President’s Update

Welcome to the June edition of the AWE newsletter.

As part of our strategic planning for the next 1-2 years, AWE has developed a set of values – the principles by which AWE and its members influence, interact with each other, and work together to achieve our goals.

• Diversity – we are committed to principles of respect, equality and social justice, and we value and welcome diversity of abilities, opinions, gender and ethnicity
• Trust – we are committed to integrity and trust and we encourage and value openness and honesty
• Relationships – we are committed to effective relationships built though teamwork, cooperation and collaboration
• Adaptability – we are flexible, adaptable and committed to continuous improvement
• Accountability – we honour our commitments, take ownership of our work and take responsibility of all that we do.

These values have been developed with AWE members at their core – we are after all here by members, for members.

We are immensely proud of all that AWE does, and these values will help guide our behaviour, decision-making and all that we do as we continue to grow and succeed.

Bridget

In the News

Rural Firefighters’ valuable contribution to the Eungella Community

Story Carla Adams, Images Alex Battye
Carla Adams caught up with Tam Smith for an interview following the November 2018

Left to right: Tam Smith, Ian (Stringy) Smith, are Jo Freegard (2nd Officer), Wayne Smith (3rd Officer) and Nathan Doyle (Member).

Bushfires in the Mackay and Isaac council areas. Tam Smith and family are champions of resilience within the community of Eungella, Queensland regardless of hazard. As they regularly activate for cyclones, this was the first catastrophic fire event our community had on record.

Two months on from the bushfires which threatened the Pioneer Valley 90km west of Mackay, the local community is more resilient than ever thanks to the commitment of dedicated, selfless, local volunteers like Tamara Smith.

Dalrymple Heights Rural Fire Brigade Secretary Tamara Smith has the vital role of coordinating community support and relief for firefighters. Tam and husband Ian Smith (Stringy) and their families have seen multiple activations in recent years, including Tropical Cyclones Ului and Debbie and the bushfires which threatened the valley in November 2018.

Ian and Tam also volunteer for the Mackay Regional Council as Emergency Liaison Officers for the Eungella Community, providing information during prevention, preparedness, response and recovery phases during all hazards.
Tam is most proud of how the community has built resilience and have a positive attitude to helping each other when their roads, power supply, supply routes, lives, property and environment is threatened.

During the bushfires, Eungella was attacked on four fronts and RFS and community members were working for two weeks straight fighting fires, initially providing support to the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, then responding to the major event that destroyed one home, rainforest, fencing and livestock.

The RFS shed was initially set up to be the communications centre and a place for firefighters to meet for tasking and supplies. When the shed had to be evacuated due to the fire threat, they were relocated to the Eungella Community Hub across the road. It was locally led and managed, where volunteers provided coffee, cake, hot meals and cold packs, personal support and recovery services to firefighters and community members.

Tam tasked her nephews and son aged 10, 12 and 15 to support the response by making sandwiches and providing supplies to volunteers while their parents battled the fires. The way Eungella people gather around each other and work together is truly inspiring.
The community continue to receive extreme weather, with monsoonal rain totals up to 75 inches since the fires. The roads and the environment are damaged but Tam and the locals accept that it’s a part of living remotely.

The RFS designed their own ‘thank a firefighter event’ in Crediton to thank all the community members who helped their neighbours. They had a really relaxed debrief over a free BBQ and drinks, which lasted well into the night.

Tam said the visit from Premier Palaszczuk and Commissioner Carrol was fantastic to see and it was wonderful to feel their support for the community and for them to understand the size and scale of the event. The value from the leadership to the people on the ground was followed up with action, including receiving a new RFS vehicle which they affectionately named Annastacia.

“Volunteering for your community brings a lot of satisfaction and builds resilience, you don’t have to be on the front line, you can make a difference by volunteering any way you can,” said Tam.

The Eungella community makes you feel very welcome and it is truly inspiring watching how they gather and help each other in a crisis.

Left to right: Commissioner Katarina Carroll, Selina Neil, Peter Schmid and Tam Smith

AWE NSW Chapter lead Catherine Strods presented at the ANZDEMC Conference on the Gold Coast on An Insight into Evaluation Alarm behaviour from a Social Psychology Perspective – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6544793851733901312/

AWE members Melissa Pexton, WALGA and Amanda Lamont, AIDR recently attended the Australasian Natural Hazards Management Conference in Canberra. As well as chairing sessions and speaking on panels throughout the conference, Amanda and Mel also met Guest Speaker, Rob de Castella and filled him in on all the great ways women are leading in and contributing to disaster resilience and  emergency management in Australia.

AWE member, Justine Smith, is currently taking part in Homeward Bound, a global leadership program for women in STEMM. This program seeks to build the skills of capacity of women in science to influence decision making about the future of our planet, particularly in terms of climate change. You can find out more about the program at http://homewardboundprojects.com.au/

AWE Events

NSW

The AIDR/AFAC 2019 Lessons Management Forum will take place in Sydney on 30^th to 31^st July 2019. See here for registrations https://www.aidr.org.au/resources/2019-lessons-management-forum/?locationId=20101. Please contact AWE NSW Chapter lead Catherine Strods at [email protected] if you are attending and would like to attend a dinner during the event.

AWE NSW Schedule of Events for 2019

VIC

An AWE networking event will be held at the Australian Disaster Resilience Conference and AFAC and BNHCRC Conference in Melbourne on 28th to 29th August.

If any AWE members are interested in sharing accommodation while attending the conference please contact us at [email protected] for more information.

Other Events

Melbourne Documentary Film Festival: emergencies and disasters

Three new documentaries exploring emergencies and disasters will be screening at the 2019 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.

Red Sunday is a documentary in which community members of rural far-east Gippsland, Victoria recount their experiences of the devastating 2014 bushfires. Forged from Fire tells the story of how an Australian and international community of blacksmiths, welders, artists and volunteers responded to the devastating Black Saturday bush-fires by creating perhaps the most ambitious public artwork and memorial in Australia. These two documentaries are screening on Monday 22 July at Backlot Studios in Melbourne. Bookings are now open.

Also screening is After the Tsunami, a short documentary featuring Sri Lankan survivors of the 2004 boxing day Tsunami who reflect on the event, impact, and aftermath of the tragedy. This documentary will be screening as part of a series of short documentaries on 20 July at Cinema Nova in Carlton, Melbourne. Bookings are now open.

VCOSS-MAV Emergency Management Forum – Supporting communities through crisis

23 July 2019
Details and bookings:
https://helmtickets.com/events/4124/2019-vcoss-mav-emergency-management-forum

This forum will explore what’s happening to address the needs of people with a disability in emergency planning, response and relief. The forum will also showcase a range of tools designed to support people’s psychological needs following an emergency or disaster.

Presenters will include: Melba Support Services, Yarra Ranges and Bendigo Councils, Gippsland Disability Advocacy, Emerging Minds, Australian Red Cross, Victorian Council of Churches.

The forum is presented by Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) and Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV). Since 2014, the VCOSS-MAV Emergency Management Forums have engaged state and local governments, emergency service organisations, community service organisations and a range of other stakeholders to build resilience and to help deliver enhanced emergency planning, response, relief and recovery. The forums encourage collaboration and cooperation across the emergency management sector through the sharing of information and experiences, as well as networking.

Broadway Play – Come Away From

Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Come From Away tells the true story of some of the planes diverted from New York on 9/11 and sent to a town in Canada. The local community welcomed the plane loads of people who had nowhere to stay and had not planned to be there. This show is based on the friendship and resilience demonstrated by the local community that hosted the stranded visitors.

We still have some tickets for sale if anyone is interested. Contact [email protected].

Theatre review: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/theater/come-from-away-review.html

Women in Sport Photo Action Award

There is a free exhibition of photos from the #WISPAA Women in Sport Photo Action Awards at 50 Lonsdale Street for the next few weeks. This is a new photo competition for women in sport, spearheaded by peak body Women Sport Australia.
http://www.womensportaustralia.com.au/historic_women_in_sport_photo_action_awards_exhibition_to_open_in_melbourne_s_cbd

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/iconic-image-of-tayla-harris-wins-award

The brilliant action shot of Tayla Harris won the professional category:

AWE Chapter Updates

NSW

Mel Taylor recently spoke at the AWE NSW event on bushfire community awareness. “I really enjoyed the meeting, in particular, the informal discussions about what others ‘do’ in this space, and the various challenges faced. It was nice to have the luxury of some time to talk/listen. Happy to support the group (NSW AWE) in any way that helps.” Thanks Mel

NZ

Kia ora from the New Zealand chapter.

On the 7th June some keen New Zealand AWE members met for breakfast in Wellington to discuss ways to kickstart the membership and to add value to women in emergencies in New Zealand. It was a fantastic exchange of ideas and diverse experiences. Always keen to hear from other New Zealand members what they’d most like AWE to be and do for them. Drop us a line at [email protected].

Watch this space as we turn ideas into action. Nga mihi, Elizabeth and Jolie

Training Opportunities

Communicating in Recovery

A Communicating in Recovery Workshop will be held on Monday 5th August 2019, 9.00am – 4.30pm at Red Cross, St Andrews House, Lvl 3, 464 Kent St, Sydney. Further details can be found at communicatinginrecoverynsw.eventbrite.com.

Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation, VEMI Mount Macedon, Vic – 8 July 2019

The focus of this training will include the Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation Guidelines, updated Joint Standard Operating Procedure 12.01, supporting templates and learnings from past deployments. Topics to be covered include:

• The history of real time monitoring, evaluation, performance and assurance activities
• The doctrine developed to support RTM&E across the four phases of RTM&E activities
• Planning and participating in a RTM&E deployment
• Case studies of past deployments

An overview of the online lessons management system – EM-Share and the Observation, Insight, Lesson (OIL) process. By completing this training you will be qualified to be deployed as part of a RTM&E team should you wish to be.

Who should attend?
Please come along no matter what your experience, if you have never conducted monitoring and evaluation activities or you have been involved in monitoring/evaluation activities in the past.

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/real-time-monitoring-and-evaluation-tickets-62895869238

Under Pressure: LGBTI Inclusive Emergency Services

This 3-hour training increase participants’ awareness of LGBTI people’s everyday lives and the pressures they experience. Organised by Women’s Health in the North
25^th July 2019, 9.30am-12.30pm
Richmond, Vic

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/under-pressure-lgbti-inclusive-emergency-services-tickets-64216953637?aff=efbneb

Membership

AWE membership continues to grow and we now have 1,043 members across Australia, New Zealand and further.

Social Media

In case you missed it on social media this month:

Great to see a record number of women honoured in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6544409487887953920/

Strengthening Resilience in the context of self-care and wellbeing
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6546863672038354944/

NASA Computer Katherine Johnson Celebrates Her 100th Birthday
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jesseshanahan/2018/08/28/nasa-computer-katherine-johnson-celebrates-her-100th-birthday/#11edd4e917b9

What I’ve learnt from Acknowledging Country
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-ive-learnt-from-acknowledging-country-farah-beaini/

Teaching young women life skills and emergency management
https://www.wjhg.com/content/news/HERricane-Florida-Camp-is-giving-girls-power-511316211.html

UN Women flagship report reveals families hold the key to global gender inequality
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/un-women-flagship-report-reveals-families-hold-the-key-to-global-gender-inequality/

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