, I've known Margaret through the emergency management sector for many years.

And in fact, I often go back to sitting in the theatre.

I think it was at Monash University at one of their forums.

And Margaret Morton was like right in front of me.

And I was like, that is Margaret Morton.

We've shared a passion for looking beyond the traditional disaster lens and asking big questions about what really makes communities resilient.

She's one of those people that you will just want to hang out with, always with a really robust conversation to be had.

Now, Margaret, welcome back.

Hello, Renee.

Hello, everyone.

Thank you for that intro.

What a hoot.

I actually remember that first theatre as well.

I think we started talking and we kind of haven't stopped.

That's

right.

So many questions to ask you today and so much to share.