Last month saw thousands of Australians marching to protest sexism and gendered violence in the workplace. Despite the many advances that women have made in the emergency management sector, and the extraordinary work of some truly AWEsome women, AWE recognises that many women in the sector continue to face significant barriers and challenges, including:
Male-dominated culture and attitudes
Discrimination
Gender stereotypes and/or bias
Limited role models
Lack of workplace flexibility
Lack of operational and leadership opportunities
AWE will continue to promote, support and recognise the contributions of women in emergency management and disaster resilience across Australasia. As we consolidate and strengthen, AWE will collaborate with its members to advocate for gender equity to help break down these barriers.
AWE News
New Chapter Leads
AWE is very excited to announce the appointment of two new Chapter Leads:
Jamiee Morgenbesser, Australian Red Cross, AWE QLD Co-Chapter Lead
Nicole Hogan, Deputy Commissioner NSW SES, AWE NSW Chapter Lead
We are thrilled to have Jaimee and Nicole join the AWE leadership team, and look forward to working closely with them over the coming months. See our Chapter Update below for more information on our AWEsome new Chapter Leads.
AWE Treasurer position now open
Do you have financial skills? Do you have a few hours a month?
AWE is seeking a Treasurer to join its Committee. This is an important volunteer role for a skilled person with a passion for promoting, supporting and recognising the contributions of women in emergency management and disaster resilience. Please email AWE for more information.
AWE Inspiring
AWE’s Inspiring woman of the month
Rita Browning, seen here in training at the Mounted Training School in the early 1960s, was believed to be the only woman member of the UK mounted police. When training finished Rita was issued with black riding breeches as part of her uniform to replace the white jodhpurs she is wearing here.
Rita Meredith was recently honoured by a local mounted police unit at her hospice in NSW.
Rita joined the UK police force in the early 1960s, and soon afterward became the first woman to serve in the mounted police unit. Rita’s son said, “When meeting the Queen mum, her horse Neville tried to eat the fur on the cuff of the Queen mum’s coat. The Queen mum laughed it off and said how wonderful it is to have a girl in that job.”
The UK police segregated genders at this time, with women having separate ranks, duties and facilities. Rita spent a total of 10 years in the UK police force, then established a riding school. After having children, Rita moved to Australia where she fostered 60 more children, many with disabilities.
You can read the original story here, and read more about life as a woman police officer in the UK in the 1960s here. You can also find out more about the history of women in policing in NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA and New Zealand.
Who inspires you? Let us know!
AWE Events
AWE events are a great way to learn about and get to know other women in the emergency management and disaster resilience sectors. Keep an eye on our calendar of events to find an upcoming AWE event to suit you.
In 2021 AWE is introducing a series of quarterly online networking events to allow AWE members, their friends and colleagues to meet, mingle and get to know the AWE network.
Emily Troisi, Associate Director, Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network USA
Jaimie Morgenbesser, Disaster Recovery Advisors and Mentors Australia
Elizabeth McNaughton, Director, Hummingly NZ
March AWEsome Conversationwith Natalie Egleton, CEO, Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal
AWE Mentoring Update
Being mentored is a great way to help support your professional and personal development. Our mentors are highly experienced and can help boost your knowledge, confidence, motivation, skills, ideas and networks. If you’d like to mentor, be mentored, or want to know more about the AWE mentoring program, please contact Lisa Jackson.
AWE Scholarship Update
The 2021 AWE Phillipa Woolf Scholarship opens soon!
All members will be emailed with further information about the scholarship and details of how to apply.
AWE Chapter Updates
AWE ACT
In March, four AWEsome members from the Canberra region met for breakfast to celebrate International Women’s Day. Despite the very early hour, we had a lively chat which extended well beyond the time I thought we might end up. Thanks to Chris Miller, Ashleigh Brady and Caterina Sullivan for a lovely event. I can’t wait to meet our other AWE ACT members soon!
In March, I met with AWE Vice-President Amanda Lamont. Over coffee and cake at the National Library in Canberra, we discussed our visions for the AWE network – both locally and nationally.
For information about AWE ACT, contact Chapter Lead Zoe D’Arcy.
Canberra AWE members are invited to breakfast with the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services (AIES) ACT Chapter Book Club where we’ll be discussing James Clear’s Atomic Habits.
Tuesday 20 April, 7:30 – 8:30 am
Capital Eatery, 68 Northbourne Avenue
RSVP Chris Miller
AWE NSW
Please welcome our new AWE NSW Chapter Lead Nicole Hogan. Nicole’s career includes 11 years experience in the public sector, including in an executive position within the NSW State Emergency Service (SES). Throughout her career, Nicole has held various management and strategic leadership roles. Nicole says that working within NSW government and private sector environments has provided her with the ability to understand the diversity and relationships between government and the corporate sector. Nicole has a Graduate Diploma Public Administration focused in Organizational Leadership from University of Sydney.
Please also welcome our new AWE QLD Chapter Co-lead Jaimee Morgenbesser. Jaimee is a mum-of-two and passionate and experienced disaster recovery practitioner who was awarded the National Emergency Medal by the Queensland Governor General in 2015. Jaimee leads the Disaster Recovery Advisors and Mentors Australia (DRAMA) initiative at Australian Red Cross and is a Climate Reality Leader, having successfully completed The Climate Reality Leadership training under Former Vice President Al Gore. Jaimee holds a Master of Business Administration and is currently undertaking a Masters in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development through the University of Newcastle. Contact Jaimee here.
AWE Member Interview
With the storm season coming to a close this month, AWE Queensland Chapter Lead Alicia Palmer caught up with Townsville Emergency Management Officers – Bec Torrisi and Brittany Saunders – to hear about their experiences as sector newcomers and what advice they’d give to others. Of their new roles Bec says, “I don’t think anything can really prepare you. You get things thrown at you every day, and they’re not the same. To come into this space you need to be proactive, adaptable, and you need to have an open mind.” Brittany reflects, “It’s been positive, engaging and has involved a lot of learning on the run. Since I started, we’ve experienced four minor disasters, and it’s been a whirlwind experience, but it’s good to see how everything works without having a major disaster.”
Bec Torrisi and Brittany Saunders
You can read Alicia’s full interview with Bec and Brittany on the AWE website.
AWE TAS
Sue Gordon, AWE TAS Chapter Lead and Midge Gray, AWE Committee Member, have been meeting weekly to discuss the AWE Tasmanian Chapter, and a meet and greet is being planned for AWE members soon. Sue and Midge are very keen to see the Tasmanian chapter grow and to hear ideas from members about activities that they would like organised. Sue and Midge are also bringing the member database up to date. If any member has recently changed roles, contact details or who wishes to be contacted please email Sue or Midge (details below).
For three years running, AWE has partnered with ESF to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year’s three events were very well attended and gave an opportunity for women, and men, to meet and get to know each other. We heard from an impressive line-up of speakers at the events including:
Juliet Bourke, Adjunct Professor, Board member, PhD candidate, author and AFR top 100 Women of Influence 2019
Kristen Hilton, Vic EOHRC and Convenor Champions of Change Fire & Emergency Services,
Brett Curran, VicPol Assistant Commissioner,
Dianne Herz, CEO Social Research Centre and Emily Dwyer, Co-director Edge Effect.
A panel session, facilitated by AWE’s Amanda Lamont, brought together the great work being done to make change in the sector through enquiries, commissions and reports, organisational leadership and commitment, research and knowledge sharing and through practical application of all these to ultimately lead to a place where all people belong.
A range of women also stepped up to share their stories. Their depth, honesty, and courage provided inspiration, guidance and encouragement to other women in the emergency sector. Many AWE members attended the events, and we have also had some new members sign up. Thanks to all those who came up and said hello!
Thank you to ESF for partnering with us and we look forward to celebrating IWD in 2022.
AWE members in and around the Yarra Ranges met for breakfast to celebrate International Women’s Day. It was a great opportunity for us to share experiences, ideas and reflect on our paid and unpaid roles in the emergency sector. Based on the success of the breakfast, we will be arranging a monthly breakfast in the area, so check your emails for details of the next event.
AWE recently hosted a stall at the North East Emergency Expo 2021 at Lake Nagambie along with members of the SES, CFA, Australian Volunteer Coastguard, Victoria Police and other emergency services organisations. It was a great way to acknowledge and thank all emergency services in Victoria’s north east and to showcase the amazing work that paid and volunteer staff do to keep communities safe.
News and resources
Mary Fran Myers Gender and Disaster Award 2021. The Mary Fran Myers Gender and Disaster Award recognizes individuals and organisations that continue Mary Fran Myers’ goal of promoting research on gender issues in disasters and emergency management. Applications are now open and close 15 April.
Putting gender on the map: The Gender + Fire group of the Pau Costa Foundation recently launched a Wildfire Women map. Women who work in all areas of wildfire – including prevention, research, awareness, education – are encouraged add their pin to help map the women behind fire all over the world. You can also share your work in the form of a link or document and it will be included in a Lessons on Fire platform.
Resilient Australia Awards: The Resilient Australia Awards celebrate and promote initiatives that build whole of community resilience to disasters and emergencies around Australia, as well as images capturing resilience in action. Applications are now open and close 3 June.
Want to support disaster resilience for women in business? The Resilient Australia Alliance (RAA) is creating a Disaster Resilience for Business Hub to Empower Women in Business. RAA is seeking a grant to support this work. If you or someone you know is interested in collaborating and co-contributing with RAA to help build disaster resilience for women in business, please contact Renae Hanvin.
Do you have any gender and emergency services resources to share? Emily Ryan is a student at the University of Sydney completing her Honours thesis on the experiences of women in both paid and volunteer emergency service roles. Emily is looking for public reports, inquiries or documents that explore the institutional factors that either create barriers or enable women to progress through emergency service organisations. If you’ve got something to share, please email Emily here.
10 Years Beyond Bushfires: The recently launched 10 Years Beyond Bushfires report continues the University of Melbourne’s Beyond Bushfires research. It provides important insight into how people are managing 10 years on from the 2009 bushfires and helps build an understanding of the long term experiences of those affected by disasters. Read more about the report here.
Gender in disaster event: Women at the Edge: Disaster and Beyond – launch of the Gender Justice in Disaster: Inspiring Action conference featuring Fire Rescue Victoria’s Commander Donna Wheatley, Commissioner for Gender Equality in the Public Sector Niki Vincent and more. The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne, Tuesday 4 May 2021 6.30-7.30pm
Gender is not about women in isolation. Women are connected to other members of society. To address priorities for women, you must work with the whole community.
Considering gender is not about doing more but doing better.
Gender is not about ticking a box – it is essential for good project design.
Other news:. A new BNHCRC article, Practicing diversity and inclusion in emergency management, explores how building diverse and inclusive workforce encourages different ways of thinking, promotes innovative solutions and better represents the communities emergency services serve. An article in The Conversation explores 4 assumptions about gender that distort how we think about climate change (and 3 ways to do better). The World Bank profiles Mary Alalo, the first woman in Solomon Islands to be appointed as a World Bank Project Coordinator on the Community Resilience to Climate and Disaster Risk Project. The UNDRR ‘s Six women leading the way towards resilience profiles inspiring women who are leading the way at the global, regional and national level to build our resilience and reduce disaster risk.
The AWE Newsletter is published monthly and is distributed to more than 1400 AWE members across Australasia. For contributions, queries or to let us know what you would like to see in the newsletter, please email us at [email protected].
About AWE
The Australasian Women in Emergencies Network (AWE) promotes, supports and develops the contributions of women in emergency management and disaster resilience to help build stronger individuals, communities and organisations.
