A consensus has emerged that decentralization of the disaster management sector improves disaster risk governance effectiveness and responsiveness. While many researchers contend that decentralization creates institutional capacity building and disaster management regulation opportunities, few studies have measured or analyzed both decentralization and disaster management. We examined changes to the disaster management system and the opportunities and challenges arising following decentralization, as well as how vertical and horizontal relationships between government actors have changed in Indonesia. First, we found that decentralization had a positive effect on the implementation of disaster management with respect to regulation, institutional establishment, budgeting, and planning. Second, despite general improvements, challenges remain, including regulatory inconsistencies, a lack of funding and capacity for local institutional establishments, a lack of participation of experts, a strong dependence on the central government, and an increased corruption rate. Third, while a decentralized disaster management system framework has been established, the local government’s capacity and the overall network remain limited, with national institutions playing a leading role. These findings suggest that empowering the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and strengthening the vertical and horizontal provincial/municipal networks of the BPBD would both enhance the disaster management system and allow local actors to play a more critical role in disaster management.

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