Vol. 7 Issue 2. 2018

Autumn 2018 Vol 7
Lest We Forget
ANZAC DAY 2018 - 25TH APRIL

www.anzdmc.com.au
23rd May 2018 The Star, Gold Coast
www.sar.anzdmc.com.au

CONTENTS
Editor’s Note
2
Latest Events
• Volunteer Week
• ANZDMC Conference
• Emergency Services Games
ANZAC Day - A Sacred tradition
After the Firestorm
Scholarships for Volunteers
Darwin recovery after Cyclone
Marcus
Emergency Kit Essentials
Body worn cameras help use of
force for police
Family recovery after natural
disasters
Triple zero in the digital age
Emergency Contacts
Apps to use in emergency
3
4
5
8
12
17
18
24
26
28
32
35
36
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1

EDITORS NOTE
2
Welcome to the Autumn edition
of the Australian Emergency
Services Magazine. As expected the
summer season was unpredictable
and busy and even as I write this the
BOM is saying there may still be the
possibility of another cyclone in the
final week of cyclone season.
The cyclone season for the top end
kept everyone on their toes with
reformations and plenty of rain. The
much needed rain flowing through
the centre now bringing welcome
relief.
It certainly caused havoc however
for the northern region with many
parts of the state cut off with road
closures and swollen rivers. Barron
Falls certainly was raging and
smaller catchment areas flowing at
full capacity. Read our article on
Darwin’s recovery after Cyclone
Marcus and what the town has
learned since the devastation of
Cyclone Tracy.
In the south the tragedy of fire
sweeping through our communities
again through the summer months
seems to be a consistent event in our
country.
The residents of Tathra, resilient
though they may be, many lost
everything in a matter of hours with
little to no warning that the fire was
heading their way.
This has brought a sharp focus
from government and emergency
sectors on the response time
and broadcasting of emergency
situations to local residents.
This issue brings you a great article
on when it is safe to return to fire
damaged areas and looking forward
into the digital age in regards to our
emergency response mediums and
the digitalisation of Triple zero.
Don’t forget volunteer week in May,
a time to perhaps begin to volunteer
in your community or celebrate
those who do. And of course
Autumn is the time we remember
the fallen ANZACs. We bring you
a great article on why this is such
a special commemoration each
year and is firmly embedded in our
nations history and hearts.
Happy reading,
Emma Parker
Editor

LATEST NEWS
VOLUNTEER WEEK 2018
The definition:
‘Volunteering is time willingly given
for the common good and without
financial gain.’ It is also proven to
improve our health and make us feel
pretty darn good. So why not get
involved in volunteering and be a
part of Volunteer week this year.
National Volunteer Week
(NVW) is the annual celebration
to acknowledge the generous
contribution of our nation’s
volunteers. #NVW2018
From 21–27 May 2018, thousands
of events will be held across
the country to say thank you to
the 6 million Australians who
volunteer their time. The week-long
celebration will include breakfasts,
morning/afternoon teas, and
luncheons, as well as open days,
award ceremonies, picnics, forums
and training sessions.
Volunteering Australia is excited
to announce our new National
Volunteer Week theme:
Give a little. Change a lot.
This years’ theme represents
the millions of volunteers who
make a profound impact in their
communities and on society,
through giving a little time.
Save the date for National Volunteer
Week 2018 – now scheduled for the
fourth week of May, so it no longer
clashes with the Federal Budget.
Support National Volunteer
Week and find out the facts about
volunteering. Did you know
that ‘The State of Volunteering in
Australia Report’ found that 93%
of people saw positive changes as a
result of their volunteering efforts.
Visit the National Volunteer Week
website to get access to resources,
merchandise, news and events. You
can search for volunteering activities
in your local area and be a part of
the change in your community
www.volunteeringaustralia.org
There is also another Volunteer
event coming up in June. Save
the date for the 17th National
Volunteering Conference. The
Conference will be held from 20-
22 June 2018, at the International
Convention Centre, Sydney.
The 2018 Conference will provide
a forum for not for profit leaders,
managers of volunteers, researchers
and policy contributors to advance
and strengthen the volunteering
sector through knowledge sharing
and discussion. This is Australia’s
premier volunteering leadership
event, uniting the sector to
ignite, invigorate and inspire on
volunteering issues.
For more information visit
nvc2018.com.au
3

LATEST NEWS
AUSTRALIAN AND NEW
ZEALAND DISASTER
AND EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
CONFERENCE 2018
The 2018 Australian & New
Zealand Disaster and Emergency
Management Conference
to be held on the 21-22 May at
the Star Gold Coast.
relating to the preparedness for future
disasters, emergencies and hazards and
the ability to recover from them quickly
and efficiently.
The program will include:
Officer and Deputy Director-General
Prevention Division, Department of
Health, Queensland Government
Mr John Yates, Director of Security,
Scentre Group & Westfield Corporation
4
Now into its seventh year, the
ANZDMC continues to grow in both
size and reputation and this conference
has evolved into the premium event
of its type, facilitating professional
development and the exchange of
current ideas and practices between
emergency and disaster management
practitioners from Australia and New
Zealand and further afield.
The program is intended to provide
all participants with an opportunity to
contribute and learn.
The program will examine what we have
learnt in the past few years and provided
a comprehensive forum to address the
expertise, competencies and systems
• Keynote presentations by renowned
speakers
• Concurrent sessions and panel
sessions
• Networking function
• Exhibition of leading industry
professionals
• Poster presentations
• Access to presenter podcasts and
book of proceedings following the
conference
• Certificate of Attendance which
may be used towards CPD points
Featured speakers at this years
conference include:
Dr Jeannette Young, Chief Health
Dr John Bates, Research Director,
Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC
Commissioner Katarina Carroll,
Commissioner, Queensland Fire &
Emergency Services (QFES)
Major General Gregory Bilton, AM,
CSC, Deputy Chief of Joint Operations,
Department of Defence – Army
Mr Nev Hyman, Founder and chairman,
NEVHOUSE
For further information on the
conference and venue visit:
www.anzdmc.com.au

LATEST NEWS
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
The Victoria Police & Emergency Services Games is an annual 10 day
sporting event that attracts competitors from all emergency service sectors
within Victoria. The games give competitors the opportunity to break away
from the stresses of the work environment, meet like minded people and
most importantly have a great time.
ESTA’s World Trade Centre soccer team
5

Janet Rowe presented with the award by the President of the Victoria Police Games Federation and Victoria Police Deputy Police Commissioner, Andrew Crisp
The games have over forty sporting
events to participate in, ranging from
angling and archery through to AFL9’s
and the gruelling Toughest Competitor
Alive! These games certainly capture
the essence of our emergency services
personnel.
Last year’s winner of the 2017 Stuart
Taylor Memorial Award, ‘Best
Performance of the Games’ - Janet Rowe
(pictured above) says what she likes
most about the Games is the friendships
that are made, the team spirit and sense
of belonging and community.
This memorial award is given for
excellence not only in the field of
competititon but also for enthusiasm
and willingness to be involved in all
aspects of the Vicotria Police and
Emergency Services Games.
6
ESTA’s Indoor Cricket Team
Janet, who currently works for ESTA,
has competed in the games for the last
4 years in pool swimming, open water
swimming and water relay. She has
worked in the emergency services sector
for 15 years and was previously in the
military where she used to compete

in internal competitions, such as running. Due to knee
operations from this period in her life Janet chose to take up
the swimming based activities. The games are tailored for all
levels of fitness and interest. Janet would attest to this and
encourages all to participate:
“Don’t let your skill level or fear of not being good enough
hold you back from getting involved in the games. I
quickly felt very comfortable in participating in an
emergency services games. Everyone was so welcoming and
encouraging”
The 2018 games have just recently been held from March
16th to March 25th. We look forward to seeing who the
winner will be this year for ‘Best Performance of the Games’.
For more information head to:
www.emergencyservicesgames.org.au
ESTA’s Sean Curtin and Jac Lock. Sean cleaned up with 4 golds in shot put and
discus and Jac took out the gold in 400m, plus 3 silvers in 100m sprint, long
jump and shot put
7

ANZAC Day
A Sacred Place
8
Australia is spending the
extraordinary amount of A$562
million commemorating the
centenary of the first world war between
2014 and 2018 — far more than any
other nation, including the major
combatants. This is compelling proof
we are very attached to the cluster of
beliefs and traditions we call the “Anzac
legend”.
While we identify Anzac as one of
the most prized components of the
Australian identity in 2017, that has
not always been the case. The values we
associate with Anzac today – mateship,
sacrifice, the birth of the nation – are
not necessarily the qualities that would
have come to mind for an Australian of
the 1920s.
And if you asked a university student
in the 1970s what they thought about
Anzac, they might well have told
you that it was an old-fashioned idea
that glorified war; the sooner it was
forgotten, the better.
The Anzac legend has an oftencontroversial
history. That history began
almost as soon as news of the dawn
landing of the Anzac troops at Gallipoli
on April 25, 1915 reached Australian

In Australian’s Hearts
shores.
Newspaper editors, politicians and
leaders of the church readily proclaimed
the charge up the cliffs into Turkish fire
to be Australia’s “baptism of fire” and
“the birth of the nation”.
The more obvious occasion for
Australia’s national birth — the peaceful
act of federation on January 1, 1901 –
lacked the bloody appeal of Gallipoli.
The Australian nation was created
during the age of “New Imperialism”,
when the empires of Europe were
engaged in furious competition for
colonial outposts and the resources and
markets they would bring.
It was a contest that led in 1914 to
the outbreak of the first world war.
According to the chest-beating
nationalism that accompanied and
justified this imperial jostling, war was
the truest test of the character of men
and nations.
Australians felt especially keenly their
lack of bloody initiation (the frontier
wars with Aboriginal peoples did not
count), given our penal past. A good
9

showing in battle would expunge the
convict stain and prove us worthy
members of the British race.
Even the radical poet Henry Lawson
favoured war as the national midwife
over peaceful federation. “We boast no
more of our bloodless flag, that rose
from a nation’s slime,” he wrote in The
Star of Australasia. Instead, Lawson
forewarned:
The Star of the South shall rise, in the
lurid clouds of war.
The earliest version of the Anzac legend
reflected the society from which it
sprung. It sought both to distinguish
Australians from Britons and earn their
10
approval. Thus, the original Anzac
legend emphasised the fighting ability
of the Australian soldiers, and their
national distinctiveness.
Unlike the English, we were laconic
and egalitarian. We didn’t stand on
ceremonies like saluting and parading,
but when it came to battle we were
second to none.
None of these comparisons with
Britain indicated disloyalty to the
“mother country”. One of the tenets
of Anzac commemoration remained
our continuing devotion to King and
Empire.
The Anzac legend became an important
addition to the Australian identity
during the 1920s and 1930s, but it would
be wrong to assume that it enjoyed the
celebratory connotations it does today.
Anzac commemoration had natural
constraints. Sixty thousand Australians
were killed in the war, and 160,000
were recorded officially as wounded.
Australians felt immense pride in the
achievements of their soldiers, but
that pride was tethered to the grief of
those who had witnessed first-hand the
devastating effect of war.
Along with the deep attachment to our
British heritage, female subservience
and sexual abstinence, the Anzac legend
was one of the foundation stones of
Australian society that was upturned by
the generation that grew to maturity in

the 1960s.
Alan Seymour’s 1958 play, The One Day
of the Year, notoriously condemned
Anzac Day as a day of “bloody
wastefulness” perpetuated year after year
by a “screaming tribe of great, stupid,
drunken, vicious, bigoted no-hopers”.
The unpopularity of the Vietnam War
from the mid-1960s greatly exacerbated
anti-Anzac feeling. Later, in the 1970s
and early 1980s, feminist protesters
targeted Anzac Day, condemning
the rape of women in war. For many
among the baby-boomer generation,
war commemoration had become
indistinguishable from the glorification
of war.
Myths and legends always reflect the
societies in which they exist. So, we have
seen the Anzac legend bend and sway
to accommodate our contemporary
concerns with diversity and
inclusiveness. Women and non-Anglo
Australians have been increasingly
drawn into the Anzac tent.
The extent to which Aboriginal
Australians have both sought and been
invited to participate has been one
of the noticeable trends of the Anzac
centenary commemorations. Tom
Wright’s play Black Diggers has toured
the country, telling the story of a group
of Aboriginal soldiers who fought
loyally for Australia, only to be relegated
to their lowly status after they returned.
As the centenary of the Gallipoli landing
loomed in 2015, it looked as if Anzac
was becoming the kind of commercially
driven carnival that Easter and
Christmas have morphed into.
Canny business people knew a cash cow
when they saw one. There were Gallipoli
cruises, camps and concerts. Men’s
magazines and merchandisers peddled
Anzac porn (before the Department of
Veterans’ Affairs shut them down). We
even had Gallipoli the Musical.
The most notorious of the “Brandzac”
ventures was Woolworths’ “Fresh in
our Memories” campaign — a public
relations disaster for the ages. Leading
up to Anzac Day in 2015, Woolworths
encouraged people to post images of
those who had been affected by war. At
the bottom of the images, Woolworths’
picture generator inserted the slogan
“Fresh in Our Memories” and the
company’s logo.
The blatant commercial motive drew
an immediate social media backlash,
including a rash of satirical memes.
Woolworths’ blunder was a symptom
of a bigger problem. Perhaps the
public appetite for Anzac had been
overestimated. Amid rumblings about
Gallipoli fatigue, Channels Seven
and Nine scaled back their plans
for coverage of the dawn service in
Gallipoli. Lee Kernaghan’s “Spirit of the
Anzacs” arena spectacular was cancelled
due to poor ticket sales.
Channel Nine’s seven-part TV series,
Gallipoli — predicted to be the “biggest
show on television” in 2015 by network
head David Gyngell — was a spectacular
ratings flop, despite critical acclaim.
Foxtel’s excellent Deadline Gallipoli,
starring Sam Worthington, also failed
to fire.
Anzac commemoration has been
noticeably more muted since 2015.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is less
ready than his predecessor Tony Abbott
to exalt the Anzacs and prime the
nationalist pump. Like his son-in-law
and former army captain, James Brown,
who criticised our “Anzac obsession” in
his book Anzac’s Long Shadow, Turnbull
prefers to emphasise the service and
well-being of contemporary military
personnel and veterans.
Criticisms of the Anzac excess from
commentators including historian
Marilyn Lake, co-author of What’s
Wrong with Anzac?, and David
Stephens at the Honest History group
have arguably helped to temper the
more exuberant rhetoric of politicians
and ambitions of cynical commercial
interests. Stephens has recently coedited
The Honest History Book, which
argues that:
Australia is more than Anzac – and
always has been.
While Australians no longer blink an
eye at the rampant commercialisation
of Easter and Christmas, we have
drawn the line at allowing Anzac to be
surrendered to the profit gods. Does
this mean that Anzac is more sacred to
Australians than the Christian traditions
of Easter and Christmas?
With its invocations to suffering
and sacrifice, its quasi-worship of
long-deceased young men and its
solemn dawn service rites, Anzac
commemoration shares many of the
elements of conventional religion.
The historian Ken Inglis wondered
as long ago as 1960 whether Anzac
functioned as a secular religion in
Australian society. In 2017, I think we
can confidently answer: yes, it does.
Carolyn Holbrook
Alfred Deakin Research Fellow, Deakin University
First published on The Conversation
11

12
After the

Firestorm
RETURNING TO A BUSHFIRE ZONE
13

14
Australia has a long
history of bushfire
disasters. The loss
of almost 70 homes
in Tathra, New
South Wales, and 18 homes in
southwest Victoria in March has
again reminded us of the risks
and huge personal costs of living
in a fire-prone country. The risk
is increasing as fires the world
over are expanding in every
dimension – in their timing,
with extended seasons of favourable
fire weather, frequency and
severity.
Emergency services, communications
and community support during fire
disasters have become increasingly
sophisticated to meet these growing
challenges. An often overlooked aspect
of bushfire management is post-fire
risk. Many people will be returning to
uncertainty. They will need to evaluate
the immediate impacts on their homes
and property, and the implications for
their future.
After the firestorm has passed, the risks
to health remain. These include physical
and chemical hazards associated with
damaged structures, contaminated
air, food and water, and the welldocumented
risks to mental health and
well-being. There are many potential
hazards in burnt properties. Returning
requires caution and preparation.
It is important to check if the relevant
emergency services have declared an
area safe enough to allow residents
to return and to seek guidance. Most
jurisdictions provide resources relevant
to their area. The Western Australian
Department of Fires and Emergency
Services provides particularly
comprehensive information.
When entering a fire-affected property
for the first time, use a face mask and
wear protective clothing, including
sturdy footwear, heavy-duty gloves,
overalls with long sleeves and trousers
– preferably disposable. The best face
masks to use are “P2” masks, available
from hardware stores. Ordinary paper
dust masks, handkerchiefs or bandanas
do not filter out the very fine ash
and dust particles or hazards such as
asbestos fibres. Bring plastic bags big
enough to contain dirty clothing, which
should be removed before entering a
vehicle.
The list of potential hazards includes
falling trees, branches and live power
lines. Leaking gas may produce an
odour or a hissing noise. Septic tanks
can be damaged, leak sewage or
collapse. The tank covers are at ground
level and might not be visible.
Hot embers and smouldering vegetation
can be present and ignite further fires.
If there is a risk of major structural
damage to buildings, a building
inspector should check these before
entry.
Fires can release potential toxins
from some building materials. For
example, ash from CCA-treated wood,
commonly used in decking, fencing and
landscaping, is harmful and skin contact
and inhalation should be avoided. It is
recognisable as green-coloured ash.
Houses built before 1990 might have
asbestos cement sheeting and exposure
to asbestos fibres can occur if people
actively disturb ashes. If asbestos is
likely to be present, a licensed asbestos
removalist must do the clean-up work.
Other hazards can come from gas
cylinders, garden chemicals, cleaning
products and other burnt residues.
Smoke might be present in the
area from the recent fires or local
smouldering debris. Smoke is toxic and
can worsen heart and lung problems for
some people.
Those most at risk are children
including unborn babies, the elderly,
smokers and people with heart and lung
diseases, including asthma.
Portable generators are another source
of air pollution. These should always be
used in well-ventilated areas to avoid the
risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Houses, regardless of whether they were
damaged by fire, are likely to have had
a period without power. Once cold or
frozen food has warmed or thawed, it
should be thrown out. Food, drinks or
medicines that have been exposed to
heat, smoke and water damage are also
no longer safe for consumption.
If rainwater tanks are intact and the
water has no abnormal look, smells or
taste, the water should be safe to use,
although it’s wise to boil untreated
water. However, if firefighting foams
or animal carcasses have contaminated
water in a tank it should be drained
and refilled with clean water. It’s also
important to clear the house roof of
carcasses or other contaminants that
could end up in rainwater tanks.
The psychological trauma of
experiencing a fire can be overwhelming
for adults and children alike. It is
possible they are grieving for a spectrum
of losses, including friends and
neighbours, pets and livestock that have
been killed or injured in the fire, loss of
treasured personal effects and even the
wider sense of loss of place that has been
called solastalgia.

While most people do recover from the
traumatic experience, the emotional toll
can be serious and long lasting for some,
with symptoms such as depression,
anxiety, anger, fatigue, nightmares and
difficulty concentrating. It is possible
that people are no longer able to live in
surrounds they once cherished and must
move away.
The onset of mental health issues can
sometimes be delayed months and
even years after the event. Help from a
counsellor or family doctor can manage
and reduce these impacts. Involvement
in community activities and social
connections can help promote resilience
and be protective.
It is important to note that posttraumatic
stress has a more positive
counterpart, post-traumatic growth,
and it is possible that individuals and
communities can become stronger
and more resilient as a consequence
of rebuilding and recovery following a
bushfire.
Prompt rebuilding of community
centres and restoration of community
services and activities are keys to
helping individuals and communities
recover. For this reason firefighters will
prioritise protection of community
assets.
Returning to fire-affected areas can be
hazardous and traumatic. Residents
should be prepared and equipped for
protection from potential hazards, and
seek advice from appropriate authorities
such as emergency services, local
councils and public health agencies.
Ongoing social connections and
community support are essential for
reducing the personal and psychological
impacts. This support needs to continue
long after the disaster has been forgotten
by the news media.
In the affected communities in NSW
and Victoria, this work has already
begun. Community meetings are taking
place to start the process of support that
will be crucial in the long journey of
rebuilding lives and communities.
Fay Johnston
Associate Professor, Environmental Epidemiology,
Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University
of Tasmania., University of Tasmania
Article first published on ‘The Conversation”
15

GIVE A LITTLE.
CHANGE A LOT.
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK 21-27 May 2018
Volunteering: Get the Facts
Business volunteering in the
workplace is increasing, with 63%
of large companies having a
workplace volunteering program,
30% of mid-sized businesses, and
6% of small business.
Almost 90% of large businesses
reported allocating more resources
to volunteering, compared to 10
years ago, and wanted to see
more of their workforce participate
in workplace volunteering.
Almost three-quarters of large
businesses or 72%, indicated they
encouraged employee giving by
allocating paid time for
volunteering.
Those who volunteered (87.4%)
also engaged in charitable
donation.
#NVW2018
volunteeringaustralia.org/nvw
16

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR VOLUNTEERS
Emergency management volunteers are
encouraged to apply for scholarships
in higher and vocational education.
The scholarships are available to
eligible volunteers to access accredited
vocational and higher education
qualifications in emergency and disaster
management.
The scholarships recognise the complex
service volunteers in the fire, flood,
storm, road rescue, and marine rescue
agencies deliver, and the high-level skills
and leadership required to respond to
emergency situations.
The fund will boost education
development opportunities to ensure
volunteers and their agencies are best
equipped to prepare for and respond
to disasters. Volunteers may receive up
to $12,000 for completing vocational
education and training and up to
$25,000 for higher education.
The Australian Institute for Disaster
Resilience (AIDR) is administering
the scholarship fund on behalf of the
Australian Government. Applications
open on 2 April 2018.
AIDR encourages applications from
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
volunteers, and those living in regional
and rural areas.
For more information about the
application process visit the Australian
Institute for Disaster Resilience website
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17

Darwin paying
Cyclone
18

the price after
Marcus
19

Darwin was directly in the path
of Cyclone Marcus and suffered
severe impacts from wind gusts
up to 130km/hour on Saturday,
March 17. Northern Territory
authorities made no declaration
of emergency, but the Insurance
Council of Australia declared it
a “catastrophe” for the Greater
Darwin region. Marcus is
considered the city’s secondworst
cyclone since Tracy, which
devastated Darwin on Christmas
Eve 1974.
The good news is that no deaths
have been reported. But had it been
a category 4 or 5 cyclone, instead of
category 2, how would the city have
fared?
The post-Marcus chaos in Greater
Darwin is not just “a real wake-up call”,
but a typical case of lessons yet to be
learned. For example, large shallowrooted
trees planted after Cyclone Tracy
and overhead power lines brought down
in the cyclone were both hazards that
could have been avoided. Darwin is now
engaged in a long, difficult and costly
clean-up.
Indigenous knowledge as well as the
Bureau of Meteorology’s historical
records confirm that tropical cyclones
are not new to Northern Australia.
According to the BOM:
There are on average 7.7 days per season
when a cyclone exists in the Northern
Region.
So was there complacency among
some residents, as emergency services
warned? Did infrastructure providers
underestimate the threat? In hot and
humid weather, over one-third of
Darwin’s population went without
power for several days and safe-to-drink
tap water for 48 hours. Communication
networks were patchy for days.
What was the reluctance in seeking
immediate support from other states
despite banks and insurers considering
this a catastrophe? Was it due to
Commonwealth disregard for the Top
End in general?
There have been at least two opposing
views on the impact of the cyclone.
The first is a more optimistic one,
largely because no one got killed or
seriously injured. Community members
spontaneously helped one another in the
immediate aftermath.
On this view, although preparedness
might have varied, people in general
were prepared. Power outages for a few
days were a “first world problem”. Most
households were ready, for example, to
use camping gas cookers.
Volunteers visited and helped vulnerable
groups such as aged and sick people.
Emergency responders, defence staff
and infrastructure restoration teams are
working tirelessly to return the city to
normalcy.
20

On the other hand, Marcus uprooted
thousands of trees across Greater
Darwin, mostly African mahoganies,
which were planted for revegetation
after Tracy.
Around 25,800 of about 60,000
properties across Greater Darwin were
cut off from power. Even after a week
many are still living in darkness. Power
outages had cascading effects: traffic
signals weren’t working for days at many
places and food was left to rot in the
heat.
Water was cut off in places. For about
48 hours people were urged to boil
tap water before drinking, cooking or
brushing teeth. The Health Department
issued a warning about melioidosis,
a life-threatening disease spread by
contact with soil, mud and surface
water.
Fallen trees blocked many roads and
caused mild to severe damage to
residential, commercial and public
premises. Outdoor areas were cordoned
off for safety.
Educational institutions were closed
for at least a day. People who didn’t
own a car or were unable to drive were
disadvantaged for almost three days
until public transport was running
again.
At several locations, tree branches are
still hanging dangerously over roads,
pavements, parks and roofs. Anywhere
in the city or suburbs, you see major
and minor roads, parks and beachfronts
dotted with uprooted trees and fallen
branches. The roadside piles of logs and
green waste are likely to remain there
for some time, as their removal is not an
“emergency priority”.
What does a city do with so much
waste?
Waste facilities are struggling to cope.
The morning after the cyclone, vehicles
queued for hours at the green waste
facility. It is yet to be ascertained if
arrangements can be made to manage
the huge quantities of green waste.
United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP) guidelines note that waste
debris presents opportunities as “either a
source of income or as a reconstruction
material, and [can] reduce burdens on
natural resources that might otherwise
be harvested for reconstruction”.
An evaluation of green waste would help
understand its recovery value. Research
suggests that disaster waste management
can account for 5–10% of the total
recovery costs, often exceeding that of
health care and education.
In October 2004, a typhoon devastated
Toyooka in Japan, producing 45,000
tonnes of waste – 1.5 years of the
city’s usual waste production. The
2011 tsunami in Japan produced
the equivalent of of 9 years’ worth
of municipal solid waste in Iwate
prefecture and 14 years’ worth in Miyagi
prefecture.
Local government is considering
removing mahogany trees, which were
introduced after Tracy, because of their
fast growth and the expansive shade
their dense canopies provide.
Globally, environmental dimensions of
disasters are less recognised compared
with social and economic dimensions.
However, the loss of dense trees and the
valuable ecosystem services these offer
calls for environmental recovery to be a
priority as well.
21

A 2013 study reveals that large sums
of taxpayers’ money is typically spent
following disasters, whereas increasing
pre-disaster investments can achieve
cost savings and resilience.
As an example, the territory government
is offering relief payments between
A$250 and A$650 for households that
were without power for 72 hours or
more. The importance of putting power
lines underground was recognised
more than a decade ago but the work is
incomplete due to lack of political will.
This is the time to ask questions such
as: what will be the scale of devastation
and cost and duration of recovery if a
category 4 or 5 cyclone hits Darwin?
The next cyclone after Marcus, Nora,
was expected to be a category 4 storm
but was downgraded to category 3 when
it hit the western coast of Cape York on
March 25.
Why not prioritise transformation of
critical infrastructure, such as shifting
all power lines underground? What role
can cost-benefit analysis play to achieve
resilience to category 4 or 5 cyclones
and other natural disasters?
More broadly, how can we learn from
the past? What are the new lessons we
can take forward from Cyclone Marcus?
And how do we inspire a city to work
towards creating “Resilient Darwin’”?
Akhilesh Surjan
Deepika Mathur
Jonatan A Lassa
Supriya Mathew
Charles Darwin University
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BUSHFIRE EMERGENCY EVENT PLANNING
INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS TO ENHANCE THE ENVIRONMENT AND PROTECT
PEOPLE FROM BUSHFIRES.
Our clients come from both the private and public sectors, across Victoria and interstate. They range
from individuals needing bushfire assessments for their properties, to private land developers and
government agencies such as local governments and environmental agencies requiring strategic planning
solutions.
Some well known Music Festival
events and other community
icons such as Royal Botanic
Gardens have taken advantage
of our expertise in bushfire and
emergency management over the
years.
Ecotide have the capability
and experience to undertake
event bushfire and emergency
plans for music festivals and
events throughout Victoria. Our
Event Bushfire & Emergency
Management Plans (EMP)
optimises the chance that your
bushfire risk is reduced, and the
appropriate event emergency plan
procedures are in place.
Event Emergency Plans - Bushfire
Emergency Management Plans
Events may include:
Music festivals
Sporting events
Cultural festivals
Jamborees
The EMP will:
• Incorporate a risk management
approach in accordance with
AS31000:2009
• Detailed treatments to mitigate or
minimise the risks
• A prioritised works plan for
treatment implementation
• Simple to follow triggers and
responses in a bushfire emergency
Ecotide’s previous work has included
Lorne’s Falls Festival, Meredith and
Golden Plains Music festivals, all
of which required robust bushfire
emergency management planning to
assure event overseers that it
could safely be operated, and to
ensure that patrons of festival
would be kept safer in a bushfire
emergency.
The Meredith Music Festival,
one of Victoria’s iconic music
festivals, depended upon an
Ecotide Emergency Management
Plan to prepare and organise the
emergency management and
operations of the event. The plan
has helped to reduce risks and
maximise safety for the patrons
of the event, which is critical for
a festival held during December
within the Fire Danger Period.
23

Lost/Missin
HAVING AN EMERGENCY KIT IS AN IMPORTANT STEP TO
PREPARE FOR, SURVIVE AND COPE WITH EMERGENCIES.
Know
All householders need to
know where your
Emergency Kit is kept.
On this page is a list of items which should be in your
kit at all times. There is also a list of extra items which
if you do not keep at all times you should add to your
kit during storm or cyclone season.
FOOD AND WATER
COMMUNICATIONS
Check
and update the contents
of your kit regularly, to
ensure everything is in
working order and has
not expired.
Discuss
your Emergency Kit
with all householders
and make sure everyone
knows what to do in an
emergency.
KNOW YOUR
EMERGENCY
CONTACTS
Range of non-perishable
MEDICAL AND
SANITATION
food items
Bottled water
First Aid Kit and manual
Essential medications,
prescriptions and dosage
Toilet paper
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Soap/shampoo
Personal hygiene items
LIGHT
Flashlight/torch with
extra batteries
Battery powered lantern
Battery powered radio with
extra batteries
Traditional wired telephone
Prepaid wired telephone
Prepaid phone cards and
coins for phone calls
CLOTHING AND
FOOTWEAR
Warm jumper, waterproof
jacket, hat and gloves
for everyone
Closed-toed shoes or
boots for everyone
TOOLS AND SUPPLIES
Whistle, utility knife,
duct/masking tape
24

Plastic garbage bags, ties
Safety glasses and sun glasses.
MISCELLANEOUS
Special items for infants
(nappies, formula etc)
Special items needed by
elderly or people with
special needs
Spare house and car keys
Pet food, water and
other animal needs
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
Keep original or certified copies of
these documents in your Emergency
Kit.
Scan copies of them and save the
files on a USB memory stick or CD
to include in your kit. Keep all these
items in sealed plastic bags.
Insurance papers for your
house and contents, cars
and for valuable items
Inventory of valuable
household goods
Wills and life insurance documents
House deeds/mortgage documents
Birth and marriage certificates
Passports/visa details
Stocks and bonds
Medicare, pension cards,
immunisation records
Bank account and credit card details
A back-up copy of important
computer files
Household Emergency Plan with
emergency contact numbers
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO DOWNLOAD AN
EMERGENCY PLAN FOR YOUR HOUSEHOLD GO TO:
www.qld.gov.au/emergency/dealing-disasters/emergency-kit
EXTRA ITEMS DURING STORM AND CYCLONE SEASON:
Three days supply of non-perishable food - can opener, cooking gear, plates, utensils
Water purification tablets
Extra supplies of medication and sanitary supplies
Wide masking tape for windows
Tent or tarpaulin
Blankets
Spare clothes
Portable stove with fuel
Spare batteries
Esky or gas/battery powered refrigerator
25

Body-worn camera
reduces police use of
force
26

Professional policing is one of the
great inventions of modernity.
Police are there to help people
feel safe. A police force is therefore a
vital institution in the realisation of
the fundamental democratic values of
freedom, security, safety and justice.
But, from time to time, incidents occur
that cause the public to challenge these
fundamental assumptions.
In light of the disturbing footage that
has emerged this week from CCTV
cameras showing Victoria Police
officers engaging in violent interactions
with members of the public (one, a
mentally ill pensioner who had refused
to comply with a request regarding
his welfare; the other, a robber armed
with a pair of scissors who was being
apprehended at the scene), questions
arise again about the police use of force
and accountability mechanisms that are
designed to prevent incidents such as
these.
First, we need to acknowledge that
police in Australia are generally held
in high regard by the public. The
Productivity Commission reported
in 2016-17 that, nationally, 73.4% of
the adult Australian population were
“satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the
services provided by police.
The proportion was higher (83.6%) for
those who had had contact with police.
Of those, 76.1% of people “agreed” or
“strongly agreed” that police treat people
“fairly and equally”, and 86.6% of people
“agreed” or “strongly agreed” that police
perform their job professionally.
But this confidence is significantly
diminished when footage emerges
of police using what appears to be
excessive force, and even more so when
their notes of a particular incident do
not match the evidence provided by the
cameras.
All this may change if body-worn
cameras (BWCs) are made compulsory
for all frontline officers. Victoria Police
is about to move in this direction.
Will this revolutionise the way police
behave, and the way the public engages
with them?
In 2015, former New South Wales Police
commissioner Andrew Scipione thought
only good could come of such an
initiative. He argued that BWCs would
keep police and the people they deal
with accountable.
He is not alone in thinking this way.
Research in the US has found that police
commands generally are of the view that
their officers will be more reluctant to
use excessive force in encounters with
the public if they are wearing BWCs.
A study in Florida found that the public,
too, thinks highly of BWCs, especially
in their ability to place a check on the
police use of force, and to enhance the
collection of evidence.
Let’s examine these assertions.
Over the last decade, most jurisdictions
in Australia have trialled BWCs with
frontline police officers. The results have
been largely positive: the NSW trial, for
example, was deemed “a great success”.
But the general consensus among
academics who have studied the
phenomenon is that BWCs are not the
key to reducing police use of excessive
force. A very useful analysis of the
international evidence concluded that
the presence of BWCs had no overall
effect on police use of force.
Indeed, when officers had the power
to choose to turn cameras off and
on, use of force rates were higher.
Also, researchers reported higher
rates of assaults on police presenting
with BWCs, which suggests that
their presence may actually provoke
aggressive conduct from the public
rather than calm it down.
But these same researchers also
concluded, in a related study, that BWCs
can reduce police use of force when an
officer’s discretion to turn cameras on or
off is minimised. They write:
BWCs ought to be switched on and
the recording announced to suspects
at early stages of police–public
interactions.
While the risks and stresses placed on
police make criticism of them often
appear churlish, the clear implication of
the many inquiries into the conduct of
police is that they must be closely and
constantly monitored. The delegation of
authority to police to assess their own
use of force is no longer something that
can be applied solely on trust.
So will the drive to equip Australian
frontline police officers with compulsory
BWCs improve policing? Probably.
For a start, gathering evidence will
be considerably speedier and more
accurate in most circumstances.
The cameras will need to be operational
in all interactions and the rules
concerning turning them on and off
will need to be clear and well-regulated.
Recall, for example, that the camera
worn by American police officer
Mohamed Noor at the time of the
shooting of Australian woman Justine
Damond had not been activated.
But this is only the start. What also must
be determined, among other things, are
the protocols associated with the privacy
of those filmed, and with accessing and
storing the recorded material, ensuring
that it is tamper-proof, and warranting
that it will be available when requested
under Freedom of Information
legislation.
And it should not be forgotten that true
police accountability is located in the
way operational codes are observed,
the practices of the relevant internal
and external review bodies, and in the
culture of every police organisation.
The new visibility provided by BWCs
will add a layer of transparency to
police activities. But this alone will not
be, and cannot be, the driver of greater
accountability.
Rick Sarre
Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal
Justice
University of South Australia
Article originally published on The
Conversation
27

FAMILY
RECOVERY
AFTER A
NATURAL
DISASTER
28
t’s normal for families to have difficulties
after a disaster. Sometimes it might not
be clear how problems are connected
with the disaster, especially if they
emerge long after the event.
Most families can become stronger
following a crisis, but first you need to
understand and deal with any issues.
Below are some common reactions a
family may experience after a disaster.
They can be immediate, or happen in
the medium term or long term.
Immediate effects
Some reactions may happen
immediately after the disaster and
continue for a few weeks.
• Afraid for each other’s safety away
from home.
• Nightmares or fear that another
disaster will occur.
• Anger about the fear and distress
the disaster has caused. Sometimes
this is directed at another family
member or at people outside the
family.
• Loss of trust and confidence in
themselves and other people.
• Emotional turmoil, anger, guilt,
sadness, unpredictable behaviour or
unreasonable reactions.
• Insecurity in children shown
through behaviour such as bed
wetting, changes in eating and
sleeping habits or reverting to
behaviour they have outgrown.
• Difficulty communicating because
family members don’t know what
to say to each other or don’t feel like
talking.

29

30
Medium term effects
Changes which are not obviously related
to the disaster can happen weeks or
months after the event.
• Spouses/parents may be irritable
or intolerant, leading to friction
and misunderstanding between
themselves and their children.
• Children and teenagers can begin to
seek attention or act disobediently,
which usually means they are
anxious or fearful.
• Family members’ feelings for each
other may change as they become
more detached or preoccupied with
their own problems and reactions.
• Family members may try too hard
to help others and ignore their own
needs.
• Family members’ work or school
performance and concentration
levels may suffer.
• Spouses’ sexual relationship may
change.
• Family members may lose interest
in leisure, recreation, sport or social
activities.
• Teenagers may look outside the
family for emotional support.
• Immediate post disaster responses
may continue or appear for the first
time.
Long term effects
Sometimes problems become evident
for the first time, months or years after
the event, and often appear as everyday
issues.
• Memories of the disaster may come
back if family members are involved
in another crisis.
• Family members often need to
go over the events—perhaps
for months or years—to better
understand what has happened.
• People may find future disasters
harder to handle, particularly when
similar feelings occur.
• Family members may hide painful
feelings until things have returned
to normal, and only then show their
distress.
• Immediate or medium term effects
may occur as delayed reactions or
may become habits.
You should consider any major change
or problem in a family or for individuals
could be related to the disaster, even if it
happens a few years later.
These problems are all normal reactions
to an event that has affected the whole
family. A few ways to help your family
recover after a disaster include:
• Keep communicating—talk about
what is happening, how you each
feel and you need from each other
to avoid feeling alone, isolated and
misunderstood.
• Share information—children,
teenagers and toddlers know
something is going on and the
reality is easier to deal with than the
unknown.
• Do things together—make time for
fun.
• Keep family roles clear —don’t
let children to take on too much
responsibility for too long.
Understand if a family member
can’t fulfil their role and talk about
how they will resume it when they
are ready.
• Be active—tackle problems, seek
help, seek information and don’t let
issues develop.
• Look back—consider how everyone
has changed since the disaster.
Look for the ways it has influenced
everyone for better or worse.
• Express emotions—support
distressed family members and
give them time to understand their
feelings.
• Seek external support—keep in
contact with support groups, other
family, friends, neighbours and
workmates. Make sure your family
doesn’t become isolated.

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You may need help if:
• communication in the family is breaking down
• parents don’t understand their children’s (or each
other’s) behaviour
• things aren’t improving over time
• a family member’s physical or emotional health is
deteriorating
• family members don’t enjoy being together.
If you’re concerned about yourself, your spouse, children or
parents talk to your general practitioner (GP), community
health centre or community mental health service.
Some GPs have additional training and expertise in mental
health. Search for a GP online or phone beyondblue on 1300
224 636.
Call a phone counselling service to talk about your feelings
and get information and advice.
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31

BEYOND TRIPLE ZERO
A DIGITAL, PROACTIVE
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Ivano Bongiovanni
University of Glasgow
Originally published on The Conversation
Imagine you’re camping in the
Australian outback. Your friend falls and
breaks a leg, and you call Triple Zero
(000) – but you’re panicking, and can’t
remember which roads you took to the
rocky outcrop where the accident took
place.
Getting help in this sort of situation may
soon be simpler, with Apple recently
announcing that the iOS 11.3 update
(available in coming months) will
support Advanced Mobile Location
technology (AML). With AML, when
an emergency call is made from a
mobile phone, the location of the caller
is automatically sent to the emergency
communication operator.
But one vital step is missing for this to
work in Australia. AML also has to be
supported by the operator that manages
the emergency communication service
in that country. At the moment, this
happens only in United Kingdom,
Estonia, Lithuania, Austria, Iceland,
Belgium, Ireland, Finland and New
Zealand.
In June 2017, the Australian government
announced that a request for tender
will be issued to deliver a new Triple
Zero (000) service (Telstra has been the
service provider since 1961).
This new service will need to support
location-based data, with AML
indicated as the preferred solution.
32
Further, the government indicated
that the new service will need to be
flexible enough to support alternative
technologies in the future.
The timing of the tender process
is currently not clear. Still, Apple’s
announcement means that the majority
of mobile phones around the world will
have AML by default – news welcomed
with enthusiasm by emergency
communication professionals.
Close to 100% of Android phone users
already have a similar setup, with AML
capability automatically incorporated
from July 2016 (from their Gingerbread
version onwards). Android’s AML is
called Emergency Location Service, or
ELS.
Research by the Australian
Communications and Media Authority
shows that in Australia in 2017, around
70% of emergency calls came from
mobile phones, with 14% of Australians
making at least one call to Triple Zero
(000) between January and June 2017.
To dispatch the appropriate emergency
services (Police, Fire or Ambulance),
the emergency operator has to know the
caller’s location with an appropriate level
of accuracy.
This can be problematic, especially
in a situation of extreme distress, and
when the caller is unfamiliar with their
surroundings – for example, in a remote
area or where a street number is not
immediately visible.
To tackle this issue, in 2015 the Push
Mobile Location Identification (Push
MoLI) was introduced in Australia.
This system identifies the caller’s
location based on the proximity to
telecommunications cellular towers and
automatically sends it to the operator.
However, the Push MoLI only provides
an area within which the caller is
located. The accuracy of location largely
depends on the proximity to, and the
number of, nearby cell towers. In remote
regions, such area can have a radius of
up to 100 kilometres.
To address such issues, in 2014
Australia’s Triple Zero Awareness
Group launched Emergency+. Once
downloaded, the app uses a mobile
phone’s internal GPS to calculate
latitude and longitude and show
them on the screen. When prompted,
the emergency caller can read
their coordinates to the operator.
Emergency+ has already exceeded 1
million downloads.
Nonetheless, some limitations have
been highlighted. As of June 2017,
15.45 million Australian adults owned
a smartphone, which indicates that, at
best, not more than 6.5% of them have
the app.
Also, the process of reading one’s
latitude and longitude introduces
chances of human error, either by the

33

caller or the operator. Further, some
users may be unfamiliar with spelling
their coordinates from a mobile app
(e.g. the elderly). AML is intended to
address these issues.
The future of emergency
communication is expected to be
digital-friendly, flexible and diversified.
We can already see public
acknowledgement of the growing
importance of digital technologies for
emergency communications. In the
UK, the Merseyside Police has recently
launched an initiative for citizens to
report non-urgent crimes through social
media.
However, it has been pointed out that
social media should not be considered
a replacement for more traditional
(and sometimes reliable) forms of
communication.
The National Emergency
Communication Working Group
- Australia and New Zealand
(NECWG-A/NZ) consists of Australia
and New Zealand representatives from
emergency service organisations, public
safety organisations, emergency call
persons (the initial triage points for
emergency callers, currently Telstra in
Australia and Spark in New Zealand)
and carrier representatives.
In 2014, NECWG-A/NZ produced the
Next Generation Triple Zero Strategy
(NG000). This document describes a
vision for a Next Generation Emergency
Call Service enabling:
(…) any person requiring emergency
assistance to use any device anywhere
anytime to connect to emergency
services.
The vision consists of a multichannel
approach, with inter-operable systems
(allowing the different emergency
agencies to be connected upon a
single request) and that enables digital
technologies.
Being proactive rather than reactive
is another focus for future Triple Zero
(000) and emergency communications.
This idea was described in a recent
report from NECWG-A/NZ working
with the Chair in Digital Economy at
QUT and Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
The emergency communication centre
envisaged in this report uses data
coming in from different sources (calls,
videos, SMS, social media, sensors, etc.)
and converts them into information
used to prepare for, and possibly
prevent, future emergencies. It has a
constant presence of staff members
from different emergency service and
public safety organisations, with profiles
ranging from data analysts to robotics
experts and more.
NECWG-A/NZ is currently working on
a roadmap to guide future development
across three key aspects of emergency
management: response, preparedness,
and prevention.
The Triple Zero (000) emergency service
has saved the lives of many Australians.
With the advent of digital technologies,
it is now ready for its “Next Generation”.
AML is the next step to accomplish.
Beyond, lie numerous possibilities for
a proactive emergency communication
centre.
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EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION
Police - Fire - Ambulance Triple Zero (000) 112 From Mobiles www.triplezero.gov.au
State Emergency Service (SES) 132 500
BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY
General Warnings 1900 969 922 www.bom.gov.au
Cyclone Warnings 1300 659 212 www.bom.gov.au/cyclone
Coastal Marine Warnings 1300 360 427 www.bom.gov.au/marine
Tsunami Threat Information 1300TSUNAMI www.bom.gov.au/tsunami
RADIO
ABC Local Radio
ABC Local Radio Frequency Finder
Commercial Radio Australia
www.abc.net.au/local
www.abv.net.au/radionational/frequency/
www.commercialradio.com.au
GOVERNMENT/HEALTH/ROADS
Standard Emergency Warning Signal (SEWS)
www.emergencyalert.gov.au
Health & Hospitals 13HEALTH www.health.gov.au
Road Closures 13 19 40 seek local/state road closure info
ELECTRICITY
Energex 13 19 62 www.energex.com.au
Ergon 13 16 70 www.ergon.com.au
PHONE
Telstra 132 203 www.telstra.com.au
Optus 13 13 44 www.optus.com.au
ANIMALS & WILDLIFE
Wildlife Hotline 1300 130 372
RSPCA 1300 852 188
Disease Watch Hotline 1800 675 888
Lost/Missing Animals
Local RSPCA website
CALL 000 IN AN EMERGENCY
35

APPS TO HELP
YOU IN AN
EMERGENCY
TECHNOLOGY IS FOREVER CHANGING AND IN MOST CASES TRYING
TO IMPROVE OUR ACCESS TO INFORMATION. WE HAVE PUT
TOGETHER THE TOP APPS IN AUSTRALIA THAT ARE FOCUSED ON
KEEPING YOU SAFE AND INFORMED
Fires Near Me App - Developed by the NSW Rural Fire Service it will
provide information about bushfires from participating fire agencies across
Australia. The app finds your location using a map and will give relevant information
around you. It also allows you to choose a location. The app also
provides information on total fire bans.
The Emergency+ app is a free app developed by Australia’s emergency
services and their Government and industry partners.
The app uses GPS functionality built into smart phones to help a Triple Zero
(000) caller provide critical location details required to mobilise emergency
services
Emergency AUS App - delivers warning and incident information issued
by official agencies across Australia. Providing you with real-time access to
official warnings, incident reports and public Sensory Observations to aid
in better decision making during emergencies and disasters. By bringing
together emergency information from over 25 emergency service agencies
and accessing observations submitted by the public
Triple Zero Kids Challenge App - Start playing and learn about what happens
when you call Triple 000. The online game is designed for children of
kindergarten and primary school age and consists of a number of safety scenarios.
The game is available in seven languages including English, Arabic,
Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Hindi and Dinka.

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UP T0 74
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be screened every two years. If you’re over 75, talk to your GP
to find out if breast screening is right for you.
IT’S AN INVITATION THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
IT’S AN INVITATION THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
australia.gov.au/breastscreen Call 13 20 50
australia.gov.au/breastscreen

GIVE A LITTLE.
CHANGE A LOT.
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK 21-27 May 2018
Volunteering: Get the Facts
The State of Volunteering in
Australia report found that 93%
of people saw positive changes
as a result of their volunteering
efforts.
Volunteers are inspired to be
involved in volunteering as it
allows them to give something
back to the community.
Volunteers are driven to volunteer
to make a difference.
Volunteers are motivated to
volunteer by a personal belief in
a cause or issue.
#NVW2018
volunteeringaustralia.org/nvw