ACEFA Conference Handbook 2014

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014 22-24 May 2014 – Novotel Northbeach Wollongong

Major Sponsor

IAB

Minor Sponsor

Principal Partner

Conference Supporters

Acknowledgements The NSW Rural Fire Service would like to thank our principal partner, sponsors, exhibitors and supporters.

Our conference would not be possible without you.

Principal Partner

Major Sponsor

IAB

Minor Sponsor

Conference Supporters

Exhibitors: Ausgrid NSW Rural Fire Service Assoication (RFSA) Internal Audit Bureau (IAB) Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) Britax Automotive Equipment BullEx Quick Corp Fire Engineering NSW Rural Fire Service: Corporate Communications NSW Rural Fire Service: Technical & Fleet Services NSW Rural Fire Service: Membership & Strategic Services NSW Rural Fire Service: Remote Area Firefighting Teams (RAFT) / Rapid Aerial Response Teams (RART)

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Speakers in Order of Appearance: Brian Nankervis

Master of Ceremonies

Jodie Healy

Wollongong City Council

Phil Paterson

NSW Rural Fire Service

Sharon Field

NSW Rural Fire Service NSW Metropolitan Water

Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons

NSW Rural Fire Service

Peter Randall

Sunara Fernando

NSW Rural Fire Service

Ruby Gamble

NSW Metropolitan Water

David Weir

Fire and Rescue NSW

Samantha Colwell

Fire and Rescue NSW

NSW Rural Fire Service

Neil Dufty

Molino Stewart Pty Ltd

Dr Vivienne Tippett Queensland University of Technology

Marty Webster

NSW Rural Fire Service

Andrew Richards

NSW State Emergency Service

Bill Duncan

NSW Rural Fire Service

Anthony Clark

NSW Rural Fire Service

Sue Talbert

NSW Rural Fire Service

David Curry

NSW Rural Fire Service

Peter Middleton

Tasmania Fire Service

Zofie Lahodny-Gecso NSW Rural Fire Service

Nigel Marsh

Earth Hour

Jamie Bertram

NSW Rural Fire Service

David Stimson

NSW Rural Fire Service

Helen Fenning

NSW Rural Fire Service

NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE CONFERENCE REFERENCE GROUP

Maureen Pietrucha

NSW Rural Fire Service

Thanks to:

Dr Melanie Taylor

University of Western Sydney

Anton Arathoon

The Hills

Luke Catorall

NSW Rural Fire Service

Tim Carroll

Lake George

Andrew Kaye

NSW Rural Fire Service

Bill Duncan

The Hills

Glenn O’Rourke

NSW Rural Fire Service

Rachael Eggins

Regional Office: North

Ben Millington

NSW Rural Fire Service

Mark Hawkins

Customer Service Centre: East

Michael Taylor

NSW Department of Education & Training

Graham Holland

Cudgegong

Terry Kitching

Mid Coast

Bronwyn Horsey

University of Wollongong

David Nicholson

South West Slopes

Kathleen Oakes

NSW Rural Fire Service

Corey Shackleton

OMSS / Community Resilience

Helen Riedl

NSW Rural Fire Service

Lesley Smith

Cumberland

Felicity Hopkinson

SA Country Fire Service

Melissa O’Halloran

NSW Rural Fire Service

Ken Wade-Ferrell

NSW Rural Fire Service

NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE CONFERENCE ORGANISING TEAM

Jennie Cramp

Ku-ring-gai Council

April Himmelreich

VIC Country Fire Authority

Thanks to:

Dr Christine Eriksen

University of Wollongong

Alan McCartney

NSW Rural Fire Service

Terry Kitching

NSW Rural Fire Service

Tony Jarrett Coordinator Community Engagement

Bert Bennett

NSW Rural Fire Service

Melissa Baker

John Dorrington

NSW Rural Fire Service

Amy Riebe

SA Country Fire Service

Terry Jackson Coordinator Program Development

Rolf Poole

Phil Koperberg State Emergency Management Committee Peter Kenyon

Bank of I.D.E.A.S.

Jodi Clark Warrandyte Community Association Greg Kennedy

VIC Country Fire Authority

Prof Jim McLennan

La Trobe University

Dr Lyndsey Wright Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre

Alexandra McFadden NSW State Emergency Service

Troy Gersback

Effie Chin

Coordinator Community Engagement (Project Manager)

Community Safety Officer

Administration Assistant

Anthony Clark Group Manager Corporate Communications Sunara Fernando Manager Community Engagement Phillippa Baume Manager Organisational Communications Sharon Quandt

Photographer

Adam Streichler

Photographer

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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Commissioner’s Welcome I am proud to welcome all members from the NSW Rural Fire Service and from across the emergency management sector to the 17th Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness (ACEFA) Conference. Our theme this year is ‘Mission Possible’ with a focus on sharing, adopting, adapting and applying good practice to build resilience to bush fires now and into the future.

Since the Victorian Black Saturday fires in 2009 there has been a national review of emergency management practices and engagement messages as we have sought to learn from these events. The National Strategy for Disaster Resilience emphasises that disaster resilience is a shared responsibility for all Australians.

The 2013/14 fire season was one of the most significant fire emergencies our state has experienced in decades. Community Engagement was an essential component of our strategy and we invested in strong links from preparation right through to impact and recovery. Having an informed and prepared community is vital to ensure no lives are lost, property loss is minimised and our communities are able to pull through these devastating events.

We need to build effective local community engagement and awareness both before fires, through prevention and mitigation, and in the reaction, response and recovery phases. We are taking a number of steps to increase our efficacy, such as actively engaging independent community research and redeveloping our website. The large and enthusiastic adoption of technological tools, such as the Fires Near Me and MyFirePlan apps, social media and MyRFS, continue to offer us advantages in the scale and speed at which information is shared.

We should not forget the value of face-to-face interactions with the community and at countless events state wide.

However, there is always more to do. With complacency and apathy in our communities continuing to be an ever present barrier, we must take advantage of the fire season we have had and the media coverage that followed to target our communities while we are still front of mind. A unified approach to communications and messages is vital. Our messages must be consistent, accessible and effective. I encourage you to use the One NSW RFS Tool Kit, a collection of easy-to-use branded templates and approved resources.

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I express my gratitude to our corporate partners, sponsors and exhibitors because without them conferences such as this are not possible. I would like to acknowledge our Principal Partner, Ausgrid, for their long-standing support. Ausgrid’s partnership with the NSW RFS is now into its seventh year as they continue to assist with not only the growth of the ACEFA Conference, but also a number of other key events and initiatives at all levels of the organisation.

The Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) also returns as a major sponsor in 2014. On behalf of our membership I thank you for your continued support and contribution to the ACEFA Conference.

Public sector expert, the Internal Audit Bureau, has come on board as a valued minor sponsor for the first time in 2014. We look forward to developing this sponsorship into a long term relationship with the Conference. We also appreciate the support of Bunnings Warehouse and the in-kind support provided by Bluestar Print.

I encourage you to support our sponsors and exhibitors by taking the time to visit them in the exhibition area.

The importance of community engagement in building disaster resilience cannot be underestimated. I invite you to make the most of this opportunity to strengthen your networks and knowledge and to foster the development of your ‘Mission Possible’ when you return to your community. Remember, education, public information and awareness are some of the most important tools in an emergency services arsenal.

Shane Fitzsimmons, AFSM NSW RFS Commissioner

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Principal Partner’s Message

2014 Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness Conference Welcome to the 2014 Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness Conference.

Ausgrid is once again proud to be supporting this important event.

Ausgrid operates one of the largest electricity networks in Australia, distributing electricity to over 1.6 million customers across the Sydney, Central Coast and Hunter regions. Ausgrid is committed to community safety and works to ensure the distribution of electricity to customers in a way that is safe, reliable and sustainable.

Ausgrid’s partnership with the NSW Rural Fire Service focuses on fire safety for brigade members and the community. Working together we can benefit from shared knowledge, experiences and resources. This ensures the vital role each organisation contributes to the community is fulfilled as efficiently and safely as possible.

I hope you enjoy the conference.

Trevor Armstrong Chief Operating Officer Ausgrid

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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Welcome Reception

18:30 - 20:30

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

12:00 - 13:00

11:30 - 12:00

11:00 - 11:30

10:30 - 11:00

Belmore Room

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David Weir Fire and Rescue NSW

Engaging External Stakeholders Around CALD Fire Safety in Wagga Wagga

David Curry Zofie Lahodny-Gecso Jamie Bertram NSW Rural Fire Service

Lunch and Exhibition

4 Framing Engagement Through

Cultural Awareness and Understanding

Collaborating with specific Groups to Effect Change

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Morning Tea Keira/Kembla Room

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Andrew Kaye NSW Rural Fire Service

Throsby Room

New Research Collaborations Focussing on Behaviours

Glenn O’Rourke NSW Rural Fire Service

Strategies for a FireWise Community: Applying Bushfire CRC Research

Dr Melanie Taylor University of Western Sydney

Having Pets Does Influence Decision Making

Andrew Richards NSW State Emergency Service

Dr Vivienne Tippett

Queensland University of Technology

David Stimson Helen Fenning Maureen Pietrucha NSW Rural Fire Service

FACT. Mobilising Volunteers Can be Done

Rolf Poole NSW Rural Fire Service

Large Scale Liaison for Large Scale Emergencies

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Grand Ballroom

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Hoskins/McCabe Room

Exhibition Area Level 4

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Luke Catorall NSW Rural Fire Service

Building Bush Fire Impact Analysis. What Can We Learn?

Anthony Clark NSW Rural Fire Service

The Challenges, Experiences and Outcomes

Michael Taylor NSW Department of Education & Training

Exhibition Area Level 4

Ben Millington NSW Rural Fire Service

13 Working with Education

Authorities to Make Schools Safer

Learning and Adapting from the October 2013 Fires

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Lobby Bar Level 3

Exhibition Area Level 4

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Hotel Foyer Level 3

Conference Program

Making Sense of Research

7 Fast-Running Interface Fires.

How Do We Get the Message Out?

Community Liaison During Crisis

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Sunara Fernando, Manager Community Engagement, NSW Rural Fire Service

Creating Change - Haiti to Home

10:05 - 10:30

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Overview of Session Themes

Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM , NSW Rural Fire Service

Our ‘Mission Possible’ Building Resilience to Bush Fires Now and into the Future

10:00 - 10:05

09:15 - 10:00

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Welcome to Country

08:50 - 08:55

Day One Welcome

08:45 - 08:50

08:55 - 09:15

Registration

7:45 - 08:45

Friday 23 May 2014

Registration

16:00 - 18:30

Thursday 22 May 2014

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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Melissa O’Halloran NSW Rural Fire Service

The Online Household Assessment Tool. What is Your Risk? Are You Prepared?

Dr Christine Eriksen University of Wollongong

Keira/Kembla Room

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Kathleen Oakes NSW Rural Fire Service

Including the Whole Isolated Community Before, During and After the Fire

Terry Kitching Bert Bennett John Dorrington NSW Rural Fire Service

Knocking on Hundreds of Doors in High Risk Areas

Peter Kenyon, Director, Bank of I.D.E.A.S.

End of Day One

Free Time

Conference Dinner

16:45 - 18:45

18:45 - 21:30

Brian Nankervis

Day One Recap

Keynote Address: Building Fire Smart Communities From the Inside Out

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Phil Koperberg AO AFSM BEM , Chairman, State Emergency Management Committee

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April Himmelreich VIC Country Fire Authority

Using Your ARTS to Get Messages Across

Felicity Hopkinson SA Country Fire Service

Using Li’L Larikkins Animations Effectively in the Classroom

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Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom

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Grand Ballroom

Exhibition Area Level 4

Amy Riebe SA Country Fire Service

25 Easy English. Making

Communications Easier to Understand.

Jennie Cramp Ku-ring-gai Council

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Helen Riedl NSW Rural Fire Service

Leading by Doing Our Own Bush Fire Survival Plans

Hoskins/McCabe Room

Different Strokes for Different Folks

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21 B uilding Climate Wise Communities

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Out of the Ashes: Response to Recovery

Alan McCartney NSW Rural Fire Service

When the Big One Comes.

The State Mine Fire

Ken Wade-Ferrell NSW Rural Fire Service

Throsby Room

Local Programs That Work

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18 G et Knocked Down, Get Back

Up Again. The Linksview Road Fire

Brigade Perspectives of Major Fires on Their Communities

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Afternoon Tea and Poster Exhibition

16 Making Sure Collective

Thought Occurs Around Planning

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Bronwyn Horsey University of Wollongong

What Preparation Really Means

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16:45

16:30 - 16:45

15:45 - 16:30

15:15 - 15:45

14:30 - 15:15

14:00 - 14:30

13:30 - 14:00

13:00 - 13:30

Belmore Room

All About Risk, Preparation and Planning

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Belmore Room

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Neil Dufty Molino Stewart Pty Ltd

Learning for Disaster Resilience

Jodie Healy Wollongong City Council

Building Resilience in Engagement Practitioners

Keynote Address

Marty Webster NSW Rural Fire Service Alexandra McFadden NSW State Emergency Service

M ulti-Agency Approach to Disaster Resilience

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32 B uilding Meaningful Relationships

Phil Paterson

Sharon Field

NSW Rural Fire Service

DELIVERING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE THROUGH COLLABORATION

End of Day Two and Conference Close

Lunch (Onsite or Takeaway Pack)

13:15 - 14:15

Brian Nankervis and Sunara Fernando

Day Two and Conference Recap

Nigel Marsh, Co-Founder, Earth Hour - Founder, Sydney Skinny

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Return to Grand Ballroom

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Resilience For You and YOUR Community

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Keira/Kembla Room

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Throsby Room

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Bill Duncan OAM Sue Talbert NSW Rural Fire Service

The ‘FireWise Women’ Program. A Few Years On

Peter Randall Ruby Gamble NSW Metropolitan Water

Water for Life

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Building Successful Community Wide Programs

Dr Lyndsey Wright, Research Manager, Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre

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Professor Jim McLennan, Adjunct Professor, La Trobe University

Morning Tea

January and October 2013 Research. What the Key Findings Mean for You

Greg Kennedy, Captain South Warrandyte Brigade, VIC Country Fire Authority

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Jodi Clark, Project Officer, Warrandyte Community Association

Be Ready Warrandyte. A Community Education Program

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Day Two Welcome

13:15

12:45 - 13:15

12:00 - 12:45

11:45 - 12:00

11:15 - 11:45

10:45 - 11:15

10:15 - 10:45

09:30 - 10:15

08:45 - 09:30

08:30 - 08:45

Saturday 24 May 2014

Hoskins/McCabe Room

Samantha Colwell Fire and Rescue NSW

Community Fire Units.

Community Engagement at the Grass Roots

Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom

Exhibition Area Level 4

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Peter Middleton Tasmania Fire Service

37 We All Play a Part:

Bush Fire Ready Neighbourhoods

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Building Neighbourhood Capacity and Capability

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Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom

Exhibition Area Level 4

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YOUR PLAN AT YOUR FINGERTIPS In a bush fire, minutes matter. You need to take action to protect yourself and your family.

If you live, work or holiday in bush fire prone areas, you need a Bush Fire Survival Plan. It will help you make important decisions about what to do during a fire.

Decisions which can’t be left until the last minute.

Making a Bush Fire Survival Plan is now even easier with the NSW Rural Fire Service’s MyFirePlan app.

It will give you tips on how to be better prepared for a fire, tell you the current fire danger rating where you are, and help you make decisions like when to leave, what to take and who to tell.

Download the MyFirePlan app and complete it today.

It’s free. It’s easy. It’s your plan at your fingertips.

Available on iOS and Android. Search for MyFirePlan.

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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Novotel Northbeach Level 4 Conference Floor Plan

Grand Ballroom

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Throsby

McCabe/Hoskins

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Pacific Speaker Prep Room

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Poster Exhibition

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Bar

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Lift

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Keira/Kembla

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The Deck Boardroom 1 Secretariat

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Floor Plan Key

Lobby Bar

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Exhibition Area

Grand Ballroom

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Toilets

Throsby

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Coffee Station

McCabe/Hoskins

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Conference Registration and Information Booth

Belmore

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Charging Station

Kembla/Keira

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Meeting Hub

Pacific (Speaker Prep Room)

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Exhibitors

NSW Rural Fire Service: Technical & Fleet Services

1/2

Britax Automotive Equipment

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BullEx

3/4

Quick Corp Fire Engineering

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NSW Rural Fire Service: RART/RAFT

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Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC)

Ausgrid

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NSW Rural Fire Service: Membership & Strategic Services

Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) NSW Rural Fire Service: Corporate Communications

7/8

Internal Audit Bureau

13/14

15

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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Master of Ceremonies (MC) Brian Nankervis Brian is a performer, writer and producer. He was a primary school teacher who fled the classroom to become a waiter at Melbourne’s legendary theatre restaurant, The Last Laugh. He was a writer/performer on the Network Ten hospital soap opera ‘Let The Blood Run Free’ and made regular appearances on ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ as the tortured street poet Raymond J Bartholomeuz.

Other theatre credits include writing and performing in ‘Storming St Kilda By Tram’, ‘On Shifting Sandshoes’, ‘Full House, No Vacancies’ for Theatreworks and ‘It’s A Dad Thing’ at the Athenaeum Theatre. Brian has written, performed and produced solo shows, ‘From The Cradle To The Grave’ and ‘Open Road’ for the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Brian co-produced and co-wrote ‘Boys and Balls’ for ABC TV and was the producer of ‘Class Clowns’, an annual Comedy Festival project.

For the last 11 years, Brian has been writing, producing and co-hosting the AFI Award winning SBS music trivia series, ‘RocKwiz’. The team are currently recording series 12 of the show.

Keynote Speakers 38 Nigel Marsh (Co-Founder, Earth Hour – Founder, Skinny Sydney) Nigel Marsh is best known for his creative pursuits. As well as the author of three books - ‘Fat, Forty and Fired’, ‘Overworked and Underlaid’ and ‘Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up’ - he is also the co-founder of Earth Hour (recognised as one of the most successful brand launches anywhere in the world recently), the founder of the Sydney Skinny (both a world first and a world record) and he is the only ad man included in High50s recent list of the world’s top 50 most influential over 50 year olds. His first book is currently being developed into a major TV series in America.

The other side to Nigel is his 25 year career in branding and marketing. Over that time Nigel has worked with a huge variety of organisations. From the highest profile (McDonalds, Canon, Pepsi, P&G, Virgin, Mars, Fiat, Colgate), to national governments to local enterprises. Whether dealing with big business issues or social engineering (AIDS, Drink Driving, Smoking, Climate Change) Nigel has produced and managed campaigns to address almost every challenge imaginable.

His TED speech on work/life balance remains the most viewed ever given outside America with well over two million hits.

As well as his role as a speaker and author, Nigel personally consults to a select group of leading CEOs, is Special Advisor to the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and is Chairman of The Leading Edge.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

27 Peter Kenyon (Director, Bank of I.D.E.A.S.) Peter Kenyon is a passionate social capitalist and a community enthusiast who believes passionately that meaningful and lasting community change always originates from within, and local residents in that community are the best experts on how to activate that change. He is convinced that one cannot simply develop communities from the ‘top down or from the outside in’. It requires community members to engage and build from the ‘inside out’, investing their creativity, passions, ideas, assets and capacities in the process. During his presentation, Peter will share stories, ideas and methodologies that are relevant to creating fire aware and smart communities, and creating the genuine engagement of their local residents.

Peter Kenyon is the Director of the Bank Of I.D.E.A.S. During the last 30 years, he has worked with over 1,600 communities throughout Australia and overseas seeking to facilitate fresh and creative ways that stimulate community and economic renewal. Peter is motivated by the desire to create healthy, inclusive, connected, caring, sustainable and enterprising communities and local economies. Peter has had a background as a youth worker, teacher, youth education officer, tertiary lecturer and senior public servant. His employment experiences have also included Director of Employment in Western Australia, Manager of the Community Employment Development Unit in New Zealand and Coordinator of the Natal Kwazulu Job Creation and Enterprise Strategy in South Africa. His international consulting work has involved assignments in 59 countries.

Supporting our Members to Protect the Community

Visit Stand 7/8 during the Conference and receive a FREE T-SHIRT when you either:

> Join the RFSA; or > Update Your Membership Details

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES Plenaries

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Our ‘Mission Possible’ Building Resilience to Bush Fires Now and into the Future Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM Commissioner NSW Rural Fire Service Having an informed and prepared community is vital to building disaster resilience. The NSW Rural Fire Service and other emergency services have invested in strong links with our communities, connections that ensure that vital messages about bush fire prevention and management get through to those at risk. With complacency and apathy in our communities continuing to be an ever present barrier, we must take advantage of the fire season we have had and the media coverage that followed to target our communities while we are still front of mind.

The ‘Mission Possible’ is to build disaster resilience in our communities. This can be achieved with a focus on sharing, adopting, adapting and applying good practice. Community engagement is central to ensuring no lives are lost, property loss is minimised and our communities are able to pull through devastating events.

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Creating Change – Haiti to Home Sunara Fernando Manager Community Engagement NSW Rural Fire Service Sunara Fernando led emergency operations following major events including the 2008 Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the 2010 Haiti earthquake for agencies including UNICEF, Oxfam and the International Organisation for Migration. She is one of the personnel sent by the United Nations, government and non-government organisations to set up emergency operations and foster disaster risk reduction programs.

Her approach to Community Engagement is driven by a combination of personal and professional experience, theoretical frameworks and reflections on what did and did not work. They are shaped by the everyday, as well as the extreme human experience, the comical and the technical. She will share the lessons for community engagement workers that can be learned from the emergency response and community development work of international agencies.

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Out of the Ashes: Response to Recovery Phil Koperberg AO, AFSM, BEM Chairman State Emergency Management Committee Phil has been involved at various Governmental levels with emergency management for more than 30 years and continues in that field as the current chair of the State Emergency Management Committee and the NSW representative on the National Emergency Committee. He is also a member of the High Level Governance Group for the new $100M Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre.

Recently, Phil was appointed Recovery Coordinator of the recovery effort following the devastating October fires in the Blue Mountains which saw over 200 homes destroyed or damaged in the space of two hours. Phil and the local community were and still are faced with a number of challenges. From the logistical issues surrounding clearing and rebuilding of properties, to the extensive media coverage, local politics, and the emotional and personal issues faced by the community, Phil was at the centre of it all.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

session SUMMARIES Plenaries

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Be Ready Warrandyte. A Community Education Program Jodi Clark Greg Kennedy Project Manager South Warrandyte Brigade Captain Warrandyte Community Association VIC Country Fire Authority The Warrandyte community was minutes from being engulfed during the Black Saturday fires when a wind change diverted the fire from the heart of populated areas. Prompted by an overwhelming response at subsequent public meetings, the Warrandyte Community Association sought grant funding to research impediments to bush fire plan preparation, and then set about developing new and creative tools, seminars, workshops and communication materials to encourage and support residents to prepare their plan.

The grant process and subsequent project formed the basis of a strong collaboration between local government, emergency agencies, residents and a dedicated and eminent community group, forging strong and cooperative working arrangements. This partnership continues better and stronger to this day with planned objectives to further enhance community resilience during the next 12 months.

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January and October 2013 Fires Research: What the Key Findings Mean for You Professor Jim McLennan Adjunct Professor La Trobe University Dr Lyndsey Wright Research Manager Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre 2013 was one of the worst years for destructive bush fires in NSW. This is at a time when fire alerts have become an integral communication tool, social media reporting has exploded, and smart-phone apps have extensive take-up. The NSW Rural Fire Service places high importance on research to better understand resident understandings and actions around warnings and communications.

The Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) was engaged to coordinate a program of interviews with residents in the three worst affected fire areas, focusing on warnings and communications, understanding of fire danger ratings, property preparation, the experiences of people directly threatened including how residents found information, and what might have helped residents better manage their risk.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES

Collaborating with specific Groups to Effect Change

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Engaging External Stakeholders Around CALD Fire Safety in Wagga Wagga David Weir Community Safety Coordinator Culturally Diverse and Aboriginal Services Fire and Rescue NSW New arrivals in Australia face many challenges. Analysis of home kitchen or cooking areas fires have identified that in some locations new arrivals are more likely to be affected by such incidents.

The focus is on the needs of new and emerging Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities settling in regional NSW (Wagga Wagga). There is a need to ensure that Home Fire Safety is an integral part of the Settlement Program. In partnership with local CALD service provides, Fire and Rescue NSW delivers its key fire safety messages to these new arrivals to build capacity and resilience.

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Framing Engagement Through Cultural Awareness and Understanding David Curry Senior Project Officer BRAC NSW Rural Fire Service Jamie Bertram Mid North Coast Community Safety Officer NSW Rural Fire Service

Zofie Lahod ney-Gecso Fire Mitigation Officer Far North Coast NSW Rural Fire Service

Many isolated and remote Aboriginal communities are in high bush fire risk areas. The management of hazards within these areas can be influenced by cultural and social issues. Organisations such as the NSW Rural Fire Service can be challenged to identify and connect with community members to effect change in attitudes and behaviours.

A number of innovative programs are being employed by NSW Rural Fire Service to empower community members to understand and manage risk through development of trust relationships, identification of people of influence, and respect for cultural identity and practice.

These include the Bush Fire Resilience for Aboriginal Communities (BRAC) Program being applied in communities across the State, and programs in the North Coast to have Aboriginal communities participate in bush regeneration and culturally relevant burning, as well as around introducing cultural awareness programs.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

session SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY LIAISON DURING CRISIS

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Large Scale Liaison for Large Scale Emergencies Rolf Poole Coordinator Operational Services Gosford NSW Rural Fire Service Communicating and liaising with affected communities during emergencies can be challenging enough. Consider the situation of multiple, large scale fires, simultaneously impacting on a mix of rural communities, dense interface villages and towns with varying demographics.

Supportive Public Liaison functions were established as part of a ‘Super IMT’ to integrate with Community Liaison functions being managed at the District level during the October 2013 fires. It is important to recognise the effectiveness of local Community Field Liaison during the impact period of emergency situations, whilst also dealing with national and international broadcast interests. There is one key element that must be utilised to ensure effective cut through with messaging.

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FACT. Mobilising Volunteers Can Be Done David Stimson Helen Fenning Community Safety Officer Southern Highlands FACT Group Team Leader NSW Rural Fire Service NSW Rural Fire Service Maureen Pietrucha FACT Group Team Leader NSW Rural Fire Service Being able to deploy trained and available volunteers to provide support and advice to communities under bush fire threat is an important capability. Many Districts have found the task of recruiting, training and resourcing volunteers capable of being able to be deployed to active fire grounds in Community Field Liaison roles challenging.

The Fire Awareness and Community Engagement Team (FACT) is now being deployed to support the Community Liaison function at major incidents and large scale hazard reductions. Many lessons were learnt during the Hall Road fire and now there is a renewed interest in this very important resource.

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Fast-Running Interface Fires. How Do We Get the Message Out? Andrew Kaye A/Community Safety Coordinator Blue Mountains NSW Rural Fire Service Emerging warnings and communications technologies, such as social media and smart phone applications, are an effective means of delivering timely and accurate information to people being affected by a bush fire.

Fast running interface fires have the potential to endanger lives and property very quickly.

Operational resources for rescue, resident relocations and property protection are likely to be stretched.

The experience of the Linksview Road and Mt York Road fires have forced reflection on the deployment of Community Field Liaison Officers into these dynamic and hazardous environments.

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES MAKING SENSE OF RESEARCH

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New Research Collaborations Focusing on Behaviour Dr Vivienne Tippett Andrew Richards Director of Research Manager Community Engagement Queensland University of Technology NSW State Emergency Service The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) is undertaking research that supports the development of cohesive, evidence-based policies, strategies, programs and tools to build a more disaster resilient Australia. The Communications and Warnings Cluster research will focus on managing animals, hazard communications, connecting communities, and children and young people.

The utilisation of the research by end users to the benefit of the broader Australian community is critical to whole process. With the new CRC in its formative stage, the input of community engagement practitioners in framing research questions is timely and important.

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Having Pets Does Influence Decision Making Dr Melanie Taylor Senior Research Fellow University of Western Sydney The influences on individual and family decision making in crisis events are many. Evidence from man-made and natural disasters in Australia and internationally point to pets as being a factor in the decision making of many people.

Part of the new Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) work will look at decision making in the bush fire context in detail. It is important for engagement practitioners to realise and accept that pets are a critical element of decision making for many.

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Strategies for a FireWise Community: Applying Bushfire CRC Research Glenn O’Rourke Wollombi Brigade Community Safety Officer NSW Rural Fire Service The key insights of the research conducted by the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) following the major fires of 2013 can be translated into practical bush fire survival focused engagement strategies.

Wollombi Brigade’s research findings reveal the proven effectiveness of applying these strategies to build communities that are better prepared for the impact of bush fires, and are empowered to make informed and timely decisions.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Myrfs MyRFS gives you 24/7 access to a range of NSW RFS tools and information including: Brigade callout information

Incident and lightning maps

Brigade and district documents

Members forums

News from your brigade, district and around the state

Local permit and hazard reductions Brigade management tools

Frequently used forms Current fire information

For more information visit www.myrfs.nsw.gov.au AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES

LEARNING AND ADAPTING FROM THE OCTOBER 2013 FIRES

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The Challenges, Experiences and Outcomes Anthony Clark Group Manager Corporate Communications NSW Rural Fire Service 2013 saw some of the most challenging fire conditions NSW has experienced in more than a decade, proving one of the first major tests of the new, nationally consistent warning arrangements which were introduced in 2009. January 2013 saw widespread Catastrophic Fire Danger Ratings and a number of large and destructive fires. Then, in October 2013, more than 200 homes were destroyed in a series of fires across the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Port Stephens and Central Coast.

Throughout these fire events, the NSW Rural Fire Service delivered as many as a million telephone warnings a day, as well as engaging with millions of people through social media.

The presentation will include experiences, highlights and unexpected issues arising from this time of emergency and disaster.

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Building Bush Fire Impact Analysis. What Can We Learn?

Luke Catorall Senior Project Officer Neighbourhood Safer Places NSW Rural Fire Service The rapid and accurate assessment of the loss and damage incurred by bush fire is a primary function of Building Bush Fire Impact Analysis (BIA). The January and October 2013 bush fires provided a prime opportunity to collect valuable information and gain insights into mechanisms that contribute to house loss and the behaviour of people during a bush fire emergency.

The findings of this research help inform our community engagement strategies including the associated tools and messages that are portrayed to the public. Key findings can determine how we review and enhance our approaches to generating community resilience.

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Working with Education Authorities to Make Schools Safer Ben Millington Michael Taylor Manager Emergency Management Coordination A/Director Work Health & Safety NSW Dept of Education & Training NSW Rural Fire Service Education authorities and individual schools have an integral role to play in taking the necessary steps to prepare school properties, staff, parents and students for the threat of bush fire in their local area, particularly around the potential for direct impact on the school or roads leading to or from the area.

A significant number of schools were affected during the October 2013 bush fire emergency. A number of schools in the Blue Mountains were impacted by fire forcing both staff and students to shelter in place or evacuate to safer locations. On October 23, ahead of worsening conditions, all schools within the Blue Mountains Local Government Area were closed.

Following these fires, debriefs have been conducted with affected school principals, with key learnings applicable to the NSW Rural Fire Service, education authorities and the wider school community.

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session SUMMARIES

ALL ABOUT RISK, PREPARATION AND PLANNING

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What Preparation Really Means Bronwyn Horsey Research Assistant University of Wollongong Evidence shows that residents can decrease the risk of loss when they stay to defend their property. In order to safely defend a property, residents need to be adequately prepared for the conditions they face.

Residents who wish to evacuate prior to the arrival of a bush fire also should prepare their property and themselves for such an action. There has been no clear and quantifiable definitions of what it means to be prepared for different exposures to bush fire. A working definition of preparation covers physical and mental preparation of residents, equipment and the condition of the grounds and is used to examine the factors determining the extent to which residents are prepared.

Residents who intend to evacuate in the event of a bush fire are less likely to prepare than those that plan to stay and defend, which points to a problematic gap between official advice to prepare regardless of intended actions and public tendencies to only prepare if they intend to stay and defend.

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Online Household Assessment Tool. What’s Your Risk? Are You Prepared?

Melissa O’Halloran Senior Project Officer Community Planning NSW Rural Fire Service Understanding and accepting bush fire risk is an essential first step in the planning process. Knowledge and understanding of human behaviour around risk perception and planning continues to develop, particularly through research.

The online Household Assessment Tool (HAT) has been remodelled to reflect the numerous elements that are interwoven into understanding and accepting bush fire risk. HAT is also a resource to support engagement with residents about risk assessed at the property level and what to do about it.

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Making Sure Collective Thought Occurs Around Planning Christine Eriksen Research Fellow University of Wollongong A recent Australia-wide survey of householder bush fire preparedness showed that only 13 percent had a written bush fire action plan that had been discussed with other household members. This is a worrying trend given the emphasis both emergency services and in-depth studies place on the importance of residents having a written plan that has been both discussed and practiced.

It is not the written plan per se that is important, but the collective act of making the plan. Many individual interpretations of preparedness messages are found to not align with the official outlined intent. Social cohesion supports both the adoption of mechanical preparations and the development of cognitive abilities that together enhance physical and mental resilience to bush fire.

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES

BRIGADE PERSPECTIVES OF MAJOR FIRES ON THEIR COMMUNITIES

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Including the Whole Isolated Community Before, During and After the Fire Kathleen Oakes Mt Wilson/Mt Irvine Brigade Community Safety Officer NSW Rural Fire Service In an isolated community, the local volunteer rural fire brigade becomes the focus for emergency planning. The wind storm of July 2011 was the catalyst for the brigade to examine its capacity for dealing with a community emergency. The resulting philosophy is that everyone in the village has a role to play.

The Community Protection Plan (CPP) process gave the brigade a tool for engaging with residents to raise awareness of bush fire risk and plan for bush fire survival. The State Mine fire tested the community’s planning.

Review continues and includes what changes participants would now make to survival plans, increasing the membership and role of the Community Engagement Team and property protection activities on the CPP.

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Get Knocked Down, Get Back Up Again. The Linksview Road Fire Ken Wade-Ferrell Winmalee Brigade Community Safety Officer NSW Rural Fire Service The Winmalee Brigade has been engaging with its community for many years and the area has been subject to a number of severe fires in the last 40 years. The September and October 2013 fires (Hawkesbury Road and Linksview Road) caught the brigade early but not off guard. Within hours nearly 200 homes were destroyed and over 200 damaged during the Linksview Road fire.

Did the community engagement work make a difference? Many traditional methods of community engagement were used to communicate before, during and after the fires, but were they enough? How is participation in recovery structured? When is the community ‘re-engaged’ to prepare for next time?

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When the Big One Comes. The State Mine Fire Alan McCartney Mountain Lagoon Community Safety Officer NSW Rural Fire Service Engagement practitioners always plan with their communities for the ‘big one’, hoping it will never come.

On 17 October 2013 the State Mine fire travelled over 30km in one day towards the isolated community of 50 properties in Mountain Lagoon. The ‘big one’ was here.

Brigade and community activity in the three years prior to, during and after the State Mine fire will be detailed. How risk assessments, planning and actions influenced both the fire and community behaviour.

What was learned and what could be done differently.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

session SUMMARIES

LOCAL PROGRAMS THAT WORK

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Leading by Doing Our Own Bush Fire Survival Plans Helen Riedl Malua Bay Brigade Community Safety Officer NSW Rural Fire Service There is an old adage ‘practice what you preach’. Having community trust and leadership by example are important elements in successful social action programs. The Malua Bay Brigade ensures that all members have an up-to-date Bush Fire Survival Plan.

If all volunteers and those close to them have plans and are well prepared, the NSW Rural Fire Service will be leading by example and positively influencing sought after behavioural changes.

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Building Climate Wise Communities Jennie Cramp Technical Officer Bushfire Ku-ring-gai Council The nature of increasing bush fire frequency and severity is inextricably linked to extreme heat and a long-term trend towards a warmer climate. Experience has shown that the effectiveness of traditional hazard reduction measures rapidly declines and typically proves inadequate under more intense and catastrophic conditions.

The Ku-ring-gai area faces significant bush fire risk management challenges due to its terrain, extensive ridge top development, vulnerable community groups, high evacuation risks, endangered species and ecological communities. To enhance traditional bush fire risk management strategies, Ku-ring-gai Council has adopted a shared responsibility framework and implemented the Climate Wise Communities (CWC) program to focus on strengthening the resilience of its community from bush fire attack at personal, property and neighbourhood levels.

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Knocking on Hundreds of Doors Across High Fire Risk Areas Terry Kitching John Dorrington Community Safety Officer Mid Coast Mid Coast Community Safety Team NSW Rural Fire Service NSW Rural Fire Service Bert Bennett Mid Coast Community Safety Team NSW Rural Fire Service Bush Fire Risk Management Plans identify and prioritise treatments in terms of levels of risk, and it is appropriate to focus resources and effort on those areas of Extreme, Very High and High risk.

The Mid Coast Community Safety Team has been systematically visiting each of the higher risk areas and door-knocking thousands of properties, taking hundreds of hours, and clocking up many kilometres. This progressive task is into its third year.

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

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Using Li’L Larikkins Animations Effectively in the Classroom Felicity Hopkinson Project and Program Development Officer SA Country Fire Service Bush fire education in schools spreads safety information through the community and prepares the next generation for the challenges of bush fire. Teachers can be our greatest allies in promoting disaster resilience, but often they do not have the information or resources to support our messages.

Fire agencies across Australia have created a schools bush fire education program using the ‘Li’L Larikkins’ characters. The ‘Li’L Larikkins’ have successfully helped students across Australia learn State Emergency Service messages around storms and floods, and they now tackle bush fires. Ten fun, short animated videos explore different bush fire safety topics, and are supported by session plans and background information teachers can use with primary school classes.

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Using Your ARTS to Get Messages Across April Himmelreich The Basin Brigade Community Relations Officer VIC Country Fire Authority Getting the attention of younger children (and their parents) at shows and events, as well as in pre-schools and the like, can be a great challenge. Being able to include understandable fire safety messages at the same time is harder still. Research shows children learn better through repetition, as well as through music.

The award-winning ‘Captain Koala and Friends Show’ is a live stage show, with a high energy interactive script and songs constructed to give fire safety messages in an easy to understand form. There are currently three shows focusing on residential fire safety (home fire hazards), bush fire safety and preparedness, and a combination of all songs (more like a concert). The scripts are flexible to suit any age, location and performance time. They are designed to target children between the ages 4 to 10 with plenty of more sophisticated messages for adults.

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Easy English. Making Communications Easier to Understand.

Amy Riebe Community Partners and Engagement Project Officer SA Country Fire Service Most fire services have key written documents, such as the Bush Fire Survival Plan, containing detailed and sometimes complex concepts. Strong reliance is often placed on the written word through websites, apps and printed documents and brochures. However, 44 percent of adults in Australia have difficulty reading and understanding written information.

Easy English supports people with limited literacy to understand written information. Material is written in every day words, using simple sentence structures and supporting messages with meaningful and clear images. With this in mind the SA Country Fire Service has developed a ‘Bushfire Safety Guide’ written in Easy English.

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session SUMMARIES

RESILIENCE FOR YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY

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Building Resilience in Engagement Practitioners Jodie Healy Community Engagement Manager Wollongong City Council Service industry personnel have the highest risk of burnout as a result of constantly dealing with ‘other people and their problems’. It could be said that our volunteers and staff community engagement practitioners are in the service industry.

An understanding of the causes of burnout is fundamental to being able to develop effective strategies to avoid and overcome burnout in engagement staff and volunteers, keeping them committed, developing positive relationships, working corroboratively and satisfied with their long-term role.

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Learning for Disaster Resilience Neil Dufty Principal Molino Stewart Pty Ltd The National Strategy for Disaster Resilience sets out to build community disaster resilience, with education viewed as a critical mechanism. There is a need to examine current community disaster education practices with a view to aligning them to the broader goal of disaster resilience.

Disaster resilience education content should not only cover preparedness and response aspects, but also learning about speedy and effective recovery for people, organisations (example businesses) and communities. Disaster resilience education should also involve learning about the community itself, including how to reduce vulnerabilities and connect communities through social capital formation.

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES

delivering community resilience through collaboration

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Building Meaningful Relationships Phil Paterson Sharon Field Environment Officer Hotspots Burra Brigade Captain NSW Rural Fire Service NSW Rural Fire Service Some community safety and environmental programs are one-offs, delivered to communities with little to no follow up that can leave participants feeling unsupported in the wake of program delivery. Social action programs must avoid ‘one-offs’, and work towards creating self-sufficient communities. An integral component of this approach is collaboration with local volunteers and staff to provide capability to meaningfully support development of self-reliance in their communities.

At Burra, local brigade members are being upskilled to have a greater understanding of both Community Protection Plans and Hotspots processes and to engage community volunteers to assist in the delivery of those programs. This bridges the gap between the local community and NSW Rural Fire Service.

Following the program delivery, local volunteers can be a point of contact for local advice, feedback for staff and help to facilitate the risk management strategies that landholders are wanting to implement.

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Multi-Agency Approach to Disaster Resilience Marty Webster Alexandra McFadden Community Safety Officer Far South Coast Community Engagement Coordinator NSW Rural Fire Service NSW State Emergency Service Bega Valley Shire agencies experienced difficulty engaging communities who perceived their level of risk to natural hazards, such as bush fires or floods, as low. In seeking to address this challenge, Local Emergency Management Committee members recognised that the fundamentals of messages across most man-made and natural hazards were consistent – people have to acknowledge their risk, prepare and plan, in order to increase their chances of survival in an emergency.

Significant advantages have been realised in combining agency efforts rather than individually competing for community attention. The inter-agency approach has enabled the partner agencies (NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW State Emergency Service and Red Cross) to access a much wider cross-section of the community than would have been possible independently.

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session SUMMARIES

BUILDING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY WIDE PROGRAMS

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Water for Life Peter Randall Ruby Gamble A/Manager Water for Life Senior Community Engagement Officer Metropolitan Water Directorate Metropolitan Water Directorate During one of the most severe droughts in recent memory, mandatory restrictions on outdoor water use were implemented in many parts of NSW between 2003 and 2009. This lead to a drop in water use per household from 250L/person/day prior to the drought to 198L/person/day after the drought. Although water use usually bounces back to pre-drought levels after a drought ends, this has not happened.

This outcome is partly because the because the drought was long enough that people formed new water-saving habits. The behaviour change around water use was achieved through the use of a range of social action and community engagement tools. Good water-use habits have been maintained and this could be applied to household preparation for bush fires.

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The ‘FireWise Women’ Program. A Few Years On Bill Duncan OAM Sue Talbert Kenthurst Brigade Community Safety Officer The Hills Communications Brigade NSW Rural Fire Service NSW Rural Fire Service Women in rural areas can often face bush fires alone or can be responsible for dependent children. These circumstances need to be taken into account when planning whether to leave early or stay and defend.

In developing workshops to provide specific support and advice to women, the brigade recognised that women are attracted to these activities at different times and for different reasons than men in their community. In many cases, women learn in different ways than men. The workshops give confidence for women to successfully prepare their families and properties for bush fire.

NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE OPEN DAY 2014 Saturday 13 September

Keep up-to-date with the latest news by visiting MyRFS or by checking out the Community Engagement Facebook and Twitter pages. facebook.com/nswrfscommunityengagers twitter.com/RFSCommEngage

For more information, contact the Community Engagement Team on 02 8741 5416 or community.engagement@rfs.nsw.gov AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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session SUMMARIES

BUILDING NEIGHBOURHOOD CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY

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Community Fire Units. Community Engagement at the Grass Roots Samantha Colwell Manager Community Fire Units Fire and Rescue NSW In order to build capability in the bush fire urban interface, Fire and Rescue NSW established the Community Fire Unit (CFU) program 20 years ago. Now there are more than 600 units and 7,000 volunteers across NSW. There can be challenges in managing such a large, diverse volunteer workforce such as an ageing population, providing consistency in training levels and monitoring adherence to organisation policy and procedures.

Twenty-two CFU members lost their homes in the October 2013 fires in the Blue Mountains. However, significant work was done by these volunteers protecting lives and property, in community engagement and recovery activities. Research has been undertaken following the October 2013 fires in the Blue Mountains and some of these findings will be shared.

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We All Play a Part. Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods Peter Middleton Community Development Coordinator Tasmania Fire Service In 2009 the Tasmania Fire Service piloted a community development approach to bush fire preparedness in a small number of targeted communities that have a higher level of bush fire risk. Critical to the approach was to build a strong evidence base by collaborating with the University of Tasmania and the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

Now a full community development program, ‘Bushfire Ready Neighbourhoods’ are being implemented with one long-term goal of embedding community development and engagement in the organisation’s culture and the way we work with communities.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness Conference Proudly Supporting Coffee4Kids Launched in 2006, the Coffee4Kids Foundation was established by a small group of NSW Rural Fire Service members with the vision and mission to make a real difference to the health, safety and well being of children.

Coffee4Kids is based upon a simple philosophy, allowing any individual to contribute the value of a cup of coffee a week to worthwhile children’s charities.

Giving up the cost of one cup of coffee certainly won’t break the bank and at the 2014 ACEFA Conference the challenge is set to beat the $127.65 raised during the 2012 ACEFA Conference.

The principle beneficiary of these donations will be The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. The foundation is currently directing funds to the following areas of the hospital: Child Protection Unit Adolescent Medicine – Homelessness Unit Paediatric Intensive Care Unit Oncology Unit The 2014 ACEFA Conference is proud to once again be supporting Coffee4Kids in working towards making a difference for children in need.

For more information about the Coffee4Kids Foundation, or to make a donation, visit www.coffee4kids.org.au

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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Conference Wireless Wireless Internet is available to delegates for the duration of the Conference.

INSTRUCTIONS Turn on Wi-Fi on your laptop, phone or tablet Connect to ‘NOVOTEL-Public’ Open up your Internet Browser to open up the ‘Movielink Login’ page Enter the access code: FIRE2014 Accept the ‘Terms and Conditions’ Click ‘Continue’

Meeting Hub Networking areas, called ‘Meeting Hubs’ are located throughout the Exhibition Area and in the Lobby Bar on Level 3 of the Novotel Northbeach Wollongong.

These are breakout spaces where you can chat to new contacts, brainstorm and take a break. Feel free to use this space at any stage during the conference.

Charging Stations Located in the Exhibition Hall on Level 3, the Novotel Wollongong Northbeach has two charging stations available where you can recharge your phone or tablet battery in an instant.

Stay Connected.

NSW Rural Fire Service Community Engagement Communication Channels Stay up-to-date with the latest information and developments from the NSW Rural Fire Service Community Engagement Team by visiting these sites regularly:

myrfs.nsw.gov.au/InfoAbout/CommunityEngagement

facebook.com/nswrfscommunityengagers

twitter.com/RFSCommEngage

(Conference Hashtag #acefa)

buildingcommunityresilience.blogspot.com.au

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

Notes

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND FIRE AWARENESS Conference 2014

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NSW Rural Fire Service Headquarters 15 Carter Street, Lidcombe NSW 2141 Locked Bag 17, Granville NSW 2142 Telephone: 02 8741-5555 Fax: 02 8741-5550