Local Councils in three states have taken national awards in the 2003 National Safer Communities Awards, promoted by Emergency Management Australia (EMA). Towong Shire in north east Victoria, Blue Mountains City Council in NSW, and the City of Gosnells Council in WA were among the 12 final award winners.
The high degree of collaboration between emergency management organisations, government agencies, private bodies and the community was a feature of the entries in the 2003 Australian Safer Communities Awards. The judges noted that the most evident element across the range of entries was how services talked to each other and cooperated with planning and execution of emergency service programs.
Towong Shire Council shared the national award in the Post-Disaster Combined Project category, with several Local, State and Federal agencies, for initiating the development of a crisis response model for managing emergencies. The model applies especially in drought and fire emergency conditions, drawing together a whole range of support organisations to advise and assist those in town and rural communities.
Towong called on the input of several Victorian and Australian Government departments, and worked closely with a number of community organisations, such as the Council of Churches, Community Volunteers and Rural Finance Victoria. Inter-agency connection was complex, yet the means of achieving cooperation was simple – by getting people to talk to each other. It became an exercise in true community engagement.
Blue Mountains City Council won the Local Government Pre-Disaster category for supporting the production and distribution of a video that is now helping fire fighters understand what a firestorm means to a resident family. The video, filmed entirely by home owners during the disastrous Blue Mountains fires of December 2001, showed how good preparations can help protect houses.
It also captures the fears and interactions of children and parents as fire approaches. The video is now helping research into the social and mental impact of fire on families.
The City of Gosnells, in the east of Perth, took a Highly Commended award in the Pre-Disaster category, for initiating home safety and security audits for people with disabilities. The project was conducted in collaboration with the Western Australia Police Service and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority in WA. Officers from the three agencies take just 30 minutes to check locks, security lighting, fire alarms, the marking of valuables and evacuation plans. Hundreds of audits have now been conducted and some 250 smoke alarms donated to Gosnell residents with a disability.
