Future SES volunteer leaders pay respects to the past at National Emergency Service Memorial - 2 May 2019
In 2019, State Emergency Service (SES) personnel took part in the commemorations at the AFAC National Emergency Services Memorial for the first time. To mark the occasion, young SES volunteers from across Australia were nominated to attend the event in Canberra on May 1.
The visit gave the SES youth contingent, aged 16-30, the opportunity to pay respects to their fire and emergency service colleagues who have died in the line of duty. While visiting Canberra, the young volunteers are also undergoing activities designed to develop their leadership skills to secure the future capability of the SES across the nation – a service which relies on its volunteer workforce to keep communities across Australia safe.
Alongside attending the fire and emergency service sector’s most significant commemoration event, the tour includes visits to the ACT Emergency Services Agency facilities, Parliament House and the NSESVA council meeting in Canberra. Each member of the national youth contingent was selected by their jurisdiction through a nomination process. Their attendance at the annual memorial service is sponsored by the National State Emergency Service Volunteers Association (NSESVA). NSESVA Chairman Gordon Hall ESM said investing in the development of young SES volunteers ensured the long-term safety of Australian communities.
“The State Emergency Service has its roots in community safety and civil service. By developing the skills of our youngest and most passionate volunteers today, we are able to uphold this legacy well into the future.” The tour will set the youth SES volunteers on a pathway towards leadership by introducing them to the wider sector in Canberra and reporting back to their units about the experience when they return.
“Nurturing the next generation of SES volunteers is vital as we face a future that is expected to bring more complex and unpredictable hazards. Strong leaders in the fire and emergency services ensure Australian communities will be safer and more resilient,” Gordon Hall said.
The NSESVA hopes to continue the National Emergency Services Memorial youth tour in coming years. The 2019 participants are: ACT: Ty Walker NT: Luke Cavan SA: Ashley Hicks TAS: Austen Hawkins WA: Sarah Hamilton VIC: Anani Kekunawala QLD: Amanda Johnson and Carley Meyer The AFAC National Emergency Services Memorial is an annual commemoration for fire and emergency service personnel who have died in the line of duty. For more information on the event and honour roll, visit the memorial website: memorial.afac.com.au For quotes and SES youth volunteer contact details: Gordon Hall ESM: Phone: 0427 002 702 Email: gordon.hall@nsesva.org.au
DEPLOYMENT Port Hedland: Cyclone Veronica March 2019
This is a full report of the SWORD deployment to Port Hedland in response to Cyclone Veronica. It’s a day by day account of their activities commencing on the 21st of March until their return to Perth. It’s a very detailed account and well worth the read. Please take the time to open the PDF.
Been a busy few months for the Merredin SES unit, we have been out and about promoting our unit to recruit new members and raise money for some much needed equipment. We held a stall and a raffle (all items were donated by local business's ) at the Merredin Gala night, stall at the 'Beyond Blue" held at Two Dogs Merredin, a stall at the Merredin show and a sausage sizzle at Two Dogs Merredin who kindly provided/donated all the food. We now have 3 new members and raised enough money to purchase Tom Tom's for the vehicles, camel packs for the members, gazebo for shade when we have a stall, DVD player for training day's (DVD's) and camp chairs for when we do land search so members can now sit comfortable and enjoy there lunch lol. We also took out 2nd prize in the survey with UWA and received a $200 Bunnings voucher which enabled us to purchase a pressure cleaner to keep our vehicles clean lol. All in all it has been very successful and rewarding to promote our unit. A big thanks to all members who have helped.
Nominations now open for the 2019 State Emergency Service Awards!
These awards honour the outstanding achievements of individuals and teams of SES volunteers who have shown exceptional dedication to their roles and duty.
There are three categories, Volunteer of the Year (the Peter Keillor Award), the Youth Achievement Award and the Team Achievement Award.
There have been quite a number of operations in different areas over the last few months, and this is your chance to acknowledge the incredible work and extraordinary contributions of our State Emergency Service volunteers.
What a week for CSU …… CSU volunteers have been very busy at three large-scale fires in the past week. The CSV has travelled over well over 1000 kms in two separate Emergency Fire deployments in Jurien Bay and Nannup, and one lucky member has been flown to Esperance and then been helicoptered to a mountain peak to set up communications equipment for fire operations.
Read the full report from CSU including some great pictures ===>
Over the past five years there have been many issues raised with DFES that affect the SES Volunteers and the roles they carry out. Most of these issues were represented to DFES by the SES units through their Regional Offices or by the SESVA direct to DFES staff. Many issues were resolved whilst others took years or got bogged down and had fallen off the radar.
During a meeting in October with the Minister for Emergency Services, the Minister advised the SESVA that he has decided that DFES will have a forum of all SES leaders in December (2018).
The date was set for 2/3 December and DFES, with assistance from the SESVA, put a forum together. More than 1 00 SES Volunteers and DFES staff attended the forum held at the Duxton Hotel in Perth.
Churchill Consulting facilitated the forum using certain themes to flush out many of the issues that SES Volunteers and their units are dealing with on a weekly basis. A report on the Duxton Forum was sent to all participants and the SESVA on 30 January. There are many issues in the 153 page “Summary of SES Volunteers Forum Outcomes” report.
DFES have decided that there will be a number of working groups supported by SES District Officers; 1 . Reduce administration workload 2. Process optimisation 3. Role clarity and communication effectiveness 4. Local government engagement 5. SES branding and recruitment support 6. Training and careers development 7. Training delivery 8. SES and cross-service collaboration
