Mr Kelly said the Australian Safer Communities Awards acknowledged and encouraged outstanding practice and innovation by organisations involved in emergency management and protecting the community.
“These awards, which are now in their ninth year, highlight Australia’s expertise in preventing, planning for and responding to natural disasters and other emergencies,” Mr Kelly said.
“NSW’s emergency organisations are recognised throughout the world for their training, experience, innovation and skill.
“I’m delighted to announce the 2008 NSW winners are the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB), NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and Camden, Campbelltown City and Wollondilly Shire councils,” Mr Kelly said.
“These organisations’ four projects now become the NSW finalists in the national competition, with the winners to be announced later this year.
“The Ambulance Service of NSW, Council of the City of Sydney, Hunter Region Surf Life Saving Australia Helicopter Rescue Service Ltd and Surf Life Saving Australia also have been highly commended for four projects,” Mr Kelly said.
“I congratulate all 10 organisations for their hard work fostering and developing a safe and sustainable community, and supporting emergency management across the State.
“We all benefit from the contribution these organisations make to our safety here in NSW, whether they are public sector emergency services, local governments or community-based agencies,” Mr Kelly said.
Mr Kelly said the Safer Communities Awards were open to agencies in the Federal and State emergency management sector, as well as business, local government, research, community and volunteer-based organisations.
“The awards are organised by the Commonwealth’s Emergency Management Australia in conjunction with the States,” Mr Kelly said.
The 2008 NSW Safer Communities Awards winners are:
• NSW State Emergency Service (SES) for its Business FloodSafe Toolkit Online, which helps businesses calculate their flood liability and gives a step-by-step guide to developing individual business continuity plans to help them better cope with the damaging consequences of floods.
• NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB) for its 2007 National Triple Zero (000) Awareness Campaign to raise community awareness of Australia’s emergency call service, including the key message of Stay focused, Stay relevant and Stay on the line, targeted at “at risk” groups such as children and culturally diverse communities.
• NSW Jewish Board of Deputies for its Jewish Emergency Management Plan NSW, a community-based initiative to provide a co-ordinated management plan to deal with any emergency, either locally or overseas, that might affect members of the Jewish community.
• Campbelltown City Council, Camden Council and Wollondilly Shire Council for their joint Drives for Learners in Macarthur booklet and Log Book Run events, a practical educational project targeting learner drivers and their supervisors in the Macarthur Region and the wider community.
Highly commended:
• Ambulance Service of NSW for its LIFE – Live it Save it community education campaign, aimed at increasing a patient’s chance of surviving a cardiac-related incident.
• Council of the City of Sydney for its Security and Emergency Management Operations Centre which helps ensure a safer community.
• Hunter Region Surf Life Saving Australia Helicopter Rescue Service Ltd for its Helicopter Winch Simulator, developed for training its personnel and other organisations providing a helicopter rescue service to the community.
• Surf Life Saving Australia for its On the Same Wave campaign providing support to young Australians of all backgrounds to become part of the beach experience and to engage with Surf Life Saving around Australia.
