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Vol. 13 Issue 3. 2019

• Latest Events • Emergency Law with Prof. Michael Eburn • Friendships & Career in the Emergency Sector • Technology changing Police Surveillance • Natural Disasters & Mental Health • Click image to read more......

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<strong>Vol</strong> <strong>13</strong>. <strong>2019</strong><br />

THE EMERGENCY<br />

Strong bonds & rewarding careers<br />

SERVICES INDUSTRY<br />

Technology<br />

changing the<br />

face of Police<br />

surveillance<br />

The impact<br />

of natural<br />

disasters on<br />

mental health


We’ve got your back.<br />

Emergency Services Health is a not-for-profit<br />

health fund that exists to enhance the physical<br />

and mental health and wellbeing of Australia’s<br />

emergency services community.<br />

We do this by providing health insurance products,<br />

support, information and services designed<br />

exclusively for the needs of our members.


We treat our members like colleagues.<br />

That’s because they are.<br />

Fire Response &<br />

Recovery Sector<br />

State Emergency<br />

Response &<br />

Recovery Sector<br />

We’re rallying for<br />

everybody working and<br />

volunteering to protect<br />

our communities.<br />

Ambulance & Medical<br />

Response & Recovery<br />

Sector<br />

Water Response &<br />

Recovery Sector<br />

Why Choose Us?<br />

Our simple products are<br />

tailored to the lifelong needs<br />

of our members.<br />

We provide top quality cover, and<br />

will stand beside our members<br />

when they need us most.<br />

Our approach is personal;<br />

we care about our members.<br />

We’re run for the benefit<br />

of members. We’re a true<br />

not-for-profit. We’re not<br />

driven by corporate investors<br />

or overseas owners demanding<br />

shareholder dividends.<br />

Who Can Join?<br />

Emergency Services Health is open to people across Australia who were<br />

or are employed (including volunteering) in emergency services, and their<br />

families. Our focus on the emergency services community means we make<br />

sure we provide the most relevant products and best quality service for the<br />

lifelong health and wellbeing of our members.<br />

For more information:<br />

PHONE<br />

<strong>13</strong>00 703 703<br />

EMAIL<br />

enquiries@eshealth.com.au<br />

VISIT<br />

eshealth.com.au<br />

Emergency Services Health Pty Ltd ABN 98 <strong>13</strong>1 093 877


Paramedics Australasia International Conference<br />

PAIC19<br />

BROADENING HORIZONS<br />

28–30 NOVEMBER <strong>2019</strong><br />

Wrest Point • Hobart • Tasmania<br />

https://www.paramedics.org/events/<br />

Photo credit: Roger Wong


CONTENTS<br />

2<br />

Editor’s Note<br />

Latest Events<br />

4<br />

6<br />

8<br />

12<br />

16<br />

20<br />

24<br />

28<br />

31<br />

• <strong>2019</strong> Frontline Mental Health<br />

Conference<br />

• Hawthorn hosts Emergency<br />

Services Match<br />

Emergency Law with Professor<br />

Michael Eburn<br />

Friendships and Career in the<br />

Emergency Services Sector<br />

Technology changing Police<br />

Surveillance<br />

Natural Disasters and Mental Health<br />

Language Barrier in heath care<br />

How a bushfire can destroy a home<br />

Female leadership in the NSW Fire<br />

Service<br />

<strong>2019</strong> Flu Season - what we know<br />

Emergency Contact Information<br />

Cover Image:<br />

Surf Life Saver Float<br />

VISIT OUR<br />

WEBSITE AND<br />

VIEW ONLINE


EDITORS NOTE<br />

FROM THE EDITOR<br />

We hope you have unpacked the winter woolies for<br />

this latest edition of the Australian Emergency Services<br />

Magazine. A chilling cold front recently brought<br />

snowfall across the Victorian and NSW alpine regions,<br />

sending the icy blast far and wide.<br />

In this edition, much like any other, we want to honour<br />

and pay respect to the emergency services sector. It<br />

is a large, generous and tight knit community as was<br />

demonstrated in April when volunteer lifesavers,<br />

Andrew Powell and his father Ross Powell tragically<br />

lost their lives whilst attempting to rescue a tourist near<br />

the Twelve Apostles in Victoria. Their bravery and<br />

community spirit was spoken of all over the country,<br />

This is the very core of the emergency service sector -<br />

full of courageous and self less people who put the safety<br />

and well being of others ahead of their own.<br />

Working and volunteering in the emergency services<br />

industry is certainly a life changing occupation. One<br />

where strong bonds are formed and rewarding careers<br />

are carved out. Our article in this edition about Amee<br />

Morgans and Erin Smith - who started out at ESTA,<br />

gives more insight into what a career in the emergency<br />

services sector offers.<br />

Stay warm and<br />

happy reading<br />

Emma Parker<br />

Editor<br />

Follow us on our social channels<br />

and on our new website<br />

www.ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />

DISCLAIMER<br />

The Australian Emergency Services Magazine is<br />

a community educational resource publication<br />

and does not promote itself as a charity or<br />

fund raising institution, nor solicit on behalf of<br />

charities and is no way financially supported by<br />

or associated with any government or similar<br />

institution.<br />

Distributions of the publication is Bi-Monthly<br />

and are circulated via a database of interested<br />

parties, including business, subscribers,<br />

advertisers, volunteer emergency organistations,<br />

and council libraries. A print and digital<br />

magazine is distributed to a targeted database in<br />

each State & Territory.<br />

Every effort is made to ensure that material<br />

presented in the Australian Emergency Services<br />

Magazine was correct at the time of printing<br />

and is published in good faith, no responsibility<br />

or liability will be accepted by Boothbook<br />

Media. The views and opinions expressed are<br />

not necessarily those of Boothbook Media and<br />

its employees. The content of any advertising<br />

or promotional material contained within the<br />

Australian Emergency Services Magazine is not<br />

necessarily an endorsement by Boothbook<br />

Media.<br />

Published by Boothbook Media<br />

ABN:72 605 987 031<br />

BOOTHBOOK MEDIA<br />

DIGITAL MEDIA & MARKETING<br />

WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?<br />

MAGAZINE CONTACTS<br />

Editorial Content<br />

press@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />

Advertising Enquiries<br />

admin@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />

Distribution Enquiries<br />

contact@boothbookmedia.com.au<br />

Postal Address<br />

Boothbook Media<br />

Suite 112, Locked Bag 1<br />

Robina TC, QLD 4230<br />

<strong>13</strong>00 851 710<br />

Please submit all articles to the Editor for consideration at:<br />

press@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />

Articles should be no more than 1000 words and be relevant to the content<br />

within the Australian Emergency Services Magazine.


Australian & New Zealand<br />

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Wednesday12 - Thursday<strong>13</strong> June | RACV ROYAL PINES resort<br />

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Brought to you by:


LATEST EVENTS<br />

<strong>2019</strong> Frontline Mental Health Conference<br />

There is a lot of positive work being<br />

done within the emergency service<br />

sector dealing with the mental health<br />

of first responders and emergency<br />

service personnel.<br />

The Australian & New Zealand<br />

Mental Health Association is hosting<br />

the <strong>2019</strong> Frontline Mental Health<br />

Conference in Townsville on Sunday<br />

20th October through to Tuesday<br />

22nd October.<br />

This premiere event is designed for<br />

all professionals working on the<br />

frontline of disaster and emergency<br />

management – from paramedics,<br />

police and firefighters, through to<br />

defence force workers and volunteers.<br />

This conference will feature lived<br />

experience speakers through to<br />

mental health professionals and<br />

emergency service professionals.<br />

It aims to provide a platform for all<br />

opinions, experiences and insights,<br />

to help break the stigma of seeking<br />

support for mental health when<br />

working on the frontline.<br />

First responders are at high risk of<br />

developing mental health conditions<br />

linked to stress and traumatic events.<br />

The Frontline Mental Health<br />

Conference has sourced some of<br />

Australia’s most influential experts<br />

in mental health, experienced in<br />

providing specialised service and<br />

support to workers regularly exposed<br />

to disaster, emergency, stress and<br />

trauma.<br />

The speaker line-up will give you the<br />

chance to hear from fellow workers<br />

in the front line, sharing their<br />

experiences in dealing with issues and<br />

instances that can severely impact on<br />

mental wellbeing.<br />

Attending the conference will provide<br />

you with a library of resources,<br />

including all presenter podcasts and<br />

presentation slides. This will ensure<br />

you are equipped with everything you<br />

need to continue your educational<br />

journey long after the conference has<br />

ended.<br />

It will be an opportunity to discover<br />

research, insight and treatment<br />

techniques from mental health<br />

experts and to meet with fellow<br />

industry workers.<br />

To find out more about the<br />

conference you can head to their<br />

website to register your interest as an<br />

attendee or a speaker. There are early<br />

bird rates available.<br />

<strong>2019</strong> Frontline Mental Health<br />

Conference - Townsville<br />

www.frontlinementalhealth.com.au


LATEST EVENTS<br />

When Hawthorn takes on<br />

Collingwood on Friday 5 July at<br />

the MCG, emergency management<br />

personnel will be the focus.<br />

The Emergency Services Match is an<br />

initiative of Hawthorn Football Club<br />

and aims to raise awareness of the<br />

mental health challenges faced by<br />

emergency management personnel, as<br />

well as celebrating their contributions<br />

to the community and raising<br />

money for the Emergency Services<br />

Foundation.<br />

Nearly 40 percent of emergency<br />

services employees are diagnosed<br />

with a mental health condition,<br />

compared to 20 percent of all adults<br />

in Australia.<br />

Footy fans who are also emergency<br />

services personnel can get behind the<br />

initiative by purchasing an Emergency<br />

Services Membership, which provides<br />

access to the Emergency Services<br />

Match and one other Hawthorn Footy<br />

Club game.<br />

All proceeds from the memberships<br />

go to the Emergency Services<br />

Foundation.<br />

Every day, our emergency service<br />

workers, both paid and volunteer,<br />

respond to over 7000 calls for help<br />

from 000 here in Victoria.<br />

They see, and do things, that many of<br />

us find hard to imagine – and so often<br />

they respond with their heart in their<br />

mouth in anticipation of what they<br />

will be faced with when they arrive at<br />

the scene – especially when they are<br />

working close to home in their own<br />

small communities and see children<br />

and others harmed reminding them<br />

of their own families at home.<br />

In recent years there has been a<br />

growing awareness of the impact<br />

that this work has on people, and<br />

how exposure to danger and trauma<br />

impacts their mental health and<br />

wellbeing.<br />

Hawthorn Football Club Hosts<br />

the Emergency Services Match<br />

A national survey conducted by<br />

Beyond Blue reflects the collective<br />

voices of the 21,000 individuals who<br />

shared their information to provide<br />

ground breaking evidence into the<br />

mental health and well-being of<br />

emergency service personnel.<br />

The research found:<br />

• One in three employees<br />

experience high or very high<br />

psychological distress compared<br />

to one in eight Australian adults<br />

• One in three volunteers report<br />

being diagnosed with a mental<br />

health condition in their<br />

life compared to one in five<br />

Australian adults<br />

• Over half employees surveyed<br />

experienced a traumatic event<br />

in the course of their work that<br />

deeply affected them<br />

• Employees who have worked<br />

more than ten years in police and<br />

emergency services are almost<br />

twice as likely to experience<br />

psychological distress and<br />

six times more likely to have<br />

symptoms of PTSD compared to<br />

those with less than two years’<br />

service<br />

• Employees and volunteers report<br />

suicidal thoughts over two<br />

times more often than adults in<br />

the general population and are<br />

three times more likely to have a<br />

suicide plan<br />

These results reveal a workforce<br />

that is deeply impacted, both by the<br />

nature of the work that they do, and<br />

the pressures of the environments in<br />

which they work.<br />

Support the Emergency Services<br />

Foundation at:<br />

www.esf.com.au


AUSTRALIAN EMERGENCY LAW with Professor Michael Eburn<br />

A DISCUSSION ON<br />

THE LAW THAT<br />

APPLIES TO OR<br />

AFFECTS AUSTRALIA’S<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

SERVICES AND<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

MANAGEMENT<br />

PHD<br />

Barrister<br />

Leading expert in Law<br />

relating to Emergency<br />

Management &<br />

Emergency Services<br />

Follow Michael Eburn<br />

Facebook- facebook.com/EburnM/<br />

Twitter - @EburnM<br />

For his latest articles on Emergency<br />

Law go to:<br />

www.emergencylaw.wordpress.com<br />

Prevent or Respond ?<br />

A question for Emergency Services<br />

The mantra is Prevent, Prepare,<br />

Respond and Recovery.<br />

Preventing an emergency is better<br />

than responding to one; but equally<br />

we want resilient communities where<br />

individuals and communities take<br />

responsibility for managing their<br />

own risk. But that still leaves the<br />

emergency services to respond if and<br />

when the residual risk manifests.<br />

So where does the role of the<br />

emergency services sit when it comes<br />

to ‘prevent’? That is the essence of<br />

today’s question that comes from<br />

Adelaide. My correspondent has<br />

noticed:<br />

A large tree is growing in one of<br />

the private residences, right on the<br />

edge, literally, of a lane – there is no<br />

footpath. This tree has a diameter<br />

at the base of abut 1.5 metres and a<br />

height of, maybe, 30 to 40 metres – I.e.<br />

a ‘significant’ tree. A broken branch<br />

was lying across two other branches<br />

at a height of 15 to 20 metres. The<br />

butt of the branch was about a metre<br />

into the lane on the tree side and the<br />

branch extended across the lane and<br />

finished about 2 to 3 metres over the<br />

first-floor open car park area of a<br />

business on the other side. It had been<br />

there for some time because the leaves<br />

were dead.<br />

I advised the resident in the house<br />

and she said that she would inform<br />

the owner (she is renting). I advised<br />

the business on the other side and the<br />

receptionist said that she would notify<br />

the council, which I had intended to<br />

do, as well.<br />

Jan 29, <strong>2019</strong><br />

As an SES volunteer, I also called it in<br />

to the SES reporting line. In Adelaide,<br />

these calls go the MFS call centre. After<br />

I explained the situation, the call-taker<br />

said that it was not their responsibility;<br />

it was the responsibility of the landowner.<br />

I knew that it was too high for<br />

SES to handle, but the MFS has aerial<br />

units that would reach it and I thought<br />

that they may respond.<br />

I suspect that it is the responsibility of<br />

the land-owner, but is this the case?<br />

Would it constitute enough of a risk for<br />

emergency services to be involved?<br />

The problem is, in essence, that the<br />

emergency services legislation says<br />

very little about what the emergency<br />

services do. It may be axiomatic that<br />

fire brigades respond to fires so if<br />

there is a fire everyone knows that<br />

it’s the fire service job. And the fire<br />

brigades have specific duties and<br />

powers with respect to preventing<br />

fires (see Fire And Emergency<br />

Services Act 2005 (SA) ss 71-95A and<br />

ss 105A-105K (relating to the Country<br />

Fire Service)). But for other hazards<br />

the issues are not so clear.<br />

The South Australian State<br />

Emergency Service has a number<br />

of functions relating to dealing<br />

with emergencies, including ‘to<br />

assist the State Co-ordinator, in<br />

accordance with the State Emergency<br />

Management Plan, in carrying out<br />

prevention, preparedness, response<br />

or recovery operations under the<br />

Emergency Management Act 2004’ (s<br />

108(1)(b); emphasis added); and ‘to


deal with any emergency— (i) where<br />

the emergency is caused by flood or<br />

storm damage’ (s 108(1)(d)).<br />

Emergency is defined (s 3) as:<br />

… an event (whether occurring in<br />

the State, outside the State or in and<br />

outside the State) that causes, or<br />

threatens to cause—<br />

(a) the death of, or injury or other<br />

damage to the health of, any person;<br />

or<br />

(b) the destruction of, or damage to,<br />

any property; or<br />

(c) a disruption to essential services<br />

or to services usually enjoyed by the<br />

community; or<br />

(d) harm to the environment, or to<br />

flora or fauna;<br />

A dead tree limb hanging over a lane<br />

threatens to cause death or injury<br />

should it fall on someone, may<br />

damage property and would certainly<br />

disrupt ‘services usually enjoyed by<br />

the community’ if it fell and blocked<br />

the lane.<br />

If this lane was moved to New South<br />

Wales, the NSW State Emergency<br />

Service is to ‘to protect persons<br />

from dangers to their safety and<br />

health, and to protect property from<br />

destruction or damage, arising from<br />

floods, storms and tsunamis’ (State<br />

Emergency Service Act 1989 (NSW) s<br />

8(1)(aa)). Removing a dead limb that,<br />

if it falls during a storm, may cause<br />

injury and would block a road would<br />

‘protect persons from dangers to their<br />

safety and health’. But I don’t think<br />

anyone would seriously expect that<br />

the SES in either SA or NSW would<br />

respond to this job.<br />

The answer is however that there is<br />

no clear legislated line. It would be<br />

quite consistent with the Act for the<br />

services to see a hazard and seek to<br />

remove it but there does have to be a<br />

line. The SES are not going to clean<br />

someone’s gutters as that will reduce<br />

the risk of damage due to storm; nor<br />

are the fire brigades going to check<br />

domestic electricity installations<br />

as that will prevent fire and every<br />

adopts the PPRR mantra. The line<br />

is drawn in effect by the emergency<br />

services. They have been created<br />

by government with a broad range<br />

of functions and it is then up to the<br />

Chief Officers to determine what they<br />

do and what they do not do.<br />

They only have limited resources and<br />

have to ensure that they can do what<br />

is clearly their role which is ‘respond’<br />

to the emergency. This reasoning in<br />

part explains why, as has been said<br />

here before, there is no legal duty on<br />

the emergency services to respond<br />

and why the allocation of resources<br />

by government to agencies such as<br />

the SES and then within the SES<br />

cannot be challenged in court. If<br />

the Chief Officer assigns the bulk<br />

of the budget to response, some to<br />

community education and none to<br />

removing obvious hazards from trees<br />

across public lanes, that cannot be<br />

challenged in court. That is his or her<br />

call as to how the service is to operate.<br />

What follows is that, in my view, it<br />

would not be inconsistent with the<br />

Fire and Emergency Services Act<br />

2005 (SA) for either the Metropolitan<br />

Fire Service or the South Australian<br />

State Emergency Service to respond<br />

to this notification of a threat to life<br />

and property. There is nothing in<br />

the Act to say that they must attend,<br />

and nothing to say they must not. It’s<br />

really up to them to decide how they<br />

allocate their resources.<br />

Even if the tree limb fell it’s not clearly<br />

anyone’s responsibility. Council own<br />

the lane and like any landowner can<br />

chose to call the emergency services<br />

or not. If there is a person trapped<br />

under the tree then it’s going to<br />

trigger an emergency response but if<br />

it’s just on the road, the council, the<br />

owner, a bystander or the SES may<br />

choose to remove it. If it fell on a<br />

person or car it would be impossible<br />

to sheet legal responsibility to the<br />

emergency services for failing to<br />

remove it when they knew of it (see<br />

No duty to prevent a disaster and no<br />

duty to rescue (December 26, 2018)<br />

and see also State of NSW v Tyszyk<br />

[2008] NSWCA 107 discussed in<br />

NSW Police owed no duty of care<br />

to the family of fatal accident victim<br />

(December 1, 2017)).<br />

Legal responsibility for the tree, in<br />

terms of who will have to pay if it<br />

does fall and cause injury or damage,<br />

is the tree owner – see Liability for<br />

dangerous trees (April 28, 2015).<br />

This article originally appeared on<br />

the blog Australian Emergency Law<br />

(https://emergencylaw.wordpress.com/)<br />

and is reproduced with the permission<br />

of the author.<br />

As a blog post it represents the author’s<br />

opinion based on the law at the time it<br />

was written. The blog, or this article,<br />

is not legal advice and cannot be relied<br />

upon to determine any person’s legal<br />

position. How the law applies to any<br />

specific situation or event depends on<br />

all the circumstances.<br />

If you need to determine legal rights<br />

and obligations with respect to any<br />

event that has happened, or some<br />

action that is proposed, you must<br />

consult a lawyer for advice based on<br />

the particular circumstances. Trade<br />

unions, professional indemnity insurers<br />

and community legal centres can all be<br />

a source for initial legal advice.


FRIENDSHIPS FORGED AND<br />

CAREERS MADE IN THE<br />

EMERGENCY SERVICES SECTOR<br />

Almost 20 years ago, Amee Morgans and Erin Smith started at the<br />

Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) (then Intergraph)<br />

as triple zero call-takers. Since then, they have continued working across the<br />

sector and are still close friends. Tania Willett from ESTA interviewed them<br />

about their personal experience and the different career paths and leadership<br />

roles that this sector has to offer.


Both women now have PhDs in<br />

emergency services; Amee is back<br />

at ESTA as Executive Director<br />

Operations Support and Erin is<br />

Course Coordinator and Senior<br />

Lecturer in Disaster Response at<br />

Edith Cowan University. For Amee<br />

and Erin, joining ESTA was a positive<br />

life-altering experience that led them<br />

down the path of emergency services.<br />

Both have worked in triple zero<br />

call-taking, research, policy and<br />

education.<br />

They talked recently about their<br />

experiences, the friendships and<br />

bonds that are created in the sector<br />

and the different career paths<br />

emergency services offers.<br />

Take us back to where it all<br />

started. How did you get into the<br />

emergency services sector?<br />

Amee: My interest in emergency<br />

services has always been present.<br />

I grew up with my dad being a<br />

The emergency services sector is filled<br />

with people that are all the same sort of<br />

person - community focused and their<br />

valued alignment is very strong; selfsacrifice<br />

and doing things that are<br />

difficult for the greater good<br />

Amee Morgans<br />

paramedic. When I had nearly<br />

finished my degree in psychology, I<br />

got a part-time job in an ambulance<br />

crisis-counselling unit, which<br />

opened me up to the challenges that<br />

emergency services workers face. I<br />

knew I wanted to use my skill set in<br />

the emergency services sector, which<br />

led to me taking a job as a triple zero<br />

call-taker.<br />

Erin: When I first started at ESTA,<br />

that was my springboard into an<br />

emergency services career. As a triple<br />

zero operator, the emergency services<br />

world really opened up to me but the<br />

pivotal moment for me was when<br />

the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened.<br />

I was working for ESTA during 9/11<br />

and it really made me think - `what<br />

are our emergency services people<br />

thinking watching this unfold?<br />

How is this going to influence our<br />

sector in Australia?’ Since then I’ve<br />

completed a PhD in disaster response<br />

and have interviewed more than 100<br />

paramedics in Melbourne, London<br />

and New York about how 9/11<br />

changed them and their perspective<br />

on the work that they do.


Erin Smith Course Coordinator and Senior Lecturer in Disaster Response at Edith Cowan University and Amee Morgans Executive Director Operations Support ESTA<br />

I believe you and Amee also<br />

worked on a research paper<br />

together around paramedics’<br />

perceptions; can you talk a bit<br />

more about that work?<br />

Amee: Yes, in 2009, Erin and I<br />

worked on a research paper titled<br />

‘Paramedics’ perception of risk and<br />

willingness to work during disasters’.<br />

Paramedics, as emergency healthcare<br />

workers and frontline responders<br />

are expected to be both willing and<br />

able to respond when disaster strikes.<br />

In summary, this research looked at<br />

whether the willingness to work is<br />

directly influenced by paramedics’<br />

perception of risk.<br />

Erin: In terms of methods, a total of<br />

58 Victorian paramedics participated<br />

in this study and a total of 12 focus<br />

groups were conducted throughout<br />

the state, with each group facilitated<br />

by the use of three different<br />

emergency services scenarios. We<br />

then analysed each groups’ reactions<br />

to those scenarios.<br />

It’s clear from your careers<br />

and research that you’re both<br />

passionate about the wellbeing of<br />

emergency services workers. How<br />

important is this to the sector as<br />

a whole?<br />

Erin: A lot of my work to date<br />

looked at the long-term impacts on<br />

first responders after disasters. For<br />

example, with my research involving<br />

9/11, I followed the paramedics and<br />

their families over 15 years to see<br />

the mental health impact that 9/11<br />

had. The emergency services sector,<br />

because of the nature of its work,<br />

is one that can have high levels of<br />

anxiety and stress and other mental<br />

health issues. It’s important that as a<br />

sector we continue to address these<br />

issues and ensure that our people are<br />

getting the right help before, during<br />

and after disasters.<br />

Amee: The 2009 Victorian bushfires<br />

was when I saw the mental health<br />

consequences on those from my<br />

own family who work in emergency<br />

services; my sister works in triple<br />

zero, one brother is a police officer<br />

and my other brother is a firefighter.<br />

To see the impacts on my own family<br />

really drove home how important<br />

looking after your wellbeing is in<br />

this sector is. Both Erin and I, in<br />

our roles, are looking at trying to<br />

make the workforce a healthier place<br />

for emergency services workers by<br />

looking at how we can set up better,<br />

how we can manage things better and<br />

how do we recover better. If people


are confident and competent, we will<br />

be less likely to have mental health<br />

injuries across the sector.<br />

You both forged a strong<br />

friendship over the past 20 years.<br />

What have you noticed about<br />

friendships and bonds in the<br />

sector?<br />

Amee: The emergency services sector<br />

is filled with people that are all the<br />

same sort of person - community<br />

focused and their valued alignment<br />

is very strong; self-sacrifice and<br />

doing things that are difficult for<br />

the greater good. I think because it<br />

takes a certain sort of person to be<br />

an emergency services worker and<br />

stick with it for the long haul,; strong<br />

bonds are created because we all get<br />

each other and have been through<br />

experiences that nobody else can<br />

really understand. It’s also a small<br />

world in this sector - everybody<br />

knows everybody. I know whole<br />

families in the sector. There are always<br />

touch points.<br />

Erin: I know for Amee and I we<br />

developed a lovely friendship during<br />

our time working at triple zero<br />

because we supported each other. We<br />

weren’t just your typical workmates –<br />

we heard things that you wouldn’t be<br />

exposed to in another job role.<br />

What do you both see when you<br />

look at the future of the sector?<br />

Erin: I see there being lots of growth<br />

in terms of the types of roles we will<br />

have. Even though we have many<br />

different career paths in emergency<br />

services that people can take now,<br />

such as education, logistics and<br />

recovery work, I think there will be<br />

more targeted courses, and we’re<br />

certainly seeing that now in the post<br />

grad area; for example, there are<br />

courses such as wildness medicine<br />

and tactical medicine.<br />

Amee: I hope to see boundary-less<br />

services and a greater ability to<br />

transition between sectors and roles.<br />

When people reach the end of their<br />

career as a first responder, it would<br />

be good to see that they can transfer<br />

into other roles within the emergency<br />

services sector.<br />

Tania Willett<br />

Corporate Affairs Adviser<br />

ESTA - Emergency Services<br />

Telecommunications Authority


BIG BROTHER IS<br />

WATCHING:<br />

how new technologies are changing<br />

police surveillance<br />

When we think of<br />

surveillance, we tend<br />

to imagine traditional<br />

surveillance tools like CCTV systems<br />

run by local authorities. The use of<br />

CCTV has certainly increased since<br />

I was a young constable on the Gold<br />

Coast in the early 1990s. From a<br />

CCTV network of 16 cameras when<br />

they were first introduced to the city<br />

precinct, the network has grown to<br />

more than 500 cameras today.<br />

But surveillance is much more than<br />

just CCTV. It now includes things<br />

like private home or business security<br />

systems, police body-worn cameras<br />

(BWC) and the use of helicopters<br />

and drones. And we all have the<br />

capacity to conduct surveillance and<br />

gather evidence using the technology<br />

contained in our mobile phones.<br />

These new technologies are changing<br />

the way police approach surveillance.<br />

Rather than using surveillance tools<br />

reactively to catch criminals caught<br />

in the act on camera, police are now<br />

proactively seeking out criminals<br />

in the process of offending and<br />

recording the evidence on the spot.<br />

CCTV helps solve crime,<br />

not prevent it<br />

Most studies show that CCTV by<br />

itself does not necessarily prevent<br />

crime, but it does assist in responding<br />

to and solving crime.<br />

In the Boston bombing case, police<br />

used footage and images from state,<br />

public and private sources to identify<br />

the suspects. CCTV is also proving<br />

crucial in identifying the bombers<br />

who staged the recent coordinated<br />

attacks in Sri Lanka.<br />

Two studies released by the Australian<br />

Institute of Criminology last month<br />

focused on the use of CCTV by<br />

police. The first showed that where<br />

police requested and used CCTV<br />

footage, there was an increase in the<br />

rate of matters being solved. The<br />

second study showed CCTV footage<br />

is highly valued by law enforcement<br />

personnel, with 90% of investigators<br />

using the footage when it was<br />

available. Two-thirds were able to use<br />

it for the reason they had requested it.<br />

New tools, new capabilities<br />

We are now seeing a move from<br />

reactive surveillance to proactive<br />

surveillance.<br />

Police body worn cameras (BWCs)<br />

are an example of this. Every police<br />

service in Australia is now using<br />

BWCs. Rather than just recording<br />

a criminal event by chance, BWCs<br />

enable police to actively seek out<br />

those committing offences, and


ecord the evidence against such<br />

offenders.<br />

Queensland Police requires its<br />

officers to record whenever the<br />

officer is acting in the performance<br />

of his or her duties. The device must<br />

be recording prior to, and during,<br />

the exercising of a police power or<br />

applying a use of force.<br />

This requirement can be problematic<br />

since the officer must physically start<br />

the recording. In the shooting matter<br />

of Justine Damond in the United<br />

States, officers were criticised for<br />

having their recording devices turned<br />

off during the shooting.<br />

Some services have attempted to<br />

deal with this issue, such as Western<br />

Australia Police for instance, by<br />

having the BWC automatically begin<br />

recording when an officer draws their<br />

firearm.<br />

Even traditional CCTV is becoming<br />

proactive with the introduction of<br />

mobile CCTV cameras that can<br />

be moved as required to areas of<br />

community concern.<br />

Many police services are using drones<br />

for tasks such as crowd management,<br />

surveillance and target acquisition.<br />

Queensland and Victoria are just are<br />

two states that are committed to the<br />

use of drones for policing purposes.<br />

In 2017, Queensland Police had a fleet<br />

of ten drones.<br />

Facial recognition enables ‘predictive<br />

policing’<br />

Facial recognition software was<br />

once the thing of Hollywood movies<br />

like Mission Impossible. It’s now a<br />

reality, with the Council of Australian<br />

Governments (COAG) agreeing to<br />

share biometric data, such as drivers<br />

licence details and passport photos,<br />

between government agencies.<br />

Facial recognition software<br />

was used by police during<br />

2018 Commonwealth games in<br />

Queensland. And the Queensland<br />

government has indicated police will<br />

continue to use facial recognition<br />

tools – although confusion surrounds<br />

when or how it will be deployed. The<br />

ABC has reported that the facial<br />

recognition system was so rushed that<br />

it lacked the data to operate effectively<br />

during the Commonwealth Games.<br />

Facial recognition adds a predictive<br />

policing capability to traditional<br />

CCTV systems. In essence, predictive<br />

policing or pre-crime policing is<br />

an attempt by law enforcement to<br />

disrupt criminal activity by the early<br />

identification of criminal threats.<br />

For example, Operation Nomad saw<br />

a South Australian police visiting<br />

suspected and convicted arsonists<br />

when automated number plate<br />

recognition alerted them to suspects<br />

driving in fire danger zones. The<br />

operation was credited with the<br />

reduction of bushfire related arson.<br />

Keeping a watch on big brother<br />

Surveillance is changing from being<br />

static, fixed and reactive to being<br />

flexible and proactive. The enhanced<br />

capabilities helps law enforcement<br />

fight crime, rather than just solve it.<br />

The Coalition government promised<br />

A$20 million to increase the number<br />

of CCTV cameras across the country.<br />

Under the proposal, up to 2,600<br />

cameras would be installed at 500<br />

“crime hot spots”.<br />

While this is a largely positive<br />

move, we must ensure that there<br />

is accountability and transparency<br />

in the use of these technologies,<br />

and ensure they serve the purposes<br />

for which they were intended. An<br />

effective governance regime is<br />

essential to instill public confidence in<br />

the use of these technologies.<br />

Article first published on The Conversation<br />

Terry Goldsworthy<br />

Associate Professor in Criminology<br />

Bond University<br />

www.cityfordrockdale.com.au<br />

273 – 291 Princes Highway Arncliffe NSW 2205 wdawson@cityfordrockdale.com.au <strong>13</strong>00 852 632


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Radical circumstances<br />

(bushfires and natural<br />

disasters) flush out the<br />

mental illness in society. Whenever<br />

there’s a disaster, there’s a rush on<br />

hospital admissions for psychiatric<br />

problems. But on the whole, the<br />

illness is already there.<br />

Emergencies naturally make<br />

fodder for delusions and the<br />

emergency efforts, for mania.<br />

Obviously, there are direct mental<br />

health consequences – a small rise<br />

in post-traumatic stress disorder<br />

inevitably follows disaster. This<br />

correlates with the severity of the<br />

consequences of the disaster (loss<br />

of family, friends, animals and<br />

property).<br />

And there’s usually a big rethink,<br />

with about a third of those affected<br />

leaving the area permanently. But,<br />

for the most part, this isn’t driven<br />

by mental health issues, it results<br />

from the very real fears about<br />

whether living in a fire (or other<br />

disaster) zone is worth it.<br />

Resilience and weakness<br />

In terms of mental health, the real<br />

effect of disasters is surprising.<br />

When handled well (as they<br />

have been in the recent efforts),<br />

disasters are an opportunity for<br />

communities and people who are<br />

directly involved to galvanise, and<br />

this appears to inoculate against<br />

mental illness by strengthening<br />

social bonds, and feeding a sense<br />

of purpose and meaning.<br />

Another surprise is the flipside<br />

– an inexplicable rise in the<br />

mental illnesses that affect the<br />

elderly. Those who are frail and<br />

can’t get involved may feel they<br />

are ultimately only a burden.<br />

Such people suffer terribly from<br />

mental illness as a result of<br />

disasters. The big rise in mental<br />

health admissions after a bushfire<br />

happens in this group – its first<br />

presentations of dementia and<br />

senile degeneration is many times<br />

higher than with any other mental<br />

illness.


Natural Disasters<br />

Impact Mental<br />

Health<br />

Jan Golembiewski<br />

Researcher in<br />

Environmental<br />

Determinants of<br />

Mental Health<br />

University of Sydney


The complexity of social,<br />

environmental and psychological<br />

dynamics during an emergency<br />

cannot be underestimated. With<br />

normalcy going with the first<br />

evacuees, the strength of “all that is<br />

good” becomes the new foundation.<br />

As the National Strategy for Disaster<br />

Resilience points out, the power of the<br />

community (people you never met<br />

before come out of the woodwork to<br />

help), and the abiding dedication of<br />

the emergency services can be truly<br />

inspiring. And this is just the thing<br />

for building physical and mental<br />

resilience.<br />

A useful way to understand this<br />

effect is through a theory called<br />

salutogenics. The theory rests on<br />

a relative sense of coherence that’s<br />

built by fostering three things –<br />

manageability, comprehensibility and<br />

meaning.<br />

Conversely, the sense of coherence is<br />

depleted by anything that rattles your<br />

ability to cope – not only a lack of<br />

resources required to manage; a lack<br />

of knowledge needed to comprehend<br />

circumstances, or a lack of meaning<br />

in life, but more general forces like the<br />

entropy of age and time.<br />

While emergencies inevitably attack<br />

the ability to manage, they allow for<br />

meaning by providing clear answers<br />

to life’s big question – what are you<br />

here for? Getting involved in an<br />

emergency effort gives the answer –<br />

I’m not a parasite, I’m here to save<br />

people. I’m a contributor.<br />

The formation of beliefs like these<br />

has been shown to assist in the<br />

widest gamut of health outcomes,<br />

not only in mental health. Recent<br />

research has also identified the<br />

effect of improved meaning and<br />

comprehensibility in conditions as<br />

diverse as heart disease and cancers.<br />

Surprising as it is, disasters can<br />

actually improve health if people<br />

find a way to get meaningfully<br />

involved in the disaster response<br />

effort.<br />

Perceiving is believing<br />

Reading this, you might think a<br />

bushfire is a wonderful thing. But<br />

there’s a big caveat – in emergencies,<br />

the perceptions of those involved<br />

are critical. Good interpersonal<br />

connections create meaning,<br />

but the lack of structure within<br />

emergency situations also provides<br />

opportunities for selfishness<br />

and even criminality. And these<br />

inevitably lend themselves to<br />

atrocious outcomes (consider<br />

Hurricane Katrina).<br />

Good information improves<br />

comprehensibility, but in an<br />

emergency, information may be<br />

hard to come by and is frequently<br />

manipulated. What’s more, people<br />

<br />

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might not have the heart to be honest<br />

when it matters most.<br />

An under-promise allows low<br />

expectations to be exceeded, and<br />

this allows for a powerful message of<br />

hope and the belief that everything<br />

ultimately works out well. On the<br />

other hand, disappointment is easily<br />

taken as betrayal.<br />

Disaster victims should be expected<br />

to make unreasonable demands.<br />

Victims may, for instance, extract<br />

promises that are difficult or<br />

impossible to keep. Who, after all,<br />

wants to deny someone who is<br />

desperate and might have his life in<br />

danger? Who wouldn’t prefer to lie<br />

and say, “don’t worry. Everything will<br />

be fine”?<br />

But a hastily made guess that<br />

“someone will be there to help in<br />

a couple of hours” can start doing<br />

damage at 120 minutes and one<br />

second. The reason is because<br />

the promise suddenly becomes<br />

questionable, and at this point,<br />

comprehensibility collapses and<br />

meaning starts to erode. What could<br />

be more destructive mentally?<br />

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IS LANGUAGE A<br />

BARRIER IN A<br />

HEALTH CARE<br />

SETTING?<br />

Almost one quarter of the Australian population speaks a<br />

language other than English at home. But health services<br />

in Australia are largely delivered in English only.<br />

We know Australians from culturally<br />

and linguistically diverse backgrounds<br />

are less likely to access health<br />

services, which leads to poorer health<br />

outcomes. One major reason for<br />

this is the language barrier between<br />

health-care providers and consumers.<br />

Access to interpreters in health care<br />

should be seen as a basic human right.<br />

Interpreters benefit both patients and<br />

practitioners<br />

Interpreters are a vital bridge between<br />

health services and consumers.<br />

Interpreters enable consumers to be<br />

fully informed about their health<br />

condition and options for treatment.<br />

They also give consumers a voice<br />

to express themselves freely in<br />

their dominant language. This<br />

means people can share exactly<br />

what they need to say to healthcare<br />

professionals and can ask the<br />

questions they want answered.<br />

Research has found the use of<br />

professional interpreters improves<br />

the experience of medical care<br />

for patients with limited English<br />

proficiency.<br />

The use of professional interpreters<br />

significantly reduces the risk of<br />

communication errors that can lead<br />

to negative clinical consequences.<br />

Errors could include gaps in<br />

information about patient allergies,<br />

and instructions around the use<br />

of prescription medicines being<br />

misconstrued.<br />

But failure to provide access to<br />

interpreters in health settings can<br />

literally be a matter of life or death.<br />

Particularly in an emergency, if a<br />

patient and their loved ones are<br />

unable to communicate details<br />

about the patient’s medical situation<br />

to the treating doctors, this may<br />

impact whether the patient receives<br />

appropriate and timely treatment.


In one case in the United States, a<br />

hospital acted on advice provided by a<br />

Spanish-speaking family with limited<br />

English proficiency when admitting<br />

their son. A court found language<br />

confusion contributed to delayed<br />

diagnosis of a brain haemmorhage,<br />

which resulted in the patient<br />

becoming a paraplegic.<br />

But not everyone is given access to an<br />

interpreter<br />

Despite the benefits of using an<br />

interpreter, a recent study in a Sydney<br />

hospital found although interpreters<br />

were required in 15.7% of admissions,<br />

just <strong>3.</strong>7% of patients were actually<br />

provided with an interpreter.<br />

A person who needs an interpreter<br />

may not get one because they’re<br />

deemed not to require the service,<br />

because an interpreter can’t be<br />

sourced within the required<br />

timeframe (for example, in emergency<br />

situations), or because there’s no<br />

interpreter available in the language<br />

or dialect required by the patient.<br />

The use of interpreters in regional,<br />

rural and remote Australia may be<br />

even lower given the lack of available<br />

interpreters in those areas.<br />

When health professionals and<br />

consumers don’t speak the same<br />

language, delivering health services<br />

without an interpreter raises a<br />

number of ethical issues.<br />

For example, if a person is unable to<br />

understand what is being said to them<br />

by a health-care practitioner, they<br />

can’t give their informed consent.<br />

Proceeding with any treatment<br />

without informed consent is in breach<br />

of the code of conduct of all health<br />

professions in Australia.<br />

Family members as interpreters<br />

The Australian government funds the<br />

provision of professional interpreters<br />

in health-care settings free of charge.<br />

But professional interpreters are<br />

not always on hand when they are<br />

needed. This often results in the use of<br />

family members as interpreters.<br />

This practice is fraught with issues<br />

and in some instances this can do<br />

more harm than good for both the<br />

interpreter and the patient.<br />

Relatives don’t have formal training as<br />

interpreters and may not be familiar<br />

with the medical terminology being<br />

used or how to translate it.<br />

Family members may add their own<br />

interpretation or opinion in the<br />

delivery of the message, thereby not<br />

delivering the message intended by<br />

the health-care practitioner or the<br />

patient.


In many migrant families, children or<br />

young adults have the best knowledge<br />

of English in the family and so are<br />

often called upon to be the interpreter.<br />

The use of underage interpreters<br />

raises further ethical issues as they<br />

are tasked with interpreting sensitive<br />

health information about a loved one.<br />

So caution is needed when using<br />

family members as interpreters.<br />

How can the use of interpreters be<br />

increased and improved?<br />

There are some key actions that<br />

should be taken to improve healthcare<br />

experiences and outcomes<br />

for people with limited English<br />

proficiency.<br />

First, training for both interpreters<br />

and health-care professionals is<br />

essential to develop skills for effective<br />

collaboration.<br />

Second, there should be additional<br />

time allocated for appointments<br />

where interpreters are used. This<br />

is because each sentence must be<br />

said twice during the exchange of<br />

information and time is needed for<br />

briefing and debriefing about the<br />

session.<br />

Third, health services need to collect<br />

accurate information to determine<br />

whether an interpreter is needed. A<br />

person may present with functional<br />

English but still require an interpreter<br />

for ease of communication given<br />

the complex terminology and the<br />

seriousness of medical conversations.<br />

And finally, professionally trained<br />

interpreters must be available in the<br />

languages and dialects required. There<br />

are more than 300 languages spoken<br />

in Australia and many have multiple<br />

dialects.<br />

Investment in interpreting services<br />

is essential to ensure the provision of<br />

equitable, high quality health care to<br />

all Australians. In a country where<br />

interpreters may improve care for one<br />

quarter of the population, we can’t<br />

afford not to.<br />

Article first published on The Conversation<br />

Sarah Verdon<br />

Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer<br />

in Speech and Language Pathology,<br />

Charles Sturt University


How a<br />

Bushfire<br />

can destroy<br />

a home<br />

Ten years after the devastation of Black Saturday,<br />

building design has largely been unrecognised as an area<br />

worthy of research. We have advanced our knowledge<br />

of the materials used in the construction of homes in<br />

bushfire-prone areas but we continue to use the design<br />

model of the suburban home.<br />

This needs to change. An initial<br />

starting point is to consider the way<br />

previous bushfires have damaged and<br />

destroyed buildings.<br />

Elements of a bushfire<br />

A bushfire has five different elements:<br />

smoke, wind, embers, flames, and<br />

radiant heat (the latter two are collectively<br />

called the “fire front”).<br />

Smoke and wind are usually present<br />

throughout a fire, but are particularly<br />

high when the fire burns at its most<br />

intense levels. Depending on the type<br />

of vegetation burning, isolated flying<br />

embers may arrive hours before a fire<br />

front. Intense ember attacks usually<br />

occur 15-30 minutes before a fire<br />

front arrives, and may persist for up<br />

to 8 hours after the fire front moves<br />

on.<br />

Radiant heat at a level that makes it<br />

impossible to survive outside will<br />

persist during the passage of the fire<br />

front, which may last anywhere between<br />

2 and 15 minutes. However, if<br />

consequential fires are ignited by the<br />

main fire front, the radiant heat may<br />

remain at non-survivable levels for<br />

much longer.<br />

The smoke of a bushfire reduces visibility<br />

and can turn a bright day into<br />

night. A change in wind direction can<br />

renew a threat residents thought had<br />

already passed them.<br />

How will a bushfire attack your<br />

home?<br />

Most people would expect that the<br />

most destructive element of a bushfire<br />

is the fire front, but rather surprisingly<br />

that’s not the case. Ember entry<br />

and associated spot fires, rather than<br />

direct flame contact, accounts for 75-<br />

80% of homes destroyed by bushfires.<br />

Embers can be large strips of burning<br />

bark, or a tiny spark as small as a pinhead,<br />

and depending on wind speed<br />

these can travel up to 10 kilometres<br />

ahead of the fire front.<br />

Australian research over the past


75 years has revealed more than 20<br />

different parts of a house and its<br />

surrounding area that are vulnerable<br />

to bushfire attack. Much of this<br />

knowledge has now been incorporated<br />

into a recently updated Australian<br />

Standard: Construction of buildings<br />

in bushfire-prone areas.<br />

These guidelines aim to reduce the<br />

vulnerability of each part of a house,<br />

and thus make the structure as a<br />

whole more resistant to bushfire<br />

damage. The Standard applies across<br />

Australia for new homes and renovations.<br />

The known building ignition points<br />

The known weak parts of a building<br />

are referred to as the “building ignition<br />

points”. Several are considered<br />

below:<br />

Roof cavity<br />

In domestic homes the roof cavity is<br />

the large open space under the roof<br />

and above the ceiling. Embers in this<br />

space can cause fire to spread rapidly,<br />

making the whole building vulnerable<br />

to ceiling collapse.<br />

Any gap in the roof, such as a poorly<br />

secured tile, can allow flying embers<br />

to enter. The burning crown of a<br />

nearby tree, pushed onto a roof by<br />

high-speed winds, can also ignite the<br />

house.<br />

When people choose to shelter in<br />

their bathrooms they often forget<br />

the ceiling is particularly vulnerable<br />

there. It’s difficult to access a roof cavity<br />

with a fire hose, and extinguishing<br />

embers and fire invariably damages<br />

electrical wiring, plasterwork, and<br />

home contents.<br />

Regular inspection and maintenance<br />

of roof elements can help reduce ember<br />

entry. Avoiding trees close to your<br />

house, and removing any overhanging<br />

branches, can also help reduce this<br />

bushfire risk.<br />

Gutters<br />

Overhanging trees can cause compacted<br />

leaf litter to build up in gutters.<br />

During a bushfire flying embers land<br />

in this material, catch alight and<br />

spread flames to combustible parts<br />

of the roof structure such as wooden<br />

facia boards, rafters, roof battens, and<br />

eaves.<br />

It’s a good idea to clear out your<br />

gutters each year as part of seasonal<br />

bushfire preparation. Some people<br />

choose to wait until a bushfire is approaching<br />

to do this, but going onto<br />

your roof for the first time in semidarknes<br />

while embers are flying at<br />

you can put you at risk, and endanger<br />

your life.<br />

If you’re building a new structure you<br />

can consider extending the roof line<br />

and having a water collection system<br />

on the ground to remove the need for<br />

gutters.<br />

Vents and weep holes<br />

Together vents and weep holes allow<br />

for fresh air to pass through a building<br />

and for excess moisture to leave,<br />

reduce condensation and mould. They<br />

are necessary for our comfort and<br />

health, and maintaining the integrity<br />

of a building.<br />

However in a bushfire these types of<br />

external openings can allow flying<br />

embers to enter the building and<br />

start spot fires. Having steel or other<br />

non-combustible mesh with small<br />

holes in front or behind vents and<br />

weep holes can reduce the bushfire<br />

risk while still allowing air and moisture<br />

to pass through.<br />

Subfloors<br />

Often houses constructed in bushfire-prone<br />

areas are built on a sloping<br />

block of land. The area under the<br />

building (the subfloor) is left open<br />

rather than being enclosed, and<br />

combustible materials are often stored<br />

there. The danger is similar in scale<br />

to embers in the roof cavity. When<br />

embers or flames take hold in this<br />

subfloor area they can spread under<br />

the entire building and allow the fire<br />

to move up.<br />

Plants and mulched garden beds next<br />

to the home<br />

Garden beds and timber steps near a<br />

house are a potential danger during<br />

a bushfire. Plants with dense foliage<br />

can burn intensely and cause radiant<br />

heat damage, cracking and imploding<br />

nearby windows and glass doors.<br />

Garden beds which have been<br />

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ecently mulched can trap flying<br />

embers and spread fire to timber<br />

subfloors. It’s much better to have<br />

a non-combustible paved area next<br />

to your home, with pots containing<br />

either succulents or plants with<br />

thin foliage.<br />

Deciding whether to stay and<br />

defend a home or leave early is a<br />

difficult and contentious choice.<br />

Hopefully, knowing more about<br />

some parts of your house which<br />

are most vulnerable to bushfire attack<br />

will make that decision easier.<br />

Article first published on The Conversation<br />

Douglas Brown<br />

Casual Academic<br />

Western Sydney University<br />

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FIRING UP THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE FO<br />

Words By<br />

Angela Calabrese<br />

www.executivecentral.com.au<br />

Image: Shutterstock


R WOMEN AT FIRE AND RESCUE NSW<br />

How do you maintain the momentum for an ambitious gender parity program<br />

in a 6,800-strong organisation that has been exclusively male for decades<br />

and only recently reached 17 women in its senior ranks?<br />

The organisation in question, Fire and Rescue NSW says part of the answer<br />

has been a highly successful, tailored program of empowerment and<br />

confidence-building for its women leaders.<br />

The Women Leading @ Fire + Rescue<br />

NSW program was an initiative of<br />

Wayne Phillips, Chief Superintendent,<br />

Organisational Development People<br />

and Culture, Fire and Rescue NSW,<br />

who said he wanted to increase the<br />

confidence of female leaders in order<br />

to build the leadership pipeline.<br />

The Women Leading program was<br />

developed and delivered over six<br />

months in 2018 by Executive Central<br />

Director Reyna Matthes.<br />

“Fire and Rescue NSW recognises<br />

the benefits for both our existing<br />

workforce and the communities<br />

we serve to build an inclusive<br />

environment and culture within our<br />

organisation. There are many facets<br />

that form an inclusive workplace and<br />

this program focuses on building<br />

capacity in our existing women<br />

so they may act as role models for<br />

those within and attraction beacons<br />

for those women who may be<br />

considering Fire and Rescue NSW<br />

as a career,” Chief Superintendent<br />

Phillips said.<br />

“At the very least, Fire and Rescue<br />

NSW recognises that career<br />

advancement appears to be difficult<br />

for women due to cultural and<br />

confidence issues and this course was<br />

seen as a way to build confidence in<br />

its women to achieve whatever their<br />

goals are.<br />

“There are still not many women<br />

progressing through the ranks. Just<br />

one of the reasons for this lack of<br />

progress is women’s confidence and<br />

knowing when they can go for a<br />

promotion. So, we decided that for<br />

the 17 most senior women in NSW,<br />

we needed to organise coaching and a<br />

networking opportunity so they could<br />

become empowered.<br />

“We chose Executive Central because<br />

they had a tailored leadership<br />

program specifically for women.<br />

Executive Central had delivered<br />

the Women Leading programs in<br />

similar organisations to ours and it<br />

had a good track record for what we<br />

needed.”<br />

In relation to key outcomes, Chief<br />

Superintendent Phillips said: “We<br />

were looking for higher engagement<br />

from our senior women, more trust<br />

in the organisation to develop women<br />

and to increase the representation of<br />

women in leadership.”<br />

While currently under evaluation,<br />

informal feedback from participants<br />

has been positive. “I had informal<br />

feedback along the way that the<br />

participants felt we had really invested<br />

in them and their leadership,” he said.<br />

“Building the pipeline for women in<br />

the organisation is one of the reasons<br />

we went down this path but it’s only<br />

one part of the pie. We are also<br />

building a more flexible and inclusive<br />

workplace for everyone – men and<br />

women. This is a public-sector-wide<br />

trend,” Chief Superintendent Phillips<br />

added.<br />

What participants said about the<br />

Women Leading program<br />

Tracey Spindler, Leading Station<br />

Officer, Forestville, said: “The things<br />

that were of value, more than I had<br />

anticipated, were the connections and<br />

contacts that I made with other senior<br />

female colleagues. There are very few<br />

crews where there’s more than one<br />

female on shift.<br />

“This important aspect was enhanced<br />

by the program structure: three<br />

two-day sessions with overnight stays<br />

and each one followed by a one-onone<br />

coaching session with Women<br />

Leading coach Reyna Matthes. It’s<br />

the most perfect balance of group<br />

work and individual focus. We got<br />

the chance to explore things together<br />

and then, as an individual, get more<br />

specific and really make the program<br />

about ‘me’.


“We were able to connect and<br />

develop those friendships – it’s<br />

difficult normally because we’re<br />

in different parts of the state, on<br />

different platoons and shifts. We were<br />

able to really talk about and discuss<br />

challenges, experiences and put our<br />

vulnerabilities on the line. Personally,<br />

I was able to move forward and feel<br />

acknowledged by Fire & Rescue.<br />

Learning New Skills<br />

“The big take away for me was the<br />

focus on ‘strengths-based leadership’<br />

– that was pretty potent. We got<br />

to explore strengths even further,<br />

recognising our strengths and how<br />

to apply them – that really was a big<br />

deal. I feel it has given me confidence<br />

as a leader.<br />

“Particularly useful was the Career<br />

Map work (a roadmap for career<br />

management). I think that 20 years<br />

ago, if someone had sat with me and<br />

talked to me about my career map, I<br />

would have taken on a leadership role<br />

much earlier.<br />

“Six or so months after the program,<br />

I’m feeling more confident because<br />

I’m focusing on my strengths and<br />

how I can incorporate them into<br />

my leadership. After the program, I<br />

worked for a time in a regional area<br />

as acting inspector where they’d had<br />

little exposure – at all levels – to<br />

female leaders. It was a huge benefit<br />

to have had this training to use my<br />

strengths to support me.<br />

“As an organisation, I think the fire<br />

service realised that we have a really<br />

tough gig – even as firefighters. It<br />

takes a lot of courage to step up as<br />

leaders, you have to be very confident<br />

– it really helped to explore what’s<br />

holding us back.<br />

“I know senior management would<br />

do anything to help us and this was<br />

a brilliant start. To (EC coach Reyna<br />

Matthes) Reyna’s credit, she really<br />

challenged us; she was very good at<br />

looking for a way forward in relation<br />

to issues that were preventing us from<br />

stepping up and moving ahead in our<br />

careers.”<br />

Zena Mehanna, Station Officer, Leichhardt, said: “When I joined there<br />

were only around 15 active women in the fire service in a workforce of<br />

3,000 people. My first station, Glebe, gave me the best experience. From<br />

my crew – I worked with some truly awesome men – to my boss, who was<br />

progressive and a true leader before his time. The reason I’m where I am<br />

today is that I had the benefit of great leadership from the start.<br />

“The interesting thing about our job is that we work with a very wide<br />

generational range. As a female station officer, I work with millennials<br />

through to baby boomers and each has to be treated differently because<br />

they come with varying experiences and exposure to female leadership.<br />

Expectations of the program<br />

“To be honest I didn’t know what to expect from the course but this<br />

turned out to be a quality leadership program for women initiated by the<br />

(fire) service.<br />

“The standout reasons for me as to why the program was successful was<br />

first and foremost the women who participated. It was an important and<br />

rare opportunity to network and offer support to each other as senior<br />

women.<br />

“The other valuable component of the program was that it really<br />

reinforced being yourself through its strengths-based leadership approach.<br />

Being able to bring the best of you to work allows you to lead effectively.<br />

You don’t have to be a man, I’ve always believed the best way we can effect<br />

change as leaders is by being ourselves.<br />

“By being one hundred percent myself it allows me to, firstly, recognise<br />

what people bring and, secondly, that I work for them, my crew. It’s the<br />

biggest lesson for me in leadership – you are not there for yourself, you’re<br />

there for the people you’re leading, to reveal their strengths and let them<br />

shine.<br />

“I’m at a point in my career where I’m at the most influential I’ve ever<br />

been. I can influence the most positive change with the people I work<br />

with. I am one hundred per cent myself and one hundred per cent<br />

confident with who I am. I try to create that environment with my crew so<br />

they can feel the same and feel safe in a learning environment.<br />

“There will be more women in the leadership pipeline at Fire and Rescue<br />

NSW, but it takes time. Lasting change is not forced, change with integrity<br />

is not forced. That’s been my experience and it’s my strongly held view as<br />

well.”<br />

“The things that were of value,<br />

more than I had anticipated, were<br />

the connections and contacts that<br />

I made with other senior female<br />

colleagues. There are very few crews<br />

where there’s more than one female<br />

on shift.”<br />

For further information on the Women Leading Program head to<br />

www.executivecentral.com.au


This Year’s Flu Season:<br />

What we know so far<br />

News reports have claimed Australia is on track for a<br />

particularly bad flu season. But it’s too early to tell if<br />

that’s the case – and it’s impossible to predict. Here’s<br />

what we know so far.


Influenza illness – or the flu – is<br />

a caused by the influenza virus.<br />

It often comes on rapidly, with<br />

a high fever, chills, muscle aches,<br />

tiredness and a dry cough. These<br />

symptoms get worse over the first few<br />

days.<br />

Most people will get better without<br />

medical care, but some people<br />

are at higher risk of dangerous<br />

complications. This includes pregnant<br />

women, children, those aged over<br />

65, people with chronic diseases and<br />

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island<br />

peoples.<br />

News reports have claimed Australia<br />

is on track for a particularly bad<br />

flu season. But it’s too early to tell if<br />

that’s the case – and it’s impossible to<br />

predict. Here’s what we know so far.<br />

What was last year’s flu season like?<br />

The World Health Organisation<br />

(WHO) classifies the severity of<br />

flu seasons based on how quickly<br />

the circulating viruses spread, the<br />

seriousness of the disease – which<br />

can be measured by the number of<br />

hospitalisations or deaths – and the<br />

impact of the illness, such as the<br />

strain on hospitals.<br />

Based on these metrics, the 2018<br />

influenza season was pretty mild. The<br />

season started late, comparatively<br />

few cases were seen in GP clinics<br />

and hospitals, it had a low impact<br />

on workplaces and hospitals, and it<br />

caused a moderate level of illness.<br />

This contrasts with 2017, which saw<br />

an early start to the season, high<br />

activity in the eastern states, a great<br />

impact on GPs and hospitals, high<br />

levels of absenteeism, and at least<br />

1,255 deaths.<br />

It’s too early to assess the <strong>2019</strong> season<br />

– this is usually done after the flu<br />

season ends. But GPs are seeing more<br />

flu-like illness for this time of year<br />

than in previous ones.<br />

Hospital surveillance doesn’t usually<br />

start until the end of April, so<br />

it’s difficult to assess activity and<br />

severity in hospitals, but emergency<br />

department presentations in both the<br />

Northern Territory and New South<br />

Wales have been high.<br />

Why is it so hard to predict?<br />

Part of the problem with predicting<br />

the influenza season is that we talk<br />

about one season, but four distinct<br />

influenza viruses cause clinically<br />

important illness in humans.<br />

These viruses are categorised into two<br />

influenza types: A and B. Influenza<br />

type A is further subdivided into two<br />

subtypes: H1N1pdm09 and H3N2.<br />

Influenza type B is further subdivided<br />

into two lineages: B/Victoria and B/<br />

Yamagata.<br />

All four of these viruses are covered<br />

by the four-strain influenza vaccine<br />

that is provided to Australians aged<br />

under 65 years.<br />

For adults aged 65 years and older, an<br />

enhanced vaccine is available which<br />

contains the two influenza A subtypes<br />

and one influenza B. This year the B<br />

strain is a B/Yamagata lineage virus<br />

because in 2018, we saw many more<br />

B/Yamagata than B/Victoria viruses.<br />

Flu viruses are continually mutating<br />

in nature, and so any immunity<br />

acquired from a previous infection or<br />

vaccine may provide little protection<br />

against the viruses that will circulate<br />

in the next season.<br />

There is also little cross-immunity.<br />

Infection with A(H1N1)pdm09, for<br />

example, won’t necessarily protect you<br />

against A(H3N2). It’s even possible,<br />

though unlikely, to be infected with<br />

two viruses at the same time or in<br />

close succession.<br />

All four of these influenza viruses<br />

rarely circulate with equal frequency<br />

during the winter months. Typically,<br />

one of the influenza A viruses will<br />

dominate.<br />

In Australia, it’s rare for influenza B<br />

to dominate. It’s even rarer for both<br />

lineages to circulate at the same time,<br />

but it happened in 2015.<br />

The burden of each of these viruses<br />

also varies. Children may be more<br />

susceptible to influenza B infections<br />

than adults, while the elderly are<br />

relatively less susceptible to infection<br />

with A(H1N1)pdm09 but are more<br />

vulnerable to A(H3N2) infections.<br />

Although deaths have been associated<br />

with all four viruses, A(H3N2)<br />

generally causes more deaths than the<br />

others, particularly among the elderly.<br />

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Unfortunately, our disease<br />

surveillance systems rarely collect<br />

information on the specific influenza<br />

viruses that patients present with<br />

in GP clinics and hospitals. That’s<br />

because influenza testing can be<br />

expensive, and knowing the strain –<br />

or if it is indeed influenza – wouldn’t<br />

necessarily alter the course of<br />

treatment.<br />

Instead, we learn which virus<br />

dominated and its likely impact.<br />

While this is useful for monitoring<br />

overall trends, it isn’t sufficient<br />

to study specific virus circulation<br />

patterns that might enable us to<br />

predict the seasons better.<br />

Influenza viruses mutate quite<br />

rapidly and circulate the globe quite<br />

efficiently thanks, especially, to air<br />

travel.<br />

That said, circulation of influenza<br />

viruses in Europe does not necessarily<br />

help us predict which viruses will<br />

circulate in Australia as there is no<br />

consistent pattern of one hemisphere<br />

leading the other in terms of virus<br />

circulation.<br />

Even within hemispheres, variation<br />

occurs. During the 2017-18 winter,<br />

influenza B viruses dominated in<br />

Europe, while A(H3N2) viruses<br />

dominated in North America.<br />

In tropical and sub-tropical regions,<br />

where there is no “winter”, there may<br />

be more than one flu season per year,<br />

or a year-round season with low rates<br />

of one virus, usually influenza B.<br />

The reasons why influenza viruses<br />

circulate at different times are unclear.<br />

They may be related to climatic<br />

factors, such as temperature and<br />

humidity and, in some locales, may be<br />

driven by tourism. But we don’t really<br />

understand the causal relationships<br />

between these factors.<br />

The good news is that with increased<br />

computing power, greater availability<br />

of high-quality surveillance,<br />

more years of data and a greater<br />

understanding of influenza virology<br />

and immunology, our ability to<br />

forecast the season is improving.<br />

Article first published on The Conversation<br />

Sheena G. Sullivan<br />

Epidemiologist,<br />

WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and<br />

Research on Influenza<br />

Rob Moss<br />

Research Fellow,<br />

Mathematical Biology and Physiology,<br />

University of Melbourne<br />

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Telstra <strong>13</strong>2 203 www.telstra.com.au<br />

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ANIMALS & WILDLIFE<br />

Wildlife Hotline <strong>13</strong>00 <strong>13</strong>0 372<br />

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Lost/Missing Animals<br />

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