In recent years, cascading and compounding disasters across Australia have often left communities with little or no time to recover before the next disaster hits. The increasing frequency of disasters and more complex and protracted recoveries means that planning and exercising for recovery is more important than ever.
In this webinar we will hear from those involved in the development of the Recovery Exercising Toolkit, and from those who have put the Toolkit into practice. The Toolkit contains evidence-based guidance and specialised resources, templates and slides that enable those involved in planning and recovery with communities to follow a guided pathway in the development and conduct of a recovery exercise. We will hear how a Module that focusses on inclusive planning with people with disability has been used by council in partnership with a community organisation run by and for people with disability.
The stand-alone modules in the Toolkit can also be used outside of an exercise activity and incorporated into workshops or training sessions and as a ‘just in time’ training resource to support Recovery Committees that are established after a disaster.
The Toolkit is primarily intended to guide and assist regional/district and local emergency management and recovery committees and councils responsible for the coordination of disaster recovery. The Toolkit would also be of value to other organisations, planners and managers who work with communities to design and deliver recovery services and programs.
Hear about how you might apply the Recovery Exercising Toolkit in your own local context.
Guest Speakers
Mark Drew, Director, National Capabilities Program, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Mark has 20 years’ public sector experience across a range of natural disaster recovery and resilience initiatives. This has included the development of both national and state level strategies and policy, and operationally leading recovery on the ground for disaster affected communities. Mark has worked with a number of agencies in both the Queensland and Australian Government, including the Queensland Reconstruction Authority and Emergency Management Australia, and is now the Director, National Capability Programs in the National Emergency Management Agency.
Mark leading the development of the National Capability Programs, to turn evidence based policy into action, and with resilience and recovery experts across all sectors to deliver a range of projects supporting local communities to build capability and be better able to respond to, recover from and reduce the impact of future disaster events.
Wendy Graham, Program Lead, Regional Recovery Exercising Program, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Wendy is an experienced government senior executive with over twenty years’ experience in the community and emergency management sectors, working across local, state, and federal governments and the non-government sector. Wendy has a strong history in emergency management, with a focus on community recovery and resilience. She has previously held the positions of NSW Deputy State Emergency Recovery Controller and the NSW State Welfare Services Functional Area Coordinator. Wendy has had key roles in numerous disaster recovery operations in NSW, including the Black Summer Bushfires 2019/20 where she was responsible for coordinating community recovery teams in 33 local government areas and establishing the NSW Community Recovery Officer Program and the NSW Bushfire Recovery Support Services Program.
Kimbra Parker, Manager Community Programs, City of Hobart Council
Kimbra has worked in local government for many years, predominantly in the areas of community engagement, cultural and community development. As the City of Hobart’s Social Recovery Coordinator for the past seven years, Kimbra has worked very closely with the Southern Regional Municipal Recovery Coordinators and has been actively involved in emergency situations with the May 2018 severe storm event and through providing assistance at the Huonville Evacuation Centre.
Kimbra is currently the Manager Community Programs for the City of Hobart with responsibility for delivery of a broad range of social programs, community development, social inclusion, community facilities, safety and resilience.
Megan Cunningham, Accessible City Coordinator, Community Programs, Hobart City Council
Megan has over twenty-five years’ experience in health and human services, working in both local and state government, as well as the Not for Profit sector. Megan has extensive experience in the area of disability, access and inclusion having held many diverse roles in service coordination, case management, advocacy, and community engagement, at an executive level. Megan is currently the Accessible City Coordinator at the City of Hobart, overseeing the implementation of the Equal Access Commitment and working across the Council to provide strategic direction and advice, deliver programs and raise awareness of the requirement for accessibility of information, facilities, buildings, events and activities.
Richard Witbreuk, Project Coordinator, Disability Voices Tasmania
Richard has been a disability advocate for over five years, advocating for equal access to services including public transport, tourism and emergency management and planning. Richard has had varied occupations across state and local government, as well as community. Richard is currently the Project Coordinator for Disability Voices Tasmania and the Accessible Tourism Officer at ParaQuad Tasmania. Richard is also the Deputy Chair of the National Inclusive Transport Advocacy Network which gives peak bodies the opportunity to provide feedback on Public Transport at a national level.
Moderator
Margaret Moreton, Executive Director, Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
EMPS CPD Hours
This webinar has been approved for EMPS Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. The webinar has been allocated 1 hour of CPD.
For more information about EMPS CPD and to find out if you are eligible for EMPS CPD visit emps.org.au