Disasters are worsening and volunteer numbers are dwindling

The Advertiser

23-05-2025

As NSW communities are again experiencing a record-breaking disaster event unfold, it's the committed emergency service volunteers who consistently show up during times of disaster that keeps impacted residents safe.
Recently, it was National Volunteer Week, a time to acknowledge and value the efforts of the 400,000 emergency service volunteers across Australia.
Volunteers who are out in force in NSW where the Manning River at Taree exceeded its previous almost 100-year-old record, reaching a height expected on average only once every 500 years.
They evacuated, sandbagged, rescued people and provided comfort across the Mid North Coast where hundreds of properties were flooded, and thousands of people were impacted. Some of these communities experienced major flooding as recently as 2021.
We live in a time of worsening natural hazard risk. Major disasters once considered rare are becoming more frequent as we warm our climate and choose to live in areas prone to flood and bushfire. Disasters are not natural. They are the consequence of our decisions.
Increasingly frequent disasters place a enormous strain on volunteers when broader demographic, technology and work trends are influencing the current and future disaster management workforce.
The recent Senate select committee on Australia's disaster resilience highlighted challenges in recruiting and retaining emergency service volunteers, with one estimate that volunteer numbers have decreased by more than 20,000 in the last decade nationally.
This is occurring at a time of increasing geopolitical stress, meaning we can't just call in the Army to support response and recovery efforts. Our troops now considered a last resort to support state and territory-based emergency services.
Ensuring adequate resources to meet the demands of future disasters requires urgent attention and action. After previous disasters, calls were made for federally funded emergency response initiatives such as a national firefighting force, but these duplicate existing structures and are expensive. While no one strategy will be a panacea, action is needed now to ensure a volunteer disaster workforce is prepared for tomorrow and beyond.
Five evidence-informed strategies merit attention:
1. Make it easier for people to volunteer through streamlined recruitment and onboarding of volunteers, recognising existing skills. Ensuring the required infrastructure is provided, including facilities, vehicles, equipment and volunteer support staff. Opportunities exist to be more inclusive and engage with a more diverse range of volunteers by providing more flexible volunteering models that are tailored to personal preferences and time pressures.
2. Address volunteer workloads, with volunteers often burdened by mounting administrative demands. Cost of living pressures also impacts volunteering and could be mitigated through legislated employment and financial incentives for volunteers.
3. Ensure emergency service agencies' disaster plans incorporate engagement and coordination with new volunteer groups emerging during disasters, such as the "tinny army" during the 2022 Lismore floods. Accelerated learning techniques could rapidly skill individuals to perform critical tasks and support traditional emergency response and recovery volunteers during critical times.
4. Mobilise often underutilised business, not-for-profits and First Nations ranger groups skills and resources. There is significant benefit in exploring deeper partnerships between government agencies and these groups in the development of disaster plans.
5. Trialling, investing and adapting new technologies to reduce workforce demands and augment the existing workforce, while also considering how future technologies will reshape the skill sets required to manage future disasters.
Autonomous robots and vehicles, equipped with advanced sensors, AI and communication technologies, represent a potential leap forward in disaster response capabilities.
Combined with predictive analytics, autonomous assets could be deployed with minimal human intervention to areas of greatest need.
READ MORE:
These assets could be co-ordinated to perform a variety of tasks, from firefighting and search and rescue operations to rapid impact assessment and the delivery of emergency relief.
Ultimately, we must focus on reducing disaster risks and avoiding future development in at-risk areas. Without addressing the fundamentals that reduce disaster risks our communities will only experience further suffering, increasing demands on volunteers and other government services.
Ultimately, we will all pay.
Let's recognise and celebrate our volunteers but not wait until the next disaster to invest in actions to strengthen critical capabilities.
As NSW communities are again experiencing a record-breaking disaster event unfold, it's the committed emergency service volunteers who consistently show up during times of disaster that keeps impacted residents safe.
Recently, it was National Volunteer Week, a time to acknowledge and value the efforts of the 400,000 emergency service volunteers across Australia.
Volunteers who are out in force in NSW where the Manning River at Taree exceeded its previous almost 100-year-old record, reaching a height expected on average only once every 500 years.
They evacuated, sandbagged, rescued people and provided comfort across the Mid North Coast where hundreds of properties were flooded, and thousands of people were impacted. Some of these communities experienced major flooding as recently as 2021.
We live in a time of worsening natural hazard risk. Major disasters once considered rare are becoming more frequent as we warm our climate and choose to live in areas prone to flood and bushfire. Disasters are not natural. They are the consequence of our decisions.
Increasingly frequent disasters place a enormous strain on volunteers when broader demographic, technology and work trends are influencing the current and future disaster management workforce.
The recent Senate select committee on Australia's disaster resilience highlighted challenges in recruiting and retaining emergency service volunteers, with one estimate that volunteer numbers have decreased by more than 20,000 in the last decade nationally.
This is occurring at a time of increasing geopolitical stress, meaning we can't just call in the Army to support response and recovery efforts. Our troops now considered a last resort to support state and territory-based emergency services.
Ensuring adequate resources to meet the demands of future disasters requires urgent attention and action. After previous disasters, calls were made for federally funded emergency response initiatives such as a national firefighting force, but these duplicate existing structures and are expensive. While no one strategy will be a panacea, action is needed now to ensure a volunteer disaster workforce is prepared for tomorrow and beyond.
Five evidence-informed strategies merit attention:
1. Make it easier for people to volunteer through streamlined recruitment and onboarding of volunteers, recognising existing skills. Ensuring the required infrastructure is provided, including facilities, vehicles, equipment and volunteer support staff. Opportunities exist to be more inclusive and engage with a more diverse range of volunteers by providing more flexible volunteering models that are tailored to personal preferences and time pressures.
2. Address volunteer workloads, with volunteers often burdened by mounting administrative demands. Cost of living pressures also impacts volunteering and could be mitigated through legislated employment and financial incentives for volunteers.
3. Ensure emergency service agencies' disaster plans incorporate engagement and coordination with new volunteer groups emerging during disasters, such as the "tinny army" during the 2022 Lismore floods. Accelerated learning techniques could rapidly skill individuals to perform critical tasks and support traditional emergency response and recovery volunteers during critical times.
4. Mobilise often underutilised business, not-for-profits and First Nations ranger groups skills and resources. There is significant benefit in exploring deeper partnerships between government agencies and these groups in the development of disaster plans.
5. Trialling, investing and adapting new technologies to reduce workforce demands and augment the existing workforce, while also considering how future technologies will reshape the skill sets required to manage future disasters.
Autonomous robots and vehicles, equipped with advanced sensors, AI and communication technologies, represent a potential leap forward in disaster response capabilities.
Combined with predictive analytics, autonomous assets could be deployed with minimal human intervention to areas of greatest need.
READ MORE:
These assets could be co-ordinated to perform a variety of tasks, from firefighting and search and rescue operations to rapid impact assessment and the delivery of emergency relief.
Ultimately, we must focus on reducing disaster risks and avoiding future development in at-risk areas. Without addressing the fundamentals that reduce disaster risks our communities will only experience further suffering, increasing demands on volunteers and other government services.
Ultimately, we will all pay.
Let's recognise and celebrate our volunteers but not wait until the next disaster to invest in actions to strengthen critical capabilities.
As NSW communities are again experiencing a record-breaking disaster event unfold, it's the committed emergency service volunteers who consistently show up during times of disaster that keeps impacted residents safe.
Recently, it was National Volunteer Week, a time to acknowledge and value the efforts of the 400,000 emergency service volunteers across Australia.
Volunteers who are out in force in NSW where the Manning River at Taree exceeded its previous almost 100-year-old record, reaching a height expected on average only once every 500 years.
They evacuated, sandbagged, rescued people and provided comfort across the Mid North Coast where hundreds of properties were flooded, and thousands of people were impacted. Some of these communities experienced major flooding as recently as 2021.
We live in a time of worsening natural hazard risk. Major disasters once considered rare are becoming more frequent as we warm our climate and choose to live in areas prone to flood and bushfire. Disasters are not natural. They are the consequence of our decisions.
Increasingly frequent disasters place a enormous strain on volunteers when broader demographic, technology and work trends are influencing the current and future disaster management workforce.
The recent Senate select committee on Australia's disaster resilience highlighted challenges in recruiting and retaining emergency service volunteers, with one estimate that volunteer numbers have decreased by more than 20,000 in the last decade nationally.
This is occurring at a time of increasing geopolitical stress, meaning we can't just call in the Army to support response and recovery efforts. Our troops now considered a last resort to support state and territory-based emergency services.
Ensuring adequate resources to meet the demands of future disasters requires urgent attention and action. After previous disasters, calls were made for federally funded emergency response initiatives such as a national firefighting force, but these duplicate existing structures and are expensive. While no one strategy will be a panacea, action is needed now to ensure a volunteer disaster workforce is prepared for tomorrow and beyond.
Five evidence-informed strategies merit attention:
1. Make it easier for people to volunteer through streamlined recruitment and onboarding of volunteers, recognising existing skills. Ensuring the required infrastructure is provided, including facilities, vehicles, equipment and volunteer support staff. Opportunities exist to be more inclusive and engage with a more diverse range of volunteers by providing more flexible volunteering models that are tailored to personal preferences and time pressures.
2. Address volunteer workloads, with volunteers often burdened by mounting administrative demands. Cost of living pressures also impacts volunteering and could be mitigated through legislated employment and financial incentives for volunteers.
3. Ensure emergency service agencies' disaster plans incorporate engagement and coordination with new volunteer groups emerging during disasters, such as the "tinny army" during the 2022 Lismore floods. Accelerated learning techniques could rapidly skill individuals to perform critical tasks and support traditional emergency response and recovery volunteers during critical times.
4. Mobilise often underutilised business, not-for-profits and First Nations ranger groups skills and resources. There is significant benefit in exploring deeper partnerships between government agencies and these groups in the development of disaster plans.
5. Trialling, investing and adapting new technologies to reduce workforce demands and augment the existing workforce, while also considering how future technologies will reshape the skill sets required to manage future disasters.
Autonomous robots and vehicles, equipped with advanced sensors, AI and communication technologies, represent a potential leap forward in disaster response capabilities.
Combined with predictive analytics, autonomous assets could be deployed with minimal human intervention to areas of greatest need.
READ MORE:
These assets could be co-ordinated to perform a variety of tasks, from firefighting and search and rescue operations to rapid impact assessment and the delivery of emergency relief.
Ultimately, we must focus on reducing disaster risks and avoiding future development in at-risk areas. Without addressing the fundamentals that reduce disaster risks our communities will only experience further suffering, increasing demands on volunteers and other government services.
Ultimately, we will all pay.
Let's recognise and celebrate our volunteers but not wait until the next disaster to invest in actions to strengthen critical capabilities.
As NSW communities are again experiencing a record-breaking disaster event unfold, it's the committed emergency service volunteers who consistently show up during times of disaster that keeps impacted residents safe.
Recently, it was National Volunteer Week, a time to acknowledge and value the efforts of the 400,000 emergency service volunteers across Australia.
Volunteers who are out in force in NSW where the Manning River at Taree exceeded its previous almost 100-year-old record, reaching a height expected on average only once every 500 years.
They evacuated, sandbagged, rescued people and provided comfort across the Mid North Coast where hundreds of properties were flooded, and thousands of people were impacted. Some of these communities experienced major flooding as recently as 2021.
We live in a time of worsening natural hazard risk. Major disasters once considered rare are becoming more frequent as we warm our climate and choose to live in areas prone to flood and bushfire. Disasters are not natural. They are the consequence of our decisions.
Increasingly frequent disasters place a enormous strain on volunteers when broader demographic, technology and work trends are influencing the current and future disaster management workforce.
The recent Senate select committee on Australia's disaster resilience highlighted challenges in recruiting and retaining emergency service volunteers, with one estimate that volunteer numbers have decreased by more than 20,000 in the last decade nationally.
This is occurring at a time of increasing geopolitical stress, meaning we can't just call in the Army to support response and recovery efforts. Our troops now considered a last resort to support state and territory-based emergency services.
Ensuring adequate resources to meet the demands of future disasters requires urgent attention and action. After previous disasters, calls were made for federally funded emergency response initiatives such as a national firefighting force, but these duplicate existing structures and are expensive. While no one strategy will be a panacea, action is needed now to ensure a volunteer disaster workforce is prepared for tomorrow and beyond.
Five evidence-informed strategies merit attention:
1. Make it easier for people to volunteer through streamlined recruitment and onboarding of volunteers, recognising existing skills. Ensuring the required infrastructure is provided, including facilities, vehicles, equipment and volunteer support staff. Opportunities exist to be more inclusive and engage with a more diverse range of volunteers by providing more flexible volunteering models that are tailored to personal preferences and time pressures.
2. Address volunteer workloads, with volunteers often burdened by mounting administrative demands. Cost of living pressures also impacts volunteering and could be mitigated through legislated employment and financial incentives for volunteers.
3. Ensure emergency service agencies' disaster plans incorporate engagement and coordination with new volunteer groups emerging during disasters, such as the "tinny army" during the 2022 Lismore floods. Accelerated learning techniques could rapidly skill individuals to perform critical tasks and support traditional emergency response and recovery volunteers during critical times.
4. Mobilise often underutilised business, not-for-profits and First Nations ranger groups skills and resources. There is significant benefit in exploring deeper partnerships between government agencies and these groups in the development of disaster plans.
5. Trialling, investing and adapting new technologies to reduce workforce demands and augment the existing workforce, while also considering how future technologies will reshape the skill sets required to manage future disasters.
Autonomous robots and vehicles, equipped with advanced sensors, AI and communication technologies, represent a potential leap forward in disaster response capabilities.
Combined with predictive analytics, autonomous assets could be deployed with minimal human intervention to areas of greatest need.
READ MORE:
These assets could be co-ordinated to perform a variety of tasks, from firefighting and search and rescue operations to rapid impact assessment and the delivery of emergency relief.
Ultimately, we must focus on reducing disaster risks and avoiding future development in at-risk areas. Without addressing the fundamentals that reduce disaster risks our communities will only experience further suffering, increasing demands on volunteers and other government services.
Ultimately, we will all pay.
Let's recognise and celebrate our volunteers but not wait until the next disaster to invest in actions to strengthen critical capabilities.