General Public Quiz

Introduction

This module is directed towards members of the general public of Australia, with particular relevance to those interested in the potential impact of landslide events upon themselves, or upon their property.

This module is particularly to provide a broad introduction to the philosophy and concepts embedded within the broad topic of risk management as it applies to landslides within Australia.

This module is applicable to you if you:

Are involved with a building development within a local government area that is prone to landslide events (of one form or another) and are required to have a landslide risk assessment conducted prior to gaining building approval; or
Are adjacent to (beside, above or below) a proposed development which requires a landslide risk assessment prior to its approval, and you are therefore an interested party; or
You are aware of landslide hazards within public property; or
You are interested in the topic in general terms;

The format of this module is a series of questions to step you through the concepts involved in Landslide Risk management (LRM) and to familiarise you with the terminology and jargon that you may encounter.

Instructions

Multiple choice answers are provided. If you are not sure which answer may be correct, then click HINT next and further information will be provided to assist you. You can test your understanding by selecting an answer to see if you are correct or learn why your choice was not. If you chose the correct answer, you can either read the detailed answer or skip to the next question. Each detailed answer provides further links to more resources, such as video explanations, presentations or PDF extracts from guidelines that have been developed by the Australian Geomechanics Society. Further topics are discussed by FAQ pages which pose a series of questions and then give further explanations.

AGS 2007 LRM Guidelines Australian Geoguide

At any time during this module, feel free to launch the guideline PDF’s to research your answers, or simply to give yourself a refresher on Landslide Risk Management.

LRM Guidelines

Question 6 of 10

6. What are acceptable risk levels and who sets them for residential dwellings in a local government area?

levels determined by a regulator in recognition of their responsibility to the community that they represent.
no risk at all.
impossible to determine as they are variable for each scenario.

We do not live in a risk-free environment and the challenge of transfer-of-risk must be considered.

6. What are acceptable risk levels and who sets them for residential dwellings in a local government area?

Acceptable or tolerable risk-to-property and risk-to-life levels should be set by the regulator in recognition of their responsibility to their community.

Noting the earlier discussion, we live in an environment that is not risk free, and that we as individuals within a society accept risks within our everyday lives. We also bear a responsibility to address our personal risks, and we empower regulators to address risk level for those risks that we cannot minimise ourselves on behalf of our community.

Broadly four parties could be involved in a risk evaluation: the owner, the consultant preparing the assessment, the regulator accepting the assessment, and the occupier (may also be owner, though not necessarily).

Whilst all parties can and should be involved, the regulator (for example, the local council) has an obligation to set acceptable or tolerable risk levels on behalf of its community. The LGA is frequently the last man standing in any event, and is seen by its community as a guardian of its welfare.

A LGA frequently has obligations under health and safety regulations.

A developer may no longer be in existence, and the original owner for whom the assessment was conducted, may have moved on. This means that transfer of risk is an issue.

Accordingly, it is reasonable that the regulator (typically local government, though perhaps state government regulators or authorities) make the determination as to whether the risk levels are acceptable or tolerable. The Australian Geomechanics Society has provided advice to assist regulators within AGS (2007c & 2007d) on acceptable and tolerable risk levels, for both new and existing developments.