Chair’s report

Chair

James Glissan AM ESM QC

From the Chair

Diversity and respect enhance our ability to attract the best.

Marine Rescue NSW is rightly recognised as a national leader in the volunteer marine rescue sector, with the benefit of outstanding operational capability, resources, training and above all, people.

Of all of these advantages, our people are our greatest strength. Much of our success is due to the shared commitment, teamwork and camaraderie in our ranks, among both volunteers and staff, each of whom brings a unique mix of abilities, experience and perspective.

Our people come from different cultural and community backgrounds and all walks of life. They have a range of life and career skills and interests. Diversity - be it in age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability or sexuality - produces great benefits for MRNSW and our shared commitment to being respectful, inclusive and welcoming makes us stronger. Enhancing our ability to attract the best people makes us more vibrant, representative of the communities we serve and ultimately, successful, both now and into the future.

We are remarkably fortunate that 25 per cent of our members are women, who are active at every level of the organisation. This is one of the highest proportion of female volunteer membership across the emergency services. We marked International Women’s Day on March 8 with pride in our female volunteers’ achievements.

We are increasingly attracting members across a broader age range. The life and operational experience of our older members - many of whom are devoting their retirement years to serving their communities after lengthy careers - is enhanced by the fresh viewpoints and drive of our younger cohort, who are still working, studying and some even at school. Strategically, this safeguards our future, ensuring we have an experienced team at the helm now with a clear succession path to these younger volunteers, on whom we will rely to take our service forward. This reality is recognised by our community, with MR Crowdy Harrington named the

local Volunteer Group of the Year on Australia Day and its 18-year-old radio operator Tyler Blake the Young Volunteer of the Year.

On March 6, the MRNSW team again took part in the Sydney Mardi Gras, sending a powerful - and colourful - message of our commitment to respect, diversity and support for our LGBTQI+ colleagues, family and friends.

This is not a hollow gesture but a lived experience in our ranks, with our first rainbow crew soon to take to the water at MR Port Jackson.

A number of our people also live with disability, as well as the abilities that add to our strength; again, reflecting the broader community. A new project to begin in coming weeks will help us to communicate more effectively with boaters and other water users who have hearing impairment to help them stay safer.

Regardless of these or any other differences each of us brings to MRNSW, the foundation of our success is our fundamental, shared commitment to working together to save lives on the water and each making the best contribution we can to that mission.

It is this teamwork and dedication to mission success that were essential to our efforts over another challenging summer. An influx of boaters holidaying along the coastline rather than overseas or interstate resulted in a heavy demand on our services. Our crews responded to several tragedies, searching for those missing over long days, but also to capsized boats, numerous people in the water, fires on vessels and boaters running out of fuel far offshore.

More and more, we are seeing our crews tasked not just on

weekends and peak holidays but seven days a week, maintaining a workload that is taxing for all units. There is a need to carefully avoid burn-out in our membership to ensure we do not push people to the point where they feel meeting the demand is too much to sustain. I encourage all our members to take time, wherever possible, to recharge so they can stay the course. Our community cannot afford to lose any of our highly skilled workforce.

Sadly, over summer we did lose a skilled and valued member while on watch. MR Jervis Bay Coxswain and Watch Officer John Gallimore became the first to die on active duty since MRNSW was established.

I extend the condolences of the entire organisation to John’s partner, family, friends and colleagues. Their loss is also ours.

Safe sailing

Jim Glissan

Diverse abilities ... Coxswain Mark Moretti, on board Botany Hacking 30, will appear in a documentary featuring people who use Cochlear implants.