Phoenix Journal December 2021 by Countrywide Austral

PRODUCED BY AND FOR THE VICTORIAN SES VOLUNTEERS

ISSUE 206 DECEMBER 2021 Printpost Approved PP 100001634

THE SEARCH THAT TOUCHED A NATION VICTORIA’S BIGGEST EARTHQUAKE • RECORD STORMS

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Content for Phoenix Photography should only be supplied digitally or as original prints (please supply stamped, self-addressed envelope for returning). Please avoid scanning of any type. Text should be supplied electronically as a Microsoft Word document.

Send all articles to:

Email: phoenix@vicsesva.org.au

VicSESVA CONTACTS VicSESVA Phoenix Editor & Mailing List Enquiries To add, edit or delete members to mail list or password and technical support contact: helpdesk@vicsesva.org.au

www.vicsesva.org.au

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Letters to the editor If you have a point of view you feel would be of benefit to VicSESVA, or a request for any article which other members may be able to help source, mail it to PHOENIX. If your Unit has a need to publicise an event or Unit activity, send it to PHOENIX.

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CONTRIBUTIONS

Contents 3

From the Board

17 Psychological Preparedness

The search that touched a nation

Manningham wins Community Group Achievement Award

19 Community networks responding to COVID-19

Victoria’s biggest earthquake on record

23 VICSES interim female fit Personal Protective Clothing (PPE) redesign project

10 More record storm events: 9,800+ RFAs

25 Stories of Cultural Burning in southern Australia

12 ELCA and bushfire survivors plead for urgent climate change action at COP26

27 WA SES Canine Unit

14 Mt Barker SES exemplar for inclusion 16 CFA – Making knowledge visible

28 Thank You SES 30 TAS SESVA Operation Orange Fun Day 2021 32 A Quick Guide to VicSESVA

VicSESVA STATE BOARD EXECUTIVE & STATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Mr David Rowlands

PRESIDENT Dr Faye Bendrups

M: 0423 777 633 E: chair@vicsesva.org.au

M: 0435 964 455 E: fayebendrups@hotmail.com

SECRETARY AND DIRECTOR SOUTH WEST REGION John McKenzie

TREASURER Sue Davidson E: treasurer@vicsesva.org.au

E: secretary@vicsesva.org.au

DIRECTOR NORTH EAST REGION Mr Chris Brown

DIRECTOR EAST REGION Mr Ray Desem

M: 0417 550 076 E: nerc@vicsesva.org.au

E: erc@vicsesva.org.au

SHOP MANAGER AND TASK FORCE DELEGATE Mr Chris Patton

DIRECTOR NORTH WEST REGION Julie Jochs

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E: nwrc@vicsesva.org.au

M: 0407 310 555 E: shop@vicsesva.org.au

DIRECTOR CENTRAL WEST REGION In progress

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E: mwrc@vicsesva.org.au

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E: cwrc@vicsesva.org.au

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DIRECTOR MID WEST REGION Vacant

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Advertisers Alert Countrywide Austral is appointed by the Victoria Emergency Service Association as the authorised publisher of PHOENIX. For enquiries re advertising in this magazine, please contact the printers and publishers:

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VICSES PEER SUPPORT Peer Support can be accessed at any time by ringing 1800 899 927 and asking for SES Peer Support (EAS Paging). The Clinical Director can be contacted on mobile 0417 565 927 or by ringing 1800 899 927 (EAS Paging).

COUNTRYWIDE AUSTRAL Level 2, 310 King St, Melbourne GPO Box 2466, Melbourne 3001 Ph: (03) 9937 0200 Fax: (03) 9937 0201 E-mail: admin@cwaustral.com.au ACN: 30 086 202 093

CHAPLAINS CONTACT DETAILS CENTRAL REGION Major Arthur Ford M: 0416 085 634

EAST REGION Rev Judy McLeod M: 0417 347 821

NORTH WEST REGION Rev David Mills M: 0425 708 730

Major Eddy Holman M: 0412 014 557

Disclaimer Countrywide Austral (“Publisher”) advises that the contents of this publication are at the sole discretion of the Victoria State Emergency Service Volunteers Association (VicSESVA) and the publication is offered for background information purposes only. The publication has been formulated in good faith and the Publisher believes its contents to be accurate, however, the contents do not amount to a recommendation (either expressly or by implication) and should not be relied upon in lieu of specific professional advice. The Publisher disclaims all responsibility for any loss or damage which may be incurred by any reader relying upon the information contained in the publication whether that loss or damage is caused by any fault or negligence on the part of the publisher, its directors and employees. Copyright All advertisements appearing in this publication are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced except with the consent of the owner of the copyright. Advertising Advertisements in this journal are solicited from organisations and businesses on the understanding that no special considerations other than those normally accepted in respect of commercial dealings, will be given to any advertiser.

The data that VicSESVA holds for its members is solely used for the production and distribution of Phoenix and associated products.

THANK YOU to all our SES Volunteers for their dedication, hard work and commitment to our local communities.

Brad

BATTIN mp Member for Gembrook

Gary

BLACKWOOD mp Member for Narracan

Neale

BURGESS mp Member for Hastings

Georgie

CROZIER mp Member for Southern Metropolitan Region

Wendy

LOVELL mp Member for Northern Victoria Region

3/445 Princes Highway Officer VIC 3809

3/24 Mason Street Warragul VIC 3820

Shop 1/13 Eramosa Rd West Somerville VIC 3912

Suite 1, 780 Riversdale Rd Camberwell VIC 3124

222 Wyndham Street Shepparton VIC 3630

03 5953 0216

03 5623 1960

03 5977 5600

03 7005 8699

03 5821 6668

BradBattin.com.au

GaryBlackwood.com.au

NealeBurgess.com.au

GeorgieCrozier.com.au

WendyLovell.com.au

Authorised by Brad Battin MP, 3/445 Princes Highway, Officer

Authorised by Gary Blackwood MP, 3/24 Mason Street, Warragul

Authorised by Neale Burgess MP, Shop 1/13 Eramosa Road West, Somerville

Authorised by Georgie Crozier MP, Suite 1, 780 Riversdale Road, Camberwell

Authorised by Wendy Lovell MP, 222 Wyndham St Shepparton

Cindy

Richard

Bridget

Kim

Nick

McLEISH mp Member for Eildon

RIORDAN mp Member for Polwarth

VALLENCE mp Member for Evelyn

WELLS mp Member for Rowville

WAKELING mp Member for Ferntree Gully

Unit 4, 91 Dorset Road Ferntree Gully VIC 3156

Shop 10, 38-40 Bell Street Yarra Glen VIC 3775

115A Bromfield Street Colac VIC 3250

143 Main Street Lilydale VIC 3140

Unit 4/1335 Ferntree Gully Rd, Scoresby VIC 3179

03 9730 1066

03 5231 5046

03 9735 3208

03 9764 8988

03 9758 6011

CindyMcLeish.com.au

RichardRiordan.com.au

BridgetVallence.com.au

KimWells.com.au

NickWakeling.com.au

Authorised by Richard Riordan MP, 115A Bromfield Street, Colac

Authorised by Bridget Vallence MP, 143 Main Street, Lilydale

Authorised by Cindy McLeish MP, Shop 10, 38-40 Bell Street, Yarra Glen

Authorised by Kim Wells MP, Unit 4, 1335 Ferntree Gully Rd, Scoresby

Authorised by Nick Wakeling MP, Unit 4, 91 Dorset Road, Ferntree Gully

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from the

BOARD

Record breaking

nce upon a time, achieving a ‘record’ was something to be proud of and anticipate enthusiastically. Lately, all sorts of ‘records’ in our lives and particularly in the emergency sector have been smashed, but not all with great anticipation: Australia, record border closures due to Covid; Victoria, world record 263 days of lockdown; Australia, record low rates of vaccinations to start with, now getting towards record highs – except for our indigenous populations; June, record storms and numbers of RFAs; September, Victoria’s largest earthquake; October, more record storms. At the same time that thousands of SES and other volunteers were responding to these intense, unprecedented weather events, politicians and policy makers were meeting at COP 26 in Glasgow, wrangling arguments about climate action. Australia? Record non-committal to meaningful policy changes. Ask anyone who experienced the 20192020 Black Summer and they will tell you: the time for talk is long gone. It is time for action. Read the ELCA article in this edition (Emergency Leaders for Climate Action at COP26), then buy former NSW Fire & Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins’

“Our world is rapidly changing and we don’t have a great deal of time left to take the necessary actions that might still give us a chance to limit the damage.” – Greg Mullins

book Firestorm - buy multiple copies and give them to your friends. Read further in this edition of Phoenix for accounts of the storms, earthquake, CALD communities responding to Covid lockdowns and the search for Cleo Smith in WA. Best of all, this edition features a big THANK YOU from students at Birmingham Primary School in Mt Evelyn, with unforgettable words of gratitude. Mia wrote: “Tonight’s headline… ‘Life as we know it is changing’. The SES volunteers are LIFE SAVERS!”. We owe the future to these children and those who come after them. While we are doing what we can to help communities now, we must also think about the legacy we will leave and not be bystanders. In the

words of Greg Mullins: “People like me who have fought fires and natural disasters for decades are…scared. Our world is rapidly changing and we don’t have a great deal of time left to take the necessary actions that might still give us a chance to limit the damage. I hope that you are moved to take responsible action and to demand more from our national government, before it is too late: our kids and grandkids are worth the effort” (Firestorm, 319). However you pass the time or celebrate during the next few months, stay safe, stay healthy, stay committed, and look to the future; its up to us to build it. The Board of VicSESVA December 2021

Chairperson chair@vicsesva.org.au

Phoenix Editor phoenix@vicsesva.org.au

North East Regional Council nerc@vicsesva.org.au

Treasurer treasurer@vicsesva.org.au

South West Regional Council swrc@vicsesva.org.au

East Regional Council erc@vicsesva.org.au

Secretary secretary@vicsesva.org.au

Mid-West Regional Council mwrc@vicsesva.org.au

Central East Regional Council cerc@vicsesva.org.au

Volunteer Shop shop@vicsesva.org.au

North West Regional Council nwrc@vicsesva.org.au

Central West Regional Council cwrc@vicsesva.org.au

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FEATURE

THE SEARCH THAT TOUCHED THE NATION AN UNFORGETTABLE IMAGE RELEASED BY WA POLICE OF CLEO SMITH WAS A COMFORTING END TO A SEARCH THAT TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER AUSTRALIA, AND THE WORLD.

n 16 October, four-year old Cleo went missing from her family tent in the middle of the night at a remote campsite in WA. After a massive search, she was found by police 18 days later in her hometown of Carnarvon. A local man, Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, has been charged with kidnapping offences and flown to a maximum security prison in Perth, 900km south of Carnarvon. Thousands of people were involved in the initial large-scale search for Cleo at the rugged Blowholes Campsite and among those first to be mobilised was the local Carnarvon SES Unit. Many of those volunteers know the Smith family personally, and joined police and military personnel soon after she disappeared.

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The crews never gave up hope of finding Cleo alive, and spent day after day in harsh, near impenetrable coastal scrub, under burning sun and in harsh winds. Volunteer Hamish Brown said he was gutted when the search of the area was eventually called off: “That was pretty tough,” he said. “I remember heading home thinking, this isn’t the end. From day one until the end we were out there doing it for Cleo, and Ellie and Jake, and the family.” In these high profile cases, the role of social media has come under scrutiny. In recent decades, the role of mobile phones and social media has been positive in emergencies, whether as being an early alerting system, a first hand reporting mechanism, reuniting families, or transmitting intelligence to response teams.

But there is a down side. In the case of criminal investigations, managing the volumes of public source material can be daunting; there may be thousands of tip-offs, not all of which will be useful. And police may not want to give information away that may compromise their investigation. Social media platforms can play both a positive and negative role. Multiple Facebook groups dedicated to Cleo were set up, one with over 60,000 members by the time she was found. But her parents were also subjected to harassment campaigns on Twitter. Misinformation, rumour and speculation are easily spread. Elise Thomas, writing in The Strategist (8 Nov) commented: “At the heart of this phenomenon are real human tragedies… but it should also spark a deeper ethical vicsesva.org.au

conversation about the consumption of tragedy as entertainment”. Throughout the 18 day search, the local Carnarvon community and others across Australia, maintained Cleo front of mind across the Nation, as investigations suggested she may have been taken interstate and could be anywhere. Thousands of stickers, flyers, posters and T-shirts appealing for information about Cleo were printed and distributed around the country and electronic billboards were installed in shops. When Cleo was reunited with her family, the whole country breathed a sigh of relief; the best news story after such a prolonged focus on pandemics and lockdowns. “It’s the best news the town could have asked for” said Carnarvon SES volunteer Hamish Brown. vicsesva.org.au

Hamish Brown and Carnarvon SES celebrate after Cleo was found (Photo: ABC) December 2021

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Unit Controller Vincent Ciardulli accepts the Award.

MANNINGHAM WINS COMMUNITY GROUP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN NOVEMBER 2021, THE VICSES MANNINGHAM UNIT WON THE COMMUNITY GROUP ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT THE MANNINGHAM COUNCIL CIVIC AWARDS.

his award recognises community organisations, clubs or groups who have gone ‘above and beyond’ to improve the lives of the Manningham community. Nominees must be not for profit community organisations who’ve made a tangible difference to diversity, acceptance and tolerance, community spirit and social connectedness in the Manningham community. While you don’t get into volunteering for praise or accolades this was great to receive especially as our unit had been out all weekend with the last big storm. Luckily a couple of our members, including our Unit Controller Vincent, managed to have a quick clean up and attend the awards after being out all day on RFAs. This award may say 2021, but as a unit we strive to go above and beyond every year and to uphold the foundations built by those controllers and members before us who helped shape Manningham into what it is today especially the work of previous controller Alan Alder. By Jen Selmore vicsesva.org.au

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Geoscience Australia map of notifications, inner west, Melbourne.

VICTORIA’S BIGGEST EARTHQUAKE ON RECORD AT 9.15 AM ON WEDNESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER, A MAGNITUDE 5.9 EARTHQUAKE HIT NEAR THE TOWN OF RAWSON IN VICTORIA.

amage was caused as far away as Melbourne and SES units were called out to dozens of RFAs, including exterior structure damage, broken chimneys and burst water pipes causing internal flooding. Many high rise buildings were evacuated and some residents were distressed and anxious. SES volunteers were able to provide a reassuring presence as well as attend to physical damage. Earthquakes are not uncommon in Victoria, although mostly very minor with no damage caused. The Rawson earthquake is the biggest earthquake to hit Victoria in the modern instrumental era (post 1900), and probably since European settlement. This event can be classified as the mainshock followed by a series of aftershocks, Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr Hadi Ghasemi said: “Geoscience Australia recorded nine aftershocks in the 24 hours following the main quake, and there may be more in the coming weeks and even months”. Aftershocks are smaller than the mainshock, and generally become less

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frequent with time. “However it is important to note that it is not possible to predict precisely when or how large these earthquakes may be, or when the sequence will diminish to a point where they are no longer detectable” Dr Ghasemi said. Seismic activity was still being detected north of Rawson on 3 November, with a 2.6 magnitude shock at a depth of 7km. Just 2 days later, a 2.5 earthquake at a depth of 2km was measured at Mornington near Melbourne. While earthquakes of the size of the 22 September one are less common in Australia, no area is completely immune from earthquakes. “Moderate to large earthquakes can occur anywhere across the continent, and without warning. On average, Australia experiences an earthquake of this size once every year or two,” Dr Ghasemi said. “The Australian plate is the fastest moving continental land mass on Earth and is colliding into the Pacific plate to the north and east, and the Eurasian Plate to the northwest. This generates compressive stress in the interior of the Australian

continent. Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of this stress when rocks deep underground break and move along a fault line”. The Rawson earthquake occurred in Australia’s South-East Highlands region, which has a relatively high level of seismic activity and was felt across four states. Geoscience Australia received more than 40,000 reports from people reporting that they felt the earthquake: a record since the agency started collecting felt reports. The size of the quake, combined with the geology of the area where it happened, means that the earthquake was felt hundreds of kilometres away from the epicentre: from Sydney to Hobart and west to Adelaide. Geoscience Australia’s scientists moved fast to get more data about this earthquake. The closest seismic station to the earthquake was over 70 kilometres from the epicentre, which means estimates of the earthquake’s depth were uncertain. Dr Ghasemi said “We have sent Rapid Deployment Kits to the area that will remain in the field for several months vicsesva.org.au

Earthquake Facts On average, Australia experiences an earthquake of this size once every 1-2 years. • The 2018 Lake Muir earthquakes were magnitude 5.2 and 5.3 • The 1989 Newcastle earthquake was magnitude 5.4 To protect yourself during an earthquake, the best advice is to drop, cover and hold on. First, drop to your hands and knees, bend over to protect your vital organs, and protect your head and neck with your hands. If you can, find something sturdy to shelter under, such as a desk or table, and hold on by gripping a table leg or other part of your sturdy shelter.

About every ten years or so, Australia experiences a potentially damaging earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or more. • The 1968 Meckering earthquake was magnitude 6.5 • The 1988 Tennant Creek earthquake was Australia’s biggest on record, at magnitude 6.6

to measure seismic signals from aftershocks. We will also be analysing satellite data to see if there has been ground surface movement since the earthquake. All of this information helps our scientists to better define the source of the earthquake, including the active fault and depth of the main event. This data can be used to improve hazard estimates and guide building design, helping to make our community safer”. Source: Geoscience Australia, ga.gov.au Earthquakes can and do occur anywhere and at any time. Geoscience Australia works with governments, industry and communities to help reduce the impact of disasters on our country, and to help build more resilient communities now and in the future.

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MORE RECORD STORM EVENTS: 9,800+ RFAs AFTER SUPERCELL STORMS IN JUNE, AN EARTHQUAKE IN SEPTEMBER AMONG CONTINUING COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS, VICTORIA WAS HIT WITH ANOTHER MEGA WEATHER EVENT OVER A NUMBER OF DAYS FROM 28 OCTOBER TO 4 NOVEMBER.

ICSES was supported by crews from Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVIC), Country Fire Authority (CFA), Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and NSW State Emergency Service (NSWSES). On Monday, 1 November 2021 a large contingent of 46 NSWSES members arrived into Melbourne airport to support the ongoing operations. There were 10 teams of 4 members, 2 Strike Team Leaders and 2 Strike Team Leaders Support, and a Liaison Officer and Liaison Officer Support. The crews worked for 3 days in Southern Metro Region and returned to NSW on Friday morning. On Tuesday 2 November and into Wednesday 3 November the Bureau of Meteorology issued further severe weather warnings for damaging winds and thunderstorms. In the late afternoon calls were received for the St. Arnaud area for flash flooding after heavy rainfall in the area. This band of weather continued across the state seeing further warnings issued for flash flooding in Castlemaine, Charlton and Wedderburn.

VICSES members responded to over 9,800 requests for assistance.

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Winds caused havoc at the container docks.

Safety Officer Julie Jochs ESM, flown in from Swan Hill to assist at Dandenong ICC.

NSW crews sent to assist.

Requests for assistance 1600 hrs Thursday 28 October to 1600hrs Thursday 4 November Metro

Gippsland

Barwon South West

7671 RFAs received in the Central region for this event. All 34 units responded to events across the region not only within their own boundaries but also assisting other units within the region. Central crews were supported by crews from NSW as well as partner agencies from across the state.

653 RFAs received in the East region for this event. East Region assisted with sending members into Central Region as well during the event. A number of roads were closed to traffic due to fallen powerlines or trees down.

575 RFAs received in the South West region for this event. This event had a major impact on the Bellarine Peninsula. Barwon South West also assisted in both the North West and Central regions providing some relief to crews in these regions as well as within the Barwon South West region.

Unit RFAs Frankston

934

Sorrento

629

Narre Warren

514

Whitehorse

453

Unit RFAs Morwell

127

Warragul

Unit RFAs

Sale

Bellarine

237

Phillip Island

Torquay

South Barwon

Corio

Grampians

Loddon Mallee

Hume

525 RFAs were received in the Mid West region throughout this event, with a line of storms first impacting the area on Thursday evening seeing RFAs across the western area increase quickly around the Ballarat area.

129 RFAs received in the North East region for this event. The majority of these events were seen in the southern parts of the region. North East units also provided assistance into Central region.

Bacchus Marsh

302 RFAs received in the North West region for this event. Similar to the Grampians, Loddon Mallee was impacted by the initial line of storms impacting the area on Thursday night with a number of units activated. On Wednesday further impacts were received with Castlemaine and Wedderburn seeing flash flooding as a result of the weather system.

Hepburn Shire

Unit RFAs

Unit RFAs Ballarat

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362

Bendigo

120

Gisborne

Woodend

Unit RFAs Kinglake

Kilmore

Seymour

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ELCA AND BUSHFIRE SURVIVORS PLEAD FOR URGENT CLIMATE ACTION AT COP26 “Those of us who hold hoses know just how dangerous climate change has become” – Greg Mullins EMERGENCY LEADERS FOR CLIMATE ACTION (ELCA) IS A COALITION OF 34 FORMER FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICE LEADERS FROM EVERY FIRE SERVICE IN AUSTRALIA, A NUMBER OF SES, NATIONAL PARKS, AND FORESTRY AGENCIES, AND FORMER DIRECTORS GENERAL OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIA. ELCA MEMBERS ARE DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT WORSENING NATURAL DISASTER RISKS DRIVEN BY EXTREME WEATHER DIRECTLY RESULTING FROM CLIMATE CHANGE. ELCA LED A CALL TO ACTION AT COP26 IN EARLY NOVEMBER. COP26 The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) took place in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated: “Securing a brighter future for our children and future generations requires countries to take urgent action at home and abroad to turn the tide on climate change. It is with ambition, courage and collaboration as we approach the crucial COP26 summit in the UK that we can seize this moment together, so we can recover cleaner, rebuild greener and restore our planet.” During the second week of COP26, the Chairman of the UK government’s Climate Change Commission, Lord Deven, accused Australia of being “a big disappointment” in its willingness to emit and that the Morrison government had no concrete plans to reduce emissions by 2030. Australia does not support the pledge signed by 40 countries to shift away from coal at the Climate Summit and will not join more than 100 counties in signing a pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. Australia’s climate policies were ranked last out of 64 countries, behind Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Brazil. The Climate Change Performance Index criticised Australia for bringing to Glasgow a 2050 target of net-zero emissions that involved no new policies or plans: “This failure to promote renewables...

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is exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure investment despite subsidies for fossil fuel production and promotion of a ‘gas-led’ economic recovery following COVID-19”. Australia’s ‘technology investment roadmap’ was deemed insufficient to decarbonise the economy, cut fossil fuel use and promote renewables. The ranking said “The country’s international standing has been damaged by climate denialism by politicians, refusal to increase ambition and refusal to recommit to international green finance mechanisms”. Emergency responders are some of the people who witness first hand the effects of climate change. As ELCA points out: The severity of the Black Summer Australian bushfires in 2019/2020, the Californian

wildfires of 2020 and the Canadian wildfires of 2021 have all been attributed to climate change. The weather that drove Black Summer is likely to be average by 2040. To avoid even worse fires in future, the Climate Council recommends that Australia reduce its emissions by 75% (below 2005 levels) by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2035. This is based on rigorous scientific risk assessments. Firefighters, bushfire survivors issue plea at COP26 to world leaders: reduce emissions now On 9 November 2021, firefighters and bushfire survivors from Australia, Canada, Turkey and the USA made powerful statements at COP26 to remind world leaders of the horrific toll of climate change. vicsesva.org.au

On Adaptation, Loss and Damage day, bushfire survivors gathered outside the Australian pavilion to share their stories of losing property and fearing for their own lives. They urged all governments to take significant and urgent steps to cut emissions this decade. At the start of week two of COP26, a full page ad (see back cover of this edition of Phoenix) from Australia’s Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA) also appeared in the British daily national newspaper, The Times. It features a striking image of a kangaroo silhouetted by a destroyed building and towering flames that went viral around the world during our Black Summer bushfires. Australian Jo Dodds, President of the Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, was at COP26 and said: “I represent bushfire survivors, I bring with me the voices of the many thousands of Australians who have felt the effects of catastrophic fires firsthand. We need hope. There’s no recovery, no resilience, no renewal without hope. I’ve come to COP26 here in Glasgow to plead for that hope. Because a vague 2050 target does not bring us hope, it does not bring us the emission cuts we need. It brings us only more despair. I’m standing here today with people from across the world – from Australia, California and from the US – to call on world leaders to address these horrific fires at their root cause: the burning of fossil fuels. We now know that when you can see the fire, it’s too late. Now is the time to act.” Hannah Parris is an Australian living overseas whose parents’ house burnt down in the Black Summer fires. Her parents’ home in New South Wales was destroyed in the Black Summer fire storm of 2019-2020. She said: “The fire was so intense that literally nothing could be salvaged from the wreckage. We lost precious family photos and items handed down from our mothers and grandmothers that they took with them when they fled as refugees 90 years ago. Our heirlooms escaped and survived Nazi Germany, but couldn’t survive an Australian summer.” Speaking from Australia, Climate Councillor and founder of ELCA, Greg Mullins (former Commissioner, Fire & Rescue NSW) said: “Whether you’re in Los Angeles, Vancouver or Sydney, those of us who hold hoses know just how dangerous climate change has become. What we witnessed during our Black Summer was hell on earth. Fires were so ferocious they created their own weather systems, lightning storms and fire tornadoes. Even with the best firefighting technology on the planet, blazes driven by extreme weather cannot vicsesva.org.au

be controlled. No-one wants to go through that again, but unfortunately, because of climate change, we will. Our ad – which will be seen by many influential delegates at COP26 – sends a message that we need drastic emissions cuts this decade to protect life, property, and the environment. Unfortunately, in Australia, our government seems intent on making things worse by clinging to polluting fossil fuels. Time has run out and there can be no more excuses or meaningless slogans. It’s time to wake up and smell the smoke”. What is ELCA? emergencyleadersforclimateaction.org.au ELCA explains their mission on their website: Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA) exists to catalyse all levels of government to act on climate change. Informed by climate science and centuries of combined experience, Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA) is working to ensure that fire and emergency services are equipped to protect Australian communities from increasingly frequent and damaging extreme weather events. We are actively shaping the national conversation about climate change and extreme weather, by drawing the media spotlight when and where it’s needed, engaging with all state and federal bushfire inquiries and commissions and through convening and engaging with the people who need to be involved in the discussion. ELCA has made numerous policy recommendations to state and federal inquiries about the need for strong climate action and enhanced resourcing of emergency services.

and policy submissions, ELCA’s growing coalition has had a transformative impact on the public debate. ELCA has: • Clearly articulated that worsening bushfire conditions have been aggravated by climate change • Shut down the argument that climate change shouldn’t be mentioned during bushfires • Debunked dangerous myths aimed at diverting attention away from climate change • Advocated for better resourcing for fire and emergency services • Warned the Federal Government of the risks and consequences of its failure to act • Underlined the fact that burning coal, oil and gas is driving climate change and these are worsening bushfire conditions Climate change affects us all. For a more detailed analysis, Greg Mullins has written a compelling account of raging fire, political evasion and settled science in his book Firestorm: Battling Supercharged Natural Disasters (Viking, 2021). In Firestorm, Dr John Hewson AM, Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the ANU and former Liberal Federal Opposition Leader writes: Greg Mullins knows what he is talking about when it comes to bushfires and other natural disasters after some 50 years on the front line – he is an acknowledged global expert. He explodes the myths and exposes the ignorance, especially in relation to climate change ‘supercharging’ the increasing intensity and frequency of the fires. Greg’s book should be required reading for all Prime Ministers, their governments, and policy authorities. It is no excuse to say “I don’t hold a hose, mate”!

2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire season ELCA came out strongly in the media to highlight the role of climate change in the summer bushfires, and was also frequently cited as an authoritative voice in independent media coverage and analysis of the issue. Since its inception in April 2019 and throughout the 2019/20 Australian bushfire crisis, Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA) has been a source of leadership for Australians. Led by Climate Councillor and former Commissioner of Fire & Rescue NSW, Greg Mullins, ELCA has cut through the political noise and firmly articulated that worsening extreme weather is being aggravated by climate change, driven by burning fossil fuels. Through a carefully executed media strategy, meetings with decision-makers December 2021

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My first drive up the access ramp into the Mt Barker SES training shed.

MT BARKER SES EXEMPLAR FOR INCLUSION “WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF THE SES, A VOLUNTEER IN A WHEELCHAIR ISN’T THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMES TO MIND”

he Emergency Services in Australia provide essential supports and management to communities in the face of adversity, but they aren’t always accessible in terms of their access and inclusion for people with disabilities. Thousands of people volunteer with the Emergency Services around Australia and many of them are disabled. Finding roles for disabled volunteers where they can participate and contribute fully can be difficult in the Emergency Services, especially when the tasks are often sensitive or even dangerous. Physical access, including access of equipment, is an issue that can affect a volunteer’s sense of worth and contribution to their Unit. Luckily, that isn’t a problem for me as a disabled volunteer with the Western

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Australian Mount Barker State Emergency Service Unit. Because Mount Barker SES have made the effort to make our training building accessible, I am able to participate fully in training and administration with my team. But it wasn’t always like that. I started volunteering with Mount Barker SES in 2019 as a non-operational Administration and Community Engagement Officer. I am an experienced journalist and I originally signed up with the SES to help the Manager, who is also my sister, by taking some of the organisational weight and write positive news stories to raise awareness about our Unit. But when COVID-19 and lockdown hit, I had to take on the role of Deputy Training Manager to keep our team connected in an

online world. I successfully transitioned the training to the online platform Microsoft Teams and delivered a few sessions myself. It kept our volunteers connected and their skills well-honed and we were still able to attend emergency incidents during lockdown. When lockdown eased off in WA, I kept my position as Deputy Training Manager in addition to my other roles, but I wasn’t able to come to training with the other volunteers because there wasn’t access. Our building is from the 1940s and didn’t include an access ramp or any inclusive facilities. That changed late last year when the team managed to secure the funding from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services to put a ramp into the shed where the volunteers do all their training. vicsesva.org.au

“There are limitations to the work that may be carried out by disabled volunteers, but this is no different to able-bodied volunteers… it is more about what people can contribute rather than what they can’t.” After the earthworks were done by a local business, the gradient up to the ramp become safer.

Access ramp to SES building showing the safe slope.

Now I can join the team for our fortnightly training sessions and perform my duties as an administrator. The ramp is very safe, with a stable gradient and it doesn’t get slippery even in the rain, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from an SES access ramp. Putting in a ramp and grading off the approach towards the shed are huge improvements for inclusivity, but we have more ideas for the future. Our Unit isn’t big enough for our needs and we will be relocating to a new site soon. Mount Barker SES houses the substantial supplies for the Regional Storm Cache which is deployed across the region to repair damage caused by severe weather events. We are also getting a second operational vehicle and need space to park it. We hope to be ready to move to our new headquarters vicsesva.org.au

in the next few years, but we can’t be sure of when the larger site will be available. As a disabled volunteer my greatest interest is keeping our new building accessible not just for my needs, but for anyone else with access issues who wants to join in the future. In my experience new buildings are not always accessible especially if it is assumed disabled people wouldn’t be using them anyway. But some of my concerns have been assuaged by our District Officer Jonathan “Jono” Boswell when he said that the volunteers should be involved in the planning of our new building. “Engaging with able and disabled volunteers in the design of a new facility ensures that important access and functionality requirements are met while meeting operational requirements,”

Mr Boswell said. “In fact, I feel that incorporating technology that enables the inclusion of disabled volunteers, may also have improvements in the way ablebodied interact with technology during emergencies.” DFES volunteer and youth programs Manager Jennifer Pidgeon said that they are increasing physical access to buildings: “Improving physical access to buildings will support volunteers with physical disabilities to join the emergency services and work is being undertaken to improve the buildings under DFES management. However, this must be coupled with efforts to develop the roles that allow everyone to safely and meaningfully participate.” Mr Boswell said that increasing diversity makes an organisation stronger and more resilient and he would be happy to see more disabled volunteers in the Emergency Services. “There are limitations to the work that may be carried out by disabled volunteers, but this is no different to able-bodied volunteers… it is more about what people can contribute rather than what they can’t,” he said. Ms Pidgeon said diversity increases the roles available within the Emergency Services. “By providing a wider diversity of roles to the community, emergency services volunteering becomes more accessible in general. “Access is an interesting term in that it does not just imply physical access, but also access to meaningful roles that meet the needs of the wide range of people within our community,” she said. I have many ideas for further improving the access to the Mount Barker SES new building and it’s good to know there’s room for more people like me to volunteer. It’s also nice to know that my team has my back and I have the support of the organisation in making the SES a more accessible and inclusive space for everyone. By Eleanor Beidatsch December 2021

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CFA – MAKING KNOWLEDGE VISIBLE THIS SUMMARY IS PART OF A PAPER GIVEN AT AFAC21 WITH THE THEME: MEASURING THE IMPACT AND TRENDS IN VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE TO BETTER MANAGE RESPONSE CAPABILITY.

he knowledge and experience held by CFA’s 53,000 volunteer firefighters is a critical asset for CFA and forms a key part of our capability as it not only powers mentoring and on the job training (the last two parts of a 10-20-70 training model), but also enables physical assets to be leveraged to achieve our mission to saves lives and property. It constitutes both individual’s and teams combined knowledge and experience, allowing us to operate as a single emergency service organisation in an adaptable and safe manner. Understanding the nature and depth of our knowledge in the field involves far more than simply reporting on the number of years’ service or amount of training for brigade members. A more fine-grained approach was needed to not only help report on the knowledge component of brigade viability, but to forecast for catchment officers any brigades that are in decline or even knowledge distress. Without the ability to individually test all of our members annually, a number of data markers were used to determine a level of engagement and experience based on training, qualifications, roles performed, and incident response knowledge based on each member’s attendance data. This data was collated via MS SQL and then presented using PowerBI. The data has been ground tested against a number of brigades across three districts for accuracy against leader’s understandings of their member’s experience and capabilities. The result is a series of dashboards that give deep insight into the knowledge trends of each Brigade and Group that – alongside our traditional performance metrics – create a binocular view of brigade health and performance. This presentation shows the approach taken and includes a demonstration of the working solution, including visualisation of brigade knowledge profiles, identification of brigades in “knowledge distress”, and brigade trends over time as members join and retire. This allows the identification (sometimes up to four years in advance) of brigades heading towards closure; long before the traditional health metrics identify the risk. Embedding research into practice Creating a form of research that is updated monthly to provide constant, trending feedback to leaders allows this critically important, but intangible asset to be managed by Commanders, ACFOs and Regional leadership. By using research data in this way, we not can not only head off problems long before they impact our capability, but also monitor the efficacy of improvement efforts when using this data as an input to evaluation programs. Supporting ourselves and others While CFA has monitored brigade numbers and rewarded years of service to individual members, the loss of one or more “old oaks” from a brigade can often be a gradual process that is sometimes not noticed until suddenly a crisis emerges. Further research of the data suggests that we are more vulnerable to entire families leaving brigades that we previously thought.

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By making this data and analysis available to our operational leaders, we add an extra lens through which to view both the depth and trends in terms of threats to our response capability and opens new avenues to both manage our workforce and identify when whole brigades may be experiencing generational trauma. By Stuart French Program Manager – Knowledge, CFA vicsesva.org.au

ESF IMPACT Newsletter, Issue 19

Psychological Preparedness

ustralians live with the threat of natural disasters and emergency service and management organisations help our community prepare to protect lives, homes and property. But what about the people who respond to these emergencies? How can we more effectively prepare them? Psychological preparedness for challenging times was the topic of discussion at ESFs recent Workplace Health and Safety Month event. Experts provided different perspectives before participants had small group conversations about what the best possible pre deployment psychological preparedness would look like. It is unrealistic to think that people can be fully emotionally prepared for the sort of stressful and confronting situations they routinely face as first responders. However, being psychologically prepared can help in coping with the stress of the unfolding situation and in reducing the distress after the disaster has passed. Prof Jennifer Wild from Oxford University, an expert on how to build resilience to stress and trauma in emergency responders, explained what to do, and what not to do, to build resilience for example it is important to target psychological risk factors that are modifiable to build resilience. She also spoke about how valuable it is to involve families in preparedness.

Assoc Prof Monique Crane, from Macquarie University, spoke about how in her work guilt and shame is the biggest predictor of poor health outcomes and this resonated with the audience familiar with the mental health stigma. Dr Denise Meuldijk, Research Fellow from Black Dog Institute, described an App that is being trialled to help build resilience in emergency service workers and Elizabeth Granger from Openground explained how mindfulness works to improve wellbeing.

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp shared his personal challenges and techniques to prepare for the demands of his role. Watch the discussion recording here: https://esf.com.au/events/ psychologically-preparingfor-challenging-times/

Reactions It was fantastic to hear from How well we prepare for experts in the field of research emergencies will always around what works when it comes determine the effectiveness of to psychological preparedness our response and how well we for challenging times. Often recover. It’s no different when training around mental health is it comes to the mental health tokenistic and doesn’t focus on of the great people that work in giving people the tools for how our sector. Well done ESF for to cope in the face of trauma, bringing together an impressive so I am able to take away some panel to lead a discussion with more strategies to my workplace more than a 100 people from our to discuss. It was great that we sector to explore how we can be were all given a chance to give our better psychologically prepared own opinion as well, as everyone for the work we all do to keep brings different experiences and our communities safe. Impressive contexts to the conversation. research and practical takeaways. Molly Wellington St John volunteer & ESTA ambulance call taker

vicsesva.org.au

Thank you for the opportunity to participate and share with so many wonderful responders, practitioners and researchers. The bringing together of a variety of worlds for a better outcome for ourselves, our families, our future members, and ultimately, our community. Sue Sheldrick CFA

The webinar provided a great opportunity to explore this important topic from the perspective and insights of emergency service workers and leaders, as well as the findings from the national and international research. The discussion generated a list of practical solutions relevant to the unique challenges of the emergency service sector. Nicole Sadler Phoenix Australia

Andrew Crisp Emergency Services Commissioner

December 2021

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COMMUNITY NETWORKS RESPONDING TO COVID-19: The case of African migrants in Melbourne’s public housing Ed: A longer version of this paper was originally presented at AFAC21. It is printed with permission of the authors. SES was also called out to assist in the response to the inner Melbourne high rise housing towers lockdown. The towers were locked down at short notice with no community consultation and were later found by the Victorian Ombudsman as not based on direct health advice and that violated Victorian human rights laws.

n the 4th of July 2020, around 3,000 residents of inner Melbourne’s public housing towers were confined within the hardest lockdown imposed on the city. This precipitate movement revealed unplanned and disorganised government actions that raised questions of the legitimacy of the COVID-19 response decision-making targeting vulnerable communities. Our ongoing research started in 2018 and aimed to understand the living experiences and housing challenges of African migrants and refugees residing in public housing estates. In the aftermath of the hard lockdown, we focused on the community capacities to withstand crises. We observed how lockdowns caused significant stress but also promoted a series of supporting networks. These networks continue assisting public housing residents. They might be crucial for managing further stages of the COVID-19 response and post-COVID recovery. Furthermore, the lessons learned led to re-evaluating active community engagement and capacity building, particularly in culturally sensitive environments. Social networks for disaster resilience This study builds on existing research that observes the disruptions caused by disasters and the crucial role of social ties and networks to address the multiple issues emerging from post-disaster recovery. Social networks are dynamic connections between people whose characteristics can define whether the ties between groups, communities and organisations will contribute or hinder the recovery (1). However, previous studies observed that during bushfires, information is shared between individuals, families, friends and neighbours (2). Evidence from different disasters worldwide points out local residents as the first responders rescuing family members and neighbours, volunteering with government agencies and NGOs, showing how groups and individuals become more unified, cohesive and altruistic vicsesva.org.au

Figure 1: North Melbourne public housing estates in July 2020.

in times of crisis (3). However, response to COVID-19 considered social distancing and cutting off from most face-to-face interactions, limiting the possibility of relying on residents’ initiatives, at least in the traditional way. Therefore, communities and other stakeholders require developing creative ways to continue the social interactions leading to response, recovery, and adaptation. Research outcomes: Social networks to deal with COVID-19 response For this study, we conducted nine semistructured interviews with key informants from the community, advocates, notfor-profit and community organisations, religious organisations and the community liaison from Victoria Police. We included residents and organisations working with residents from various public housing towers. We chose March and April 2021 to conduct the interviews because this was when the restrictions in Melbourne were eased and community interactions started to resume. Figure 2 shows the connections and interactions between the interviewees from the community and relevant organisations.

Community members Interviewees A and B are residents of Carlton public housing estates and community leaders. “A” is a male community leader from one of the Horn of Africa groups. He is actively involved as a health concierge. Health concierges is an initiative by Cohealth and funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, to employ active community members to share official information with the residents, support health staff to conduct COVID-19 testing, and now promote vaccination (see https://www.cohealth.org. au/media-releases/public-housing-residentsrecruited-as-health-concierges-at-high-risetowers/). He acknowledged that pre-COVID differences impacted community cohesion and were part of the division experienced back in Africa as he said “we don’t have a leadership that is the main problem, where diversity we have a common interest here in Australia we should work together, so the missing link is lack of working together.” continued on page 20 December 2021

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Figure 2: COVID19 response support networks based on interviews conducted.

continued from page 19 “B” is not a formal leader, although she is well-known among the women in her community. “B” is an artist passionate about teaching Somalian handicrafts. Before the pandemic, she had conducted various workshops attracting women in the community which produced a space for sharing and creating networks. She mentioned “as an artist I use my skills to show what my culture is to the rest of the society. I have a group in the community, mostly women”. During the lockdown, “B” became active in the WhatsApp groups to mutually support the residents. She also became a health concierge focusing on helping women and children. “C” is a male from an Ethiopian ethnic minority residing in the public housing estates. He has been actively supportive to his community during the COVID-19 crisis. He was aware of the limited information about active cases in the Carlton estates in the early months of the pandemic. “C” volunteered to ensure effective communication with his neighbours and became a health concierge. He considers that this is one of the most effective ways to build trust in a reluctant community that feels suspicious about government advice after the hard lockdown as “C” mentions, “without the concierges I am sure there would not have been possible to build trust [in the community]”. He also believes that familiarity is crucial for the community as they know him and his wife, and people feel engaged in the COVID-19 response.

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Supporting organisations “D”, from CNLC, has a long-term engagement with the community and understands the challenges related to a community that is still in the process of healing after experiencing trauma, dispossession and exclusion. That is why, at the beginning of the pandemic, most of the communication to the residents in Carlton public housing came through CNLC as people trusted the organisation. In the planning process of the COVID-19 response after the hard lockdown, “D” advocated in the government and organisations’ meetings to engage residents in the information sharing because the community trusts them and can support the collection of information about the problems in the community. “E” is part of the Horn of Africa community and manages the youth volunteer group established by the Australian Muslim Social Services Agency that organised the donations and the dissemination of the information. They influenced good practices such as hygiene and social distancing in older community members with low English literacy. Interestingly, “E” mentioned that various young leaders emerged in the process and they were aware of the community needs. They reinforced their sense of belonging supporting their people, he said “I also observed the importance of involving the youth, they influenced their older family members, and their families were also proud of seeing their children working.” “F” works for Africause, a not-for-profit organisation working with the African diaspora in Melbourne. Africause organised

the delivery of food and other essential items in coordination with the authorities. “F” also organised teams with members from the African community residing outside the public housing towers to provide assistance and updates to the residents and the rest of the community. “F” acknowledges that the mistakes made by authorities evidenced the urgent need to create protocols for rapid assessment of the situation to provide the assistance people need. This is highly relevant in the event of a future emergency that involves people from culturally diverse backgrounds. “G” is part of the Victoria police and is the liaison with the community. He was not contacted when the lockdown was imposed on the towers. He was eventually involved in the further planning of activities. “G” has worked with the communities and organised activities in pre-COVID times. He focused on the youth and acknowledged the need to invest in them and the need for long-term commitment to the community. Thus, “G” admits that emergency and community development planning should include people who have already built trust in the community, rather than imposing protocols excluding them. Community advocates “H” is a young Eritrean, a former Flemington towers’ resident and actively collaborated with the Ubuntu Project, a local initiative supporting African-Australian communities. “H” mentored children in sports before the pandemic, and currently supports children and youth in the community online. “H” acknowledged that the public housing residents drew the attention of government and other organisations vicsesva.org.au

Long-term community engagement is key; recovering the community trust in government agencies is crucial, but it requires a long-term commitment. Furthermore, organisations and other institutions working with the community play a fundamental role. Community solidarity and youth engagement for communication and trust; the existing solidarity networks developed in the community should include youth. They help the older community members fight misinformation and support their integration and development. Continuity and scalability for sustainability and resilience; the chaotic response to COVID-19 evidenced the disconnection with local communities and the need for long-term and multiple initiatives to build stronger culturally diverse communities. These conclusions are relevant to developing people-centred approaches to strengthen institutional and community capacities to ensure better response and recovery, which would also prepare them for potential future disasters. By Sandra Carrasco The University of Newcastle, Australia Majdi Faleh Nottingham Trent University, UK Figure 3: Health concierge in Carlton public housing. Source: Authors

because of the media. However, a longterm commitment is needed to know the problems of various groups such as children, elderly, single parents, etc. Furthermore, “H” also highlights the importance of investing in minimising the mental health impacts caused by the lockdown and the community’s previous traumatic experiences. “I” is a Nigerian-Australian activist who works on group support and counselling involving residents of Melbourne’s public housing estates. She runs periodic Zoom meetings that are beneficial for the residents who reported feeling safer, supported and acquired new skills. Creating spaces for interaction allowed residents to meet other people, exchange experiences and possibilities for their future rather than feeling placelessness. People have multiple capacities that can support their development if there are more effective policies for community inclusion as “I” mentions “co-designing or co-leading can translate into involving members of the community, not in a tokenistic way, not to just come and tick the box after you have taken the decision, it is really to come and say this is available. What do you need?” vicsesva.org.au

Conclusions This study presented the perspectives of various stakeholders involved in the community support during Melbourne’s public housing hard lockdown and the COVID-19 recovery. We observed the vital role the networks built by individuals and organisations who had to cope with the impacts of COVID-19 and potentially other disasters and emergencies. This study focused on vulnerable communities such as refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa residing in these housing estates (4), and we identified the following issues: Local leadership for community engagement; engaging the residents was one of the successful initiatives; however, it should encompass the understanding of local governance and leadership structures in the community. Cultural diversity vs cohesion; diversity in community backgrounds enriches society; however, it might also cause division where rivalry and competition among groups might emerge. COVID-19 and the shared difficulties promoted initiatives of mutual support.

Neeraj Dangol then University of Melbourne, Australia References/Further reading 1. Jones EC, Faas AJ. Chapter 1 - An Introduction to Social Network Analysis in Disaster Contexts. In: Jones EC, Faas AJ, editors. Social Network Analysis of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Adaptation: ButterworthHeinemann; 2017. p. 3-9. 2. Akama Y, Chaplin S. Understanding social networks for bushfire preparation. Firenote, February. 2013(104). 3. Twigg J, Mosel I. Emergent groups and spontaneous volunteers in urban disaster response. Environment and Urbanisation. 2017;29(2):443-58. 4. Carrasco S, Dangol N, Faleh M. A Home for the Diaspora: From the Horn of Africa to Melbourne’s Public Housing. Melbourne: The University of Melbourne; 2021. Available from: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj2917335335/view.

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VICSES INTERIM FEMALE FIT PERSONAL PROTECTIVE CLOTHING (PPC) REDESIGN PROJECT FEMALE FIT PPC IS ON THE WAY FOR VICSES MEMBERS.

n December 2019, the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) commenced the Personal Protective Clothing & Equipment (PPC&E) redesign project. A key outcome of this project is to modernise and improve the uniform design of personal protective clothing for our volunteers and ensure that the clothing is fit for task. The Personal Protective Clothing redesign project gained momentum despite the COVID-19 restrictions. During the project workshops and feedback collation, it became evident that prioritisation need to be given to a female fit PPC offering, well before the planned timeline of the release of updated personal protective clothing for VICSES, slated for 2023. VICSES wants all members to feel supported, safe and enabled to represent

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our organisation. This change is significant and will enable female VICSES members to feel comfortable in clothing that is designed with their shape in mind. Across our volunteer workforce, VICSES are proud to have 1,700 female volunteers, which represents 33 per cent of the total membership. The VICSES executive agreed that this part of the project needed to be fast-tracked, with the implementation of an interim range of female fit personal protective clothing, available for all active* female volunteers (and those more comfortable in the female fit) in early 2022. VICSES has partnered with the Workwear Group (WWG), as the preferred supplier due to their superior product offerings for the female fit designs and other factors, including the ability to meet production capacity and timeframes.

WWG have demonstrated extensive experience in developing female uniforms across several emergency services agencies (such as Australian Defence Force, Fire Rescue NSW and Queensland Ambulance). They have also undertaken considerable development work on female fitting garments to ensure that the uniforms worn enable performance on the job through fit and function. We look forward to bringing this new clothing to the service, which will begin to roll out in March-April 2022 to all eligible members. By Chloe Jeffers Senior Advisor, Corporate Communications and Brand, VICSES

December 2021

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TO ALL EMERGENCY VOLUNTEERS:

AND

Merry Christmas Senator

Raff Ciccone Federal Labor Senator for Victoria SenatorCiccone.com.au | Senator.Ciccone@aph.gov.au 03 9894 2098 | 1A Blackburn Road, Blackburn VIC 3130 Authorised by Senator R Ciccone, 1A Blackburn Road, Blackburn VIC 3130

A: Suite 1A, 12 Hall Street, Moonee Ponds VIC 3039 P: PO Box 214, Moonee Ponds VIC 3039 T: 9326 1300 E: bill.shorten.mp@aph.gov.au BillShorten @billshortenmp @billshortenmp Authorised by Bill Shorten, Australian Labor Party, Suite 1A, 12 Hall Street Moonee Ponds, VIC, 3039.

“Thank you to the amazing SES Volunteers who give tirelessly to the community.”

Mark Gepp State Member for Northern Victoria

1300 122 905 mark.gepp@parliament.vic.gov.au PO Box 1050, Woodend 3442

Senator

KIMBERLEY KITCHING Senator for Victoria

Thank you to all SES volunteers for your tireless contribution and dedication to the Victorian community. We couldn’t be more proud and grateful. Tenancy 3, 6 English Street, Essendon Fields VIC 3041 P: 03 9374 1640 E: senator.kitching@aph.gov.au www.kimberleykitching.com.au

Authorised by Senator K Kitching, ALP, Tenancy 3, 6 English Street, Essendon Fields VIC 3041

Jaclyn Symes State Member for Northern Victoria

5783 2000 Jaclyn.Symes@parliament.vic.gov.au 49a High Street, Wallan, VIC 3756

www.redcross.org.au 1800 733 276

www.beyondblue.org.au

1300 22 4636

An excerpt from Vanessa Cavanagh’s story. For the full story, see the booklet and poster.

STORIES OF CULTURAL BURNING IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA NEW RESEARCH-BACKED STORYTELLING RESOURCES ARE HELPING FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES BETTER UNDERSTAND CULTURAL BURNING.

he Cultural burning in southern Australia illustrated booklet and poster series – accessible at www.bnhcrc. com.au/resources/cultural-burningsouthern-australia – amplify Indigenous people’s perspectives on cultural burning by sharing six personal stories of what burning means. The stories showcase the diversity of this cultural practice and the common elements shared across Australia and are accompanied with stunning illustrations. Four of the contributions centre on burning one’s own Country across southern Australia, while two stories reflect on experiences in academic and government roles that aim to learn from and support Traditional Owners and cultural burning. The stories are shared from members of the Noongar, Gunditjmara, Palawa, Ngunnawal, Bundjalung/Woonarua and Keytej peoples. Dean Freeman (ACT Parks and Conservation Service) and Bhiamie Williamson (Australian National University) provided cultural oversight in bringing the collection together, as led by Dr Jessica Weir (Western Sydney University) with support from Dr Yasmin Tambiah (WSU), through the CRC’s Hazards, culture and Indigenous communities project. The Aboriginal artwork featured is by Wiradjuri artist Lani Balzan, vicsesva.org.au

and the story illustrations are by Nicole Burton from Petroglyph Studios. Dr Adam Leavesley, project end-user from the ACT Parks and Conservation Service, explained that it is critical for fire and land management agencies to continue learning more about cultural burning. “As fire and land management agencies in southern Australia, we need to continue to build relationships with Traditional Owners. These resources will help a broader range of land managers with a starting point for learning and engagement on cultural burning,” Dr Leavesley said. “This was the genesis for these resources to be produced, as we knew that agency practitioners wanted and needed more guidance and knowledge about cultural burning to partner and engage with Indigenous groups, but there is a lack of resources to assist with this.” Dean Freeman, end-user and Wiradjuri man explained the pride Indigenous people feel about cultural burning, “If I couldn’t be connected with my past, I don’t think I’d be here today,” Mr Freeman said. “The feeling to burn with your family, that’s the ultimate. That’s how we heal.” Also included in the booklet are 10 cultural burning principles, co-authored

by the Indigenous authors involved in the project. Dr Weir explained that the purpose of these cultural burning principles was to provide guidance to a broad audience unfamiliar with cultural burning. “These principles help articulate some of the core matters at hand, which Aboriginal leaders have been raising for generations. These voices can be hard to hear when they are the minority in the room, and so different from the dominant culture of governments and universities. “We hope the Cultural burning in southern Australia booklet and posters will help address this by providing the opportunity to see a different viewpoint, to stand in someone else’s shoes. This is critical in developing more respectful relationships between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people. We are all living together on Country.” Find the Cultural burning in southern Australia illustrated booklet and posters at www.bnhcrc.com.au/resources/culturalburning-southern-australia. Submitted by: Bethany Patch Natural Hazards Research Australia December 2021

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STUART GRIMLEY MP

ing d n a m e D ustice! J

- Establish a Public Child Sex Offender Register - Bail, Parole & Sentencing Reform - Family Violence Prevention - Protecting Victims Over Perpetrators - Mental Health Support - Animal Justice -

Contact: E: stuart.grimley@parliament.vic.gov.au W: stuartgrimley.com P: (03) 5218 5001 Funded by Parliamentary Budget

Authorised by J McColl, Australian Greens, Canberra ACT 2600

Member for Western Victoria State Leader of Derryn Hinch's Justice Party

Tha nk you to the volunteers and staff working to protect us

— Adam, Janet & Lidia MP FOR MELBOURNE • SENATORS FOR VIC

THA K YOU ADVERTISEMENT

A heartfelt thank you to all of our SES volunteers and staff for your dedication in keeping our community safe.

Suzanna Sheed MP INDEPENDENT MEMBER FOR SHEPPARTON DISTRICT www.suzannasheed.com.au P: 03 5831 6944 E: suzanna.sheed@parliament.vic.gov.au 5 Vaughan St, Shepparton VIC

Thanking all our SES Volunteers for their hard work, dedication and commitment to communities in Ripon.

Louise

STALEY mp LIBERAL MEMBER FOR RIPON LouiseStaley.com.au LouiseStaleyRipon Authorised by Louise Staley MP, 177 High St, Maryborough. Funded from Parliamentary Budget

Andrew Giles MP

“Thank you to all Craigieburn and Broadmeadows SES Volunteers for the invaluable service you provide to the Calwell community in times of crises. I wish you all a heartfelt, safe and prosperous Christmas.”

Federal Member for Scullin

standing up for scullin

A: Town Hall Broadmeadows Precinct, Level 2, Office 1, 14 Dimboola Road Broadmeadows VIC 3047 T: 03 9367 5216 E: maria.vamvakinou.mp@aph.gov.au

Shop 23-25 The Stables Shopping Centre 314-360 Childs Road, Mill Park (03) 9404 1911

MariaVamvakinou

andrew.giles.mp@aph.gov.au

Authorised by M. Vamvakinou, Australian Labor Party, Level 2, Office 1, 14 Dimboola Road, Broadmeadows VIC 3047

www.andrewgiles.com.au

PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE SES.

“

Thank you to all the volunteers for their tireless hard work and dedication to the community.

”

MARK DREYFUS MP

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR ISAACS

CONTACT

mark.dreyfus.mp@aph.gov.au

566 Main Street Mordialloc, VIC, 3195 (03) 9580 4651

Shadow Attorney-General | Shadow Minister for Constitutional Reform Authorised by Mark Dreyfus, 566 Main Street Mordialloc, 3195.

Untitled-2 1

25/09/2020 2:16:26 PM

As Labor MPs we know that locals rely on the help, goodwill and professionalism of VICSES staff.

Thank you for all that you do to keep us safe. Wishing you a happy new year and all the best in 2022.

Ged Kearney Member for Cooper

Josh Burns

Member for Macnamara Authorised by Ged Kearney MP Australian Labor Party, 159 High St Preston VIC.

Authorised by A. Giles, ALP, Shop 23 The Stables Shopping Centre, Childs Rd, Mill Park 3082.

“Thank you to all SES volunteers for your contribution to our community – including the local Whittlesea Unit.”

WA SES CANINE UNIT THE WA SES CANINE UNIT HAS BEEN PROVIDING A SPECIALIST CANINE SEARCH CAPABILITY FOR 15 YEARS. THE DOGS ARE TRAINED BY QUALIFIED SES VOLUNTEER CANINE TRAINER/ASSESSORS. THEY BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE HANDLERS AND LIVE WITH THEM. THE DOGS ARE DEPLOYED STATEWIDE FOR LAND SEARCH OPERATIONS IN BOTH REMOTE AND URBAN AREAS. The WA SES Canine unit has 2 new teams! Kelpie Bee successfully passed her initial grade area search assessment. Handler Ryan and now qualified search dog Bee are based in the Southwest region of Western Australia and can now provide their region with the immediate search dog response instead of having to wait for dogs to arrive from the Metro area. The team travelled over 700 km once a month for nearly 2 years to attend monthly training with the Metro unit. All other training was done on their own time, under the guidance of trainers in both Metro and Regional areas. They had to successfully find the hiding volunteer in not one but two 600m x 600m areas. To make it trickier, articles of clothing were also laid out for the team to find. English Staffy Cliff is no stranger to assessments. Cliff and handler Rachel passed their area search assessment earlier this year. The Team was on a roll and made great progress in the unit’s other discipline, scent specific tracking. They had to successfully complete two 12hour+ aged tracks with zero correction by assessors. The clouds rolled in and the heavens opened but Little Cliff tracked on and successfully completed both tracks. Cliff is now dual trained, meaning he is qualified in both off lead area search and scent specific tracking. Congratulations to both teams. Each has had their own challengers and have tackled them head (or should I say nose) on to achieve such great results. Both are a huge asset to the WA SES canine unit. They now join the other operational teams, assisting Western Australian Police with helping to locate lost and missing people. “Away find” young Bee and “track on” little Cliff. You can help support the WA SES canine unit by purchasing the units 2022 calendar. Purchases can be made online at sesdogswa.com.au. All money raised goes back into helping to train these very special canines. By Zipporah Maynard

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THANK YOU SES

SES VOLUNTEERS NEVER LOOK FOR THANKS, THEY JUST DO THE JOB. BUT WHEN WE DO TAKE A MOMENT TO REFLECT ON THE IMPACT OF OUR ACTIONS, WE OFTEN SEE HOW DEEPLY THEY AFFECT THE COMMUNITY AND INDIVIDUALS IN NEED OF HELP.

hat assistance is usually physical or material, but we could also be providing psychological support – with empathy and a listening ear. Sometimes just our presence means we can reassure a distressed resident, help to calm them down, give them hope that problems can be resolved. These are just natural human interactions, we don’t need special training to be kind. Here’s an example of a resident who called SES for help during the October storms. She was distressed, suffering anxiety and depression and her mother had died recently. The storm blew off part of her roof and she was alone, not knowing what to do.

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She was scared to let anyone in the house. She was in tears on the phone. The Unit Duty officer spent time explaining what could be done, who the crew were and how they would proceed, as well as listening to the caller’s story. The SES crew attended, made temporary repairs, and reassured her all would be OK. The Unit Duty Officer followed up with her that day and the next. They later received a message: “Thank you for your help the last couple of days. I really appreciated when you said that depression and anxiety doesn’t have to last forever and that we go through different stages of life. I believe I am slowly

coming out of it. I know my Mum wanted me to get better, so that is also helping me and pushing me along. I wish you and your colleagues all the very best. Things are slowly getting better, hopefully for all of us, as we come out of this pandemic. Wishing you all a brighter year next year. Take care and thanks for everything you do to help our community”. Other beautiful ‘thanks‘ were given to SES volunteers after recent storms by students at the Birmingham Primary School in Mt Evelyn. The students designed and made their own thank you cards with wonderful messages. vicsesva.org.au

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TAS SESVA OPERATION ORANGE FUN DAY 2021 SO, WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO TASMANIA SES VOLUNTEERS? HAVING A VOICE THAT CAN BE HEARD. OPERATION ORANGE AT THE HEART OF IT ALL, IS GIVING THOSE SES VOLUNTEERS A VOICE THAT CAN BE HEARD THANKS TO THE VOLUNTEER’S ASSOCIATION (TAS SESVA).

very day volunteers can voice their concerns, make suggestions and more importantly have someone to turn to. Every step of the way during 2021’s Operation Orange Fun Day, the Volunteers Association were raising concerns, asking questions that needed to be answered. A key discussion during Operation Orange Day was focused on the wellbeing of SES volunteers, and the Wellbeing support program, alongside the range of services offered with Critical Incident Stress Management. During this keynote speech, a newer approach is being taken in how volunteers handle and deal with their wellness alongside those they work with. The approach of the right support at the right time, allowing volunteers to get help when they need it the most. Two key areas for support for all SES volunteers were made abundantly clear, that being CISM and Wellbeing Support and the emphasis on volunteers not having to feel embarrassed by speaking up and getting that support on offer. The culture, or for a better way to explain things could be explained like this,

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previously most or some people took the approach of, “She’ll be right mate” or have the thought process of, “I can handle it on my own” and that logic or way of thinking has been detrimental and now there’s a different way mental health and health and wellbeing of the volunteers is changing, thus promoting a better environment for all volunteers, and ultimately Unit health, which in turn allows the SES overall to promote the right image. Overall, Operation Orange Fun Day was about the volunteer’s association getting together listening to what changes were happening soon, an amazing opportunity for the members to ask questions with the Director of Tasmania SES, changes that were planned with the TasGRN and how that would extend the capabilities of SES Tas with a reliable radio network. Everything about these keynote talks was aimed at the Tasmania SES Volunteers Association having the information in hand that could then be filtered down to the individual unit members. Many topics were covered, such as a newly formed uniform committee which in turn has four volunteers

sitting, two females and two males, thus having all genders represented to ensure the correct types of uniforms are being made, to allow such things as a General Duties uniform or something specifically made for RCR units. Besides the more formal, serious side of Operation Orange Fun Day there were many other lighter activities, a perfect photo opportunity arose with the SES mascot Paddy the Platypus, even the Director and Assistant Director jumping on the chance to have a photo taken. The Operation Orange fun day cake was a huge hit, a delicious orange coloured mud cake vanished rather quickly. Many members from SES units everywhere had the chance to chat and talk with members they don’t often get to see, which to Tasmanian SES Volunteers means a lot, since being part of the community, mateship is so vitally important to us. Amongst the get together over coffee and tea conversations, the live band “The Usual Suspects” were cranking out the hits which had people bopping along while they enjoyed the huge spread that was put on over lunch and let’s be honest you can’t go wrong with vicsesva.org.au

the classic BBQ. There was so much food on offer, caramelized onions, burgers and the classic snag. A standout event of the afternoon was put on by the lovely ladies from Track & Search Dogs Tasmania and this demonstration was outstanding with the two dogs getting out on the oval and putting their skills to the test. A formal/informal Q&A session was held late afternoon which had questions that had been sent in via email and questions from the floor. The panel included the Director and Assistant Director and senior members of the SES Volunteers Association. This Q&A session got to the heart of some concerns voiced by unit members, asking about replacement vehicles, RCR equipment, uniforms and what’s being done about recruitment and getting a better branded social media presence that would allow the Orange Army to be seen better in the public eye. And thus, we came to a close of the Annual Operation Orange Day 2021, with sights set on a better and more brighter Operation Orange for 2022. By Lesley Collins vicsesva.org.au

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VicSESVA

A QUICK GUIDE Victoria State Emergency Service Volunteers Association WHAT IS VicSESVA? VicSESVA works to represent and advocate for VICSES volunteers, actively supporting members and engaging cooperatively with VICSES management, EM sector agencies and governing bodies, and State Government. • VicSESVA is a non-profit organisation which exists to further the interests of VICSES volunteer members. • VicSESVA uses its dedicated focus on volunteers to select and drive the resolution of issues that impact on skills, safety and how VICSES volunteers undertake their duties. It is important to note that VicSESVA is an Association not a Union. VicSESVA does not engage in adversarial campaigns but it does seek to further the interests of VICSES volunteers, and the public they serve, by promoting appropriate standards in training, equipment and ethics in VICSES.

WHO IS VicSESVA? VicSESVA is wholly staffed by VICSES volunteers who provide their time and expertise gratis and is funded by a small fee from VICSES Units, used to subsidise costs such as publishing, website, minimal office admin support and VA delegates travel. VicSESVA is comprised of all VICSES Units (two delegates may represent each Unit), Regional Councils and a State Board.

VicSESVA’s MISSION To be pro-active in the pursuit of excellence in service delivery for VicSESVA members and to maintain an effective communication and interaction with all emergency and support agencies.

VicSESVA’s VISION To ensure that the highest level of skills training is available to the volunteers of VICSES. To ensure that the resources available to volunteers are applicable to the respective operational requirements.

VicSESVA’s STRUCTURE VicSESVA is broken up into 7 Regions: South West, Central West, Central East, North West, North East, Mid-West and East. Each Region has a Regional Council which seeks input from local Units, meets and discusses the issues identified and selects issues for escalation to the VicSESVA State Board. Unit Delegates Each member Unit of VicSESVA may elect two delegates who convey the thoughts and feelings of their Unit and its members to the Regional Council or State Board.

Regional Councils The elected delegates of the Units from within the region form their Regional Council. The Regional Councils raise issues relevant to VICSES volunteers to be presented to the VicSESVA State Board for the formulation of policy on the issues they perceive need to be addressed, and to further advocate an outcome with the VICSES CEO or VICSES Board for action. Regional Council Positions Each Council may elect members to undertake the following roles: • President • Secretary

• Director • Alternate Director

VicSESVA Board The VicSESVA State Board is comprised of Regional Council Directors. Matters raised at Regional Councils are brought to the State Board so that the Board can recognise and monitor any wide ranging issues as they develop. If appropriate, the board will present them to the respective VICSES Management stream for resolution. VicSESVA Board Positions • Chairperson • Board Member • Vice Chairperson • Board Member • Secretary • Board Member • Treasurer

PHOENIX MAGAZINE VicSESVA publishes the Phoenix Journal for VICSES volunteers. Phoenix is published four times a year and features articles and photos of interest, submitted by volunteers and staff. To register to receive your electronic copy of Phoenix, go to https://vicsesva.org.au/how-to-subscribe/

WANT TO GET INVOLVED? As a VICSES volunteer, you are welcome to participate in a VicSESVA Regional Council. Depending on the region, meetings may be held once a quarter at local Unit LHQs. The discussion is very informative and presents a great opportunity to network and share best practices across Units. VicSESVA Board meetings are also open to individual members to attend.

HISTORY For more information about the history of VicSESVA, go to https://vicsesva.org.au/our-history/

NSESVA VicSESVA is a founding member of the National SES Volunteers Association (NSESVA). For information on NSESVA and the National Raffle Campaign, go to: https://vicsesva.org.au/faq/ https://www.nsesva.org.au/

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vicsesva.org.au

TO VicSESVA VicSESVA Activities, Advocacy and Industry Influence SUCCESSFUL ADVOCACY VicSESVA has successfully represented volunteers in: • Negotiating to meet regularly with the Minister for Emergency Services • Advocating for Unit VESEP bids • Advocating to EMV to retain the right of volunteers to go to VCAT in matters of dispute (VICSES Regulations Review) • Meeting quarterly with the VICSES Executive and raising matters of concern to volunteers which have been brought to Board meetings • Meeting quarterly with the VICSES Operations staff • Supporting and promoting the annual EMV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey • Providing grants of funds for individual volunteer welfare or hardship cases • Supporting members undertaking the VFBV leadership courses • Providing information and advice to individual members and Units • Providing a support person to individual members in matters of dispute • Collaboration with the National SES Volunteers in advocacy for matters such as transferability of skills, harmonisation of training, national recognition, awards • Implementation of the NSESVA National Raffle Scheme to establish future funding

8. VICSES internal Fleet, RCR, State WH&S, Awards, Uniform working groups 9. VICSES Community Resilience Strategy, volunteer representation 10. AFAC Volunteer Management Technical Working Group 11. AFAC/SES member Project Working Group, ‘SES Fit for Task’ 12. AFAC doctrine development ‘Volunteer Impact Assessment Guideline’ (VMTG) 13. AFAC doctrine development, ‘Volunteer inclusion Model’ (VMTG Diversity Working Group) 14. Member, AIDR Dranszen Forum 15. Member Steering Committee and Working Group, Communities Responding to Disasters: Planning for Spontaneous Volunteers Handbook (Australian Emergency Management Manual Series 2018) 16. BNHCRC member Advisory Group ‘Adapting the Sector’ 17. NSESVA Youth Strategy 18. Volunteer Group Steering Committee, Victorian Government ‘Provisional Payments Pilot (Mental Health Injury)’

EXPERTS AND ADVICE On request VicSESVA has provided experts as guest speakers, advisors or community representatives. VicSESVA Chair, David Rowlands, is a Life Member of VICSES. VicSESVA Secretary, Dr Faye Bendrups, has been recognised for her work in the EM sector by being named one of the AFR’s ‘100 Women of Influence’ in 2019. This has provided opportunities to promote the work of SES volunteers in major local and national forums, including:

• Raising the profile and interests of VICSES volunteers at local, state and national forums, including conferences, other EM agencies, interstate agencies, working groups, task forces, expert advisory panels etc.

• 2018 Informed Observer, Diversity in Disaster Conference

SECTOR COLLABORATION

• 2019 Chair, Akolade 2nd Emergency Management Leaders’ Forum

VicSESVA has extensive membership of industry forums, regular collaboration with VICSES and influence through its membership of NSESVA, including:

• 2019 Guest panellist, Public Safety and Hysteria: Leading by example in the first 24 hours of a terrorist event, Akolade 2nd Emergency Management Leaders’ Forum

1. EMV Volunteer Consultative Forum, founding member

• 2019 Facilitator, EM conference panel Wellbeing: a Range of Perspectives from People on the Ground

2. EMV Expert Reference Group, The 3Vs: Volunteer Volunteering Volunteerism – Uncovering the hidden value 3. EMV Expert Working Group, collaboration in developing Strategic Priorities for Volunteering in Emergency Management 4. Emergency Services Foundation (ESF) Chair, Alumni Network 5. Member of Organising Committee, annual ESF Emergency Management Conference 6. Facilitator, ESF Alumni Strategic Directions planning and ‘Valuing Volunteers’ project

• 2019 Expert Judge, Ch7 News Young Achiever Awards (CFA Volunteer Excellence category) • 2019 Executive Judge, Victorian Regional Achievement and Community Awards • 2019 Women in the SES: Reshaping Dynamics, AFAC19 ‘A Shift to the New Norm: Riding the Wave of Change’ international conference presentation, see www.afac.com. au/events/proceedings/29-08-19/article/109.-women-inthe-sesreshaping-dynamics

7. VESEP panel member (VICSES and EMV)

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Remember this? It’s burned into our memories.

Worse is on its way as climate change fuels catastrophic megafires worldwide. Firefighters are doing our best but we need world leaders (including our own) to stand with us. Act on expert advice. Make stronger emission cuts this decade. Phase out coal, oil and gas as if your lives depend on it. Ours do. Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (34 former Australian emergency chiefs)

Image credit: Matthew Abbott / @mattabbottphoto

In summer 2019-20, Australia was on fire. More than 460 people died. Three billion animals were killed or displaced, and thousands of homes destroyed.

emergencyleadersforclimateaction.org.au