Queensland bears the greatest burden of natural disasters in Australia, with floods and severe weather striking more frequently than anywhere else in the country and leaving significant human, environmental, and economic impacts.

Recognising both the challenges and the opportunities presented, the Queensland Earth Observation Hub (QLD EO Hub) convened a “Transforming Queensland’s Disaster Resilience from Space” workshop in December 2025 to explore how Earth observation (EO) can help strengthen disaster resilience.

More than 50 participants from government, industry, and research gathered in the Brisbane CBD to take part in a highly interactive, co-design workshop. Discussions focused on a handful of key themes, including risk planning, situational awareness, rural and regional resilience, and workforce capability.

The workshop featured keynote presentations from Professor Andy Koronios (CEO, SmartSat CRC and the Australasian Space Innovation Institute), Juliette Murphy (CEO & Co-founder of FloodMapp), Dr Javier Leon (University of the Sunshine Coast), and Dr Mahdiyeh Razeghi (University of Southern Queensland).

Following the presentations, participants broke into facilitated groups to identify and prioritise the real-world problems and challenges they had identified in Australia’s disaster management and resilience, then to explore and prototype EO enabled solutions. The workshop highlighted the value of bringing problem holders and solution providers together, while demonstrating the strong appetite for collaboration and innovation in this space.

Insights and priorities identified through the workshop will be used to inform future activities under the Australasian Space Innovation Institute (ASII), particularly the development of its Digital Infrastructure for Disaster Management flagship program. The workshop outcomes provide a practitioner-led evidence base to help shape future research themes, pilot projects, and partnerships, ensuring that ASII’s work can build on the foundations created under SmartSat, but also are grounded in real operational needs and aligned with state and national disaster resilience priorities.

You can find all the expert presentations from the workshop linked below.

Gavin Kennedy
Queensland Earth Observation Hub Coordinator