AWE Newsletter - March 2022

Promoting, supporting and recognising the contributions of women in emergency management and disaster resilience across Australasia.

AWE Newsletter – March 2022

International Women’s Day (IWD) was first celebrated in 1909 and was formally recognised by the United Nations, and Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, in 1975. Australia’s first International Women’s Day Rally was held that same year with women calling for a range of measures to create rights and equality including:

equal pay
equality in employment and education
free 24-hour childcare
the right for women to control their own bodies
safe contraception
abortion on demand
an end to both violence against women and discrimination against lesbians.

Left: AWE President Bridget Tehan as a child (second from left), already active in women’s rights at the IWD Rally in Melbourne, 1975
Right: Between 3000 and 5000 people attended the IWD rally in Melbourne, organised as part of International Women’s Year in 1975

We’ve made great gains toward equality in Australia since the 1970s, and there’s lots to celebrate. But with women still facing discrimination, sexism, gender bias, violence and more, at home, at work and in society, we’re still a long way from achieving true equality. International Women’s Day remains as important today as it was in 1909.

AWE News

International Women’s Day
Did you know AWE was started on International Women’s Day? Four years ago, a group of women in emergencies met for an IWD breakfast, got talking, and by end of the morning agreed to establish a network of women who work, volunteer, study or have an interest in emergencies and disasters. Soon afterward, AWE was born!

There’s a great range of events being hosted by AWE to help celebrate International Women’s Day, including a fantastic panel session on the zombie apocalypse! Check out the AWE events webpage for full details.

AWE co-founders Bridget Tehan and Amanda Lamont will be speaking at a range of IWD events including:

Panellist at the National Recovery and Resilience Agency IWD breakfast
Keynote speaker at the UNWomen IWD breakfast in Melbourne
Panellist at ESF’s IWD 2022 Break the Bias event.

**We still have some free tickets for members who would like to attend ESF’s IWD 2022 Break the Bias e vent in Melbourne. Please submit your expression of interest to AWE at [email protected]**

Open Conversations
Last month AWE hosted the first of its new Open Conversations. A large group of women with a range of roles across diverse sectors came together, to connect, talk, and share. It was great to see some fresh faces of members who were new to attending AWE events. Members shared insights, experiences and ideas about children and young people in emergencies and disasters, from research to policy to practice.

‘Wonderful to hear everyone’s work and thoughts. Thanks for the resources.’

“Thank you very much. Great conversation and appreciate the sharing.’

‘Thanks everyone – lovely way to spend a Wednesday lunch break!’

Our next Open Conversation, focusing on gender and emergencies, takes place on 16 March – book here.

NSW and Queensland floods
AWE acknowledges the massive flooding events across NSW and Queensland, and the extraordinary responses of emergency services. We’re thinking of all paid and volunteer staff who are not only working to protect communities, but may themselves be facing damage and loss.

AWE Vice-President Jaimee Morgenbesser’s community in Queensland has been badly impacted, and Jaimee is working with other locals on a community-led recovery effort, underpinned by the National Principles for Disaster Recovery and guided using the Recovery Capitals.

Jaimee Morgenbesser and local community members Nicole Hogan during a live briefing

AWE also acknowledges former AWE NSW Chapter Lead Nicole Hogan who as Assistant Commissioner of NSW SES is working hard to support communities, including providing regular live news briefings.

If you’d like to support the floods relief and recovery efforts, Red Cross is calling for donations for humanitarian support, while FRRR is appealing for donations to support rural and regional communities.

Ukraine
While First Lady Olena Zelenska posted these pictures as the faces of resistence to the devastating invasion of Ukraine, AWE recognises that the invasion will have a disproportionate impact on women. Families are already becoming separated and displaced, existing inequalities are at risk of being magnified, social networks may break down, and public services are likely to be drastically reduced. These put women at risk of injury, illness, poverty, violence and trafficking, the impacts of which can last for decades. If you want to support women in Ukraine consider donating to Ukrainian Red Cross, Voices of Children or Ukrainian Women’s Fund.

AWE Inspiring!

National Emergency Medals

National Emergency Medal s are awarded to people who have provided sustained or significant service during nationally-significant emergencies in Australia. AWE congratulates all its members who recently received a medal for their enormous contributions to the 2019-20 Australian bushfires.

Have you received a National Emergency Medal or other Award? Please let us know as we would like to acknowledge the contribution and recognisiton of all our AWE members.

AWE members at the Lessons Management Forum
AWE members Coralie Muddle and Claire Pettigrew will be presenting at the AFAC/AIDR Lessons Management Forum on 22-23 March. Coralie will co-present on regaining trust in debriefs, while Claire will co-present on lessons learned from a terror attack, a volcanic eruption and COVID-19 in New Zealand. If you’re attending make sure you check out Coralie and Claire’s sessions!

Coralie Muddle, Assistant Director   Claire Pettigrew, Senior Advisor
Community Grant Governance and Reporting   Incident Readiness & Response
National Recovery and Resilience Agency   Inmigration NZ

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 for forthcoming events.If you’ve got a great idea for an event, know someone who would be a great speaker, or just want to get involved, email us!

AWE International Women’s Day Events

This year’s IWD theme is Changing Climates: Equality today for a sustainable tomorrow – a theme that recognises the contribution of women and girls around the world, who are working to change the climate of gender equality and build a sustainable future.

AWE is hosting a wide range of face-to-face and online events to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 – check our events page for full details.

Join us to celebrate!

AWE Open Discussion

AWE Open Discussion – Gender and emergencies

Wednesday 16 March 2022 12pm AEDT

Want to connect, talk, and network?

The AWE Open Discussions provide a forum for members to explore insights, experiences and ideas on a range of topics. No speakers, no presentations, just AWEsome women getting together to learn, share and network.

Our first Open Discussion was a huge success as an AWEsome group of women discussed children and young people in disasters and emergencies.

This month’s Open Discussion – Gender and emergencies will be hosted by AWE Committee Member, Alicia Palmer.

Book now.

Missed an AWE Conversation last year? You can watch all our past Conversations –
visit this webpage for more details.

AWE Mentoring

All AWE members are eligible to participate in the AWE Mentoring Program as either Mentors or Mentees. The AWE Mentoring Program assists members to establish effective and positive mentoring relationships. For more information, visit our mentoring webpage or email us.

AWE Chapter Updates

AWE ACT

Canberra IWD Day breakfast
Come along for a face-to-face breakfast to celebrate International Women’s Day. Enjoy coffee and a chat and meet other people in our local AWE network.
Where: Capital Eatery, 68 Northbourne Ave
Date: Thursday 10th March
Time: 8:00 am
RSVP: to [email protected] by Tuesday 8th March

Podcast: Researcher positionality
The podcast ‘Disasters: Deconstructed’ is always worth a listen. January’s episode features a conversation with emerging researchers Sneha Krishnan, Susie Goodall, and Anuszka Mosurska, which invited us to reflect on our own positionality and its impact on what we do and how we do it in the context of research. Sneha, Krishnan and Susie have also all had articles published in the special double issue of the Disaster Prevention and Management Journal, “Emerging voices and pathways to inclusive disaster studies.”

AWE NZ

Nga mihi me te poroporoaki – thank you and goodbye!
We would like to thank our Aotearoa AWE whānau for their support for the AWE NZ Chapter over the last couple of years. It’s now time for us to pass the Chapter Lead baton to another AWEsome woman (or two!). We encourage you to put yourself forward if you’re interested in supporting the development of the incredible wahine in the emergency management sector in Aotearoa. From experience, we can say this role is an absolute privilege.

Please email the AWE team for more informtion or to express your interest in the AWE NZ Chapter Lead role. EOIs close at the end of March.

We will continue to be part of AWE – Elizabeth with Hummingly here in Aotearoa and Jolie with Hummingly in the USA – as we are staunch believers in the great work AWE is doing, and the great work women in emergency management do across Australasia every single day.

Kia ora – thank you,
Jolie and Elizabeth

AWE QLD

Queensland Chapter International Women’s Day Breakfast
Please join other Queensland AWE members to celebrate International Women’s Day as we discuss #breakingthebias in an Australasian Women in Emergencies context.
7am Tuesday 8 March
C Bar
Strand Park, Townsville
RSVP [email protected]

Networking with AWE!
Members of the Queensland Chapter had a brilliant coffee catch-up in Townsville in February – our first coffee networking event of 2022. The group discussed everything from current funding opportunities for disaster resilience and risk mitigation, to recent research projects, through to volunteerism and NGO collective impact. We also got to celebrate recent successes and new roles!

Having other women to lean on, seek advice from, and celebrate with is incredibly valuable – thank you to everyone that attended.

From left: Kate Austin (Energy Queensland), Alicia Palmer (Queensland Department of Education),
Emma Rush (National Recovery and Resilience Agency), Yetta Gurtner (James Cook University),
Margaret Lessells (Queensland Fire and Emergency Services), Sarah Steinegg (Airservices Australia).

Australasian Women in Emergencies for Climate Action

In February we held our inaugural meeting of the new AWE chapter – Women in Emergencies for Climate Action. After sharing information about our interest in the area of climate change and climate action, we explored a range of opportunities including advocacy, advice, representation, connection and local action. We also discussed developing an AWE climate change position statement, sharing resources, supporting one another and networking.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 22 March at 12pm (AEDT). If you would like more information, or to join the next meeting, please send an email to [email protected] or contact Amanda Lamont on 0407 696 300.

News, resources and opportunities

Did you play a leadership role during the 2019-20 bushfires? Researchers from the University of New South Wales would like to speak with women leaders from government, emergency services, NGOs and other sectors about their experiences during the 2019-20 bushfires for a research project into the governance and collaborative challenges we face in managing disasters. Please contact Jaco Fourie for more information about the research or to register your participation.

Women’s Resilience to Disasters Knowledge Hub: A new Women’s Resilience to Disasters Knowledge Hub has recently been launched by UN Women. The WRD Knowledge Hub includes: a library and toolbox, policy tracker, events and an WRD Expert Register. The WRD Community of Practice provides opportunities to receive and share the latest knowledge and resources on gender-responsive and inclusive climate and disaster resilience, and to sign up to a quarterly newsletter.

Mapping women in wildfire/bushfire: Wildfire Women is an international, interactive map of women who work in wildfire/bushfire. The map is gathering and showcasing women’s insights about their work and shares what inspires women to dedicate themselves to wildfires/bushfire, what the reality is for women working in wildfires/bushfire in their countries, and what their hopes are for the future. You can read reflections from women across the world, and add your own.

UNDRR IWD: UNDRR is hosting an IWD side event with a number of other partners on Reducing disaster risk through a gender-responsive midterm review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 – more information and registration here.

Human rights, disasters and women and girls in the Pacific: Australia’s Inquiry into the human rights of women and girls in the Pacific made a number of recommendations relating to disaster management and gender including ensuring women are represented in disaster management agencies and organisations; working with Pacific women in building the disaster capacity of Pacific organisations; and working with Pacific governments to provide support for projects mapping the vulnerabilities experienced by women and girls in the region during disasters.

Gender Equity Scorecard: The Women’s Gender Equality Agency has released its latest gender equality scorecard, which shows Australian women earned, on average, $25,800 less than men in 2020-21, and men are twice as likely to be highly paid than women. The Scorecard includes the latest figures on the gender pay gap, industry comparisons, women’s workforce participation, women’s representation in leadership and emerging trends in employer action.

Disaster recovery stakeholder guide: VCOSS’ Who’s who and what do they do? contains information on the emergency management system in Victoria and the key stakeholders involved in disaster recovery. It has numerous tips, resources and case studies provide to help identify and build collaborative relationships for better community outcomes.

Job Opportunities

ACT
EL1 Policy/Program Managers, Recovery Operations
APS6 Policy/Program Officers, Recovery Operations

NSW
Manager Crisis Management, Transport for NSW
Emergency Management Coordinator, Department of Regional NSW

QLD
Senior Policy Officer Strategic Policy and Legislation, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
Senior Operational Capability Officer, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services

SA
Director Strategy and Governance, SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission
Principal Analyst, South Australian Country Fire Service

TAS
Emergency Services Capacity Development Coordinator, Australian Red Cross
Safer Communities Coordinator, Hobart City Council

VIC
Manager, Response Intelligence and Support, Victorian Department of Families, Fairness & Housing
Recovery Support Case Manager, Anglicare Victoria

WA
Community Resilience & Recovery Officer – Midwest, Australian Red Cross
National Manager – Prescribed Burning Strategy, Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council

NZ
Operational Readiness Coordinator, Christchurch City Council
Advisor/Senior Advisor, Readiness Response, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Other Events

7 March Resilient Australia Awards – NRRA/AIDR (applications open)

8 March International Women’s Day

22-23 March Lessons Management Forum – AFAC/AIDR

23-28 May Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction – UNDRR

6-10 June Fire & Climate 2022 Conference – IAWF

5-6 July Emergency Management Conference 2022 – ESF

25-26 July Disaster & Emergency Management Conference – ANZDMC

23-26 August AFAC22 – AFAC/Deutsche Messe/IFE/AIDR

10 October Australasian Women in Emergencies Day

Newsletter contributions

The AWE Newsletter is published monthly and is distributed to almost 1600 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 recognises the contributions of women in emergency management and disaster resilience across Australasia.

www.awenetwork.org.au
[email protected]

To become an AWE member, please click here.
AWE badges are available from our shop.

AWE acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, and pays our respect to Elders, past, present and emerging.