AESM Vol 20. Issue 4, 2020
The latest Australian Emergency Services Magazine Vol 20 Issue 4 2020. The latest in emergency services news and events. Regular columnists Associate Professor Erin-Cotter Smith, Paramedic and author Tammie Bullard and Dr Michael Eburn for all things Emergency Law. Contributors Bushfire Natural Hazards CRC on the new Australian Disaster Resilience Index, NSW Bushfire Inquiry Findings and 4 Ways the Australian environment has repaired itself in 2020. Free to subscribe through the website www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
The latest Australian Emergency Services Magazine Vol 20 Issue 4 2020. The latest in emergency services news and events. Regular columnists Associate Professor Erin-Cotter Smith, Paramedic and author Tammie Bullard and Dr Michael Eburn for all things Emergency Law. Contributors Bushfire Natural Hazards CRC on the new Australian Disaster Resilience Index, NSW Bushfire Inquiry Findings and 4 Ways the Australian environment has repaired itself in 2020. Free to subscribe through the website www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
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VOL 20: Isssue 4, <strong>2020</strong><br />
THE RISE OF<br />
HEALTH<br />
WORKERS<br />
CATCHING<br />
COVID-19<br />
4WAYS<br />
AUSTRALIA’S<br />
ENVIRONMENT<br />
REPAIRED ITSELF<br />
IN <strong>2020</strong><br />
NSW<br />
BUSHFIRE<br />
INQUIRY<br />
FINDINGS
We’ve got your back.<br />
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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 />
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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 />
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Ambulance & Medical<br />
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we care about our members.<br />
We’re run for the benefit<br />
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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 />
1300 703 703<br />
EMAIL<br />
enquiries@eshealth.com.au<br />
VISIT<br />
eshealth.com.au<br />
Emergency Services Health Pty Ltd ABN 98 131 093 877
FEATURE<br />
CONTENTS<br />
FEATURE<br />
The NSW Bushfire<br />
Inquiry Findings<br />
“<br />
THE RISE OF<br />
HEALTH CARE<br />
WORKERS<br />
CATCHING<br />
COVID19<br />
70-80% of health<br />
workers testing<br />
positive to COVID-19<br />
were infected<br />
at work. That’s<br />
compared with 22%<br />
in the first wave.<br />
17<br />
“<br />
The NSW Bushfire<br />
Inquiry found that<br />
property loss is<br />
inevitible. We must stop<br />
building in fire-prone<br />
areas.<br />
21<br />
FEATURE<br />
The Australian<br />
Disaster Resilience<br />
Index<br />
A closer look at The<br />
Australian Disaster<br />
Resilience Index by the<br />
BNHCRC<br />
11<br />
Don’t Wait Until<br />
A Disaster to Plan<br />
Ahead<br />
Leading rural and<br />
regional councils move<br />
information technology<br />
infrastructure to the<br />
cloud<br />
25<br />
29<br />
1 Billion Accelerated<br />
Defence Spend<br />
The government is<br />
accelerating defence<br />
spending in a A$1 billion<br />
boost to support about<br />
4,000 jobs and assist<br />
small and medium-sized<br />
businesses in the defence<br />
industry supply chain<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />
4 Ways Australia’s<br />
Environment<br />
Repaired Itself in<br />
<strong>2020</strong><br />
Need a mood lift? While<br />
many of us were indoors<br />
avoiding the pandemic,<br />
nature has started its slow<br />
recovery<br />
35
THE REGULARS<br />
• Editor’s Note<br />
4<br />
• Recent Events<br />
ESTA Triple Zero Heroes go virtual in <strong>2020</strong><br />
Cork & Canvas offers art classes to frontline workers<br />
R U OK Day <strong>2020</strong><br />
New Online Sexual Assault Reporting Platform<br />
<strong>2020</strong> Supplementary <strong>Vol</strong>unteer Grants Open<br />
• Emergency Law with Dr Michael Eburn<br />
• Let’s Talk Mental Health with A/Prof Erin Cotter- Smith<br />
• The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic<br />
• In the Spotlight - Author Alicia Millier<br />
• Emergency Breaks - Darwin, Northern Territory<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
8<br />
9<br />
15<br />
27<br />
33<br />
39<br />
DOWNLOAD THE<br />
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LET’S TALK MENTAL HEALTH<br />
Associate Professor Erin Cotter-Smith<br />
Course Coordinator of the School of<br />
Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan<br />
University. Research Consultant at The<br />
Code 9 Foundation.<br />
EMERGENCY LAW<br />
Dr Michael Eburn - PHD, Barrister<br />
and leading expert in law relating to<br />
emergency management & emergency<br />
services.<br />
THE GOOD, THE BAD &<br />
THE UGLY PARAMEDIC<br />
Tammie Bullard is a paramedic and<br />
sessional lecturer based in Western<br />
Australia. Author of The Good, The Bad<br />
& The Ugly Paramedic<br />
MAGAZINE CONTACTS<br />
Editorial Content<br />
press@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />
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advertise@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />
Distribution Enquiries<br />
distribution@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />
POSTAL ADDRESS:<br />
Suite 112, Locked Bag 1<br />
ROBINA TC, QLD 4230<br />
IN THE SPOTLIGHT<br />
EMERGENCY BREAKS<br />
Each edition features a<br />
profile on a person, team,<br />
partnership, squad or unit<br />
to showcase their unique<br />
contribution to the Emergency<br />
Services industry.<br />
Explore local surrounds, or<br />
new places that are only a<br />
short plane trip or drive away,<br />
so you can maximise every<br />
minute of those days when<br />
your name doesn’t appear<br />
next to a call sign on the roster<br />
Scan Me<br />
to download the <strong>AESM</strong> App<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
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3<br />
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EDITOR’S NOTE<br />
Welcome to the latest edition of the Australian<br />
Emergency Services Magazine.<br />
Over the last few weeks we have heard that the<br />
NSW government has accepted all 76 of the<br />
recommendations made by the NSW Bushfire<br />
Inquiry. The Royal Commission into National Natural<br />
Disaster Arrangements has released an interim set of<br />
observations as the inquiry enters its final stages. You<br />
can read the interim report on their website.<br />
The interim observations outline and acknowledge<br />
the shared responsibility and management of<br />
natural disasters, our national information systems,<br />
opportunities for improvement in preparedness and<br />
response and the impact on mental health.<br />
We all look forward to the announcement of<br />
recommendations from the Royal Commission into<br />
National Natural Disaster Arrangements. It has been<br />
a lengthy and extensive inquiry that has included 290<br />
witness appearances, over 2000 documents and over<br />
1700 public submissions providing an insight into the<br />
lived experience of the bushfires of 2019/<strong>20.</strong> It can only<br />
be hoped that the Federal Government also accepts<br />
any recommendations and puts them into action. For<br />
the good of our communities, our environment and our<br />
emergency service personnel that are on the frontlines<br />
when natural disasters strike.<br />
Enjoy this edition and stay well<br />
Bianca Peterson<br />
Editor in Chief<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />
DISCLAIMER<br />
The Australian Emergency Services Magazine<br />
is a community educational resource<br />
publication and does not promote itself<br />
as a charity or fund raising institution, nor<br />
solicit on behalf of charities and is no way<br />
financially supported by or associated with<br />
any government or similar institution.<br />
Distribution of the publication is Bi-Monthly<br />
and is circulated via a database of interested<br />
parties, including business, subscribers,<br />
advertisers, volunteer emergency<br />
organistations, and council libraries. A<br />
print and digital magazine is distributed to a<br />
targeted database in each State & Territory.<br />
Every effort is made to ensure that material<br />
presented in the Australian Emergency<br />
Services Magazine was correct at the time of<br />
printing and is published in good faith, no<br />
responsibility or liability will be accepted by<br />
Boothbook Media.<br />
The views and opinions expressed are<br />
not necessarily those of Boothbook<br />
Media and its employees. The content of<br />
any advertising or promotional material<br />
contained within the Australian Emergency<br />
Services Magazine is not necessarily an<br />
endorsement by Boothbook Media.<br />
Published by Boothbook Media<br />
ABN:72 605 987 031<br />
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WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?<br />
We are always looking for new<br />
and relevant content that<br />
our readers will enjoy. If you<br />
would like to be featured in<br />
the magazine there are many<br />
options. You may have a story<br />
you would like to share, or<br />
perhaps be featured in our “In<br />
the Spotlight” regular column.<br />
Please submit all articles or<br />
expressions of interest to the<br />
Editor for consideration at:<br />
press@ausemergencyservices.<br />
com.au<br />
Articles should be no more than<br />
1000 words and be relevant<br />
to the content within the<br />
Australian Emergency Services<br />
Magazine.<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 4
RECENT EVENTS<br />
ESTA TRIPLE ZERO HEROES AWARDS<br />
WENT VIRTUAL THIS YEAR<br />
Twelve young Victorians, aged<br />
between eight and 13, were<br />
named Junior Triple Zero Heroes<br />
by the Emergency Services<br />
Telecommunications Authority (ESTA),<br />
for calling triple zero.<br />
The young heroes, who were<br />
nominated by the ESTA operators<br />
who took their call, are congratulated<br />
for their bravery and clear thinking in<br />
emergencies.<br />
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this<br />
was the first time in 15 years that<br />
the Junior Triple Zero Hero Awards<br />
weren’t announced in a formal<br />
ceremony.<br />
The young heroes have received their<br />
medals and certificate in the mail.<br />
This year’s heroes include:<br />
• Nine-year-old Evelyn, who called<br />
triple zero when her mum had<br />
an anaphylactic reaction while<br />
driving along the freeway. Evelyn<br />
gave the ESTA call-taker her<br />
location, conducted a breathing<br />
test on her mum and followed<br />
the call-taker’s instructions until<br />
the ambulance arrived.<br />
• 13-year-old Jake, who called<br />
triple zero when his mum had<br />
a seizure. Jake followed the<br />
call-taker’s instructions and<br />
conducted a breathing test on<br />
his mum, all while looking after<br />
his younger siblings.<br />
The Minister for Police and<br />
Emergency Services, Lisa Neville,<br />
said: “These young Victorians have<br />
shown incredible courage during<br />
emergencies – which have often<br />
involved their loved ones.<br />
“Being able to play such a critical<br />
role in helping to save the lives of<br />
others, in the most stressful of times,<br />
is nothing short of inspirational, and<br />
I congratulate all our young heroes<br />
today.”<br />
ESTA’s CEO Marty Smyth said:<br />
“Teaching children when and how<br />
to call triple zero, including knowing<br />
their home address can save lives.<br />
We tell parents and carers that the<br />
life a child might save could be yours”.<br />
ESTA provides the critical link<br />
between the Victorian community<br />
and the state’s emergency services<br />
agencies. It provides Victoria’s 24-<br />
hour emergency call-taking and<br />
dispatch services for police, fire,<br />
ambulance and VICSES.<br />
We hope ESTA’s Triple Zero Hero<br />
Awards will be able to be recieved<br />
in person again next year. A great<br />
website filled with challenges and<br />
games to help your children be more<br />
Triple Zero aware check out the<br />
website :<br />
www.kids.triplezero.gov.au<br />
5<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
RECENT EVENTS<br />
CORK AND CANVAS OFFERS FREE ONLINE<br />
ART CLASSES FOR FRONTLINE WORKERS<br />
To honour Australia’s dedicated<br />
frontline workers, Cork and Canvas is<br />
now offering free online paint and sip<br />
sessions to relieve stress during the<br />
COVID-19 crisis.<br />
These brave frontline workers will<br />
gain access to a complimentary<br />
step-by-step video tutorial from Cork<br />
and Canvas’ senior lead artists. Our<br />
Aussie heroes can access either an<br />
on demand session which allows<br />
you to stop and start the tutorial and<br />
take the class at your own pace, or a<br />
live class via Zoom, allowing them to<br />
engage virtually with other art lovers<br />
in the class.<br />
With so much uncertainty around<br />
just how long this pandemic will<br />
last, particularly in Victoria and New<br />
South Wales, anxiety levels for many<br />
are at an all time high. Research has<br />
shown that 45 minutes of creative<br />
activity significantly lessens stress in<br />
the body, something our frontline<br />
legends need more than ever.<br />
Founder of Cork and Canvas Melinda<br />
Janiszewski commented: “There’s<br />
no doubt working on the frontline<br />
of a pandemic has been trying for<br />
thousands of our hard working<br />
doctors, nurses, hospital staff,<br />
paramedics, and police officers. This<br />
is our way of saying thank you and<br />
keep your head up! We hope these<br />
classes bring some much needed<br />
downtime and relaxation to essential<br />
workers during a very stressful time.”<br />
Melinda feels strongly about<br />
supporting this cause after<br />
completing a degree in Cardiac<br />
Ultrasound, Nutrition and two years<br />
of nursing school.<br />
Cork and Canvas online classes are<br />
available for all other Aussies looking<br />
for something relaxing at home, for<br />
$30 per class. For those that don’t<br />
have art supplies at home, a creativity<br />
kit can be purchased and delivered<br />
to your door. This includes access to<br />
an art class (either on demand or live<br />
via Zoom), paint brushes, paints and<br />
canvases. Kits can be purchased in<br />
single pack ($80), double ($130) and<br />
family sizes ($230).<br />
Cork and Canvas vouchers can be<br />
redeemed and creative kits can be<br />
purchased on their website. For<br />
frontline workers looking to redeem<br />
this generous offer simply fill out<br />
this form to receive a code to use at<br />
checkout.<br />
Founder of Cork and Canvas,<br />
Melinda Janiszewski, single-handedly<br />
created a whole new category in the<br />
Australian entertainment market,<br />
specifically, painting and sipping. Prior<br />
to migrating to Australia, Melinda<br />
noticed the paint and sip concept<br />
hadn’t yet hit the Australian shores<br />
and thus the concept of Cork and<br />
Canvas was born.<br />
Since opening her first small,<br />
suburban studio in Moonee Ponds,<br />
Victoria, the business has exploded<br />
into two studios in the heart of South<br />
Melbourne and two Sydney studios<br />
located in the heart of Darlinghurst<br />
on Oxford Street and in the heart of<br />
Crows Nest.<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 6
RECENT EVENTS<br />
R U OK DAY 10TH SEPTEMBER <strong>2020</strong><br />
R U OK? is asking all Australians to learn<br />
what to say if someone in their life says<br />
they are not OK.<br />
‘There’s more to say after R U OK?’, is<br />
the message for R U OK?Day <strong>2020</strong> (on<br />
Thursday 10 September) and will focus<br />
on building confidence and increased<br />
skills for people so they know how to<br />
navigate a conversation with someone<br />
in their life who might be struggling.<br />
Katherine Newton, CEO, R U OK?, says<br />
<strong>2020</strong> has been a challenging year for<br />
everyone and circumstances have made<br />
it even more important for us all to stay<br />
connected and, for those who are able,<br />
be willing to support those around us.<br />
“Time is one of the most valuable things<br />
we can share with the people that we<br />
care about,” said Ms Newton. “When<br />
someone in your life is struggling it’s<br />
natural to ask them if they’re OK but it<br />
can sometimes be difficult to know what<br />
to say next.<br />
“Our free resources include a<br />
conversation guide to help people learn<br />
what to say after “Are you OK?” and<br />
help break down any fears or concerns<br />
someone might be feeling when<br />
approaching a meaningful conversation<br />
with a family member, friend or<br />
colleague who might be doing it tough.<br />
“You don’t have to be an expert to<br />
keep the conversation going and if you<br />
familiarise yourself with what to say<br />
after hearing ‘No, I’m not OK’ you can<br />
show genuine intent and genuinely help<br />
someone access appropriate support<br />
long before they’re in crisis.” said<br />
MsNewton.<br />
RUOK? is encouraged by its recent<br />
data that demonstrates Australians<br />
increasingly understand how important<br />
it is for them to reach out to those<br />
around them who might be struggling.<br />
“Our latest evaluation measures show<br />
that most people feel confident they<br />
know how to have a conversation with<br />
someone who might be struggling<br />
with life but 31% of Australians lack<br />
confidence or are unsure how to have a<br />
conversation with someone who is not<br />
OK,” says Ms Newton. “We want to help<br />
them learn what to say after R U OK?<br />
because a conversation could change<br />
someone’s life.”<br />
”This year R U OK?Day coincides with<br />
World Suicide Prevention Day which will<br />
further raise awareness of the scale of<br />
suicide globally and the role that each of<br />
us can play in prevention efforts.<br />
Resources including a Guide to<br />
Supporting R U OK?Day are free to<br />
download from the R U OK? website<br />
and are designed to help individuals,<br />
workplaces, schools and community<br />
groups plan for R U OK?Day which this<br />
year may look different for some given<br />
the impact of COVID-19. The guide has<br />
tips, ideas and resources to help share<br />
the R U OK? message virtually and in<br />
person.<br />
“If you feel something’s not quite the<br />
same with someone you know - perhaps<br />
you’re aware of a significant life event<br />
they are experiencing right now or you<br />
notice a change in what they’re saying<br />
or doing - take the time to genuinely ask<br />
them “Are you OK?”<br />
“We want Australians to be confident in<br />
having a meaningful conversation and if<br />
someone says they’re not OK, make time<br />
to listen with an open mind, encourage<br />
action and regularly check in.”<br />
‘There’s more to say after R U OK?’ Learn<br />
what to say next at www.ruok.org.au<br />
7<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
RECENT EVENTS<br />
LAUNCH OF NEW ONLINE<br />
SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTING<br />
PLATFORM<br />
A new online portal will allow victims of historical sexual<br />
assault to have more options when making a report to<br />
police.<br />
ACT Policing has created an online reporting form on the<br />
ACT Police website for historical sexual assaults (more than<br />
six months ago). The form will be sent directly to ACT Policing<br />
and a member will be in contact.<br />
There are currently a number of ways victims can report<br />
sexual assault in the ACT. This includes attending a police<br />
station, contacting ACT Police Operations for patrol<br />
attendance or via referrals from external stakeholders.<br />
ACT Policing’s Historical Sexual Assault Online Reporting<br />
Portal will complement existing reporting avenues and<br />
enable victims to make informed decisions about their<br />
disclosure.<br />
ACT Policing understands not all victims want their matters<br />
investigated further or for court proceedings to occur. The<br />
new portal will outline what level of information is required<br />
for such proceedings to happen and give victims the choice<br />
to proceed with a criminal investigation or not.<br />
It is important to remember that any victim can report any<br />
incident of sexual assault to police, regardless of how long<br />
ago it happened.<br />
ACT Policing Deputy Chief Police Officer Michael Chew said<br />
those making a report can be assured that information<br />
would be handled securely and the victim would have<br />
control over what happens next.<br />
“If you would like the matter progressed police will contact<br />
you and make that happen,” Commander Chew said.<br />
“If you don’t want to be contacted and just want to report for<br />
reporting purposes that is your choice, so no further contact<br />
will be made.<br />
“We know that it takes a lot of courage to recount traumatic<br />
experiences and we are hopeful that by making reporting<br />
online an option some people may come forward who until<br />
now were not comfortable discussing what they have been<br />
through via the traditional face to face or phone setting.”<br />
The new form is accessible on the ACT Policing website here.<br />
<strong>2020</strong> SUPPLEMENTARY<br />
VOLUNTEER GRANTS<br />
ROUND NOW OPEN<br />
All state and territory volunteering peak bodies across<br />
Australia are pleased to be administering the <strong>2020</strong><br />
Supplementary <strong>Vol</strong>unteer Grants, which is funded by the<br />
Australian Government. This program will provide grants<br />
of between $1000- $5000 to community organisations<br />
to support volunteers and increase volunteering across<br />
Australia.<br />
This funding round has a focus on assisting organisations<br />
to re-engage volunteers and adapt their practices to<br />
support volunteer safety in relation to COVID-19.<br />
<strong>Vol</strong>unteering Australia Interim CEO Mark Pearce said<br />
volunteering has been severely affected by the COVID-19<br />
pandemic.<br />
“With recent research from <strong>Vol</strong>unteering Australia having<br />
found 65.9% of volunteers stopped volunteering between<br />
February and April <strong>2020</strong>, the <strong>Vol</strong>unteer Grants are<br />
available now to assist your organisation reactivate your<br />
volunteering program,” Mr Pearce said.<br />
“Funding can help your organisation support your<br />
volunteers and safeguard the return of volunteering,<br />
thus allowing volunteering to play its role in social and<br />
economic recovery,” Mr Pearce adds.<br />
Funding of between $1000 - $5000 is available under<br />
the <strong>2020</strong> Supplementary <strong>Vol</strong>unteer Grants Program to<br />
help community organisations to support the efforts of<br />
Australia’s volunteers.<br />
The grants can be used to buy small equipment for<br />
volunteers or for the reimbursement of volunteer fuel,<br />
transport or training costs, amongst other things.<br />
Applications close 20 September 11:59pm<br />
For more information about the <strong>Vol</strong>unteer Grants and<br />
contact details for your state and territory volunteering<br />
peak body, see <strong>Vol</strong>unteering Australia’s website at:<br />
volunteeringaustralia.org/svg<strong>2020</strong><br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 8
AUSTRALIAN EMERGENCY LAW with Dr Michael Eburn<br />
A DISCUSSION ON<br />
THE LAW THAT<br />
APPLIES TO OR<br />
AFFECTS AUSTRALIA’S<br />
EMERGENCY SERVICES<br />
AND EMERGENCY<br />
MANAGEMENT<br />
COOPERATION<br />
BETWEEN<br />
VICTORIA’S FIRE<br />
SERVICES<br />
August 8th, <strong>2020</strong><br />
Today’s correspondent asks for<br />
… advice in relation to who has control of resources in fire related incidents<br />
in Victoria. With the introduction of Fire Rescue Victoria, there is some<br />
confusion among responders as who is to have control. As I understand it,<br />
where CFA now responds into an FRV area, FRV are the “combat authority,”<br />
thus have overall command of the fire and vice versa. An example of where<br />
some confusion is experienced is below. FRV arrives to a fire incident inside<br />
a CFA area. FRV begins to combat the incident and makes a call to firecom to<br />
cancel CFA appliances on route. CFA appliances, on the basis that they are<br />
the “combat authority” continue to the incident. Does one fire authority have<br />
the ability to cancel the other when outside of their boundary/jurisdiction?<br />
PHD<br />
Barrister<br />
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Isn’t this really about respect and<br />
working together rather than the law?<br />
The relevant acts will be the Fire Rescue<br />
Victoria Act 1958 (Vic), the Country<br />
Fire Authority Act 1958 (Vic) and the<br />
Emergency Management Acts 1986 and<br />
2013 (Vic).<br />
Whereas there was the Metropolitan<br />
Fire Brigade and the Country Fire<br />
Authority, now there is Fire and Rescue<br />
Victoria operating across Victoria with<br />
paid firefighters, and the CFA with<br />
volunteer firefighters. Schedule 2 of the<br />
Fire Rescue Victoria Act 1958 says:<br />
The Fire Rescue Victoria fire district<br />
consists of the land delineated and<br />
coloured green on the plan lodged in<br />
the Central Plan Office and numbered<br />
LEGL./17-371.<br />
That is rather unhelpful without access<br />
to that plan but helpfully the CFA<br />
publishes the maps on its website see<br />
https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/cfaand-frv-boundaries.<br />
Fire Rescue Victoria boundaries now<br />
include the previous MFB boundaries<br />
as well as some outer urban areas and<br />
larger regional centres across Victoria.<br />
Formerly there were integrated stations<br />
that had both paid and volunteer CFA<br />
firefighters. Now the paid firefighters are<br />
employees of Fire Rescue Victoria. The<br />
CFA says:<br />
CFA volunteers serving at former integrated<br />
stations in those outer urban areas<br />
and larger regional centres continue to<br />
respond to emergencies in their area as<br />
part of Victoria’s emergency response<br />
arrangements. In an emergency all<br />
agencies work together as one. CFA and<br />
FRV employees also work in the State<br />
Control Centre and Regional Control<br />
Centres.<br />
It is a function of Fire Rescue Victoria to,<br />
amongst other things, ‘ provide for fire<br />
suppression and fire prevention services<br />
in the Fire Rescue Victoria fire district’ (s<br />
7(1)(a)).<br />
The control of the prevention and<br />
suppression of fires in the country area<br />
of Victoria is, vested in the Country Fire<br />
Authority (Country Fire Authority Act
1958 (Vic) ss 14 and 20).<br />
Both Acts (Fire Rescue Victoria Act 1958<br />
(Vic) s 2A; Country Fire Authority Act<br />
1958 (Vic) s 2) say:<br />
It is the intention of the Parliament that<br />
Fire Rescue Victoria and the Country<br />
Fire Authority establish processes that<br />
will ensure that they—<br />
(a) promote collaboration and<br />
coordination between fire services<br />
agencies to best meet the safety needs<br />
of the community; and<br />
(b) recognise the importance of<br />
maintaining capacity to respond to<br />
peaks in demand for fire services within<br />
fire services agencies; and<br />
(c) recognise and value the contribution<br />
of volunteer brigades; and<br />
(d) recognise that both volunteer<br />
firefighters and career firefighters are<br />
vital to delivering safe and sustainable<br />
fire services; and<br />
(e) maintain the ability of fire services<br />
agencies to respond to critical incidents,<br />
to prevent and suppress fires and to<br />
protect life and property.<br />
Equally both agencies (Country Fire<br />
Authority Act 1958 (Vic) s 6B; Fire<br />
Rescue Victoria Act 1958 (Vic) s 7A) have<br />
the objective to:<br />
(a) contribute to a whole of sector<br />
approach to emergency management;<br />
(b) promote a culture within the<br />
emergency management sector of<br />
community focus,<br />
The Emergency Management Manual<br />
Victoria, part 7 defines the roles for the<br />
various emergency services. It says that<br />
the Country Fire Authority (p. 7-36) is<br />
the:<br />
Control Agency for:<br />
• fire on private land within Country<br />
Area Victoria<br />
• accidents involving gas leakage,<br />
hazardous materials, lifts, or<br />
scaffolding and amusement<br />
structures, and building collapse<br />
• fire and explosion incidents<br />
involving aircraft and boilers and<br />
pressure vessels<br />
• rescue incidents involving rail,<br />
aircraft and industrial, road, and<br />
building structures.<br />
Fire Rescue Victoria (p. 7-70) is the:<br />
Control agency for:<br />
• fire in the Fire Rescue Victoria<br />
Fire District (including the Port of<br />
Melbourne and waters as defined<br />
in the Port Management Act 1995)<br />
• accidents involving gas leakage,<br />
hazardous materials, lifts, cranes<br />
or scaffolding and amusement<br />
structures, and building collapse<br />
• fire and explosion incidents<br />
involving aircraft and boilers and<br />
pressure vessels<br />
• rescue incidents involving rail,<br />
aircraft and industrial, road,<br />
trench and tunnel., and building<br />
structures.<br />
A control agency is (p. 7-1) the ‘agency<br />
identified … [as] the primary agency<br />
responsible for responding to a<br />
specified type of emergency’ (see also<br />
Emergency Management Act 2013 (Vic)<br />
s 54). But an agency responsible for<br />
responding to an event can respond<br />
its own resources or those of another<br />
agency. Think of Victoria SES calling on<br />
the CFA to assist with calls for assistance<br />
in a flood or storm.<br />
Discussion<br />
The scenario I’m given is:<br />
FRV arrives to a fire incident inside a CFA<br />
area. FRV begins to combat the incident<br />
and makes a call to firecom to cancel<br />
CFA appliances on route. CFA appliances,<br />
on the basis that they are the “combat<br />
authority” continue to the incident. Does<br />
one fire authority have the ability to cancel<br />
the other when outside of their boundary/<br />
jurisdiction?<br />
That Fire Rescue Victoria responds<br />
into a ‘CFA area’ is appropriate and<br />
consistent with the above. The CFA may<br />
be the control agency but responding<br />
FRV can be part of its function of<br />
‘responding’ to the fire. And the<br />
community want and need a fire brigade<br />
without regard to which brigade. This<br />
will be particularly relevant where the<br />
FRV staff are on station and have a<br />
much faster response time than the CFA<br />
that has to wait for volunteers to first<br />
get to the station and then turn out.<br />
If FRV begin their work and either<br />
extinguish the fire or realise that they<br />
have all the resources that they need<br />
to manage the emergency. They should<br />
communicate that to FIreCom (in the<br />
say way they need to communicate if<br />
more resources are required) as those<br />
coordinating the response need to know<br />
what resources are required. Assume<br />
the fire is actually extinguished, advising<br />
FireCom of that may well mean they ‘call<br />
off’ the CFA volunteers, they don’t need<br />
to respond and won’t have anything to<br />
do when they get there.<br />
Subject to any SOPs between FRV<br />
and the CFA and standards set by the<br />
Emergency Management Commissioner<br />
(Emergency Management Act 2013 (Vic)<br />
Part 4) my view would be no, FRV cannot<br />
direct the CFA appliances not to attend,<br />
but they can advise the ComCen (and<br />
in effect the CFA) that the resources are<br />
not required. The CFA can reasonably<br />
and consistently with the directions<br />
to collaborate and cooperate with<br />
each, call off their brigade. The call to<br />
FireCom is not an order from the local<br />
brigade captain to cancel the CFA, it is<br />
information to FireCom and they make<br />
the decision. But to insist that the CFA<br />
volunteers continue to an event where<br />
there is nothing useful to do would<br />
seem to be contrary to the intention of<br />
the Parliament and the objectives of the<br />
services, set out above.<br />
Conclusion<br />
There is no legal authority for one fire<br />
service to cancel the other when outside<br />
of their boundary/jurisdiction but they<br />
can certainly advise the other that the<br />
situation is under control and further<br />
resources are not required. Relevant<br />
coordinators can call off a responding<br />
appliance that is not required. That<br />
is not a matter of law but a matter<br />
of working with ‘collaboration and<br />
coordination between fire services<br />
agencies to best meet the safety needs<br />
of the community’.<br />
This article originally appeared on the<br />
blog Australian Emergency Law (https://<br />
emergencylaw.wordpress.com/) and is reproduced<br />
with the permission of the author.<br />
As a blog post it represents the author’s opinion<br />
based on the law at the time it was written. The<br />
blog, or this article, is not legal advice and cannot be<br />
relied upon to determine any person’s legal position.<br />
How the law applies to any specific situation or<br />
event depends on all the circumstances.<br />
If you need to determine legal rights and obligations<br />
with respect to any event that has happened, or<br />
some action that is proposed, you must consult<br />
a lawyer for advice based on the particular<br />
circumstances. Trade unions, professional<br />
indemnity insurers and community legal centres can<br />
all be a source for initial legal advice.<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 10
THE NEW AUSTRALIAN<br />
DISASTER RESILIENCE INDEX:<br />
a tool for building safer, adaptable communities<br />
By Bethany Patch, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC
An understanding of disaster<br />
resilience will help communities<br />
better prepare for, absorb and<br />
respond to natural hazards. A newly<br />
launched website helps explain<br />
and measure resilience so that<br />
we can adapt and transform our<br />
communities for the better.<br />
Australians are always learning to<br />
live with a changing, unpredictable<br />
and uncertain environment, of which<br />
natural hazards are an increasing<br />
part. We are all developing ways to<br />
cope with, adapt to and recover from<br />
changes in our lives. But how does<br />
your community adapt and respond<br />
to change, and how can this process<br />
be improved? What resources does<br />
your community have at its disposal<br />
when responding to a natural hazard,<br />
and how could these be transformed<br />
so that your community recovers<br />
more easily and quickly, and is able to<br />
adapt its resources effectively so that<br />
it is better prepared next time?<br />
Suellen Flint, the deputy state<br />
recovery coordinator at the<br />
Department of Fire and Emergency<br />
Services (Western Australia) explains<br />
what makes a resilient community.<br />
“At their best, communities are<br />
prepared, are able to adapt to<br />
changing situations, are connected to<br />
each other and are self-reliant,” said<br />
Flint.<br />
An understanding of disaster<br />
resilience focuses on ways that we<br />
can improve a community’s chance<br />
of adapting to future change, rather<br />
than focusing on its ability to react to<br />
hazards that have already occurred.<br />
To support resilience across Australia,<br />
a new research-based website –<br />
the Australian Disaster Resilience<br />
Index – has been developed to help<br />
industry, business, government and<br />
emergency services improve the<br />
resilience of their local communities<br />
before, during and after natural<br />
hazards.<br />
Developed by the Bushfire and<br />
Natural Hazards CRC and the<br />
University of New England, the Index<br />
is free to use and allows anyone with<br />
an interest in understanding the<br />
resilience of their local community to<br />
access this information.
WHAT DOES THE NEW AUSTRALIAN<br />
DISASTER RESILIENCE INDEX DO?<br />
The output of six years of CRC<br />
research, the Australian Disaster<br />
Resilience Index provides a clear<br />
but detailed pathway to better<br />
understanding and measuring<br />
resilience across Australia, so that<br />
businesses, governments, not-forprofits<br />
and community organisations<br />
can improve their decision making<br />
about planning, development, policy,<br />
engagement and risk assessment.<br />
“The Index is capturing a national<br />
picture of disaster resilience,” said<br />
lead researcher of the Index, Dr<br />
Melissa Parsons at the University of<br />
New England. “This national picture<br />
will help communities, governments<br />
and organisations further develop the<br />
capacities for adapting to and coping<br />
with natural hazards.”<br />
The Index gives you everything you<br />
need to start exploring the resilience<br />
of your community, including an<br />
interactive map that generates<br />
data reports for specific areas, and<br />
information about the strengths and<br />
barriers to disaster resilience for each<br />
area. You can examine the resilience<br />
of your local community and start to<br />
plan for improved resilience.<br />
The Index measures overall disaster<br />
resilience, as well as coping and<br />
adaptive capacity, by assessing<br />
eight key factors within two broad<br />
groups: coping capacity and adaptive<br />
capacity.<br />
Coping capacity is the means by<br />
which people or organisations can<br />
use available resources and abilities<br />
to face a hazard that could lead to a<br />
disaster. For example, if a community<br />
has high levels of economic capital,<br />
plenty of emergency services to use<br />
and good access to information, it<br />
has high coping capacity.<br />
Adaptive capacity measures the<br />
arrangements and processes that<br />
are in place in the community to<br />
enable adjustment through learning,<br />
adaptation and transformation.<br />
For example, if a community has<br />
strong community engagement and<br />
governance, it has high adaptive<br />
capacity.<br />
The coping capacity factors are:<br />
• social character (the social and<br />
demographic characteristics of<br />
the community)<br />
• economic capital (the economic<br />
characteristics of the community)<br />
• emergency services (the<br />
presence and resourcing of<br />
emergency services)<br />
• planning and the built<br />
environment (the presence of<br />
legislation, plans, structures or<br />
codes to protect communities<br />
and their built environment)<br />
• community capital (the cohesion<br />
and connectedness of the<br />
community)<br />
• information access (the potential<br />
for communities to engage with<br />
natural hazard information)<br />
The adaptive capacity factors are:<br />
• social and community<br />
engagement (the capacity within<br />
communities to adaptively learn<br />
and transform in the face of<br />
complex change)<br />
• governance and leadership (the<br />
capacity within organisations<br />
to adaptively learn, review and<br />
adjust policies and procedures,<br />
or to transform organisational<br />
practices)<br />
Dr Parsons and her team have<br />
assessed these factors in each<br />
community and combined them to<br />
determine whether each community<br />
has high, moderate or low capacity<br />
for resilience.<br />
APPLYING AN UNDERSTANDING OF<br />
DISASTER RESILIENCE<br />
Not all Australian communities have<br />
the same capacity for resilience<br />
given the many social, economic and<br />
institutional factors that play a role.<br />
In fact, not even all communities<br />
within one area have the same level<br />
of resilience. This cross-community<br />
mosaic of resilience within larger<br />
areas can be used to identify<br />
strengths, form alliances and develop<br />
targeted improvements.<br />
For example, if you use the Index to<br />
look at the overall resilience of the<br />
greater Perth area, you will see a<br />
range of resilience capacities. This<br />
means that it’s not one-size-fits-all for<br />
areas such as Perth. Understanding<br />
the differences between communities<br />
within your area will help you<br />
understand where specifically to<br />
invest more resources and resiliencebuilding<br />
initiatives.<br />
The Australian Disaster Resilience Index provides a snapshot of disaster resilience across Australia.<br />
13<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
FIVE AUSTRALIAN DISASTER<br />
RESILIENCE PROFILES<br />
“What works in one place won’t<br />
necessarily work somewhere else,”<br />
Dr Parsons said, explaining that<br />
the improvements to resilience<br />
will look very different in different<br />
communities.<br />
To explore this, the Index also<br />
proposes five disaster resilience<br />
profiles in Australia – nationwide<br />
collections of communities that<br />
all fit a similar profile of resilience<br />
strengths and constraints. These<br />
profiles provide an opportunity to<br />
address specific constraints and<br />
strengths of an area.<br />
The Australian Disaster Resilience Index can be used to assess the capacity for disaster resilience<br />
of local, state and national areas.<br />
For example, areas in western<br />
Queensland, north western New<br />
South Wales, South Australia,<br />
Northern Territory and Western<br />
Australia all share a similar resilience<br />
profile.<br />
“In some places, the capacity for<br />
disaster resilience comes from<br />
social strengths. These same<br />
places can also have constraints on<br />
disaster resilience because of lack<br />
of access to government services,<br />
telecommunications and low<br />
economic capital. In another place,<br />
the capacity for disaster resilience<br />
might come from the provision of<br />
emergency services or local and<br />
regional planning. But these places<br />
also face limitations from lower<br />
community connectedness,” Dr<br />
Parsons said.<br />
Once you can identify areas similar<br />
to the one you live in, you can start<br />
looking at what those areas have<br />
done to improve their resilience, and<br />
assessing whether a similar approach<br />
will work for your community. This<br />
also allows the opportunity for an<br />
open dialogue with other resilience<br />
partners, and the coordination of<br />
resilience-building initiatives and<br />
sharing of resources between local<br />
government areas.<br />
THE FUTURE OF DISASTER<br />
RESILIENCE<br />
The Index sets a new benchmark<br />
for measuring future changes in<br />
resilience to natural hazards and<br />
promoting resilience-building<br />
initiatives. By informing and<br />
supporting leaders in Australian<br />
organisations to better understand<br />
and assess resilience, those<br />
organisations will be able to<br />
enhance how they currently support<br />
communities before, during and after<br />
a natural hazard, thereby building a<br />
more disaster-resilient country.<br />
While the Index can be specifically<br />
applied to fire and emergency<br />
services, it will also be of great value<br />
for business and industry, not-forprofit<br />
organisations, and local, state<br />
and federal governments. It will<br />
be used to inform policy, resource<br />
planning, community profiling,<br />
strategic planning, emergency<br />
planning and preparedness, risk<br />
assessment and other crucial<br />
processes.<br />
Flint emphasises the importance<br />
of the Index for the emergency<br />
management sector.<br />
“The ability to identify hot-spots<br />
of high or low disaster resilience<br />
in Australia and identify areas of<br />
strength in coping and adaptive<br />
capacity…will help to embed disaster<br />
resilience not only into policy and<br />
legislation, but to lead to an increase<br />
in shared responsibility and resilience<br />
across Australia,” she said.<br />
Explore the Australian Disaster<br />
Resilience Index at:<br />
adri.bnhcrc.com.au.<br />
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www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 14
Lets Talk Mental<br />
Health<br />
with Associate Professor<br />
Erin Cotter-Smith<br />
LIVING IN COVID-LIMBO:<br />
HOW TO COPE WITH AMBIGUOUS LOSS<br />
Many aspects of our lives have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic – and in<br />
this new COVID-limbo – loss has become almost a daily experience. It’s a kind of loss<br />
tied to changes in daily routines and being upended from our sense of normalcy and<br />
safety, a reaction to the ambiguity of losing more intangible parts of our lives.
This type of loss has been referred<br />
to as “ambiguous loss” by Dr. Pauline<br />
Boss, who developed the idea to help<br />
explain losses involving unresolved<br />
circumstances. The theory is still a<br />
relatively new concept in the field of<br />
psychology, and we are only really<br />
now beginning to understand the<br />
impact of this kind of loss.<br />
We typically think of loss as black and<br />
white. A loved one is alive, then they<br />
aren’t. We are in a loving relationship,<br />
then we are not. We have something,<br />
then we don’t.<br />
But ambiguous loss is uncertain,<br />
there are no clear boundaries or<br />
resolution.<br />
And it is particularly relevant to the<br />
pandemic where feelings of loss are<br />
confusing and defy popular ideas<br />
about “closure” - because there isn’t<br />
any closure in sight.<br />
In other words, there is no clear “end”<br />
to the current COVID-19 pandemic<br />
– and that’s part of what makes our<br />
emotional experience of this virus<br />
particularly taxing. The feeling of loss<br />
so pervasive.<br />
Existing in the ongoing sense of<br />
“limbo” – the permanent state of “notknowing”<br />
of our current lives – feels<br />
both untenable and unsustainable.<br />
This kind of loss can be particularly<br />
stressful, and Dr. Boss warns that if<br />
we don’t address the impact of these<br />
feelings it can result in mental health<br />
problems like anxiety, depression,<br />
and even post-traumatic stress<br />
disorder (PTSD).<br />
COPING WITH AMBIGUOUS LOSS<br />
Many Australians have showed a<br />
great level of resilience during the<br />
pandemic, recognising the need for<br />
self-care and compassion. We have<br />
found new ways to remain connected<br />
with our loved ones and have taken<br />
the time while isolated at home to<br />
learn new skills and spend time with<br />
family.<br />
But, chances are we’re starting to feel<br />
fatigued.<br />
The first thing to recognise is that<br />
feeling tired – and even a little<br />
overwhelmed – in the midst of this<br />
ambiguity is normal.<br />
The complicated and cumulative<br />
losses that we are currently<br />
experiencing due to the shifting<br />
sands of our current lives is likely to<br />
take a toll on our mental health.<br />
So how do we cope?<br />
ACCEPT THAT WHAT WE ARE<br />
FEELING IS NORMAL<br />
Accepting our emotional reactions as<br />
being normal is an important part of<br />
the coping process when it comes to<br />
ambiguous loss. It is also important<br />
to acknowledge that our emotions<br />
may be a bit of a “mixed bag”! For<br />
example, “I hate being stuck at home,”<br />
– but – “I am happy to stay at home<br />
and do my part to stop the virus<br />
spreading.” Or, “I am so relieved that<br />
I am healthy and have my job,” – but<br />
– “I feel so sad that so many others<br />
have lost their livelihoods.”<br />
It can be helpful to share our feelings<br />
and discuss them with friends and<br />
family. Discussing how we feel helps<br />
us to process it.<br />
FIND SOME MEANING<br />
It helps to assign some type of<br />
meaning when we are feeling<br />
confused and overwhelmed. But<br />
without clear information about how<br />
the pandemic will unfold, it can be<br />
difficult for people to make definitive<br />
“either/or” decisions.<br />
During times of uncertainty and<br />
ambiguity, it can be useful to try and<br />
hold two opposing ideas in our mind<br />
at the same time – or what’s known<br />
as “both-and” thinking.<br />
For example, rather than asking,<br />
“which idea is better?” or “which<br />
concept has the stronger<br />
arguments?”, try asking, “how can I<br />
combine both this concept and that<br />
concept?”<br />
But this takes practice! “both-and”<br />
thinking is counter-intuitive from<br />
what we are used to, and takes some<br />
practice.<br />
Another way to find meaning is to<br />
recognise what is still “normal” about<br />
COVID life. It can be useful to actually<br />
take some time to sit and reflect.<br />
Consider how you are resilient. What<br />
are you still doing well despite the<br />
stress? What new things have you<br />
discovered about yourself? Noticing<br />
Associate Professor<br />
Erin Cotter-Smith<br />
PhD, MPH, MClinEpi<br />
Course Coordinator<br />
Edith Cowan University<br />
Research Consultant<br />
The Code 9 Foundation<br />
these successes helps us cope with<br />
the ambiguous losses that seem<br />
to pile up around us during the<br />
pandemic.<br />
SOMETIMES IT’S THE SMALL THINGS<br />
But what if “nothing is normal”?<br />
We know that for some Australians,<br />
the pandemic has meant job losses,<br />
loss of financial security, even illness<br />
and death.<br />
If that has been your pandemic<br />
experience, it can be helpful to<br />
keep engaging in small activities<br />
that you know you can accomplish.<br />
By continuing to master small acts,<br />
we re-gain some small semblance<br />
of control during a time when<br />
everything else seems so out of<br />
grasp.<br />
But remember – you’re not alone<br />
This pandemic is isolating and<br />
is testing our healthy coping<br />
mechanisms. But it is important to<br />
remember that this is an ambiguous<br />
loss that is being felt universally, so<br />
we can take some small comfort in<br />
knowing that – even though we may<br />
temporarily be physically be on our<br />
own – we are not alone.<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 16
MANY MORE HEALTH<br />
WORKERS THAN WE EVER<br />
THOUGHT ARE CATCHING<br />
COVID-19 ON THE JOB<br />
Alicia Dennis<br />
Associate Professor MBBS, PhD, MPH, PGDipEcho, FANZCA,<br />
University of Melbourne<br />
The Victorian government<br />
released much-anticipated<br />
figures showing the proportion<br />
of the state’s health-care workers<br />
who caught COVID-19 at work.<br />
Victoria’s chief medical officer Andrew<br />
Wilson said yesterday that 70-80%<br />
of health workers testing positive<br />
to COVID-19 were infected at work.<br />
That’s compared with 22% in the first<br />
wave.<br />
That figure, which equates to at<br />
least 1,600 people infected in the<br />
workplace, is shocking and tragic. This<br />
is because occupational exposure of<br />
health-care workers to SARS-CoV-2,<br />
the virus that causes COVID-19,<br />
represents a failing of hazard control<br />
in many workplaces — across<br />
multiple locations, in hospital and in<br />
aged care.<br />
We also need to acknowledge<br />
this problem is fundamentally an<br />
occupational health and safety issue<br />
rather than simply an infectious<br />
disease problem. This means experts<br />
in occupational health and safety<br />
need to be intrinsically involved in<br />
recommendations and guidance to<br />
government and employers.<br />
What else did the report find?<br />
The report found infection of healthcare<br />
workers was greatest in areas<br />
where there were many patients with
COVID-19 being cared for together<br />
(known as “cohorting”), and where<br />
health-care workers congregated,<br />
such as tea rooms.<br />
Other contributing factors were<br />
the increased risk associated with<br />
putting on and taking off (donning<br />
and doffing) personal protective<br />
equipment (PPE), staff moving<br />
between health-care facilities,<br />
and poor ventilation systems with<br />
inadequate air flow.<br />
The report tells us health-care<br />
workers in aged care accounted for<br />
around two in five infections, and<br />
hospital workers around one-third.<br />
However, further details were not<br />
provided. These include the actual<br />
number of health-care workers<br />
infected at work, and a detailed<br />
breakdown of the category of healthcare<br />
worker infected, as well as their<br />
age ranges and gender.<br />
We also don’t know the severity<br />
of health-care worker infections<br />
(number of people who are or have<br />
been hospitalised, in ICU, or died).<br />
How big a problem is this?<br />
The number of health-care workers<br />
infected with COVID-19 in Victoria has<br />
reached 2,799. That makes a sevenday<br />
average of 43 new cases each<br />
day.<br />
This means that while the state’s total<br />
number of new cases continues to<br />
decline, health-care worker infections<br />
make up around 30% of new cases<br />
each day.<br />
Controlling the number of new<br />
health-care worker infections is<br />
essential, not only for health-care<br />
workers but for the sustainability<br />
of our health-care system, and to<br />
reduce the overall number of cases.<br />
As the total number of healthcare<br />
worker infections has risen,<br />
key groups representing doctors<br />
and nurses have called on the<br />
government to produce data on<br />
the number of health-care workers<br />
infected at work and a breakdown of<br />
the data by health-care worker type,<br />
age, location and severity.<br />
Yesterday the government released<br />
its keenly awaited analysis.<br />
What should we do about it?<br />
In light of the report, the Victorian<br />
government has established a<br />
new health-care worker infection<br />
prevention and well-being taskforce.<br />
This is an important step forward and<br />
hopefully includes representation<br />
from all expert groups, especially<br />
occupation health and safety exerts.<br />
Data from earlier in the year, and<br />
indeed prior experiences with SARS<br />
(severe acute respiratory syndrome),<br />
have already given us a blueprint for<br />
how to protect health-care workers<br />
today.<br />
The blueprint includes implementing<br />
a system of hazard control measures<br />
(called a hierarchy of control model)<br />
in all health-care settings using<br />
experts in the field of occupational<br />
health and safety, including<br />
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19<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
occupation hygienists.<br />
The government report also outlines<br />
plans to develop ventilated and<br />
heated marquee-type tents for<br />
workers to have their tea breaks<br />
in, which is also good news. This<br />
recognises the contribution poor air<br />
flow makes to the transmission of<br />
SARS-CoV-2.<br />
The planned introduction of PPE<br />
“spotters” in workplaces is also<br />
positive but further details are<br />
needed to understand exactly what<br />
they will do.<br />
This will hopefully reduce staffing<br />
pressure in the workplace and ensure<br />
correct donning and doffing of PPE.<br />
What about ‘fit testing’ respirators?<br />
The report also included the<br />
surprising announcement that the<br />
government was going to undertake<br />
a fit-testing trial of respirators.<br />
Testing that respirators, such as<br />
N95 face masks, fit and that staff are<br />
trained to use them are essential<br />
parts of workplace safety, in any<br />
industry. It is required as part of<br />
Australian standard AS 1715.<br />
So, there is no need to trial fit testing.<br />
This is clear from experience in<br />
other industries where workers are<br />
exposed to hazards such as asbestos<br />
or dangerous laboratory fumes.<br />
What is needed is immediate<br />
implementation of fit testing and<br />
training so health-care workers can<br />
be assured their masks fit correctly<br />
and do not allow the virus in. This<br />
is especially important for females,<br />
with many reporting the standard<br />
respirator size does not fit properly.<br />
The government needs to do more<br />
The government’s report<br />
acknowledged the likelihood of<br />
aerosol spread as a mechanism for<br />
the transmission of SARS-COV-2.<br />
So it has engaged the Victorian<br />
Health and Human Services Building<br />
Authority to conduct a study aimed<br />
at investigating aerosols and their<br />
spread on surfaces.<br />
We do not have to wait for the results<br />
of this research. The government can<br />
act now and take the next step and<br />
immediately change its guidelines for<br />
PPE for health-care workers.<br />
The Victorian PPE guideline for<br />
health-care workers still does not<br />
recommend universal PPE designed<br />
to protect health workers from<br />
aerosols when caring for COVID-19<br />
suspected or positive patients.<br />
The guidelines instead recommend<br />
PPE to protect against droplet<br />
transmission (such as surgical masks),<br />
even in the situation where a person<br />
with COVID-19 is severely coughing.<br />
Disappointingly, national guidance<br />
still remain unchanged regarding its<br />
advice for health-care workers caring<br />
for COVID-19 suspected or positive<br />
patients. It too does not recommend<br />
universal aerosol precaution PPE<br />
(including respirators) when healthcare<br />
workers care for patients with<br />
COVID-19.<br />
These guidelines need to be urgently<br />
updated to protect health-care<br />
workers.<br />
There is also an urgent need for a<br />
comprehensive, publicly accessible<br />
state and national registry of healthcare<br />
worker infections that provides<br />
regularly updated disaggregated data<br />
about health-care worker infections.<br />
This is essential so the magnitude<br />
of the problem can continue to<br />
be addressed and immediate<br />
preventative strategies put in place.<br />
Finally, now the problem of<br />
occupational exposure of health-care<br />
workers to SARS-CoV-2 has been<br />
acknowledged, we must make all<br />
these changes immediately.<br />
Article first published on ‘The Conversation’<br />
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www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 20
THE NSW BUSHFIRE INQUIRY<br />
FOUND PROPERTY LOSS IS<br />
‘INEVITABLE’.<br />
We must stop building homes in such<br />
fire-prone areas<br />
Holiday resort villas at idyllic Kangaroo Island Hanson<br />
Bay destroyed in horrific summer bushfire inferno
The New South Wales<br />
government accepted all<br />
76 recommendations from<br />
an independent inquiry into last<br />
summer’s devastating bushfire<br />
season. Several recommendations<br />
called for increased hazard reduction,<br />
such as through controlled burning<br />
and land clearing.<br />
But clearing and burning vegetation<br />
will hurt our native flora and fauna,<br />
which is still recovering from the fires.<br />
Rather than clearing land to reduce<br />
the bushfire risk, we must accept we<br />
live on a fire-prone continent and<br />
improve our urban planning.<br />
Importantly, with fires set to become<br />
more frequent and severe under<br />
climate change, we must stop<br />
choosing to live in bushland and other<br />
high-risk areas.<br />
INQUIRY RECOMMENDATIONS<br />
The bushfire inquiry was conducted<br />
over six months, with former Deputy<br />
Commissioner of NSW Police Dave<br />
Owens and former NSW Chief<br />
Scientist and engineering professor<br />
Mary O’Kane at the helm.<br />
It found changes are needed to<br />
improve the preparedness and<br />
resilience of local commmunities, as<br />
well as fire-fighting techniques, such<br />
as use and availability of equipment.<br />
And it noted prescribed burning<br />
should target areas such as ridge tops<br />
and windy slopes. These are areas<br />
that drive fires towards towns.<br />
Other important recommendations<br />
involved:<br />
• training fire authorities to fight<br />
megafires and councils to manage<br />
local emergencies<br />
• strengthening collaboration<br />
between agencies<br />
• improving information<br />
and warnings, and overall<br />
communications<br />
• indoor and outdoor<br />
Neighbourhood Safer Places<br />
(places of last resort)<br />
• improving mapping of buildings at<br />
risk of bushfire<br />
• ensuring personal protective<br />
equipment for land owners and<br />
fire fighters<br />
• improving assistance for<br />
vulnerable people.<br />
But a key finding was that there’s still a<br />
lot to learn, particularly about bushfire<br />
suppression methods. As a result,<br />
future property losses are “inevitable”,<br />
given settlement patterns and “legacy<br />
development issues”.<br />
WHAT RISK ARE WE PREPARED TO<br />
ACCEPT?<br />
If we as a community accept that<br />
property loss will occur, we should<br />
choose the level of risk we’re prepared<br />
to take on and how that will affect our<br />
environment.<br />
Building homes in high bushfire risk<br />
areas requires a combination of land<br />
clearing to reduce flammable material<br />
such as dry vegetation, and ensuring<br />
your home has a fire-resilient design.<br />
But after the unprecedented<br />
megafires of last summer, it’s clear<br />
living in these areas still exposes<br />
residents and firefighters to high risk<br />
while trying to protect buildings and<br />
the community.<br />
Bushfire prone areas are often on the<br />
periphery of cities and towns, such<br />
as Sutherland in the south of Sydney,<br />
coastal areas such as the South<br />
Coast and Central Coast, or remote<br />
communities including Wytaliba in<br />
northern NSW. These areas contain a<br />
mix of medium to low density housing,<br />
and are typically close to heavy<br />
vegetation, often combined with steep<br />
slopes.<br />
But we should not continue to<br />
develop into these high risk areas,<br />
as the associated land clearing is too<br />
significant to our ecosystems and may<br />
still result in houses being lost.<br />
23<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au
PROTECTING OUR WILDLIFE<br />
It’s estimated more than 800 million<br />
animals were killed in the NSW<br />
bushfires, and more than one billion<br />
killed nationally.<br />
The clearing of native vegetation<br />
is recognised as a major threat<br />
to biological diversity: it destroys<br />
habitats, can lead to local wildlife<br />
populations becoming fragmented,<br />
and increases the exposure to feral<br />
predators such as cats and foxes.<br />
In 2018 around 60,800 hectares of<br />
woody vegetation was cleared in NSW<br />
for agriculture, infrastructure and<br />
forestry. This is an increase of 2,800<br />
hectares from the year before.<br />
If we continue to build in high risk<br />
areas and clear trees to create asset<br />
protection zones, we will add to the<br />
ongoing pressure on wildlife.<br />
WHERE SHOULD WE BUILD?<br />
Rather than trying to modify the<br />
environment by clearing trees, we<br />
must plan better to avoid high risk<br />
bushfire areas. This was reinforced in<br />
the inquiry report, which called for a<br />
more strategic approach to where we<br />
locate new developments.<br />
And this focus on planning is reflected<br />
in recent policy changes by the NSW<br />
Rural Fire Service, Planning Institute<br />
of Australia and Australian Institute<br />
for Disaster Resilience that encourage<br />
resilient communities. For example,<br />
the state’s rural fire service’s 2019<br />
guidelines, Planning for Bushfire<br />
Protection, place more emphasis on<br />
considering bushfire at the rezoning<br />
stage to reduce risk to future<br />
developments.<br />
We should encourage our<br />
communities to grow in low-risk areas<br />
away from native vegetation. This<br />
includes avoiding the development of<br />
new low-density housing in rural and<br />
remote locations.<br />
To further separate our homes<br />
from risk, we should also consider<br />
instead putting non-residential land<br />
— such as for industrial factories and<br />
manufacturing plants — closest to<br />
vegetation.<br />
Rural houses should be built in more<br />
urban settings near existing towns<br />
away from dense vegetation, rather<br />
than scattered buildings. In larger<br />
towns and cities we could focus on<br />
brownfield development with little<br />
ecological value. “Brownfield” refers<br />
to sites that have previously had<br />
development on them.<br />
And community buildings such as<br />
hospitals, education and emergency<br />
services, should be placed in low-risk<br />
areas to facilitate response during and<br />
after a bushfire event.<br />
While each community should decide<br />
how it develops, land rezoning and<br />
planning rules should not allow<br />
continued expansion into high<br />
bushfire risk areas.<br />
Mark Maund<br />
Research Affiliate, School of Architecture and Built<br />
Environment, University of Newcastle<br />
Kim Maund<br />
Discipline Head – Construction Management, School<br />
of Architecture and Built Environment, University of<br />
Newcastle<br />
SueAnne Ware<br />
Professor and Head of School of Architecture and Built<br />
Environment, University of Newcastle<br />
Thayaparan Gajendran<br />
Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Built<br />
Environment, University of Newcastle<br />
First published on “The Conversation’<br />
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www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 24
DON’T WAIT TIL A DISASTER TO<br />
PLAN AHEAD<br />
Leading rural and regional councils move<br />
to cloud based solutions<br />
Amity Sturwohld
Last summer’s tragic bushfires had many local governments on high alert and would no doubt have driven<br />
them to look again at their crisis management plans had not COVID-19 since put them to the test in real time.<br />
So, does real-life experience with some of the challenges Mother Nature can throw our way influence<br />
communities in rural and regional areas—and the council authorities which represent them—in terms of their<br />
attitudes to risk and crisis planning?<br />
“It is certainly a factor,” says Ed Chung,<br />
CEO of TechnologyOne, whose software<br />
powers many of Australia’s local<br />
governments. “Councils in regional and<br />
rural areas by default need to have a<br />
level of independence and self-reliance.”<br />
For many local governments, particularly<br />
those serving communities in the north<br />
of the country, planning for disruptive<br />
events was a common practice well<br />
before COVID-19—and was leading<br />
them to cloud-based solutions.<br />
Sarelle Sinclair, Senior Business Services<br />
Officer at Tablelands Regional Council,<br />
says the risk of wild weather events was<br />
a key part of the reason for the recent<br />
decision to move parts of its information<br />
technology infrastructure to the cloud.<br />
“We wanted to modernise our systems<br />
and overcome limitations such as ageing<br />
infrastructure, and the risks of operating<br />
in a remote, cyclone-prone area. The<br />
purpose of all of that was improved<br />
stability, mobility, speed and service—<br />
and resilience,” she says.<br />
On LinkedIn earlier this year Noosa<br />
Shire Council ICT Manager, Justin<br />
Thomas, shared a vote of thanks to<br />
cloud technology vendors who were<br />
helping his team members continue to<br />
deliver services while working away from<br />
the office during the bushfire crisis.<br />
Mr Thomas later told his followers his<br />
team had seen IT support requests from<br />
within the council double in March as<br />
a result of the Coronavirus situation as<br />
the organisation moved to set up its<br />
workforce to work remotely.<br />
“Many of our council customers cover<br />
rural and regional areas. In general, we<br />
find they run leaner operations, which<br />
usually means there is less resistance<br />
to change, and they tend to be early<br />
adopters of technologies which help<br />
keep the lights on in a crisis,” Mr Chung<br />
says.<br />
“Geography also plays a role. When<br />
you’re living and working at some<br />
distance from the ‘big smoke’ you know<br />
that help, when it comes, is going to take<br />
a while. That tends to foster a level of<br />
self-reliance in the people running rural<br />
and regional councils.”<br />
Mr Chung says that outside of<br />
metropolitan areas, council mayors tend<br />
to become the community focal point in<br />
a crisis. That responsibility also tends to<br />
focus the thinking of council executives,<br />
leading them to invest in business<br />
continuity planning.<br />
Getting prepared in Queensland<br />
The Queensland State Government<br />
has a program called Get Ready<br />
Queensland, a year-round, all-hazards,<br />
resilience building initiative coordinated<br />
by the State’s Reconstruction Authority<br />
to help communities prepare for natural<br />
disasters.<br />
The campaign’s “Be Prepared” toolkit<br />
says local councils are the first point of<br />
call for community members to turn<br />
to for information during a natural<br />
disaster; anything from evacuation<br />
centre locations, river heights, road<br />
conditions, to power and phone<br />
outages.<br />
“That responsibility means councils<br />
themselves have to think long term<br />
about their ability to provide those<br />
services in an emergency. That<br />
invariably leads to business continuity<br />
planning and, these days, that leads<br />
them to cloud-based solutions,” Mr<br />
Chung says.<br />
NSW report finds risk management<br />
gaps<br />
In 2019, the NSW Auditor General’s<br />
Local Government Report<br />
recommended all of the State’s councils<br />
do more to ensure all IT risks are<br />
identified and appropriately managed.<br />
It found many did not have formal<br />
business continuity and disaster<br />
recovery policies.<br />
“Any discussion on these topics tends to<br />
lead to a conversation about cloud, SaaS<br />
and digital transformation. Few councils<br />
are in the position of being able to fund<br />
a second, just-in-case datacentre for<br />
disaster recovery purposes,” Mr Chung<br />
says.<br />
Speaking from experience<br />
In early 2011, the Brisbane floods taught<br />
TechnologyOne a valuable lesson about<br />
the vulnerability of IT datacentres.<br />
“They were a wake-up call,” Mr Chung<br />
says. “We had to evacuate our head<br />
office in Fortitude Valley. And while the<br />
majority of systems stayed available<br />
to staff, our 300 strong research and<br />
development (R&D) team was brought<br />
to a standstill. We had two state-of-theart<br />
datacentres and a very solid disaster<br />
recovery strategy, but for three days<br />
our service was down and none of our<br />
customers could access their data.”<br />
“We basically sat down and said, ‘never<br />
again’. Cloud technology was already<br />
on the horizon, but the floods gave us<br />
the push we needed to accelerate the<br />
move. We set out to build the most<br />
reliable, best-performing enterprise<br />
software service we could,” he says.<br />
It was an experience which was front<br />
of mind to many inside the company<br />
as Australians moved into COVID-19<br />
lockdown earlier this year.<br />
In late March, while it was taking care<br />
of the safety of its people and moving<br />
its workforce of 1200 to remote work,<br />
TechnologyOne launched a package<br />
of free tools for customers specifically<br />
designed to help them weather the<br />
crisis. In particular, free analytics<br />
dashboards have proven popular, with<br />
several rural and regional councils<br />
taking up the package.<br />
Looking ahead<br />
Mr Chung says now is not the time to<br />
turn away from innovation. Instead he<br />
says it’s time to double down on a move<br />
to SaaS – a critical step in the digital<br />
transformation journey.<br />
“We need to recognise that the pace<br />
of change is now being driven by<br />
external factors and those are much<br />
less predictable than we’d previously<br />
considered,” he says.<br />
Mr Chung says the sense of urgency<br />
that allowed us to move mountains in<br />
March needs to be maintained as we<br />
move out of the acute phase of the<br />
crisis. We also need to recognise remote<br />
working will undoubtedly to play a<br />
bigger role than before.<br />
“It’s time to learn the lesson our<br />
colleagues in rural and regional councils<br />
already know. You don’t wait till the<br />
bush fire is upon you to begin building<br />
the fire breaks. Now’s the time to be<br />
investing in the tools to help you fight<br />
the next fire,” Mr Chung says.<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 26
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly<br />
PARAMEDIC<br />
Tammie Bullard is a paramedic and sessional lecturer based<br />
in Western Australia. Author of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly<br />
Paramedic - A pain free approach to best patient care and<br />
professionalism.<br />
WHO REALLY BENEFITS<br />
FROM REFLECTIVE<br />
PRACTICE?<br />
One aspect of academic education that<br />
never fails to raise moans of contempt<br />
is reflective practice. Now that it’s a<br />
compulsory part of ongoing education<br />
for paramedics, we either have to<br />
tolerate it grudgingly every single year<br />
for the rest of our careers, or we can<br />
find a way to make it work for each of<br />
us, individually.<br />
It’s something that we already use<br />
in everyday life, personally and<br />
professionally, so it really isn’t that<br />
much of a leap to start viewing it as<br />
a useful tool and stop dreading the<br />
thought of it.<br />
Meeting new friends, joining a sports<br />
team, going on a date, trying out<br />
different hobbies, we generally head<br />
home reflecting on what happened,<br />
how we felt and what we learned about<br />
others or ourselves. How we behaved,<br />
whether we should have, would<br />
have, could have done something<br />
differently, what we’d like to repeat,<br />
avoid or change for next time. This is all<br />
we’re being asked to do in paramedic<br />
practice. The only difference is that we<br />
must write it down. For anyone that<br />
already keeps a journal as a matter of<br />
habit, this will be easy!<br />
WHERE TO BEGIN<br />
To get started, knowing our values<br />
is key to working out what is truly<br />
important individually and industrywide.<br />
We may think that we’re aware of<br />
our personal principles, but if we can’t<br />
list a few of them easily, then reflection<br />
will automatically become more difficult.<br />
Similarly, we may think that we know<br />
our professional values within the<br />
prehospital field. If we can’t effortlessly<br />
recall some of The Australian Health<br />
Practitioner Regulation Agency’s<br />
(AHPRA) codes of conduct, how can<br />
we even begin to reflect on whether<br />
our practice is up to scratch? (For<br />
paramedics outside of Australia, please<br />
refer to local regulatory codes.)<br />
With this information, we get to<br />
decide how we want to perform and<br />
behave in life, and in the workplace. In<br />
terms of paramedicine, whether our<br />
decisions and actions line up with the<br />
professional practice and reputation we<br />
hope, and are expected to deliver.<br />
By knowing precisely what we want to<br />
achieve and why it’s essential, we can<br />
tailor our individual learning to the<br />
areas that will improve our practice,<br />
increase our confidence and keep<br />
our minds stimulated. Much more<br />
appealing than trawling through<br />
hours and hours of irrelevant learning<br />
modules just to tick off CPD hours each<br />
year.<br />
Rather than second-guessing what we<br />
think our employer or governing body<br />
wants us to do, we can give ourselves a<br />
choice to learn in areas that interest us.<br />
WHICH MODEL WORKS<br />
There are countless models to use<br />
in reflective practice, but there’s no<br />
hard and fast rule. We may have been<br />
encouraged to use a particular version<br />
at university or college, and it makes us<br />
shudder to look at it now. If so, we don’t<br />
need to look at it again. We can find<br />
another or make our own, as long as we<br />
pick one that works.<br />
Any chosen model that describes the<br />
situation or learning activity, what was<br />
learned or noticed, how it has affected<br />
the patient, the provider or others<br />
and what steps will be taken in future<br />
practice or education on the matter,<br />
provides a great foundation to work<br />
from. Reflective practice without a<br />
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structured model can be messier, more<br />
time consuming and more complicated,<br />
so adopting something that resonates<br />
will create an easy guideline to follow.<br />
Aside from practicality, the most<br />
important reason for using a model<br />
is to free ourselves up, to take a large<br />
chunk of emotion out of the process.<br />
We allow ourselves to formalise it,<br />
removing the self-analysis (subjectivity)<br />
and replacing it with an outside<br />
perspective (objectivity). This helps us<br />
to view the matter rationally, leaving a<br />
clear path to work out what needs to<br />
happen, so we don’t run into the same<br />
problem, or emotional quagmire, next<br />
time around. Working instead towards<br />
creating a positive experience for<br />
everyone involved in the future.<br />
WHO BENEFITS<br />
For the sake of simplicity, let’s break<br />
it down into a list that immediately<br />
highlights who stands to gain the most<br />
from effective reflective paramedic<br />
practice.<br />
Patients, Employers & Overall<br />
Profession<br />
• Patients remain as safe as possible<br />
• Most up to date treatment and<br />
practices<br />
• New skills and tools thoroughly<br />
understood before use<br />
• Standards developed and<br />
maintained for industry-wide<br />
consistency<br />
• Organisations informed about best<br />
practices in place elsewhere<br />
• Shared learning opportunities<br />
amongst peers and in training<br />
• Clear benchmarks for educating<br />
and training new practitioners<br />
Paramedics<br />
• Easy identification of strengths to<br />
build on for enhanced practice<br />
• Potential weaknesses more<br />
obvious and can be improved<br />
upon<br />
• Safer practices with reduced risk of<br />
error and injury to clinicians<br />
• Clear conscience through aligning<br />
our behaviours with values<br />
• Minimal regret from actions or<br />
inactions causing discomfort<br />
• Increased confidence in being able<br />
to speak up when needed<br />
• Clearer recognition of potential<br />
deterioration before it arises<br />
• Enhanced decision-making ability<br />
through increased knowledge<br />
• Broader awareness of practices<br />
outside of a single organisation<br />
• Reduced likelihood of clinical<br />
reviews and associated stress<br />
• Demonstrated reflective practice<br />
models it to new paramedics<br />
• Differential diagnosis habit keeps<br />
options open under pressure<br />
• Learning from difficult calls may<br />
simplify them for the future<br />
• Informed rationale for action or<br />
inaction reduces indecisiveness<br />
• Critical thinking skills help to allow<br />
varied views under pressure<br />
• Learning subjects out of choice<br />
increases motivation to learn<br />
• Sense of control from objectively<br />
viewing stressful situations<br />
• Increased confidence leading to<br />
increased job satisfaction<br />
Everyone Involved<br />
• Less likelihood of repeating<br />
mistakes<br />
• Increased positive patient<br />
outcomes from lessons learned<br />
• Prevention of continued poor<br />
practice in future providers<br />
• Enhanced two-way learning and<br />
teaching on the job<br />
• Decreased risk of complaints<br />
• More proactive practices than<br />
reactive requirements<br />
• Build upon pre-existing positive<br />
public perception<br />
• Successful uptake of new ideas<br />
and equipment<br />
• Enhanced objective debriefings for<br />
more beneficial outcomes<br />
It may be compulsory for industry<br />
standards and every aspect of patient<br />
care, but for every paramedic on an<br />
individual basis, there are countless<br />
benefits to be gained, many relating<br />
back to personal confidence and<br />
increased job satisfaction overall.<br />
On the other hand, if we don’t use<br />
reflective practice, then we can’t know<br />
what needs to improve, so we think<br />
we’re doing great, but all we have to<br />
fall back on is repeating the same.<br />
Over and over again. Whether it<br />
worked or not. More dangerously, if<br />
we misunderstand in the first place,<br />
without reflective practice, we’ll keep<br />
misunderstanding every single time we<br />
come across the issue.<br />
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE<br />
The best way to make room for<br />
reflective practice in your own career<br />
is to get organised so that you can stay<br />
more in control of every aspect, rather<br />
than play catch-up later on.<br />
• Make a note of personal values<br />
that you will not compromise on in<br />
the workplace<br />
• Read AHPRA’s code of conduct<br />
and CPD standards to understand<br />
those values<br />
• Set up a tracking system for<br />
CPD activities and subsequent<br />
reflections<br />
• Start a list of topics you’d like to<br />
learn more about that will improve<br />
your practice<br />
• Create a plan for the year(s) ahead<br />
outlining what you intend to work<br />
on and why<br />
• Schedule a few hours each month<br />
where you focus on one or two<br />
chosen topics<br />
• During each session check that<br />
your practice remains aligned with<br />
values<br />
To learn how to plan and learn in<br />
ways that work best for you, watch the<br />
Australasian College of Paramedicine’s<br />
webinar (worth one hour of CPD)<br />
“Taking The Pain Out Of Reflective<br />
Practice” online.<br />
Ultimately, we have two choices. Actively<br />
complain about every minute of the<br />
30+ hours that we must spend on CPD<br />
and reflective practice or take a fresh<br />
approach. Seek out new subjects and<br />
reflection methods that stimulate the<br />
brain and keep us motivated to learn,<br />
so we can take pride in our work and<br />
provide the best patient care possible.<br />
To see more about “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic”, head to<br />
www.gbuparamedic.com or follow GBU Paramedic on social media<br />
@gbuparamedic<br />
@gbuparamedic<br />
@gbuparamedic<br />
Tammie Bullard<br />
www.ausemergencyservices.com.au 28
GOVERNMENT TO RECRUIT 500<br />
MORE RESERVISTS IN $1 BILLION<br />
ACCELERATED DEFENCE SPEND TO<br />
SUPPORT JOBS<br />
The Morrison government is accelerating and<br />
repurposing defence spending in a A$1 billion boost<br />
to support about 4,000 jobs and assist small and<br />
medium-sized businesses in the defence industry supply<br />
chain.<br />
In several workforce initiatives worth about $80 million,<br />
up to 210,000 more days will be available to give<br />
supplementary employment to Australian Defence Force<br />
reservists, some of whom have lost civilian income. There<br />
are 27,000 ADF active reservists.<br />
Five hundred more reservists will be recruited, which<br />
could help people with part time employment who have<br />
lost their primary employment due to businesses closing<br />
and the restrictions.<br />
The ADF will slow or delay the transition of personnel<br />
out of the force for medical reasons, subject to medical<br />
advice. There will also be support for ADF partners to find<br />
work.<br />
A $300 million “defence estate” program, supporting up<br />
to 2,200 jobs, will speed up work scheduled for defence<br />
facilities around the country. Some of the areas to benefit<br />
suffered in the bush fires.<br />
The program will take in the RAAF bases East Sale, Pearce,<br />
Wagga and Amberley, as well as Jervis Bay and Eden, the<br />
Albury Wodonga Military Area, and Blamey Barracks. This<br />
builds on an announcement made in May.<br />
About $190 million will be invested in bringing forward<br />
seven infrastructure projects in the Northern Territory,<br />
involving Robertson Barracks, RAAF Base Darwin,<br />
Larrakeyah Defence Precinct, and the Delamere Air<br />
Weapons Range.<br />
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Another $200 million will be spent on “sustainment of<br />
existing capabilities and platforms” including the upgrade<br />
of Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, modernisation<br />
of ADF uniforms, and extra C-27J maintenance. The last<br />
will provide work for 23 former Qantas engineering and<br />
technical workers, and 14 ex-Virgin technical peronnel.<br />
The uniform modernisation will speed up the delivery of “a<br />
contemporary, practical Navy uniform”.<br />
Accelerating various projects to develop and deliver<br />
capability will cost $200 million and give work in the areas<br />
of manufacturing, construction and high tech.<br />
About $110 million will be allocated to defence innovation,<br />
industry grants, skilling and micro credentialling and cyber<br />
training.<br />
on Wednesday, said that like other parts of the economy<br />
the local defence industry was “doing it tough”.<br />
“Supporting our defence industry is all part of our<br />
JobMaker plan – especially high-paying, high-skilled jobs<br />
that ensure we are supporting a robust, resilient and<br />
internationally competitive defence industry, ” he said.<br />
“We will also support our ADF members and families,<br />
particularly any reservists who are doing it tough because<br />
of COVID-19.”<br />
Michelle Grattan<br />
Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra<br />
This article was first published on “The Conversation”<br />
Scott Morrison, who will formally announce the package<br />
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Each year The Police Federation of Australia holds Police Week across the country. This year Police Week begins on<br />
Saturday 12th September and concludes on Tuesday 29th September. Unfortunately due to the current pandemic<br />
and restrictions in place many events around the country have been cancelled. The Federation put out a statement<br />
in August officially cancelling the 100km ride around the Canberra precinct and the memorial service at the National<br />
Police Memorial.<br />
The statement reads; Being conscious that the ride is symbolic to many, and in the spirit of the Century Bike Ride,<br />
remembering the fallen, catching up with mates and in the capacity of safe cycling, this decision has not been made<br />
lightly. But more to the point of keeping everyone safe. The National Police Remembrance Day on Tuesday 29<br />
September will be an opportunity for you to catch up with the live stream of the national memorial service. No matter<br />
where you are, be it at home, somewhere on your own state or territory, standing next to your cycle, or somewhere<br />
special to you, you can watch the live stream through Facebook and still be part of the memorial service and this special<br />
time. Please see the website for all details. www.policeweek.org.au<br />
With respect to National Police Remembrance Day, Chris Hayes MP, the Opposition Chief Whip in the House of<br />
Representatives delivered a speech to Federal Parliament on August 31st.<br />
I start with the words:<br />
‘I sat down and watched the news and<br />
thought: ‘My cousin runs up and down<br />
there. Just a split second and everyone’s<br />
life changes.’<br />
This is a statement from the cousin<br />
of one of the police officers who was<br />
tragically killed in the line of duty in<br />
Victoria. I’ve chosen this statement<br />
because I think it puts in perspective<br />
the inherent dangers of everyday<br />
policing and the significant personal<br />
toll that it can have on families of police<br />
officers.<br />
National Police Remembrance Day will<br />
be observed on 27 September this<br />
year. It is one of the most significant<br />
days in the national police calendar.<br />
As a nation, we pause to remember<br />
the police officers who have lost their<br />
lives in the execution of their duty and<br />
to honour the courage, commitment<br />
and dedication of all police members<br />
who have sworn to protect their<br />
communities.<br />
Policing comes with a high degree of<br />
risk and danger that thankfully most of<br />
us will never have to face. It truly takes<br />
a special type of person with a special<br />
type of courage to wear the police<br />
uniform, and we are forever indebted<br />
to those fine men and women who<br />
choose to do so and recognise their<br />
commitment in ensuring the peace and<br />
safety of our communities, a duty of<br />
which they are sworn to uphold.<br />
Our safety and that of our families<br />
and the security of our homes, our<br />
businesses and, indeed, our democracy<br />
are all reliant on the enforcement of<br />
our laws—a task which primarily falls to<br />
our police.<br />
This Police Remembrance Day, as<br />
we fight off the global coronavirus<br />
pandemic, I would like to take the<br />
opportunity to also recognise the multifaceted<br />
role undertaken<br />
by our police officers who have been<br />
serving on the front line across the<br />
nation. They continue to put their<br />
lives at risk to ensure the safety and<br />
wellbeing of our communities during<br />
these most challenging times.<br />
This years’ service will see the total<br />
number of names of police officers<br />
listed on the National Police Memorial<br />
Wall regrettably rise again. This year<br />
we recognise the tragic loss of four<br />
members of the Victorian police force,<br />
namely Leading Senior Constable<br />
Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin<br />
King, Constable Glen Humphris and<br />
Constable Joshua Prestney. These<br />
four members of the Victoria Police<br />
tragically lost their lives in a multi-<br />
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vehicle collision on Melbourne’s<br />
Eastern Freeway when a truck<br />
ploughed into them as they were<br />
responding to a speeding incident<br />
on that highway. This incident clearly<br />
saddened Victoria and, indeed, the<br />
nation, with this being the single<br />
biggest loss of police life in Victoria’s<br />
history.<br />
I’d also like to take the opportunity to<br />
pay tribute to our police friends in New<br />
Zealand and the family of Constable<br />
Matthew Dennis Hunt of the New<br />
Zealand Police, who tragically lost his<br />
life in the line of duty earlier this year.<br />
It was a devastating incident in which I<br />
understand another police officer was<br />
also shot and a member of the public<br />
was injured as part of a routine police<br />
stop.<br />
The death of these police officers<br />
highlights the inherent danger involved<br />
in police work—not knowing what<br />
they are likely to face every time they<br />
commit to go on duty.<br />
National Police Remembrance Day<br />
is also a time for us to reflect on the<br />
loved ones who have been left behind,<br />
the families and friends whose lives<br />
have forever been affected.<br />
While we mourn with them, we thank<br />
and honour all police families, whose<br />
unconditional support allows these<br />
fine men and women to serve our<br />
community.<br />
We owe it to the fallen to look after<br />
their families, which by the way is<br />
the work of Police Legacy, which is<br />
particularly important and deserving of<br />
our support. As a matter of fact, later<br />
this month there will be the police Wall<br />
to Wall Ride for Remembrance.<br />
It has been largely curtailed this<br />
year because of the pandemic. It is<br />
an opportunity for all police forces<br />
to come together with members to<br />
raise money for Police Legacy to look<br />
after the families of the fallen. To the<br />
four members of the Victorian police<br />
force who tragically lost their lives,<br />
to all police officers who have made<br />
the ultimate sacrifice and to all our<br />
past and current members of the<br />
police force, we honour you and we<br />
profoundly thank you for your service.<br />
Chris Hayes MP
IN THE SPOTLIGHT<br />
In each edition of the Australian Emergency Services Magazine we<br />
feature a profile on a person, team, partnership, squad or unit<br />
to showcase their unique contribution to the emergency services<br />
industry. If you would like to be featured or know someone who<br />
deserves some recognition get in touch with our team.<br />
AUTHOR - ALICIA MILLIER<br />
On New Years Day <strong>2020</strong>, the world<br />
looked on in horror as, for weeks<br />
on end, bushfires tore through<br />
New South Wales and Victoria in what<br />
became known within Australia, and<br />
globally, as the Black Summer.<br />
An estimated 18.6 million hectares<br />
were burnt, thousands of homes were<br />
destroyed and, tragically, 34 people lost<br />
their lives.<br />
Relief efforts rang from all four corners<br />
of the globe as Australia collectively took<br />
a breathless step back and observed our<br />
damaged land, in awe of the destruction<br />
that was caused. But, also in wonder<br />
of the mateship and coming together<br />
of communities for which we are so<br />
renowned.<br />
Many of us with young children who were<br />
watching these events unfold, or who<br />
were experiencing these tragedies first<br />
hand, were struggling with ways in which<br />
to explain to our little people what was<br />
happening, why it was happening and what<br />
we could do to help.<br />
Gold Coast mother, Alicia Millier, was<br />
experiencing these same dilemmas with<br />
her young children and decided to take the<br />
matter into her own hands,<br />
“I know my own children were struggling<br />
to understand why the animals were<br />
‘burning’. That was a very difficult<br />
conversation to have.”<br />
From these conversations, she came up<br />
with the idea of a book that allows children<br />
to explore and understand, through rich<br />
illustration and exquisite storytelling, what<br />
happens to the animals when fires rip<br />
through our bush. With bushfire seasons<br />
getting longer and more dangerous<br />
each year this is now, sadly a common<br />
occurrence in Australia.<br />
Alicia reached out to Sketchy Koala (known<br />
for the viral illustration of Steve Irwin<br />
welcoming the animals into heaven) for<br />
illustrations, and the result is “Mummy,<br />
the Bush is on Fire!”. A stunning book<br />
specifically designed to educate our kids<br />
about the trauma these events can hold,<br />
when children can so often be forgotten in<br />
times like this.<br />
Alicia then went one step further with her<br />
efforts and decided to dedicate 100% of<br />
the profits of the book to two charities. The<br />
Business Council of Australia’s <strong>Vol</strong>unteer<br />
Support Trust, who support the children<br />
who have lost a parent to fighting fires and<br />
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the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, an<br />
animal hospital based on the Gold<br />
Coast who help recuperate animals<br />
who have been injured in the wild.<br />
Alicia is passionate about educating<br />
and helping others and says she<br />
decided to donate all of the profits<br />
of the books to the two charities<br />
because, “I felt this was my way of<br />
doing something to help. I feel we all<br />
have the ability to do something good<br />
for those who need it.”<br />
The book was launched on 8 April<br />
<strong>2020</strong> and quickly sold out its first<br />
print run, with orders from Australia,<br />
the UK, the USA and Canada. All from<br />
people eager to be able to explain<br />
to their children what can happen<br />
to our furry friends and how we can<br />
help when the bush lights up.<br />
Since the release of the book, Alicia<br />
has been visiting local day care<br />
centres where they read the book<br />
and learn about what important<br />
instincts the animals need to have<br />
in order to escape bushfires and in<br />
Alicia’s own words, “most importantly,<br />
what we really need to overcome<br />
such a traumatic natural disaster”.<br />
This book teaches us what we need<br />
to do as a community to come<br />
together and support our animals<br />
and one another when traumatic<br />
events such as these occur.<br />
AM Publications, the company<br />
that publish Ms Milliers book, are<br />
now planning another print run<br />
of “Mummy, the Bush is on Fire!” to<br />
continue to get the message out<br />
there. In addition, they have also<br />
linked up with the Spend With Them<br />
campaign, who support and assist<br />
local businesses, that have been<br />
affected by the bushfires, to get their<br />
names out there.<br />
With many of those same businesses<br />
now experiencing further hardship<br />
due to the events of Covid-19<br />
lockdowns, it is more important<br />
than ever that we get behind local<br />
businesses and come together as a<br />
national community to support each<br />
other.<br />
Alicia is passionate about the future<br />
of the book and further education<br />
of children and parents, “I am super<br />
passionate about encouraging<br />
parents to have these tough<br />
conversations about real events” and,<br />
while these conversations are difficult<br />
to have, the more we have them the<br />
less difficult they become and the<br />
more they inspire change.<br />
The book has garnered even more<br />
success than Alicia had first imagined,<br />
so she has confirmed that she is now<br />
planning a series of books, “I will be<br />
writing a series of books which all<br />
educate our children on subjects<br />
relevant to Aussie kids... stay tuned!”<br />
For those of us with children growing<br />
up in this ever-changing landscape<br />
with a high possibility of major<br />
natural disasters, this is only good<br />
news. With more people like Alicia<br />
in the world, educating our children<br />
on conservation and the importance<br />
of community, the future looks very<br />
bright indeed.<br />
If you’d like to purchase “Mummy, the<br />
Bush is on Fire!” and support such a<br />
dedicated author in her efforts as<br />
well as the charities that the book is<br />
dedicated to, you can do so by visiting<br />
https://www.ampublications.com.au/<br />
Words:<br />
Brooke Turnbull<br />
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NEED A MOOD LIFT?<br />
WE’VE TRACKED 4<br />
WAYS AUSTRALIA’S<br />
ENVIRONMENT HAS<br />
REPAIRED ITSELF IN <strong>2020</strong>
When the clock ticked over<br />
to <strong>2020</strong>, Australia was in<br />
the grip of a brutal drought<br />
and unprecedented bushfires. But in<br />
the months since, while many of us<br />
were indoors avoiding the pandemic,<br />
nature has started its slow recovery.<br />
That is the message of our new analysis<br />
released today.<br />
Every year, my colleagues and I collate<br />
a vast number of measurements<br />
made by satellites, field sensors and<br />
people. We process the data and<br />
combine them into a consistent picture<br />
of the state of our environment.<br />
Our 2019 report documented a<br />
disaster year of record heat, drought,<br />
and bushfires. We repeated the analysis<br />
after the first half of <strong>2020</strong>, keen<br />
to see how our environment was<br />
recovering.<br />
It’s not all good news. But encouragingly,<br />
our results show most of the<br />
country has started to bounce back<br />
from drought and fire. Here are four<br />
ways that’s happening.<br />
1. RAIN<br />
Whether a region is in drought depends<br />
on the measure used: rainfall,<br />
river flows, reservoir storage, soil<br />
water availability or cropping conditions.<br />
On top of that, Australia is a<br />
vast country with large differences<br />
between regions.<br />
By most measures, and for most of<br />
the country, wetter weather in <strong>2020</strong><br />
helped ease drought conditions –<br />
although with caveats and notable<br />
exceptions.<br />
Maximum measured daily flow in the Darling River at Wilcannia (left) and the maximum extent of wetland inundation<br />
in the 12 months up to June <strong>2020</strong>, compared to the period 2000–2019.<br />
town and irrigation water supplies<br />
that ran empty during the drought,<br />
and storage levels showed a modest<br />
improvement by the end of June to<br />
17% of capacity.<br />
The flows were also enough to fill<br />
wetlands such as Narran Lakes and<br />
the Paroo and Bulloo River wetlands,<br />
west of Bourke. There were enough<br />
flood waters left to send a modest<br />
flood pulse down the Darling River in<br />
March for the first time since 2016.<br />
Reservoir water storage across the<br />
entire the Murray-Darling Basin<br />
improved from 36% of capacity at the<br />
end of June 2019 to 44% a year later.<br />
Even so, by June <strong>2020</strong> dry conditions<br />
still persisted in the tributaries and<br />
wetlands of the middle and southern<br />
Murray-Darling Basin.<br />
Storage in urban water supply systems<br />
increased for Sydney (52% to<br />
81%) and Melbourne (50% to 64%)<br />
while remaining stable for Brisbane<br />
(66%), Canberra (55%) and Perth<br />
(41%).<br />
Meanwhile, lake and wetland extent<br />
across much of Western Australia<br />
remained at record or near-record<br />
low levels. Due to the poor northern<br />
monsoon, Lake Argyle – the massive<br />
dam lake supplying the Ord irrigation<br />
scheme in northern Australia –<br />
shrank to 38% of capacity, a level not<br />
seen for several decades.<br />
3. SOIL MOISTURE<br />
Soil moisture acts like a bank account:<br />
rainfall makes deposits and<br />
plant roots make withdrawals. This<br />
makes soil moisture a useful measure<br />
of drought condition.<br />
Average soil water availability across<br />
the country was far below average at<br />
Halfway through January, rain-blocking<br />
conditions in the Indian Ocean<br />
finally relented. This allowed the<br />
long-awaited monsoon to reach<br />
northern Australia, and encouraged<br />
more rainfall across the rest of the<br />
continent. February and March<br />
brought much needed rains in southeast<br />
Australia.<br />
2. WATER AVAILABILITY<br />
Across the continent, the volume of<br />
water flowing into rivers in the first<br />
half of <strong>2020</strong> was almost four times<br />
greater than the previous year –<br />
although still below average. Good<br />
rains fell in the northern Murray-Darling<br />
Basin. Some made it into the<br />
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the start of <strong>2020</strong>, but returned closer<br />
to average conditions from March<br />
<strong>2020</strong> onwards. Very to extremely low<br />
soil water availability across most of<br />
northwest and southeast Australia<br />
had eased by June 20<strong>20.</strong><br />
By the end of June, rains had also<br />
improved growing conditions in<br />
southeast Queensland, western New<br />
South Wales, Victoria and South<br />
Australia. However, recovery in these<br />
regions is, literally, shallow. Soil water<br />
remains low in the deeper soil layers<br />
and groundwater from which trees<br />
and other drought-tolerant vegetation<br />
draw their water. Drought conditions<br />
also persist in the dry inland of<br />
Australia.<br />
4. VEGETATION GROWTH<br />
Vegetation condition is measured<br />
by estimating leaf area from satellite<br />
observations. National leaf area<br />
reached its lowest value in December<br />
2019 due to drought and bushfires,<br />
but improved once the rains returned<br />
Average soil water availability and vegetation condition by local government area at the end of June <strong>2020</strong> in<br />
comparison to 2000−2019 conditions.<br />
from February onwards. It’s remained<br />
very close to average since.<br />
Autumn rains also brought the best<br />
growth conditions in many years<br />
across much of the eastern wheat<br />
and sheep belt. But in the Western<br />
Australian wheat belt, which did not<br />
see much rain, cropping conditions<br />
are average or below average.<br />
We separately measured vegetation<br />
recovery across areas in southeast<br />
Australia burnt at different times<br />
during the 2019-20 fire season.<br />
In the central and northern NSW<br />
regions which burnt earlier in the<br />
fire season and received plentiful<br />
rains, recovery was relatively swift –<br />
more than 63% of lost leaf area had<br />
returned by June 20<strong>20.</strong><br />
But in the areas burnt in early <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
recovery has been slow. The burnt<br />
forests in the far south of NSW and<br />
East Gippsland did not receive good<br />
rains until very recently. Also, much of<br />
areas burnt in early <strong>2020</strong> are found<br />
in the mountains of the NSW-Victoria<br />
border region, where cool autumn<br />
and winter temperatures have<br />
paused plant growth until spring.<br />
Recovery of vegetation leaf area in areas burnt in Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec 2019 and in Jan/Feb <strong>2020</strong>, respectively.<br />
Leaf area recovery is not a good<br />
measure of biodiversity. Much of the<br />
increase will have been due to rapid<br />
leaf flush from fire tolerant trees and<br />
Rare and Beautiful, Gemstones<br />
and Crystals, Exhibition and Sales<br />
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undergrowth, including weeds. Some<br />
damage to ecosystems and sensitive<br />
species will take many years to<br />
recover, while some species may well<br />
be lost forever.<br />
Climate change: the biggest threat<br />
Rainfall after June has been average<br />
to good across much of Australia, and<br />
La Niña conditions are predicted to<br />
bring further rain. So there is reason<br />
to hope our environment will get<br />
a chance to recover further from a<br />
horrendous 2019.<br />
In the long term, climate change<br />
remains the greatest risk to our agriculture<br />
and ecosystems. Ever-increasing<br />
summer temperatures kill people,<br />
livestock and wildlife, dry out soil and<br />
vegetation, and increase fire risk. In<br />
<strong>2020</strong>, high temperatures also caused<br />
the third mass coral bleaching event<br />
in the Great Barrier Reef in five years.<br />
Recovery was slow in the burnt forests in the far south of NSW and East Gippsland due to lack of rain.<br />
Decisive climate action is needed, in<br />
Australia and worldwide, if we’re to<br />
protect ourselves and our ecosystems<br />
from long-term decline.<br />
Author:<br />
Albert Van Dijk<br />
Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics,<br />
Fenner School of Environment &<br />
Society, Australian National University<br />
This article was first published on “The<br />
Conversation”<br />
Forest regeneration in Torrington State Conservation Area in northern New South Wales 6 weeks after the 2019/<strong>2020</strong><br />
catastrophic bushfires<br />
Deco<br />
Sand<br />
Ballast<br />
Road Base<br />
Rocks<br />
Jenkins Quarries<br />
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Sand, Soil & Gravel Supplies<br />
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TRAVEL<br />
EMERGENCY<br />
Breaks<br />
In the previous Emergency Breaks we went to Cairns, so to continue our<br />
northern Australia adventure this time we’re heading over to the most<br />
classic of all the northern locations: Darwin.<br />
With the state of the world as it is currently, we might be restricted on<br />
where we can go, but we’re aiming to give you some expert advice and<br />
inspiration for your next quick trip away.<br />
Words: Brooke Turnbull
Location:<br />
Darwin is the capital of the Northern<br />
Territory, it has its own airport and<br />
is located at the very top of the<br />
Northern Territory. All major airports<br />
fly into Darwin, and several regional<br />
ones as well. So no matter where<br />
you’re flying from you’ll be able to<br />
conveniently get there.<br />
As Darwin is close to the equator,<br />
its seasons consist of two: Wet<br />
Season and Dry Season. Dry<br />
Season generally goes from April to<br />
October with Wet Season starting in<br />
November and lasting through until<br />
March. We recommend Dry Season<br />
if you want to be able to do all the<br />
things you want to, when visiting this<br />
vibrant, cultural city.<br />
Darwin is easy enough to get<br />
around, but to truly experience the<br />
majesty of the surrounding area,<br />
we highly recommend renting a car<br />
while up in the “Top End”.<br />
Things to do:<br />
Darwin is an exciting coastal city<br />
that looks regally over the Darwin<br />
Harbour and sits close to incredible,<br />
rich national parks. This means that<br />
there is never a shortage of things<br />
to see and do when you’re there.<br />
With experiences like the<br />
Crocosaurus Park, the Darwin<br />
Harbour markets, the waterfront<br />
precinct with its gorgeous views,<br />
cafes and restaurants, as well as the<br />
popular Darwin sunset river cruise<br />
we had our pick of experiences and<br />
it was a difficult choice to narrow it<br />
down, but narrow it down we did.<br />
So, without further ado here are our<br />
top three recommendations as a<br />
must see and do in Darwin.<br />
A Tiwi Islands tour is number one<br />
on the list. Also known as the “Island<br />
of Smiles” these islands are located<br />
about 80kms from Darwin by light<br />
aircraft or ferry and are rich with<br />
Indigenous culture and heritage.<br />
Kakadu Tours and Travel take small<br />
tours across to the islands by ferry<br />
in Dry Season only and will give you<br />
a once in a lifetime opportunity<br />
to visit this community who are<br />
renowned for their artworks, fabric<br />
prints and pottery.<br />
The tour will take you to the Tiwi<br />
Island museum to explore and<br />
learn Dreamtime stories as well<br />
as the early settler history on Tiwi<br />
Island. The tour will then explore<br />
the various artistic and cultural<br />
experiences with the Tiwi Island<br />
Indigenous people.<br />
This is a full day tour and includes<br />
morning tea and a delicious damper<br />
lunch. With prices at $300 per<br />
adult and $148 per child, this is an<br />
experience you shouldn’t miss.<br />
A trip to the Top End wouldnt be the<br />
same without looking out for their<br />
most famous, and most dangerous,<br />
residents – the mighty salt water<br />
crocodile, or “salties” as the locals<br />
call them.<br />
The best (and safest) way to watch<br />
the brutal beauty of these incredible<br />
prehistoric reptiles is through The<br />
Original Adelaide River Queen<br />
Jumping Crocodile Cruise. Leaving<br />
from Wak Wak, about 1 hour from<br />
the Darwin CBD. You’re on the<br />
water for about an hour, as you<br />
cruise down the Adelaide River with<br />
The turquoise waters of the Tiwi Islands - Island of Smiles<br />
your guide as you watch for these<br />
incredible creatures in their natural<br />
habitat.<br />
The cruise is educational and fun<br />
as they include the guests in the<br />
excitement of the crocodiles coming<br />
to jump up near the boat. Jumping<br />
Crocodile Cruises offer three<br />
different boats, all with superior<br />
quality, comfort and safety. Not<br />
to mention 100% excitement. The<br />
cruises are $35 per person, so<br />
not only do you get an amazing<br />
experience but you get to do it at an<br />
amazing price.<br />
Finally, you couldn’t possibly head to<br />
Darwin without taking in the ancient<br />
beauty of the Litchfield National<br />
Park. Off Road Dreaming tours offer<br />
day tours to Litchfield National Park<br />
from $165 per adult and $115 per<br />
child.<br />
Your guide will take you out to<br />
see some of the Top End’s most<br />
breathtaking scenery, you’ll learn<br />
about the history of the park and<br />
its people as well as the plants and<br />
waterways of the Litchfield region.<br />
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The tour includes a yummy picnic lunch as well as<br />
snacks throughout the day. Off Road Dreaming also<br />
cater to differing levels of fitness, meaning whether<br />
you’re a demon with a walking pole, or just enjoy a<br />
casual stroll, you’ll have the best day out in nature.<br />
Places to stay:<br />
Darwin has a wealth of places to stay, and to<br />
experience the best of the city we recommend<br />
staying as close to the CBD as you can, which is not<br />
hard.<br />
All hotels and apartments within Darwin are<br />
reasonably located to the waterfront precinct and<br />
the nightlife, cafes and restaurants that being in the<br />
city brings.<br />
The Original Adelaide River Queen Jumping Crocodile Cruises<br />
As usual with our Emergency Breaks<br />
recommendations, we’ve sourced a number of<br />
different types and prices of accommodation for<br />
you to explore when you’re planning your next<br />
trip north. Given flexibility is one of our highest<br />
priorities with how fast things can change right<br />
now, all the accommodation has amazing flexible<br />
booking options and generous cancellation policies.<br />
At our top end, Top End pick (see what we did<br />
there?!) we highly recommend the Hilton Darwin.<br />
With its sparkling blue pool, delicious dining options<br />
and stunning rooms it’s not hard to see why this is<br />
our ultimate stay.<br />
The hotel has all the amenities you would expect<br />
from a brand like Hilton and is offering contactless<br />
check-in and check-out in line with physical<br />
distancing rules. The hotel offers free wifi, mini bar<br />
and onsite restaurant. The King Guest Room starts<br />
at $190 per night including a buffet breakfast for<br />
two people.<br />
The Ramada Suites by Wyndham Zen Quarter<br />
Darwin are our mid-range option and offer fully<br />
self-contained apartment style rooms that allow you<br />
to feel that home away from home feeling, even as<br />
Litchfield National Park<br />
COLOSSUS PROPERTY SERVICES<br />
Property Maintenance<br />
All Carpentry Work<br />
Minor Plumbing & Electrical<br />
Gardening Services<br />
Painting<br />
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you’re looking out at the sparkling Darwin Harbour.<br />
The Ramada also has a bar and restaurant onsite<br />
that caters to guests and visitors. Relax in the<br />
infinity pool and enjoy the Darwin warmth under<br />
the sun on their luxurious sun loungers. The hotel<br />
also has a fitness centre onsite, library, 24-hour<br />
front desk and free wifi.<br />
The hotel is following strict physical distancing<br />
rules and offer contactless check-in and out. The<br />
reception are also more than happy to arrange any<br />
further offsite activities you may wish to do such<br />
as deep-water fishing tours and trips to the closeby<br />
Darwin water park. With apartment rooms with<br />
pool and courtyard access starting from $156 per<br />
night including breakfast for two, you cannot go<br />
wrong with the Ramada.<br />
Finally, our third option is the Vibe Hotel Darwin<br />
Waterfront. Coming in at $129 per night for<br />
two in a Standard Room, this is our cheapest<br />
recommendation for Darwin that still gives you the<br />
Darwin waterfront experience and convenience to<br />
the CBD. The Vibe also have an onsite restaurant<br />
that offer a buffet breakfast for an extra $29 per<br />
person, per day.<br />
The Hilton Darwin - Sea view<br />
The room comes equipped with a minibar, dining<br />
area and small kitchen with tea and coffee making<br />
facilities. The hotel offers 24 hour reception, large<br />
onsite outdoor pool and they have a beautiful Spa<br />
and Wellness Centre onsite that offer beauty and<br />
massage treatments every day. The Vibe offers<br />
room service to all guests with strict physical<br />
distancing in place for the safety and comfort of<br />
everyone.<br />
The Top End is a magnificent place to visit during<br />
Dry Season, and with its endless adventure,<br />
iridescent harbour and rich cultural, Indigenous<br />
heritage it’s easy to see why the Northern Territory<br />
entices many a traveller. With the current state of<br />
the world, try the perfect antidote in the form of the<br />
Darwin hospitality.<br />
The Ramada Suites by Wyndham Zen Quarter Darwin<br />
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Get<br />
storm<br />
ready.<br />
Storms can strike at any time, that’s why it’s important<br />
to always be prepared.<br />
Prepare your home<br />
Stay safe while driving<br />
Trim trees and branches close to your house<br />
Secure loose items in your backyard<br />
Clear gutters, downpipes and drains<br />
Get your roof checked for damage or corrosion<br />
Make sure all shades, sails and awnings are<br />
properly fitted<br />
Get your insurance up-to-date<br />
Always follow flood warning signs<br />
Never drive through flood water<br />
Shelter vehicles under cover, not under trees<br />
Avoid driving when a storm is coming<br />
Get your insurance up-to-date<br />
Helpful hints:<br />
You can ask the council or energy<br />
company to check trees on your street<br />
that may pose a threat to your property or<br />
powerlines.<br />
Even if you’ve cleared your gutters<br />
recently, they can soon fill up with leaves<br />
and other debris, especially after a<br />
downpour. On average you should check<br />
they’re clear every couple of weeks.<br />
If you don’t already know your neighbours,<br />
go and introduce yourself. They might<br />
need a hand getting storm ready. Plus,<br />
when bad weather strikes it’s important to<br />
be able to tell the SES who lives nearby.<br />
Make sure everyone in your household<br />
knows what to do in severe weather.<br />
For tips on developing a house<br />
emergency plan use the SES guide at<br />
www.stormwise.com.au<br />
If you do need help during a severe storm, call the Queensland State Emergency Service on 132 500<br />
Principal Partner<br />
G018213 11/16
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