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Vol. 14 Issue 4. 2019

Emergency law with Prof. Michael Eburn, Reality of trauma for emergency service workers, Women making inroads in defence, Police Week 2019, Child centred disaster resilience education, Public transport and alcohol fuelled violence, New mapping technology helps manage bushfires and floods.

Emergency law with Prof. Michael Eburn, Reality of trauma for emergency service workers, Women making inroads in defence, Police Week 2019, Child centred disaster resilience education, Public transport and alcohol fuelled violence, New mapping technology helps manage bushfires and floods.

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<strong>Vol</strong> <strong>14</strong>. <strong>2019</strong><br />

FIRST CENTRE<br />

FOR FAMILY<br />

VIOLENCE<br />

OPENS IN<br />

VICTORIA<br />

THE REALITY OF<br />

TRAUMA FOR<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

SERVICE<br />

WORKERS<br />

POLICE WEEK <strong>2019</strong><br />

<strong>14</strong>th-29th September


We’ve got your back.<br />

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

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

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

emergency services community.<br />

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

support, information and services designed<br />

exclusively for the needs of our members.


We treat our members like colleagues.<br />

That’s because they are.<br />

Fire Response &<br />

Recovery Sector<br />

State Emergency<br />

Response &<br />

Recovery Sector<br />

We’re rallying for<br />

everybody working and<br />

volunteering to protect<br />

our communities.<br />

Ambulance & Medical<br />

Response & Recovery<br />

Sector<br />

Water Response &<br />

Recovery Sector<br />

Why Choose Us?<br />

Our simple products are<br />

tailored to the lifelong needs<br />

of our members.<br />

We provide top quality cover, and<br />

will stand beside our members<br />

when they need us most.<br />

Our approach is personal;<br />

we care about our members.<br />

We’re run for the benefit<br />

of members. We’re a true<br />

not-for-profit. We’re not<br />

driven by corporate investors<br />

or overseas owners demanding<br />

shareholder dividends.<br />

Who Can Join?<br />

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

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

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

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

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

For more information:<br />

PHONE<br />

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


Paramedics Australasia International Conference<br />

PAIC19<br />

BROADENING HORIZONS<br />

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

Wrest Point • Hobart • Tasmania<br />

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

Photo credit: Roger Wong


CONTENTS<br />

3<br />

Editor’s Note<br />

Latest Events<br />

4<br />

5<br />

6<br />

8<br />

10<br />

15<br />

18<br />

22<br />

24<br />

28<br />

32<br />

35<br />

• ESTA Junior Triple Zero Heroes<br />

• Emergency Services Blood<br />

Donation Challenge<br />

• Family Violence Centre Opens<br />

Emergency Law with Professor<br />

Michael Eburn<br />

The reality of trauma for emergency<br />

service workers<br />

Caring for the Carers<br />

Women making inroads in defence<br />

Police Week <strong>2019</strong><br />

Changes to violent offences affect<br />

vulnerable women<br />

Child centred disaster resilience<br />

education<br />

Public transport and alcohol fuelled<br />

violence<br />

New mapping technology helps<br />

manage bushfire and floods<br />

Cover Image:<br />

Mt Feathertop and surrounding<br />

landscape at sunset during winter<br />

near Mt Hotham in Victoria<br />

VISIT OUR<br />

WEBSITE AND<br />

VIEW ONLINE


1. Ask R U OK?<br />

Start a<br />

conversation<br />

using these<br />

4 steps<br />

<strong>4.</strong> Check in<br />

2. Listen without<br />

judgement<br />

3. Encourage<br />

action<br />

Visit us at ruok.org.au


EDITOR’S NOTE<br />

FROM THE EDITOR<br />

Welcome to another edition of the Australian Emergency<br />

Services Magazine. How is it August already! As winter<br />

starts to loosen its chilly grip over the coming month,<br />

thoughts will start to turn to the Summer season,<br />

emergency management and the strategies in place<br />

throughout the country.<br />

It is a great time to get outside and tidy up around the<br />

house in preparation for the warmer weather. What a<br />

good way to get warm too! Loose items, overhanging<br />

branches or trees that seem to look like they might drop<br />

a branch are things to be looking out for so you are<br />

storm and bushfire prepared. For more information<br />

head to our website on how to be emergency ready.<br />

A big thankyou to our contributors in this issue.<br />

Professor Michael Eburn, ESTA, Stuart Taylor (CEO of<br />

Springfox) and FMSA Architecture with their project<br />

for the centre for family violence that recently opened<br />

in Victoria. We aim to deliver relevant and up to date<br />

content for our readers and are dedicated to promoting<br />

the emergency services industry in Australia. The<br />

articles from these contributors help us to achieve that,<br />

so thankyou again,<br />

We hope you enjoy this edition,<br />

Happy reading<br />

Emma Parker<br />

Editor<br />

Follow us on our social channels<br />

and on our website<br />

www.ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />

DISCLAIMER<br />

The Australian Emergency Services Magazine is<br />

a community educational resource publication<br />

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

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

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

or associated with any government or similar<br />

institution.<br />

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

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

parties, including business, subscribers,<br />

advertisers, volunteer emergency organistations,<br />

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

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

each State & Territory.<br />

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

presented in the Australian Emergency Services<br />

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

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

or liability will be accepted by Boothbook<br />

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

not necessarily those of Boothbook Media and<br />

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

or promotional material contained within the<br />

Australian Emergency Services Magazine is not<br />

necessarily an endorsement by Boothbook<br />

Media.<br />

Published by Boothbook Media<br />

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BOOTHBOOK MEDIA<br />

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WANT TO CONTRIBUTE?<br />

MAGAZINE CONTACTS<br />

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

press@ausemergencyservices.com.au<br />

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

within the Australian Emergency Services Magazine.


LATEST EVENTS<br />

ESTA - JUNIOR TRIPLE ZERO HERO AWARDS<br />

A<br />

total of 28 young<br />

Victorians aged between<br />

three and 16 were named<br />

Junior Triple Zero Heroes in<br />

June by the Emergency Services<br />

Telecommunications Authority<br />

(ESTA), for calling triple zero.<br />

The young heroes are nominated by<br />

the ESTA operators who took their<br />

call. The awards, which are in their<br />

fifteenth year, recognise young people<br />

for their bravery and clear thinking in<br />

emergencies.<br />

This year’s heroes include:<br />

• Five-year-old Monte and sevenyear-old<br />

Casper who called triple<br />

zero when their dad collapsed<br />

and started having seizures. The<br />

brothers relayed critical health<br />

information to the call-taker and<br />

worked together to turn their<br />

dad on his side when the seizures<br />

stopped.<br />

• 11-year-old Chamaya who called<br />

triple zero when her mother<br />

started to choke on a bone<br />

while they were eating dinner.<br />

Chamaya calmly answered the<br />

call-taker’s instructions and<br />

monitored her mum’s breathing<br />

until the ambulance arrived.<br />

• 12-year-old Kade who called<br />

when his dad crashed his<br />

motorbike into a tree. Kade<br />

showed maturity beyond his<br />

years by calmly relaying his<br />

longitude and latitude to the calltaker<br />

to pinpoint their location<br />

and caring for his dad until help<br />

arrived.<br />

The Minister for Police and<br />

Emergency Services, Lisa Neville,<br />

said: “The bravery and courage<br />

these young Victorians show during<br />

emergencies, often involving their<br />

loved ones, is truly inspirational<br />

and I congratulate them on their<br />

outstanding efforts.”<br />

“More than 2.5 million emergency<br />

calls are made to ESTA through the<br />

Triple Zero service every year, but<br />

the actions of these brave young<br />

Victorians in situations that would<br />

unsettle most adults deserves our<br />

recognition and praise.”<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. We<br />

tell parents and carers that the life a<br />

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 />

The Junior Triple Zero Hero Awards<br />

were held at Parliament House in<br />

Melbourne on the 29th June.


LATEST EVENTS<br />

EMERGENCY SERVICES BLOOD CHALLENGE<br />

1ST JUNE - 31ST AUGUST <strong>2019</strong><br />

Get your blood pumping<br />

Are you ready for the Emergency<br />

Services Blood Challenge?<br />

It’s set to be a big one.<br />

Just give blood or plasma between 1<br />

June and 31 August to get involved.<br />

We’re expecting competition to be<br />

fierce with Red25 groups across the<br />

country warming up to save the most<br />

lives.<br />

You can get a spot on the podium in<br />

one of four categories:<br />

• Most donations<br />

• Highest member participation<br />

• Most new donors<br />

• Highest year-on-year growth<br />

What is Red25?<br />

Red25 brings people together to save<br />

lives. Red25 groups are made up of<br />

people like you who care about what’s<br />

happening in the world. Together,<br />

they give more than 25% of Australia’s<br />

blood donations.<br />

1, 2, 3, Give!<br />

• Register a donor account online<br />

if you don’t already have one.<br />

• Join our Red25 group by<br />

following the link in the top<br />

right corner after you’ve logged<br />

in—just search your group name<br />

below.<br />

• Book an appointment and<br />

donate. Every donation you make<br />

goes toward our group’s tally!<br />

That’s it. You can check in on the front<br />

runners throughout the challenge and<br />

see how you measure up.<br />

Spread the word! This isn’t a solo<br />

event—it’ll take a team to win.


LATEST EVENTS<br />

FIRST DEDICATED CENTRE FOR FAMILY<br />

VIOLENCE OPENS IN VICTORIA<br />

Following the declaration by<br />

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews<br />

that family violence is ‘the most<br />

urgent law and order emergency<br />

occurring in our state,’ the first-ever<br />

dedicated Centre of Learning for<br />

Family Violence has opened in Glen<br />

Waverley, providing a state-of-the-art<br />

simulation space for the front-line<br />

police.<br />

Designed by leading architectural<br />

practice FMSA Architecture for<br />

Victoria Police, the facility includes<br />

Australia’s first scenario training<br />

and simulation spaces dedicated<br />

to training those on the front-line<br />

of family violence. A landmark<br />

project, the building is the direct<br />

result of academic research and key<br />

recommendations delivered in the<br />

2016 Royal Commission into Family<br />

Violence.<br />

Currently, findings suggest that<br />

response to family violence can<br />

take up to 40-60 per cent of frontline<br />

police time and in 2018, there<br />

were around 79,000 reported family<br />

violence incidents.<br />

Berry Street is one organisation that<br />

sees the impact of family violence<br />

through their work helping children,<br />

young people and families impacted<br />

by abuse, violence and neglect.<br />

According to Berry Street CEO<br />

Michael Persuco family violence<br />

continues to be a significant problem<br />

in our community. “Victoria Police<br />

are often the first responders to<br />

family violence, and their skills in<br />

managing these complex situations<br />

are key to ensuring the best outcomes<br />

for affected women, children<br />

and families, alongside partner<br />

organisations such as Berry Street.<br />

“This new facility, and its design<br />

which allows scenario-based training,<br />

is key to ensuring Victoria Police can<br />

continue to improve intervention<br />

and response for victim survivors of<br />

family violence,<br />

including children,” said Michael.<br />

A pivotal figure in the Royal<br />

Commission, family violence<br />

campaigner and 2015 Australian of<br />

the Year, Rosie Batty, anticipates this<br />

facility will help increase survival<br />

rates for countless innocent victims.<br />

“Family violence is a widespread<br />

epidemic and has a profound impact<br />

on every community and every<br />

suburb. It is dangerous and too often<br />

fatal. This requires our police force to<br />

be well trained in its complexities to<br />

fully comprehend risk and respond<br />

effectively.<br />

“Scenario based training delivered


in this impressive new facility will<br />

undoubtedly save lives and<br />

this can’t happen soon enough,” said<br />

Rosie.<br />

LATEST EVENTS<br />

The Centre of Learning for Family<br />

Violence includes contemporary<br />

training facilities and first-of-its-kind<br />

Family Violence Simulation Centre,<br />

presenting a realistic suburban<br />

environment including a bedroom,<br />

living room, kitchen and front yard.<br />

Driven by a need for flexibility,<br />

the training room is designed to<br />

accommodate a wide range of<br />

scenarios and demographics using<br />

movable room dividers, props and<br />

sensory techniques such as a dog<br />

barking or a loud TV, to act as<br />

distractors for trainees to improve<br />

their response.<br />

Fully equipped with contemporary<br />

systems for live streaming, the centre<br />

gives academic facilitators the ability<br />

to conduct assessments without<br />

interrupting the scenario, while rural<br />

officers can also participate in training<br />

remotely.<br />

FMSA Architecture Director Greg<br />

Anson believes the level of realism<br />

offered in the centre’s specialist<br />

training facilities will become<br />

a pivotal direction for many<br />

organisations in the future.<br />

“Having designed specialised<br />

practical training facilities for<br />

industry and traditional educators,<br />

we understand the positive impact of<br />

the built environment, combined with<br />

emerging technologies can have on<br />

the way training is delivered.<br />

“The Centre of Learning for Family<br />

Violence is a primary example of<br />

how collaboration with specialist<br />

consultants can add value to<br />

the curriculum. By applying<br />

the principles of environmental<br />

psychology, we delivered a carefully<br />

designed environment that supports<br />

the ongoing effectiveness and safety of<br />

the trainees and educators,” said Greg.<br />

Commenting on FMSA’s involvement<br />

in this leading training facility, Greg<br />

said “as architects we have a unique<br />

opportunity to shape the way we<br />

live, work and learn. The Centre<br />

of Learning for Family Violence<br />

demonstrates how informed and<br />

collaborative design can boost the<br />

quality of training environments<br />

for front line agencies like Victoria<br />

Police, which in turn improves social<br />

outcomes for the wider community.”<br />

Social responsibility is a guiding<br />

philosophy for FMSA Architecture,<br />

with the multi-disciplinary design<br />

practice boasting a track record of<br />

over 40 years successfully designing<br />

built environments that deliver<br />

meaningful social value through<br />

inclusive, occupant driven design.<br />

For more information, please visit<br />

www.fmsa.com.au/projects/victoria-policecentre-of-learning-for-family-violence/<br />

Photography by Rachel Dere Photography


AUSTRALIAN EMERGENCY LAW with Professor Michael Eburn<br />

A DISCUSSION ON<br />

THE LAW THAT<br />

APPLIES TO OR<br />

AFFECTS AUSTRALIA’S<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

SERVICES AND<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

MANAGEMENT<br />

Putting the risk<br />

of doing first aid<br />

in perspective<br />

June <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />

There seems to be resurgence<br />

in questions about legal risks<br />

of doing first aid, in particular for<br />

paramedics providing care when not<br />

at work. I confess I fail to understand<br />

the fear – there are no reported cases<br />

of people being sued for doing first<br />

aid whether they are untrained,<br />

trained, paramedics, nurses or<br />

doctors. Further the parliaments<br />

have gone to great lengths to try and<br />

reassure ‘good Samaritan’s’ that they<br />

are not at legal risk.<br />

PHD<br />

Barrister<br />

Leading expert in Law<br />

relating to Emergency<br />

Management &<br />

Emergency Services<br />

Follow Michael Eburn<br />

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

Twitter - @EburnM<br />

For his latest articles on Emergency<br />

Law go to:<br />

www.emergencylaw.wordpress.com<br />

Let me put this in some context.<br />

Most people drive a car. If you’re<br />

afraid to do first aid, you should be<br />

terrified of driving. Everyone who<br />

drives makes mistakes. Most of the<br />

time they have no consequences.<br />

Sometimes you or someone else<br />

notices and you think ‘that was<br />

close’. Most drivers believe they are<br />

competent and most are most of the<br />

time. Drivers, trying to do their<br />

best and with no intention of hurting<br />

anyone, can cause horrific accidents<br />

where everything held dear – loved<br />

ones, financial security, future health<br />

etc can be lost in an instant.<br />

Drivers face the risk of criminal<br />

penalties ranging from traffic<br />

infringement notices to<br />

imprisonment for manslaughter.<br />

Nearly all traffic offences can be<br />

committed unintentionally and when<br />

trying to do your best.<br />

But still we get up, get in the car, and


drive off placing our lives and the lives<br />

of every other road user at risk. Why<br />

do we do that? Because there’s social<br />

value in having a car – it’s convenient<br />

and allows us all to do things we could<br />

not otherwise do. It improves the lives<br />

of most of us even though cars will take<br />

the lives of some of us.<br />

How do we manage the risk? We<br />

back ourselves and we buy insurance.<br />

Compulsory third party insurance is, as<br />

the name suggests, compulsory so we<br />

have that to ensure that anyone injured<br />

by our negligence (and increasingly<br />

persons injured without negligence)<br />

receive assistance with costs that come<br />

with allowing people to drive cars.<br />

And many but not all take out first<br />

party insurance to cover the losses to<br />

our own vehicle or property damage<br />

done to others. We spread the financial<br />

risk via insurance and we drive to what<br />

we believe are our levels of competency.<br />

The risks of driving are much higher<br />

than doing first aid – you are much<br />

more likely to injure someone<br />

and much more likely to face legal<br />

consequences.<br />

In first aid the law is so in favour of the<br />

rescuer that the risk of being sued is as<br />

low to zero as one can imagine. Even so<br />

the risk can be mitigated by insurance.<br />

Registered health professionals should<br />

have Professional Indemnity Insurance<br />

so they can spread the risk. For others<br />

household contents insurance often<br />

provides public liability cover – see<br />

for example AAMI Home Contents<br />

Insurance Product Disclosure Statement<br />

(PDS dated 01/10/13), p. 36. But you<br />

don’t need insurance – the risk of<br />

being sued is as low to zero as one can<br />

imagine. You probably go out in public<br />

without thinking about insurance<br />

but you may bump into someone but<br />

you don’t live in fear that everyone is<br />

looking to sue you.<br />

And back yourself, do what you believe<br />

is required in the best interests of the<br />

person in need of care and do what you<br />

believe you are competent to do.<br />

Conclusion<br />

If you’re prepared to drive a car, you<br />

should not be afraid of the legal risks<br />

of rendering first aid assistance to a<br />

stranger.<br />

This article originally appeared on<br />

the blog Australian Emergency Law<br />

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

and is reproduced with the permission<br />

of the author.<br />

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

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

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

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

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

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

specific situation or event depends on<br />

all the circumstances.<br />

If you need to determine legal rights<br />

and obligations with respect to any<br />

event that has happened, or some<br />

action that is proposed, you must<br />

consult a lawyer for advice based on<br />

the particular circumstances. Trade<br />

unions, professional indemnity insurers<br />

and community legal centres can all be<br />

a source for initial legal advice.


THE REALITY<br />

OF TRAUMA IN<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

SERVICE WORKERS<br />

Stuart Taylor<br />

CEO & Co-founder of Springfox<br />

The leading provider of resilience programs in Australia<br />

www.springfox.com<br />

When it comes to providing care to others, the<br />

saying goes that you can’t pour from an empty<br />

cup. It speaks to the importance of looking after<br />

our own needs before we attempt to look after the needs of<br />

others. But what happens when the cup is fractured? Can<br />

it still hold its contents? And for how long can it be used<br />

before the fractures restrict its function?<br />

A recent study of Australia’s police and emergency services<br />

workers by Beyond Blue found that an alarmingly high<br />

number of workers and volunteers were grappling with poor<br />

mental health as a result of job-related trauma.<br />

The study found that more than half of all workers surveyed<br />

had been deeply affected by a traumatic experience in their<br />

work, while a further 1 in 3 continue to experience ongoing<br />

psychological distress. Worryingly, the study also revealed<br />

that the prevalence of suicidal thoughts were twice as high<br />

in emergency services workers compared to the wider<br />

population.<br />

The study’s findings highlight the concerning reality of a<br />

workforce acutely impacted by the nature of their work.<br />

In responding to calls for assistance, emergency services<br />

workers are continually placing themselves in front of<br />

distressing scenes and often unknown dangers, entering<br />

high-risk situations to provide critical aid.<br />

While this line of work will always come with its unique<br />

challenges, to effectively operate in high-risk, high-pressure<br />

environments, emergency services workers require a great<br />

deal of personal resilience.


Stuart Taylor<br />

CEO and<br />

Co-founder<br />

of Springfox<br />

For over a decade, Stuart has engaged and inspired<br />

with his workshops, keynotes and conference<br />

presentations to more than 20,000 people globally<br />

with measurable impact achieved across many<br />

organisations.<br />

His early career included periods of rapid<br />

advancement within organisations as diverse as<br />

the Royal Australian Air Force, KPMG, and Heinz,<br />

developing his broad experience in aerospace<br />

engineering, IT, finance and psychology.<br />

A potentially devastating diagnosis of brain cancer<br />

in 2002 led Stuart on a personal journey back to<br />

physical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual health.<br />

The experience gave Stuart a unique appreciation<br />

of the tangible benefits of the practices that helped<br />

him overcome a 2.5-year prognosis and demanding<br />

cancer treatments.<br />

Stuart became a strong advocate for incorporating<br />

cultural practices into the Australian workplace to<br />

nurture wellbeing through the body, heart, mind<br />

and spirit. Stuart formalised this resolve in 2003,<br />

founding The Resilience Institute in Australia - now<br />

Springfox.<br />

Stuart’s broadened perspective and empathy-based<br />

approach enables him to identify challenges and<br />

customise effective strategies for clients seeking<br />

optimal organisational performance. Stuart’s ultimate<br />

purpose is helping people and organisations,<br />

typically through leadership and senior teams, shift<br />

into a more compassionate space in order to reach<br />

sustainable high performance.


On the whole, workers are more<br />

likely to be negatively affected by<br />

a traumatic experience when their<br />

resilience is lower – which has flow<br />

on effects in both their professional<br />

and personal lives. On a professional<br />

level, the impact of trauma can lead<br />

to poor performance, slower reaction<br />

times and difficulty making decisions.<br />

It can also spill into your personal<br />

life, leading to strained relationships,<br />

anxiety and an overall decrease in life<br />

enjoyment.<br />

Recognising the symptoms of trauma<br />

Emergency services workers face<br />

greater exposure to trauma than any<br />

other profession, and it’s easy to be<br />

affected. However, if you’re struggling,<br />

it’s important to know that recovery is<br />

possible.<br />

The first step in recovering from<br />

trauma is identifying the symptoms<br />

and acknowledging your experience.<br />

However, for many in the field, this is<br />

often the biggest challenge.<br />

According to Beyond Blue’s study,<br />

a large number of workers whose<br />

psychometric test results indicated<br />

they were experiencing high levels of<br />

distress did not recognise they had a<br />

mental health issue at all. The findings<br />

indicate that while many will be able<br />

to recognise symptoms like panic<br />

attacks, flashbacks or breakdowns,<br />

more subtle symptoms like mood<br />

changes and feelings of loneliness will<br />

often go undetected.<br />

Other subtle symptoms of trauma<br />

include:<br />

• Agitation, irritability or hostility<br />

• Loss of interest or pleasure in<br />

usually enjoyed activities<br />

• Emotional detachment from<br />

friends or family, or social<br />

isolation<br />

• Insomnia or poor-quality sleep<br />

• Feelings of self-depreciation or<br />

guilt<br />

Realistically, encountering traumatic<br />

situations is an inevitable part<br />

of emergency service work, but<br />

safeguarding against the psychological<br />

impact is vital for protecting the wellbeing<br />

of workers.<br />

It’s for this reason that emergency<br />

services workers require significantly<br />

higher levels of resilience than those<br />

in low-risk, low-pressure professions.<br />

Resilience creates a buffer between<br />

the traumatic experience and the<br />

individual facing it, and this lessens<br />

the psychological impact of the<br />

traumatic event – allowing the<br />

individual to continue to operate with<br />

minimal mental or emotional stress.<br />

In fact, our recent Global Resilience<br />

Report found that proactively<br />

investing in resilience reduces<br />

symptoms of distress and physical<br />

vulnerability by up to 30%.<br />

When resilience is running low or<br />

depleted entirely, workers become<br />

vulnerable to the pressures and strains<br />

of the job, increasing their risk of<br />

post-traumatic mental ill-health.<br />

Building resilience against trauma<br />

In order for emergency services<br />

workers to operate sustainably and<br />

efficiently in their roles, personal<br />

resilience must be replenished and<br />

strengthened daily.


This begins with the often-overlooked<br />

basics – a healthy, nourishing diet,<br />

regular physical exercise, frequent<br />

relaxation or meditation, and a<br />

consistent sleep cycle. A recent study<br />

published in the Medical Journal of<br />

Australia found that a poor diet and<br />

lack of exercise were key contributing<br />

factors in the onset and course of<br />

negative mental health conditions<br />

such as depression, while a US study<br />

on mindful meditation found it<br />

lowered the brain’s stress responses<br />

by 15%.<br />

In addition, positive relationships play<br />

an instrumental role in speeding up<br />

the recovery process and protecting<br />

against trauma. These relationships<br />

provide an important sense of safety,<br />

security and comfort, and give the<br />

individual a space in which to reflect,<br />

process and heal with the support of<br />

another.<br />

Strong relationships also lend to a<br />

greater sense of work-life balance.<br />

A 2015 report on the importance<br />

of work-life balance found 60% of<br />

participants surveyed experienced<br />

conflict in both their work and<br />

personal life due to an imbalance in<br />

commitments and responsibilities<br />

from both areas.<br />

While this is an even greater challenge<br />

for emergency service workers thanks<br />

to the long and fluctuating hours<br />

and often highly-emotional content<br />

of their work, creating a clear divide<br />

between work and life is imperative.<br />

Strategies to assist this include<br />

pursuing a hobby, making time for<br />

family outings, asking loved ones<br />

about their day, and changing into<br />

casual clothes immediately after a<br />

shift.<br />

For emergency services workers,<br />

understanding the difference between<br />

compassion and sympathy is another<br />

critical factor in protecting against<br />

trauma. While human tendency<br />

sees us treat traumatic situations<br />

with sympathy, this puts us at risk of<br />

over-caring which can make us feel<br />

responsible for the outcome, and can<br />

eventually lead to emotional burnout.<br />

Instead, it’s more sustainable to act<br />

with compassion and empathy –<br />

which will see you demonstrate care<br />

with the personal understanding<br />

that you’re there to support, not to<br />

fix, thereby decreasing the negative<br />

impact of the situation.<br />

Job-related trauma is part and parcel<br />

of emergency service work, and in<br />

order for workers to continue to<br />

operate efficiently within their roles,<br />

addressing its prevalence crucial. But<br />

it’s important to acknowledge that<br />

there is no quick fix. Dealing with<br />

trauma requires both proactive and<br />

reactive approaches, where workers<br />

are equipped with the skills to<br />

recognise, process and recover from<br />

their experience, to rebuild resilience<br />

and prevent trauma from reoccurring.<br />

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CARING FOR THE CARER<br />

Victoria’s royal commission into mental health on July 12 turned its attention to the families and<br />

carers of people living with mental illness.<br />

An estimated 2.8 million Australians provide practical day-to-day and emotional support for<br />

someone they care about. Of those informal carers, around 240,000, or 8.6%, are looking after<br />

someone with a mental illness. And this number is likely an underestimate. Carers often support<br />

loved ones with multiple difficulties. So while they may report looking after someone with a physical<br />

illness, this person could be experiencing mental health challenges, too.<br />

Jaelea Skehan and<br />

Sally Fitzpatrick<br />

School of Medicine and<br />

Public Health<br />

University of Newcastle


People providing care and<br />

support for someone with a<br />

mental illness don’t always<br />

recognise themselves as “carers”. They<br />

are likely to view their role more<br />

simply as that of a partner, parent,<br />

sibling, flatmate or friend.<br />

We’ve been working to better<br />

understand the needs of people who<br />

provide care and support to the one<br />

million Australians who experience<br />

depression each year, as well as those<br />

who provide support to the 65,000<br />

Australians who attempt suicide.<br />

The demands placed on these carers<br />

can be constant and overwhelming.<br />

We urgently need to better support<br />

the invisible work family and friends<br />

do every day in caring for Australians<br />

living with mental illness.<br />

The impact of caring<br />

As the largest non-clinical workforce<br />

we have for Australians experiencing<br />

mental illness, carers provide<br />

human and economic returns to the<br />

community every day.<br />

It was recently estimated that mental<br />

health carers save the Australian<br />

government in excess of A$13 billion<br />

every year. But this group is often<br />

unsupported and unpaid (with the<br />

exception of a Centrelink carer<br />

allowance, in some cases).<br />

The practical, physical, economic<br />

and emotional demands of being a<br />

carer can be enormous. Informal<br />

carers of people with mental illness<br />

might assist their loved ones to<br />

manage their illness, for example by<br />

identifying symptoms, working out<br />

symptom management strategies,<br />

and organising appointments and<br />

medications for them.<br />

They will often provide practical<br />

assistance, for example by taking<br />

on more household or financial<br />

responsibilities. Finally, they provide<br />

ongoing emotional support, such as<br />

being available to listen and letting<br />

the person know they are loved.<br />

Research has shown carers often<br />

report high emotional distress,<br />

challenges with their relationships,<br />

engage in fewer social activities,<br />

feel lonely and isolated, and have<br />

fewer education and employment<br />

opportunities.<br />

Caring has also been associated with<br />

immediate risk of mental health<br />

problems, with carers consistently<br />

reporting levels of psychological<br />

distress significantly higher than the<br />

overall Australian population.<br />

The case for prevention<br />

Getting people to identify themselves<br />

as “carers” and take time out from<br />

their caring role to prioritise their<br />

own well-being is an ongoing<br />

challenge.<br />

Ensuring programs are available in all<br />

communities that are fit-for-purpose<br />

and cost effective is another challenge.<br />

A survey released last month by<br />

the Butterfly Foundation suggested<br />

carers recognised there were impacts<br />

on their mental health. But they<br />

often didn’t seek support, citing a<br />

lack of time, a lack of knowledge<br />

about available supports and the cost<br />

associated among the reasons why.<br />

There have been increasing calls<br />

for national investment in the<br />

development of prevention programs<br />

that address the specific needs of<br />

those who care for someone with<br />

mental illness, regardless of whether<br />

they see their role as a traditional<br />

caring one or not.<br />

National charities like SANE<br />

Australia have been working to<br />

engage and support those caring for<br />

someone with complex mental illness.<br />

The Butterfly Foundation recently<br />

dedicated their annual MAYDAYS<br />

awareness and advocacy campaign<br />

to carers of people with an eating<br />

disorder.<br />

We’ve been involved in the national<br />

roll out of a program called Partners<br />

in Depression, a six-week group<br />

program designed to support<br />

carers of people with depression.<br />

Participants learn about depression<br />

and its treatment and how to provide<br />

positive support to their loved ones.<br />

There is also significant focus on the<br />

importance of looking after their<br />

own physical and mental health,<br />

and reaching out early if they need<br />

support.<br />

Reports from participants tell us this<br />

approach can reduce psychological


distress, and help facilitate<br />

improvements in well-being and<br />

relationships.<br />

The increasing availability of digital<br />

and e-health programs in treating<br />

mental illness and improving mental<br />

health provides an opportunity<br />

to think differently about services<br />

provided to families, friends and<br />

carers.<br />

A call to action<br />

People who love, live with and care<br />

for someone with a mental illness<br />

need timely and equitable access to<br />

interventions that enhance their wellbeing<br />

and prevent the onset of mental<br />

health problems.<br />

We need a national agenda that<br />

recognises the rights of those who<br />

care for someone affected by mental<br />

illness not to have their own mental<br />

health and well-being compromised<br />

because of the vital caring role they<br />

play.<br />

The Victorian royal commission,<br />

as well as the national productivity<br />

commission inquiry into mental<br />

health, provide an opportunity to<br />

recognise the important role carers<br />

play in our mental health service<br />

system, the right of those in caring<br />

roles to be involved in service<br />

delivery, and importantly, the right of<br />

carers to have their own mental health<br />

and well-being supported.<br />

Whether supports are provided<br />

online, face-to-face, by NGOs,<br />

through primary care or via peers, the<br />

time for coordinated, available and<br />

evidence-based responses is now.<br />

If this article has raised issues for you or<br />

you’re concerned about someone you know,<br />

call Lifeline on 13 11 <strong>14</strong>.<br />

This article was first published on The<br />

Conversation


DIPLOMACY AND DEFENCE<br />

REMAIN A BOYS’ CLUB,<br />

BUT WOMEN ARE MAKING<br />

INROADS


The Lowy Institute has launched<br />

a three-year study on gender<br />

representation in Australia’s<br />

diplomatic, defence and intelligence<br />

services, and the findings are critical:<br />

gender diversity lags significantly<br />

behind Australia’s public service and<br />

corporate sector, as well as other<br />

countries’ foreign services.<br />

In a field which has long ignored<br />

research on gender or feminist<br />

approaches to understanding<br />

international relations, this report is<br />

welcome and sets forth an important<br />

research agenda within Australia.<br />

Gender diversity is an important<br />

issue for all who value the pursuit of<br />

Australia’s national interests overseas.<br />

Attracting and retaining the best<br />

talent is more important now than<br />

ever before.<br />

As then-Prime Minister Malcolm<br />

Turnbull said in June 2017:<br />

The economic, political and strategic<br />

currents that have carried us for<br />

generations are increasingly difficult<br />

to navigate.<br />

The report’s most significant findings<br />

The Lowy Institute found that of all<br />

the fields in international relations,<br />

women are least represented in<br />

Australia’s intelligence communities.<br />

As the funding and resources of the<br />

intelligence sector continue to grow,<br />

this is a serious problem with little<br />

transparency. The sector appears to<br />

be struggling with a “pipeline” and<br />

“ladder” problem: women are both<br />

joining at lower rates and progressing<br />

at far slower rates than their male<br />

counterparts.<br />

Another important finding is that<br />

the presence of female trailblazers in<br />

these fields, such as foreign ministers<br />

Julie Bishop and Marise Payne and<br />

Labor’s shadow foreign minister,<br />

Penny Wong, may be masking<br />

more systemic issues. This may be


leading some agencies to becoming<br />

complacent, rather than proactive, on<br />

gender diversity.<br />

Women’s pathways to leadership<br />

continue to be impeded by<br />

institutional obstacles, such as<br />

unconscious bias and discrimination<br />

built into the cultures of these sectors,<br />

as well as difficulties in supporting<br />

staff on overseas postings. For<br />

instance, the report notes that in<br />

2017 the government cut assistance<br />

packages for overseas officers,<br />

including government childcare<br />

subsidies. This has gendered<br />

ramifications given that women<br />

continue to do the bulk of domestic<br />

labour.<br />

As such, the most important and<br />

high-prestige international postings<br />

are still largely dominated by men.<br />

DFAT’s Women in Leadership<br />

Strategy has proved successful in<br />

meeting initial targets for improving<br />

women’s representation, however<br />

the industry as a whole has not yet<br />

followed suit.<br />

Further, it is not enough to just<br />

consider how many women there are,<br />

but what roles they occupy, given that<br />

women have often been siloed into<br />

“soft policy” or corporate areas and<br />

out of key operational roles needed<br />

for career progression.<br />

The report also draws attention to the<br />

marginalisation of women from key<br />

policy-shaping activities.<br />

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authorship, a woman is yet to be<br />

selected to lead on any major foreign<br />

policy, defence, intelligence, or trade<br />

white paper, inquiry or independent<br />

review.<br />

We would mention a few exceptions<br />

of women in other high-profile<br />

foreign policy roles – Heather Smith’s<br />

stewardship of the G20 during<br />

Australia’s presidency and Harinder<br />

Sidhu’s leadership in the crucial India<br />

High Commission. We would also<br />

note the contribution of Jane Duke to<br />

the ASEAN Summit in Sydney.<br />

Rebecca Skinner has served as<br />

associate defence secretary since<br />

2017 and Justine Grieg was appointed<br />

deputy secretary defence people in<br />

2018. Major General Cheryl Pearce<br />

was also appointed commander<br />

of the UN peacekeeping force in<br />

Cyprus - the first Australian woman<br />

to command a UN peacekeeping<br />

mission.<br />

While the under-representation<br />

of women in international affairs<br />

remains a core concern, we would<br />

argue the report could have taken a<br />

broader look at gender representation<br />

in foreign affairs-focused academic<br />

communities, think tanks and<br />

publishing industries, as well.<br />

Many of these organisations have<br />

similarly woeful records when<br />

it comes to gender diversity. For<br />

instance, Australian Foreign Affairs<br />

magazine has been criticised for the<br />

lack of women authors it publishes.<br />

We know that it is not for lack of<br />

credible voices, but rather seems<br />

indicative of a systematic form of<br />

marginalisation of women within the<br />

wider foreign affairs community.<br />

Bright spots for gender diversity<br />

However, there is some cause<br />

for optimism. For instance, our<br />

current PhD project is documenting<br />

the gender make-up of leaders<br />

and internationally deployed<br />

representatives in the departments of<br />

foreign affairs and trade, defence and<br />

home affairs, as well as the Australian<br />

Federal Police. As of this January,<br />

women represented 39.5% of those in<br />

the senior executive service in DFAT,<br />

and 41.4% of those employed as heads<br />

of Australian embassies and high<br />

commissions globally.<br />

Further, we’ve found an increase<br />

recently in the number of women<br />

who work in diplomatic defence roles.<br />

While the Lowy report notes that<br />

women held just 11% of international<br />

roles in defence in 2016 (it is unclear<br />

exactly what international roles they<br />

are talking about), we found a slightly<br />

higher percentage of women (19%)<br />

currently employed in defence attaché<br />

roles.<br />

The achievements made in this sphere<br />

are not just limited to gender either,<br />

with women from culturally and<br />

linguistically diverse backgrounds<br />

forming an important and growing<br />

part of representation.<br />

In fact, a more in-depth analysis of<br />

the Lowy report’s data would have<br />

produced some very interesting,<br />

and more nuanced, findings. For<br />

instance, foreign affairs has long<br />

been the preserve of men, however it<br />

has also been the preserve of certain<br />

types of men. Diplomacy remains<br />

a bastion of prestige, social class,<br />

heteronormativity, and in Australia,<br />

Anglo-Saxon privilege. It was only<br />

last year, for example, that Australia’s<br />

first Indigenous woman, Julie-Ann<br />

Guivarra, was appointed ambassador<br />

(to Spain).<br />

Overall, as the report outlines, gender<br />

equality is not just nice to have,<br />

nor is it a marginal issue in foreign<br />

policy. Rather, the findings are clear:<br />

addressing the continued gender gaps<br />

are imperative to Australian foreign<br />

policy, national security and stability.<br />

We can, and must, do better.<br />

Australian foreign policy needs good<br />

ideas, and it needs a lot of them. We<br />

cannot assume they will all come<br />

from the same place.<br />

Susan Harris Rimmer<br />

Australian Research Council Future<br />

Fellow, Griffith Law School, Griffith<br />

University<br />

Elise Stephenson<br />

PhD Candidate, Griffith University<br />

This article was first published on The<br />

Conversation<br />

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The Police Federation Australia will<br />

be holding Police Week across the<br />

country on Saturday <strong>14</strong>th September<br />

with the 10th anniversary of the Wall<br />

to Wall Ride for Remembrance and<br />

conclude on Sunday 29th September,<br />

National Police Remembrance Day.<br />

Bookended by the Wall to Wall: Ride<br />

for Remembrance and the National<br />

Police Remembrance Day; the event<br />

aims to draw the policing community<br />

together to participate to honor those<br />

officers who have paid the ultimate<br />

sacrifice.<br />

Providing a unique opportunity<br />

to meet others who work in law<br />

enforcement, Australia’s Police Week<br />

<strong>2019</strong> will draw together supporters<br />

of policing from across the country,<br />

in a range of formal and informal<br />

activities. It is envisaged that Police<br />

Week will become a major event on<br />

the law enforcement calendar.<br />

While a focus will be on the National<br />

Police Memorial in Canberra, from<br />

<strong>14</strong>– 29 September, jurisdictions<br />

across the country will be holding<br />

events under the auspice of Police<br />

Week.<br />

Events that will be held during Police<br />

Week <strong>2019</strong> include the Wall to Wall,<br />

a 100km Century Bike Ride, the<br />

second annual Bravery Awards, a<br />

Police Summit as well as the <strong>2019</strong><br />

PFA Federal Council Meeting.<br />

The National Police Bravery<br />

Awards will be held on the 18th<br />

September at the National Museum<br />

of Australia. The Australian Police<br />

Bravery Awards is an award for<br />

police by police, that transcends<br />

state and jurisdictional divides;<br />

making the recipients truly national<br />

heroes. Nominations for this award<br />

have already closed. However<br />

sponsorship packages are available.<br />

All information is on the police week<br />

website.<br />

In 2018, Sen. Const. Stephanie<br />

Bochorsky from Western Australia<br />

was presented with the inaugural<br />

National Police Bravery Award at the<br />

ceremony in Canberra in recognition<br />

of her exceptional actions when she<br />

saved the lives of a toddler and her<br />

older sister who were being set alight<br />

by their father.<br />

The following day federal parliament<br />

thanked Steph for her bravery, with<br />

acknowledgement from the Prime<br />

Minister and the Leader of the<br />

Opposition.<br />

The men and women who choose to<br />

dedicate thier lives to the profession<br />

of policing truly are exceptional. It<br />

is the type of profession that requires<br />

you to go to work each day not<br />

knowing what the day will bring.<br />

These brave men and women put<br />

thier lives on the line each day.<br />

The 10th anniversary of the Wall<br />

to Wall ride for Remembrance is<br />

a testament to this bravery and<br />

ultimate sacrifice. The ride will<br />

be held on the 22nd of September.<br />

Check the website for details on how<br />

to register, donate or sponsor this<br />

event.<br />

Police Week and the events that<br />

will occur from the <strong>14</strong>th - 29th<br />

September provide an opportunity<br />

to celebrate police on duty today and<br />

those that have risked and lost thier<br />

lives whilst on duty.<br />

For more information about each<br />

event visit www.pfa.org.au or head to<br />

www.policeweek.org.au<br />

Here you will find links to each event<br />

and a history of how the Ride for<br />

Rememberance was envisioned and<br />

then created.


Bob pushed me onto the floor and dragged me into the<br />

closet. While I was in the closet he put his hand over my<br />

mouth again and pushed on my neck. I started to feel dizzy<br />

and was kicking my legs and hitting his arm to try to let<br />

him know I thought I would die.<br />

– Doya, domestic violence strangulation survivor


CHANGES TO NON-FATAL<br />

STRANGULATION OFFENCES<br />

WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE<br />

TO VULNERABLE WOMEN<br />

Heather Douglas<br />

Professor of Law, The University of Queensland<br />

Among women who have been abused, Doya’s experience<br />

is sadly not unique. In my research interviewing<br />

women who have experienced domestic violence, 24<br />

out of 65 women (37%) reported having been choked,<br />

suffocated or strangled by an abusive partner or former<br />

partner.<br />

This type of non-fatal strangulation can have serious<br />

health effects including memory loss, paralysis, pregnancy<br />

miscarriage, and changes to vision, vocal chords,<br />

hearing and breathing.<br />

It’s also a red flag for future harm. US data shows victims<br />

who have been strangled by their violent partner<br />

are seven times more likely to later be killed or seriously<br />

harmed than a woman who has been physically assaulted<br />

or threatened by a current or former intimate partner but<br />

not previously strangled.<br />

Yet non-lethal strangulation remains unrecognised as a<br />

specific criminal offence in some states. In the absence of<br />

a specific law, strangulation is typically charged as common<br />

assault, which carries much lower sentences.<br />

This week Victoria has joined Queensland, New South<br />

Wales, South Australia and the ACT and committed to<br />

introducing a non-fatal strangulation offence.<br />

The Queensland experience suggests introducing this<br />

type of offence will make a big difference to Victorian<br />

women experiencing or at risk of domestic violence.<br />

High uptake in Queensland<br />

Queensland introduced an offence for non-fatal strangulation<br />

in May 2016. A person commits this offence if they<br />

unlawfully choke, suffocate or strangle another person<br />

without the other person’s consent. The Queensland<br />

offence is specifically limited to domestic violence.<br />

When the offence was introduced, the explanatory notes<br />

identified both the inherent danger of non-fatal strangulation<br />

and its association with escalation of violence and<br />

future homicide.<br />

Analysis undertaken by the Queensland Sentencing Advisory<br />

Council shows there has been a strong take-up of the<br />

offence across the criminal justice process in Queensland.<br />

From June 2016 to June 2018 there were more than 400<br />

cases sentenced for the non-fatal strangulation offence.<br />

In almost half of those cases (49%), the non-fatal strangulation<br />

was also a breach of a domestic violence protection<br />

order. Nearly all offenders were male (98%) and most<br />

received a prison sentence (76%).<br />

While the maximum penalty for assault charges is three<br />

years in prison, the maximum penalty for strangulation is<br />

seven years. Recent judgements show courts increasingly<br />

have a clear understanding of non-fatal strangulation.


kill or cause serious harm is needed for attempted murder,<br />

and this is often hard to find.<br />

Other charges, such as assault, fail to reflect the seriousness<br />

of non-fatal strangulation. These offences may<br />

conceal the particular dangers and risks associated with<br />

non-fatal strangulation from judges considering bail,<br />

sentence and parole.<br />

Some charges require evidence about particular injuries.<br />

But non-fatal strangulation often leaves no visible physical<br />

injury. The non-fatal strangulation offence properly<br />

labels the offending behaviour and ensures the offender’s<br />

criminal record properly records it.<br />

In one case, the sentencing judge acknowledged that the<br />

victim “could have been dead within seconds” and that<br />

the act is “inherently dangerous” and “could easily have<br />

caused permanent serious injury or death”.<br />

This improved knowledge should help judges to make<br />

more appropriate decisions about bail, sentencing and<br />

parole to help keep victims safe.<br />

Why it needs to be a separate offence<br />

The introduction of the offence in Queensland has underpinned<br />

training for first responders, including police,<br />

ambulance officers and hospital admissions staff. They<br />

now learn about the dangers and risks of non-fatal strangulation,<br />

how to ask about it and how to respond.<br />

Information is now included in policy manuals and<br />

risk-assessment tools. This helps first responders appropriately<br />

use powers such as arrest and detention, make<br />

appropriate referrals, and help with safety planning.<br />

While other offences throughout Australian criminal law<br />

can be charged when there is a non-fatal strangulation,<br />

they may be difficult to prove. Evidence of intention to<br />

Research found that after the introduction of a non-fatal<br />

strangulation offence in New York ten years ago, some<br />

perpetrators, who had previously avoided any punishment<br />

because of a lack of visible injuries, faced criminal<br />

sanctions for non-fatal strangulation.<br />

Barriers to overcome<br />

Despite positive aspects associated with the non-fatal<br />

strangulation offence in Queensland, there are some<br />

concerns. Imprisonment is often not the best way to<br />

rehabilitate an offender. More resources are needed to<br />

support programs that work intensively with perpetrators<br />

to support behaviour change.<br />

The abuser’s imprisonment can buy women time to<br />

escape to safety and re-establish housing, finances and<br />

schools for the children, but may not deter future domestic<br />

violence offending or keep the victim safe in the<br />

longer term.<br />

Further, any use of criminalisation as a strategy to<br />

respond to domestic violence is likely to contribute to<br />

higher rates of imprisonment for Aboriginal and Torres<br />

Strait Islander people.<br />

Although around 3.8% of Queensland’s population<br />

identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, 21%<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

PERSONAL<br />

PROTECTION TRAINING


of offenders sentenced for non-fatal strangulation are<br />

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.<br />

The high use of imprisonment as a response to non-fatal<br />

strangulation may point to a lack of sentencing options,<br />

both for Aboriginal an Torres Strait Islander people and<br />

non-Indigenous Australians.<br />

There may also be concerns about the scope of the<br />

Queensland offence. The offence must involve choking,<br />

suffocation and strangulation but these actions are not<br />

defined and may not encompass incidents that involve<br />

the offender “pushing on the neck”, which has the same<br />

risks and effects.<br />

These matters would be worth considering as Victoria<br />

begins to draft its new offence.<br />

The National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence<br />

Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)<br />

– is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any<br />

Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family<br />

and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.<br />

This article was first published on The Conversation<br />

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CHILD-CENTRED DISASTER<br />

RESILIENCE EDUCATION IN<br />

AUSTRALIA’S NORTH-WEST<br />

Author: Linley Brown<br />

Australian Journal of Emergency Management


In 2018, the Western Australian<br />

Department of Fire and Emergency<br />

Services (DFES) released a primary<br />

school education program to<br />

improve bushfire resilience. The<br />

North West Bushfire Patrol is<br />

geographically and culturally<br />

appropriate for the north-west<br />

regions of Western Australia.<br />

The Sendai Framework for Disaster<br />

Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (UNISDR<br />

2015) and Australia’s National<br />

Strategy for Disaster Resilience<br />

(Attorney-General’s Department<br />

2011) both recognise that children<br />

play a critical role in increasing<br />

Figure 1: The practice framework used to develop the North West Bushfire Patrol.<br />

bushfire knowledge, awareness and<br />

preparedness in their households and<br />

within communities. Accordingly,<br />

the DFES has developed programs<br />

and allocated resources to deliver<br />

education materials to help children<br />

improve their resilience knowledge.<br />

Regionally specific resources like the<br />

North West Bushfire Patrol bring<br />

school-based bushfire education to<br />

Western Australia’s schools right<br />

across the vast state.<br />

THE RESEARCH<br />

In 20<strong>14</strong>, the Bushfire and Natural<br />

Hazards Cooperative Research Centre<br />

initiated a research project ‘Building<br />

best practice in child-centred disaster<br />

risk reduction’. This project provided<br />

the information and guiding tools<br />

to help develop quality education<br />

programs using an evidence-based<br />

approach. Tools included a practice<br />

framework for disaster resilience for<br />

Australian emergency management<br />

agencies. The framework has three<br />

guiding principles and three core<br />

dimensions (Figure 1). The practice<br />

framework was a useful tool and<br />

guided the development of North<br />

West Bushfire Patrol.<br />

Connection to and caring for Country<br />

is important for Indigenous peoples.<br />

As such, the classroom activities<br />

focus on the environmental effects<br />

of bushfire and the importance of<br />

practices like traditional burning<br />

in land management. Education<br />

resources were developed including<br />

considerations for the large<br />

proportion of students in the region<br />

with English as an additional<br />

language or dialect. Appropriate<br />

learning activities were developed to<br />

include the use of illustrations and<br />

photography.<br />

DFES drew on the expertise of<br />

the Department of Biodiversity,<br />

Conservation and Attractions that<br />

has expertise and knowledge related<br />

to traditional burning practices and<br />

the impacts of bushfires on plants<br />

and animals. Other stakeholders<br />

included Indigenous ranger groups<br />

in the north-west, local DFES staff<br />

and volunteers and teachers in the<br />

Kimberley region.<br />

DESIGNING THE PROGRAM<br />

The Kimberley region in north-west<br />

Australia experiences many bushfires<br />

and a considerable number are<br />

deliberately or accidentally ignited.<br />

The North West Bushfire Patrol


includes clear and specific program<br />

outcomes designed to address this<br />

issue.<br />

FOR PRE-PRIMARY TO YEAR 3,<br />

THESE SKILLS INCLUDE:<br />

• recognising unsafe campfire<br />

behaviour<br />

• understanding that matches and<br />

lighters are tools not toys and<br />

knowing what to do if they find<br />

these items<br />

• seeking help from an adult (or<br />

calling Triple Zero) when there is<br />

an unsafe fire, even if the fire is lit<br />

accidentally.<br />

FOR YEAR 4 TO YEAR 6, THESE<br />

SKILLS INCLUDE:<br />

• responding appropriately when<br />

they see someone playing with<br />

fire<br />

• determining bushfire weather<br />

and the times when it is safe to<br />

make a fire<br />

• locating the Fire Danger<br />

Rating for their local area and<br />

understanding its purpose.<br />

Activities in the program assist<br />

students to develop skills that:<br />

• develop behaviours and identify<br />

ways to stay safe when there is a<br />

fire<br />

• detect bushfire factors (e.g.<br />

changes in seasons and weather<br />

conditions) to prepare for<br />

bushfire.<br />

Teaching and learning activities are<br />

varied and use a suite of learning<br />

approaches. These include inquirybased,<br />

interactive and action learning<br />

as well as opportunities for students to<br />

carry out fieldwork and get involved<br />

in community-based activities.<br />

IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM<br />

During the program’s research stage,<br />

<br />

<br />

NAAFLS<br />

NORTH AUSTRALIAN<br />

ABORIGINAL FAMILY LEGAL SERVICE


the lack of professional development<br />

opportunities for educators was<br />

identified as a major impediment in<br />

the uptake of education programs.<br />

Research shows that when teachers<br />

are provided with assistance from<br />

relevant experts, they are more<br />

likely to use the resources in their<br />

classrooms.4<br />

As a result, the release of North<br />

West Bushfire Patrol coincided with<br />

a professional development session<br />

for teachers in the Kimberley that<br />

was held in Broome in February<br />

2018. To ensure a high attendance<br />

in an area where relief teachers are<br />

rare and professional development<br />

opportunities limited, DFES<br />

partnered with two other government<br />

agencies. The resulting multiagency,<br />

multi-program professional<br />

development session was held over<br />

two days. Teachers were guided<br />

through how to use the resources<br />

in the classroom. After the training,<br />

the teachers confirmed they were<br />

confident to deliver the bushfire<br />

education.<br />

EVALUATING THE PROGRAM<br />

The DFES Community Preparedness<br />

Directorate implemented a<br />

monitoring and evaluation framework<br />

to provide a consistent approach to<br />

evaluating programs and activities.<br />

This framework will be used to assist<br />

in the evaluation of North West<br />

Bushfire Patrol and guide continuous<br />

improvement.<br />

North West Bushfire Patrol teacher<br />

resources are available at www.<br />

dfes.wa.gov.au/schooleducation/<br />

teachersandschools/Pages/<br />

bushfirepatrolteacherresources.aspx.<br />

This article is licenced under creative commons<br />

and can be found on the Australian Institute for<br />

Disaster Resilience website<br />

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ALL-NIGHT PUBLIC TRANSPORT<br />

HASN’T REDUCED ALCOHOL-RELATED<br />

HARM IN MELBOURNE<br />

The Victorian government introduced<br />

24-hour public transport on Friday<br />

and Saturday nights in Melbourne<br />

from January 1 2016. Services mostly<br />

run every hour from 1am to 5am<br />

on all metropolitan lines with some<br />

additional tram and bus services.<br />

The initiative, originally labelled<br />

“Homesafe”, was proposed as a<br />

convenient and safe way to travel in<br />

and out of the city throughout the<br />

night. But our research shows it did<br />

not reduce alcohol-related violence<br />

and road accidents.<br />

The budgeted cost of the program<br />

is almost A$300 million through<br />

to 2020. This includes the cost of<br />

protective services officers whose sole<br />

role is to patrol train stations and<br />

associated areas, ensuring the safety<br />

of night-time public transport users.<br />

What did the research show?<br />

Our research evaluated the<br />

introduction of 24-hour public<br />

transport from two different<br />

perspectives.<br />

For our first study, we conducted<br />

covert observations of four nightclub<br />

venues in Melbourne in the year<br />

before and after 24-hour public<br />

transport was introduced. Patrons’<br />

observed levels of intoxication inside<br />

venues increased after 24-hour public<br />

transport was introduced (see figures<br />

1a-d).<br />

Our second study used data on police<br />

assaults, alcohol- and drug-related<br />

ambulance attendances, road crashes<br />

from the areas serviced by public


transport, Myki public transport<br />

card touch-ons, and pedestrian<br />

counts to determine the impact<br />

of 24-hour public transport on<br />

alcohol-related harms in the city.<br />

Figure 2 shows an immediate<br />

increase in police-recorded<br />

assaults, until increased police<br />

resources were allocated. A<br />

temporary reduction followed,<br />

although more recent data from<br />

the Victorian Crime Statistics<br />

Agency (see table 1) show serious<br />

assaults have remained stable<br />

with a peak in 2018.<br />

Road crashes in the areas<br />

serviced by public transport<br />

remained relatively stable from<br />

2015 to 2016, as figure 3 shows.<br />

Figure 1. Proportions of patrons: a) in venue by time of observation; b) showing intoxication signs; c) too<br />

intoxicated; d) showing signs of drug use.<br />

drinkers on the streets.<br />

These findings, which assess<br />

the effects of more than A$300<br />

million in state expenditure, are<br />

also important when considering<br />

current reviews of liquor laws in<br />

Sydney and Queensland, where the<br />

alcohol industry and aligned interest<br />

groups are proposing 24-hour public<br />

transport.<br />

What else could be done?<br />

Figure 2. Number of police-recorded assaults resulting in arrest or summons in postcode 3000<br />

during high-alcohol hours, 2015 and 2016.<br />

Table 1. Serious assaults recorded on a street/lane/footpath or licensed premises in postcodes 3000<br />

and 3006 during high-alcohol hours, April 2015 to March <strong>2019</strong>. Data: Victorian Crime Statistics<br />

Agency<br />

There was little change in the number<br />

of people attending the central<br />

business district. Figure 4 shows<br />

pedestrian counts around Flinders<br />

Street Station throughout the night<br />

before and after 24-hour services<br />

began.<br />

While correlation doesn’t necessarily<br />

equal causation, the measures clearly<br />

failed to achieve any substantial<br />

reduction of alcohol-related harms.<br />

If the aim of the policy was to boost<br />

“Melbourne’s 24-hour lifestyle”, then<br />

it may be considered successful. More<br />

people were in the city later in the<br />

evening, using public transport and<br />

attending bars and clubs, resulting in<br />

higher levels of intoxication in these<br />

venues. This is clearly a massive win<br />

for the alcohol industry and others<br />

that profit from very late-night<br />

Other jurisdictions around the world<br />

have chosen a range of approaches<br />

to reduce alcohol-related harm. By<br />

far the most evidence-based policy<br />

option is to close venues earlier in the<br />

night.<br />

Ending the serving of alcohol at 3am<br />

has been the most common variant<br />

of this policy in Australia. Australian<br />

examples of this approach have been<br />

associated with substantial reductions<br />

in assaults – 37% in Newcastle and<br />

39% in Sydney’s Kings Cross.<br />

In 2016, Queensland implemented<br />

similar restrictions as well as<br />

mandatory ID scanning. This means<br />

banned patrons are reliably detected<br />

before entering venues. Findings from<br />

a two-year evaluation are soon to be<br />

released.<br />

Another possibility is an adaptation


of the violent venues scheme in New South Wales,<br />

which has seen sustained reductions across the<br />

state since 2008.<br />

Our findings suggest the money spent on 24-hour<br />

public transport is associated with increases in<br />

intoxication and violence.<br />

Another consideration is that reducing taxi queues<br />

is no longer the issue it once was. The rise of Uber<br />

has provided much more flexibility in nightlife<br />

transport.<br />

Figure 3. Average number of road crashes during high-alcohol hours, 2015 and 2016.<br />

Figure <strong>4.</strong> Count of pedestrians by Flinders Street Station foot traffic counter during high-alcohol hours,<br />

2015 and 2016, by day and hour<br />

Governments should trial different policy<br />

options to determine what works for their<br />

jurisdiction. These trials should be rigorously<br />

and independently evaluated. Effective measures<br />

can then be identified, unintended consequences<br />

addressed and ineffective or overly costly measures<br />

replaced.<br />

Ashlee Curtis<br />

Research Fellow, School of Psychology, Deakin University<br />

Peter Miller<br />

Professor of Violence Prevention and Addiction Studies,<br />

Deakin University Article first published on The<br />

Conversation<br />

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NEW VEGETATION MAP<br />

TO HELP VICTORIA<br />

MANAGE BUSHFIRES<br />

AND FLOODS<br />

Monash University researchers<br />

have developed Australia’s first<br />

high-resolution vegetation map, in<br />

this instance focused on the state of<br />

Victoria.<br />

This map has the potential to assist<br />

with fire prevention, agricultural<br />

planning, flood modelling, pollution<br />

management, and mine site<br />

monitoring and rehabilitation.<br />

Data is sourced from the European<br />

Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite,<br />

and comprises more than 4300<br />

images.<br />

This article first appeared on<br />

Monash University website<br />

www.monash.edu.au<br />

The research team consists<br />

of Dr Francois Petitjean, Dr<br />

Charlotte Pelletier, Zehui Ji and<br />

Professor Geoff Webb (Monash<br />

University); Dr Kathryn<br />

Sheffield and Dr Elizabeth<br />

Morse-McNabb (Agriculture<br />

Victoria); and Oliver Hagolle<br />

(CNES/French Space Agency).


On the back of one of the most<br />

devastating bushfire periods in<br />

history, Australia’s first highresolution<br />

vegetation map of Victoria,<br />

produced by Monash University,<br />

could help authorities manage future<br />

outbreaks and improve agricultural<br />

planning.<br />

Researchers at Monash University’s<br />

Faculty of Information Technology<br />

have used the most established data<br />

from the European Space Agency’s<br />

Sentinel-2 satellite to develop the first<br />

land-cover map of Victoria at 10m<br />

spatial resolution.<br />

This the most detailed map of its<br />

kind produced in Australia, and is<br />

the result of the analysis of more than<br />

4300 satellite images.<br />

Potential high-value applications<br />

of these new maps include fire<br />

prevention, agricultural planning,<br />

flood modelling, pollution<br />

management, and mining site<br />

monitoring and rehabilitation.<br />

Victoria is the first state or territory<br />

in Australia to have access to this<br />

revolutionary image map, which is<br />

25 times finer and more detailed<br />

than those currently produced by the<br />

Australian government.<br />

“Earth observation satellites have for<br />

years provided us with information<br />

about the status of large-scale<br />

agricultural, environmental and<br />

climate problems to inform our<br />

decisions. But the pictures we used to<br />

see were largely static and unreliable,”<br />

said Dr François Petitjean, project<br />

lead and senior research fellow<br />

from the University’s Faculty of<br />

Information Technology.<br />

“We’re entering a new era in Earth<br />

observation, with latest-generation<br />

satellites starting to produce images of<br />

Earth frequently, in high resolution,<br />

and at no charge to end users.<br />

“We now have an unprecedented<br />

opportunity to monitor the dynamics<br />

of our region – and country – over<br />

time, and establish a course of action<br />

that reflects the changing nature of<br />

the environment.”<br />

This vegetation map of Victoria<br />

can be applied to several scenarios,<br />

including:<br />

Fire management: where it’s<br />

critical to know the condition of<br />

trees and grasslands (in particular,<br />

their vegetation water content and<br />

biomass), in order to derive highquality<br />

fuel-load maps that can be<br />

used to model how bushfires spread<br />

and how prescribed burns can be<br />

conducted.<br />

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Agricultural planning: having<br />

knowledge of the type of crops and<br />

stress over the territory is critical<br />

to optimise irrigation and use of<br />

pesticides/herbicides, or to forecast<br />

potential exports through yield<br />

estimates.<br />

Flood management: predicting the<br />

water levels after a rain event requires<br />

to precisely know how much of the<br />

rain is absorbed by the soil, which<br />

is essentially dictated by the type of<br />

vegetation.<br />

Pollution management: mapping the<br />

type of privately and publically owned<br />

vegetation is essential for monitoring<br />

the different types of pollutions that a<br />

city can safely absorb.<br />

Mining site monitoring and<br />

rehabilitation: satellite images can<br />

help monitor abnormal vegetation<br />

growth.<br />

“This very colourful map shows great<br />

potential for refined modelling of<br />

the state’s vegetation, highlighting<br />

possible improvements that may be<br />

required. We’re currently looking into<br />

how we can replicate this for other<br />

states and territories in Australia,” Dr<br />

Petitjean said.<br />

The Victorian vegetation map is<br />

now available online at https://www.<br />

monash.edu/it/vegmap<br />

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EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION<br />

POLICE FIRE AMBULANCE<br />

Triple Zero (000)<br />

112 From Mobiles & Internationally<br />

www.triplezero.gov.au<br />

BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY<br />

State Emergency Service (SES) 132 500<br />

General Warnings 1900 969 922 www.bom.gov.au<br />

Cyclone Warnings 1300 659 212 www.bom.gov.au/cyclone<br />

Coastal Marine Warnings 1300 360 427 www.bom.gov.au/marine<br />

1300TSUNAMI<br />

www.bom.gov.au/tsunami<br />

RADIO<br />

ABC Local Radio<br />

ABC Local Radio Frequency Finder<br />

Commercial Radio Australia<br />

www.abc.net.au/local<br />

www.abv.net.au/radionational/frequency/<br />

www.commercialradio.com.au<br />

GOVERNMENT/HEALTH/ROADS<br />

Standard Emergency Warning Signal<br />

www.emergencyalert.gov.au<br />

Health & Hospitals 13HEALTH www.health.gov.au<br />

Road Closures 13 19 40 seek local/state road closure info<br />

ELECTRICITY<br />

Energex 13 19 62 www.energex.com.au<br />

Ergon 13 16 70 www.ergon.com.au<br />

PHONE<br />

Telstra 132 203 www.telstra.com.au<br />

Optus 13 13 44 www.optus.com.au<br />

ANIMALS & WILDLIFE<br />

Wildlife Hotline 1300 130 372<br />

RSPCA 1300 852 188<br />

Disease Watch Hotline 1800 675 888<br />

Lost/Missing Animals<br />

Local RSPCA website<br />

CALL 000 IN AN EMERGENCY


Artist: Shirleen Nambajinpa Campbell (Tangentyere Women’s Safety Group) Hoppys Camp<br />

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK<br />

SUPPORTED BY: DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES<br />

www.napcan.org.au


A joint Australian, state and territory government initiative.

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