The BAC has been awarded a prestigious Women’s Day Award for disaster management. These awards recognise the work of those in the disaster management sector who actively champion change and demonstrate excellence.

The four award categories for 2022 were: Champion of Change – Individual, Champion of Change – Organisation, Excellence in Disaster Management – Practitioner and Excellence in Disaster Management – Research.

Award recipients were announced by the Inspector-General on  8 March. The Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation was awarded the Champion of Change – Organisation Award, with a ceremony held at the BAC Office on 15 April with the Queensland’s Inspector-General of Emergency Management, Alistair Dawson. 

The First Nations perspective was one that Queensland’s Inspector-General of emergency management Alistair Dawson said should be increasingly considered by first responders. 

“It is extremely valuable. It’s about creating another level of understanding about the environment in which everyone is operating,” Mr Dawson said.

“Everyone is coming at it from the same direction, which is for the best outcome for the environment. But the ability for crews to understand those significant cultural points, or having people there to help make decisions around how we’re going to respond to what’s happening in front of us is absolutely critical.”

Mr Dawson said it was a step forward in the disaster management space.

“People who are involved in disaster management constantly strive for improvement in all levels, and one of the ways we can achieve that is to make sure that we engage with everybody that has ownership or interest,” he said.

FINIA extends our congratulations to the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation.

Article compiled from the IGEM media release and with grateful thanks to ABC Radio Wide Bay