|
| FLYER ISSUE 2: FEBRUARY 2026 | |
|
|
Welcome to the February edition of the Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) Monthly Flyer. It’s been a busy month for FMA activities. I do hope you had a chance to join us at one
(or more!) of our events. FMA Quarterly Meetings and Workshops As always, we hold two half-day FMA Quarterly Meetings three times per year in February, August and November,
one in Brisbane and one in Sydney. These meetings are divided into two parts. In the first part, our FMA Executive, our Young Floodplain Managers (YFMs) and a range of government agencies and organisations with an interest in flood risk management, provide an update on their latest activities and issues for the past quarter. In the second part of the meeting, we host a technical workshop on a contemporary flood risk management topic. The FMA Quarterly Meeting is a fantastic way to network with other flood risk management practitioners and find out what is happening in our industry. While we do offer live online access to our Quarterly Meetings and Workshops, we really encourage you to attend in person on the day. Don’t forget to include your early career professionals who would really benefit from
attending. A big thank you to our speakers from our February 2026 Quarterly Meeting Workshops: QLD Quarterly Meeting Workshop — Resilient
Kurilpa — a story of community led flood resilience. - Presenters: Leanne Sturgess, Adrian Sains and Bob Speirs.
- Resilient Kurilpa is a community-led, volunteer-run disaster resilience initiative based in the Kurilpa
Peninsula of Brisbane (West End, South Brisbane and Highgate Hill). Formed after the 2022 floods, the network brings together residents, neighbourhood organisations, apartment communities, and experts to build local capacity for flood preparedness, response, and recovery. In 2023-24, with joint funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments, Resilient Kurilpa delivered a program that engaged over 500 residents directly and thousands more online.
NSW/ACT Quarterly Meeting Workshop — Flood Terminology - how do we avoid confusion and get the message right? - Presenter: Professor Amisha Mehta from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) provided an overview of the
Natural Hazards Research Australia project she is leading on Flood Risk Communication.
- Q&A Session with our panel members:
- Sue Ribbons, President, Floodplain Management Australia
- Melanie Schwecke, Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Specialist Planning Officer, Floodplain Management
- Stephen Yeo, NSW Reconstruction Authority Senior Flood Risk Specialist
- Kirra Waine, NSW State Emergency Service Senior Project Officer, Emergency Management.
- Facilitator: Will Prentice, Technical Director, Floodplain Management Australia.
- NSW/ACT Quarterly Meeting detailed Agency Update — Release of draft Climate Change and Natural Hazards State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) —by Melanie Schwecke, Specialist Planning Officer, Floodplain Management (NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Industry)
FMA and Stormwater Victoria Joint Technical Event
Flood Impacts: A National Industry Leaders Forum Another big event for FMA in the last week was our joint technical event with Stormwater
Victoria, Flood Impacts: A National Industry Leaders Forum. The forum was held in Melbourne with around 60 people attending. A big thankyou to Stormwater Victoria for organising the event and convening the in-person panel discussion exploring how flood impacts are defined, assessed and managed across Australia. The session was held following the recent release of Melbourne Water’s Flood Impact (Afflux) Practice Note (Floodplain Development Impact
Assessment).
|
|
Left to right: Will Prentice (Technical Director, FMA), Sue Ribbons (President, FMA), Julia Baumann
(Vice President, SWVic), Alice Lisitsa (President, SWVic), Caterina Paganelli (Exec Committee, SWVic), Chris Beardshaw (Afflux Consulting). Panel Members Left to right: Will Prentice (Technical Director, FMA), Sue Ribbons (President, FMA),
Anna Lucas (General Manager of Service Strategy, Melbourne Water), Chris Beardshaw (Founder of and Principal Engineer, Afflux Consulting) 2026 FMA Excellence Awards
2026 FMA National Conference — Gold Coast — 21 to 24 April 2026 Last Chance: FMA Awards Nominations Close 11.45pm 6 March A key objective of FMA is to recognise and promote excellence in flood risk management. The FMA Annual National Conference is our opportunity to recognise, promote and showcase excellence in flood risk management in so many
ways. The FMA Annual Excellence Awards are the pinnacle of this excellence with three prestigious awards that celebrate champions and outstanding projects in flood risk management: - FMA IAG Young Floodplain Manager of the Year Award
- Allan
Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award
- FMA IAG Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award.
Nominations for the 2026 FMA Excellence Awards have been extended to 11.45pm Friday 6 March. If you have been considering submitting a nomination, don’t miss out. I am sure that all of us are aware of someone who we have worked with, who is ‘a really excellent’ flood risk manager or we are aware of a ‘really excellent’ project that we have been involved with. We encourage all eligible FMA Members to recognise a colleague or project by submitting a nomination. Submit
your nomination: www.floods.asn.au/ea Sue Ribbons FMA President |
2026 FMA NATIONAL CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
|
|
|
|
We are delighted to announce further sponsors for this year’s Floodplain Management Australia National Conference: Gold Sponsor - Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA). The QRA is Queensland’s lead agency responsible for disaster recovery and resilience policy, and has been a Corporate Member of FMA since 2016. Silver Sponsor - Autodesk Autodesk provides software products and services including integrated 1D/2D
models of stormwater and wastewater systems. Bronze Sponsor, YFM Networking Function - KBR KBR undertakes technical hydrologic and hydraulic modelling assessments for local government, state government and the private sector. KBR joined FMA in 2021. Bluemont - Field Trip Sponsor Bluemont offers temporary and permanent flood protection and erosion control solutions, and will demonstrate operation of a Boxwall mobile flood barrier on the Gold Coast waterway. Bluemont has been a Corporate FMA Member since 2014. The Conference program has now finalised, and will feature more than 100 presentation choices over four specialised streams on Wednesday and Friday, and for the first time five streams on Thursday. Tuesday is Pre-Conference Workshop day with all interests catered for: - Simulating evacuations and life loss with LifeSim software
- Multi-hazard planning in the built environment
- Modelling bridges and culverts in HEC-RAS
- Room for the river
- Modelling dam breach in HEC-RAS
- Young Floodplain Managers Mentoring.
This year’s Casual Dinner will be a treat to remember – a visit to Sea World Gold Coast! Mayors and Councillors will benefit from this Conference - it’s not just for technical people. Anyone with responsibilities in flood risk management will benefit
from the case studies of recent flood events. This is a great opportunity to learn what happened, what worked, what didn’t work, and how to plan better for the next flood. FMA26 is being held
a month earlier than usual - 21 to 14 April. Early registration discounts are available until 6 March. Details are at: floodplainconference.com
|
LAST CHANCE: AWARDS NOMINATIONS FRIDAY CLOSE 6 MARCH
|
|
|
|
Nominations for the 2026 FMA Excellence Awards have been extended to 11.45pm Friday 6 March. If
you’ve been considering submitting a nomination, this is your final opportunity. The Awards recognise outstanding achievement and contribution to floodplain management across Australia and New Zealand. Award categories:
• FMA IAG Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award
• FMA Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of
the Year Award
• FMA IAG Young Floodplain Manager of the Year Award Nominations are quick and easy to complete online (approximately 10
minutes).
Submit your nomination: floods.asn.au/ea
|
CALL FOR NOMINATION OF FMA OFFICE-BEARERS
|
|
|
|
The present terms of the President, Deputy President, Technical Director, Land Use Planning Director, Queensland Director and Communications Director conclude at the end of the 2026 Annual General Meeting. The present Office-bearers are eligible to re-nominate. The term of the next appointments will be until the conclusion of the second Annual General Meeting following the date of election, expected to be May 2028. The Nomination Forms will be available from 10 March at the FMA website, or from the Executive Officer. Details of the qualifications and responsibilities of the positions may be found in the Constitution, which is available at the FMA website Members’ Section, or from the Executive Officer. Nominations must be received by the Executive Officer by the close of business on Tuesday 24 March, 2026.
|
QLD AND NSW/ACT QUARTERLY MEETING WRAP
|
|
|
|
Pictured above: Adrian Sains speaking at the Resilient Kurilpa Workshop. The Queensland Chapter Meeting held
at the Pullman Hotel attracted around 60 people on site and online to hear the latest flood industry roundup. Tyrone Attard from the Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers led a discussion on the update of the Guide for Flood Risk Mapping, focussing on potential
hydraulic risk, and asking “should we re-align risk profiles away from frequency and in line with hazard?” The Insurance Council of Australia’s Liam Walter reported from bushfire affected Victoria, commenting that 2025 was a really significant loss year for the insurance
industry. All together insurance losses total about $4 billion, the highest for many years excluding 2022. No flood events were “super catastrophic”, but there several mid level events which added up, putting stress into the system. The afternoon Workshop presented by
residents of the Kurilpa Peninsula in Brisbane explored the challenges and responses for highrise residential communities, an area of flood risk management often overlooked.
|
The packed agenda for the NSW/ACT Chapter Meeting included a summary by Melanie Schwecke from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure of the numerous flood-related land use planning documents presently being developed, revised or exhibited. These
include: Pictured above: Professor Amisha Mehta addressing the flood risk communication Workshop During the Workshop session Associate Professor Amisha Mehta, from the Queensland University of Technology, provided an overview of the Natural Hazards Research Australia project she is leading on communicating flood risk. A Q&A Panel Session with industry experts followed. As well as providing valuable learning for Workshop participants, comments from the day will be used to progress the NHRA project. Workshop presentations will be made available at the FMA
Website, Members’ Section.
FMA SUBMISSION TO THE DRAFT SYDNEY PLAN
|
|
As we heard at the Sydney FMA Quarterly Meeting in the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure update, the draft Sydney Plan was on public exhibition until 27 February. FMA has provided a submission to the draft Plan, and also on the discussion paper: A New Approach to Strategic
Planning, and the Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands. FMA’s detailed submission commended the Department for ensuring that Flood Risk Management continues to be considered in the preparation of the key policy documents. However, it is considered that the draft Plan presents
inconsistencies with existing well established government policies and best practice relating to FRM, and should be reviewed. The FMA submission is available at the FMA website: floods.asn.au/submissions
|
2027 SYDNEY FMA CONFERENCE VENUE REVEALED
|
|
|
|
After much speculation we can now reveal that the 2027 FMA National Conference will be held at the Western Sydney Convention Centre, at Penrith on the Nepean River. We’ve all heard about the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, 2027 will be the year to visit. Please reserve 11 to 14 May 2027 in your calendars and diaries now.
|
|
YFM MONTHLY FEATURE
|
|
|
|
The FMA Young Floodplain Managers (YFM) network exists to represent, engage, and inspire young floodplain management professionals across Australia.
The objectives of the YFM are to: - collaborate and share knowledge through networking opportunities, mentorships with industry leaders, professional development workshops and events, and social media platforms and forums where YFMs can discuss key issues and share innovative ideas
- inspire and empower YFMs to share new ideas and engage in industry discussions
- connect YFMs from across the public and private sectors as well as other young professional groups; and
- promote gender equality and diversity in all YFM activities and the broader industry.
Any floodplain manager is welcome to apply if committed to the objectives of the YFM. Whilst the YFM's mission is to represent, engage, support and inspire young floodplain management professionals across the nation, anyone who supports this objective is welcome to apply for membership of the YFM and engage in the group's actions, irrespective of their age or level of experience. Find out more about YFM and upcoming YFM events at the YFM Linkedin page here.
|
|
POSITIONS VACANT
|
|
|
|
No current vacancies.
|
TRAVELLING CONFERENCE SWAG |
Pictured: (Left) Evan Caswell of Brisbane City Council sporting his FMA Cap in Bratislava, Slovakia on the banks of the Danube River and (Right) Flood markers recorded in Ljubljana, Slovenia - can any of our readers interpret these? Have
you got a photo of your FMA Swag? |
|
|
|
