Emergency Management Volunteer Scholarships
Launch of National Volunteer Week 2017 Parliament House Canberra
9 May 2017 at 11:52 am
As part of National Volunteer Week, the federal government has finalised the establishment of a million dollar scholarship fund for emergency management volunteers and is calling for applicants.
Announcing the scholarship program, Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said the fund would boost education development opportunities to ensure volunteers and their agencies were equipped to prepare for and respond to disasters.
“Ongoing investment in the education and development of these men and women is critical to building our national resilience,” Keenan said.
“Eligible volunteers can receive financial support to access accredited vocational and higher education qualifications in emergency and disaster management fields.”
The minister said volunteers would receive up to $12,000 for completing vocational education and training and up to $25,000 for higher education.
“I encourage all volunteers, including those involved in firefighting, flood and storm response, road rescue, search and rescue, and patrolling beaches, and recovery, to consider this new development opportunity,” he said.
The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) will administer the new scholarship on behalf of the government, and will commence on 1 June 2017.
@ALeighMP discusses the great benefits of volunteering in our communities #NVW2017 #GiveHappyLiveHappy pic.twitter.com/Hulzxn1j9v
— Volunteering Aus (@VolunteeringAus) May 9, 2017
The Tasmanian government has also committed to a $200,000 four-year funding program towards disaster recovery volunteering.
The funding will be used to support the implementation of Emergency Volunteering – Community Response to Extreme Weather (EVCREW).
EVCREW is a service that provides a coordinated approach to matching volunteers with organisations supporting disaster response and recovery efforts.
“Volunteers are vital during and in the aftermath of emergencies,” Volunteering Tasmania chief executive officer Alison Lai said.
“During recent natural disasters, there has been an incredible amount of good-will and willingness from the community to assist in the response and recovery effort.
“However, proper coordination of these volunteers is critical to ensure everyone remains safe.”
She said EVCREW would not replace existing Tasmanian emergency services volunteering processes.
“Rather it will work alongside them to strengthen Tasmania’s community response in times of disaster,” Lai said.
“At all times during a disaster we need to ensure that our trained emergency service workers have the opportunity to do their work and get the disaster contained.”
Although this is a positive move, Its a shame that many are still confusing firefighting as emergency management, its response, a very, very small component within EM but it is not in itself EM. Australia deserves better than a bunch of responders, politicians and political advisor thinking they know what EM is when they clearly have very little understanding. It is no wonder that we continue to experience the same type of events with this lack of understanding.