Emergency Animal Disease Outbreak: Understanding Public Sentiment Toward Destruction, Disposal and Vaccination to Inform Communications
Tracks
Monarch Room
| Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
| 1:25 PM - 1:45 PM |
Overview
Olivia Gardner, Department of Primary Industries
Details
Key Presentation Learnings:
1. Stakeholder sentiments and communications barriers could impact emergency animal disease management.
2. Understanding local partnerships, supporting citizen knowledge and recognising people’s connection to place are critical to effective engagement.
3. Development of a national framework for public information in relation to emergency animal disease outbreaks and public information delivery is recommended.
Speaker
Mrs Olivia Gardner
Principal Engagement Officer
Department of Primary Industries
Emergency animal disease outbreak: Understanding public sentiment toward destruction, disposal and vaccination to inform communications
Abstract
Public and stakeholder understanding and perceptions, genuine engagement and targeted communications are critical in maintaining trust and the successful management of emergency animal disease responses.
To deliver an effective emergency response it is essential to have social licence. To achieve this, emergency response organisations must understand stakeholder sentiments on animal destruction, disposal and vaccination; and identify potential communications barriers and risks that could impact emergency animal disease management.
Findings from this research highlighted the importance of local partnerships, supporting citizen knowledge, flexibility to adjust control measures to suit local conditions, respecting the livestock-human relationship, and recognising people’s connection to place as critical to effective engagement.
The outcomes of the research showed that our actions and communications need to reflect a broad sense of social responsibility and be ethically justifiable.
These learnings are now being developed into a national framework that will support more effective public information delivery in relation to social licence. The communications framework aims to address negative public perceptions of current prescribed response actions relating to animal destruction, disposal and vaccination.
Understanding stakeholder sentiments of emergency animal disease-specific response is essential for appropriate and genuine engagement, addressing concerns for people, animals and place while managing responses in Australia.
To deliver an effective emergency response it is essential to have social licence. To achieve this, emergency response organisations must understand stakeholder sentiments on animal destruction, disposal and vaccination; and identify potential communications barriers and risks that could impact emergency animal disease management.
Findings from this research highlighted the importance of local partnerships, supporting citizen knowledge, flexibility to adjust control measures to suit local conditions, respecting the livestock-human relationship, and recognising people’s connection to place as critical to effective engagement.
The outcomes of the research showed that our actions and communications need to reflect a broad sense of social responsibility and be ethically justifiable.
These learnings are now being developed into a national framework that will support more effective public information delivery in relation to social licence. The communications framework aims to address negative public perceptions of current prescribed response actions relating to animal destruction, disposal and vaccination.
Understanding stakeholder sentiments of emergency animal disease-specific response is essential for appropriate and genuine engagement, addressing concerns for people, animals and place while managing responses in Australia.
Biography
Olivia Gardner has a Bachelor of Arts (Double Major Journalism) and more than 20 years of experience in media, communications and stakeholder engagement.
Olivia started her professional life as a journalist and became interested in disaster communications after working through the Brisbane floods of 2010-11 at the ABC.
She has now managed communications through several large-scale bushfires, cyclones, floods and played a pivotal role in the COVID-19 response for Queensland Health.
In her current role, Olivia has led Public Information for several biosecurity responses including varroa mite, salmonella enteritidis, and avian influenza (deployed to Victoria’s avian influenza outbreak August 2024).
