Held at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 5 December 2013
The Hon. Michael Keenan MP, Minister for Justice attended the Awards ceremony to congratulate award recipients.
‘The Resilient Australia Awards cover all aspects of disaster management including risk assessment and mitigation, education, training and research, community awareness and engagement and response and recovery.
‘Projects are undertaken all over the country and they come from many sectors of society. These awards provide a rare opportunity to acknowledge this work. Importantly, when we acknowledge the work, we share the different things we’ve learnt in the different parts of our country. And that is one of the important things these awards contribute to.
‘This year marks the highest number of applications we’ve received. One hundred and seventy submissions were made and that is up significantly from previous years. I’d like to acknowledge the substantial contribution that all award applicants have made to their local communities and, on behalf of the Australian Government, thank you very much for all you do.
‘Congratulations to everyone recognised here today. It is a great pleasure for me to be a part of it,’ said Minister Keenan.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Kate Riddell and Jemima Richards
Firefoxes Australia
‘Creating a New Normal’
Firefoxes (a group formed in the Kinglake Ranges post-Black Saturday) is building community connections in disaster-affected areas. In 2011, they began visiting cyclone and flood affected areas of Queensland to share the often untold story of disaster recovery - the highs and lows, unofficial timelines, the personal and communal recovery process. This has provided hope for the future and connected community with government, industry and agencies. The electronic resources they have developed and distributed, including ‘Creating a New Normal’ are now being used world-wide by agencies, communities and educational institutions.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Keturah Whitford and Kym Schmid
St John Ambulance (ACT)
Project Survival
St John Ambulance is committed to making first aid a part of everybody’s life. Project Survival focuses on providing first aid training to school students, providing first aid skills to vulnerable people in the community, and delivers community CPR workshops.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP and Sandra Slatter
Restore Your Business Community
Restore Your Business Community Practitioner’s Handbook
The Restore Your Business Community Practitioner’s Handbook is a welcome toolkit stepping practitioners through crisis planning and preparation, and response and recovery. The handbook is a unique resource and documents a range of complex information in a readily accessible way.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Greg Little, Kevin Erwin and Jim Nolan.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Brett Reeman, Katie Edmiston and Tanya Milligan
Northern Grampians Shire Council
Stawell Steps/Monash Steps
The Northern Grampians Shire Council is embedding disaster mitigation into public infrastructure. The Stawell Steps/ Monash Steps are a large-scale community space on the banks of Cato Lake in Victoria. More than a practical solution to a water management problem, the Steps act as a spillway, providing an innovative approach to solve problem flooding, while creating something unique in the local setting. The Steps are a partnership between 11 organisations including Council, metropolitan and rural people, a local brick manufacturer, and Monash University architecture students.
17 Queensland Councils with support from Queensland Government and the Local Government Association of Queensland
Community Development Engagement Initiative
The Community Development Engagement Initiative was designed to assist communities beyond the rebuilding and repairing of physical infrastructure and homes. Recognising that people should be at the centre of recovery it focuses on the long-term restoration of a community’s emotional, social economic and physical wellbeing. Seventeen local government areas across Queensland which were hardest hit by the floods and cyclone disasters that occurred during the 2010-11 summer season were involved. A series of case studies has been developed to share the learnings and celebrate the success of the project.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Rohan Hamden and Adam Gray
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Chris Collins and Damien Killalea
Government of South Australia and Local Government Association of South Australia
South Australian Climate Change Adaptation Program
The South Australian Climate Change Adaptation Program has developed practical tools to integrate climate change risk and vulnerability assessments into local council operational and financial management plans. It assists the emergency management sector by bringing them together with regional bodies tackling climate change at the local level. Engagement activities including seminars, forums, workshops, training sessions, online information, collaborative projects, participation on boards and committees and joint funding proposals have brought the emergency management sector and regional bodies together at the local level to tackle climate change.
Tasmania Fire Service
Community Protection Planning
The Tasmania Fire Service is making emergency management planning a community consultative process. The Service’s Community Protection Planning improves community bushfire safety through a shift from an internal agency (response) focus to a community-centred (building community capacity and resilience) focus. The initiative applies a risk assessment methodology and tailors risk treatments through planning and preparation.
The Hon Michael Keenan MP, Jocelyn Nettlefold and Ian Mannix
ABC (Local Radio)
Emergency Broadcasting
ABC Local Radio is the principal source of warnings in regional and metropolitan Australia. The ABC has established universal platforms for emergency agencies to issue all warnings in any place, at any time, on any media platform. Emergency broadcasting gives communities information ‘to survive and recover’.
