SES Week - thanking the State Emergency Services

This week is SES Week - a chance for all Australians to say thank you to the men and women of the State Emergency Services who volunteer day in, day out.

Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Management Nicola Roxon paid tribute to the tens of thousands of SES volunteers.

“The bright orange uniform of our SES volunteers is a regular feature on the TV news when disaster strikes,” Roxon said.

“SES volunteers give all year round, sacrificing precious work and family time to help people in storms, floods and many other emergencies.

“Over the past year, nationwide, SES volunteers have given up 893,057 hours to helping others. A truly remarkable achievement!”

SES Week is a national celebration of the dedication and commitment of the volunteers from the SES. The week is being celebrated from Monday 12 to Sunday 18 November 2012.

Events are being held all over the country to highlight the vital role SES volunteers play in keeping our communities safe.

From ‘convoy of thanks’ tours by SES trucks travelling across whole states, to major ‘thank you’ BBQs and award ceremonies. Prominent city buildings and icons such as the ‘Big Banana’ and ‘The Dish’ will be lit up in orange.

“The key event of the week is WOW day ­- Wear Orange Wednesday. I’ll be wearing orange on Wednesday and I encourage everyone to else to show their support by also getting involved.”

While the states and territories are the first responders in disasters and emergencies, the Commonwealth does a lot of work to help communities prepare for and recover from disasters.

In September, the Commonwealth announced almost 250 organisations that provide crucial emergency response services to communities across the nation, including State Emergencies, among the recipients of the Australian Government’s $16 million Volunteer Grants initiative.

Other Commonwealth investments include:

• $110 million in disaster mitigation funding to ensure our communities can be better prepared for potential disasters;
• nearly $60 million to establish and upgrade the Emergency Alert system so that Australians can benefit from technology that will enable highly targeted locatio-based text message emergency warnings to be sent during disasters;
• $100 million so that Australia’s police, fire, ambulance and emergency services will have access to a dedicated national communications channel during disasters following the allocation of 10 MHz of spectrum;
• $3 billion over the last financial year in post-disaster support to help families get back on their feet.