LG Emergency Management Seminar offers insight into ‘Breaking Barriers'
Held at the Adelaide Pavilion, this year’s well-attended annual event focused on the theme ‘Breaking Barriers’, representing how local government aims to work collaboratively with community, agencies and state government before, during and after emergencies.
It featured several prominent guest speakers along with a panel comprising District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula Mayor Jo-Anne Quigley and Works Maintenance Coordinator David Hall and District Council of Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson and CEO Deb Larwood, who provided a snapshot into their role during the 2022 Eyre Peninsula flood emergency.
Headlining the day was international keynote speaker Rachael Robertson who led an expedition to Antarctica in 2004-05 – becoming just the second female, and youngest ever person, to do so.
Ms Robertson gave an incredible account of her time on the ice continent, where she was responsible for the welfare and safety of 18 members of her team for an entire year – all while living in 24 hours of darkness for months at a time.
She also highlighted the importance of leadership and teamwork and how it relates to the way local government supports emergency situations.
A good team, Ms Robertson said, should have members who respect each other, but are also willing to challenge each other – if there is only harmony, there is likely to be no innovation.
Teams should also be diverse; in her case, she gave the example of a 23-year-old metal musician bunking with a 64-year-old grandparent – each with their own professional speciality and important contributions to make.
Also speaking at the seminar was Emergency Services Minister Joe Szakacs, who touched on several important points related to emergency responses highlighting the critical role local councils play in emergencies and what the state government has been doing in this space.
This included the federal government’s $200 million per year commitment toward a Disaster Ready Fund, how councils have supported bushfire response in recent seasons, the response to the recent Echunga dam emergency in SA and how his government intends to work collaboratively with councils to help with emergency management situations into the future.
He added that a high-end review of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements will also hopefully see systems streamlined and together with support from Federal Emergency Services Minister Murray Watt, he expects positive outcomes to help councils with off the shelf assistance packages.
Some of the other important speakers on the day included Adelaide Hills Council Senior Resilience Officer Miranda Hampton, SA Country Fire Service Community Engagement Officer Jackie Horton and Victorian Country Fire Service Commander Emma Conway – the latter who closed the day with an inspiring presentation.