AWE Newsletter – December 2021

2021 has been another demanding year for the emergency management and disaster resilience sector. We’ve continued to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and have also provided a range of planning, preparation, response, relief and recovery services for a host of other emergencies including bushfires, floods, storms, earthquakes, cyclones, and other events right across Australasia.

We pay our gratitude to all AWE members and all women who have played roles in these events.

As Melissa Pexton, State Recovery Controller at the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services, posted on Australasian Women in Emergencies Day:
We all know the sector has seen a LOT in the last couple of years and I am always in awe of the resilience and leadership on display by women in our sector and our communities. Whether you have a formal or informal role, whether you have been involved in EM for five minutes or your whole career, THANKYOU!!

We’d love to celebrate the year with you and AWE has a range of end-of-year events lined up including in-person and online opportunities. Check out our Events section below for more information.

We’re taking a break over January – the next edition of the AWE Newsletter will be February 2022.

AWE in 2021 
2021 has been an AWEsome year for AWE and its members. Here is just some of what AWE has achieved:

Events
Hosted a vast range of events including:
Australasian Women in Emergencies Day events
A range of International Women’s Day events including the AWE International Leadership Panel Session
Other International Women’s Day events in partnership with the Emergency Services Foundation 
More than 10 national events
More than 20 Chapter events
10 AWEsome Conversations with a range of guest speakers

Communications
Published monthly AWE Newsletters with a range of news, resources and links relating to gender, emergencies and other related topics
Maintained strong social media presence
Updated our website
Introduced a new blog series

Mentoring
Registered a range of new mentors and mentees
Facilitated and supported a range of new mentoring relationships

Scholarships
Awarded two Philippa Woolf Scholarships in partnership with ACIM

Partnerships
Became a member of the Australian Gender Equity Council
Established partnership with the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services
Established partnership with International Association of Emergency Managers (Oceania)
Jointly signed on to major advertisement by the Climate Council and Emergency Leaders for Climate Action to urgently address climate change
Maintained our partnerships and alliances with AFAC, AIDR, ESF and others

Presentations
Presented and participated at a range of forums including:
Global Access Partners’ 10th Annual Economic Summit GAP/IIER-A National Resilience Project Report
Fire to Flourish/MUDRI Growing Community-Led Disaster Resilience Community Forum

Australasian Women in Emergencies Day
Convened the inaugural Australasian Women in Emergencies Day to recognise and celebrate the contributions of women to emergency management and disaster resilience.

All of this has been achieved by a group of extraordinary, dedicated and hardworking volunteers – thank you to each and every one! 

We’re very proud of AWE and all that it has achieved in 2021 to promote, support and recognise women in emergencies, and we’re looking forward to an even bigger and better 2022!

 
AWE AGM
The 2021 AWE AGM was held on 1 December. This was the second AGM since the AWE Network was registered as an incorporated Association. Members endorsed the minutes of the previous AGM, elected officers of the organisation and the ordinary members of the committee, and received and considered the annual (financial) statement of the organisation. Many thanks to those members who attended. 

New Committee Members
We are thrilled to announce our new Committee as elected at the AGM:
President                        Bridget Tehan
Vice President                Jaimee Morgenbesser
Secretary                        Kath Cooney
Treasurer                        Jeanene Howard 
General Member             Zoe D’Arcy
General Member             Lisa Marie Jackson
General Member             Amanda Lamont
General Member             Alicia Palmer
General Member             Bethany Roberts

A huge shout-out and thanks to  our co-founder Amanda who has stepped aside as Vice President. Amanda’s vision, drive and ambassadorial skills have helped shape AWE to be the success it is today. We’re pleased to announce that Amanda will remain on the Committee, continuing her AWEsome work with us.
 
The Committee is looking forward to working together to help promote, support and recognise the contribution of women in emergencies and disaster resilience. Congratulations to all Committee members both continuing and new!

New partnerships
We are pleased to announce two new partnership with Australian Institute of Emergency Services (AIES) and International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Oceania which will see us cooperating to enhance emergency management at all levels.
                                                                                

Hilary Clinton

NSW first female police commissioner: Karen Webb, who has served in the NSW police force for 34 years, has been appointed as the next NSW Police Commissioner, and will be the first woman to lead Australia’s largest police force in NSW’s history. Karen Webb has said one of her key focuses as Commissioner will be on victims of crime, especially those who have been impacted by child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence.

Women’s voices still not heard in the media: A new WILA report, 2021 Women for Media Report, shows that men’s voices continue to dominate the space in news stories. Men’s voices are overrepresented in all categories including disasters and accidents, where men provide 67 per cent of quotes with women providing just 33 per cent.

Challenging media stereotypes: UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and Women’s Empowerment, has launched the Australian chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance, as part of a global coalition to tackle harmful stereotypes in advertising and media content.

Strong Female Leads: A new book, Strong Female Lead by Arwa Mahdawi, provides a response to the woeful inadequacy of male leadership, and an investigation into the qualities demonstrated by the female leaders showing us how it should be done. Including original research and interviews with Madeleine Albright, Mary Robinson, Alicia Garza, and many others.

Free trauma training: Prepare yourself and your team for the upcoming disaster season by enrolling in a Psychological First Aid (PFA) or Trauma-informed Care (TIC) course run by Phoenix Australia, affiliated with the University of Melbourne. Please access the following course registration links, and apply the coupon code at registration for free access to each course: PFA for Emergency Services Managers Coupon code ESPFA100 and TIC for Emergency Services Staff and Volunteers Coupon code ESTIC100

Resilient Australia Awards: Join AIDR for the 2021 Resilient Australia Awards from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, live via Zoom, on 8 December. Details here.  Lots of great projects have been shortlisted including ReCap which is designed to support strengths-based, holistic and inclusive recovery approaches. ReCap was led largely by women including AWE members Professor Lisa Gibbs, Phoebe Quinn and Emily Campbell.

AFAC22 and ADRC 2022 abstracts now open: Abstracts are open for the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference 2022. The program committee invites abstracts that showcase advances in disaster resilience and risk reduction practice and thinking through case studies, analysis, good practice models, applied research, collaborative partnerships, and stories of lived experience. AFAC22 will explore how an inclusive approach across emergency management agencies, is integral to reducing risk and fostering resilience now and into the future – submit your abstract here.

Recovery Leadership Summer Intensive: Hummingly’s virtual Recovery Leadership Summer Intensive draws on the leadership, expertise, knowledge and experience of over 100 disaster recovery leaders from around the world. Find out more here.

Emergency services, mental health, and diversity : The current edition of the Journal of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services features some great articles on mental health, the role pf paramedics in COVID-19 and diversity and inclusion in the emergency services.

Retired or retiring from an emergency service organisation?: ESF’s latest newsletter outlines a new project to better support retirees who have experienced a distressing work-related event that has deeply affected them or who have probable PTSD. The Well Beyond project aims to guide the sector with a pioneering, evidence informed approach to supporting people to holistically prepare for and transition to retirement.