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NEXT FMA MEETING FMA August Quarterly Meeting Thursday, 20 August 2015 in Sydney.
Further details will be provided at a closer
date. |
FMA National Conference Roundup |
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This month saw the FMA’s Second National Conference at the impressive Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The three-day event was our biggest ever with over 380 delegates representing 165 organisations from across Australia and overseas.
We were privileged to have the Hon Michael Keenan, Minister for Justice, speak to us by video about the recent reports by
the Productivity Commission and the Australian National Audit Office which highlight that 97% of disaster funding is spent on recovery and only 3% on mitigation. Minister Keenan advised that he is discussing the recommendations of the two reports with state and territory colleagues, and while the funding imbalance needs to be addressed he is not proposing any severe cuts to recovery funding.
We were also honoured to have Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor the Rt Hon
Clr Graham Quirk officially open our Conference and Local Government Association of Queensland President Clr Margaret De Witt address our delegates during the first session.
Special thanks go to Keynote Speakers John Curtin (UK Environment Agency) and Bas Jonkman (Technical University Delft, The Netherlands) for their comprehensive case studies providing an international perspectives to flood risk management, and to the Flood Insurance Panel, Paula Newman
from Lismore City Council, Nick Bartzis from IAG and Karl Sullivan from the Insurance Council of Australia.
The Conference Dinner saw the FMA Excellence Awards presented, and Tom Perfrement and Tracey Lloyd, students at the University of New South Wales and Raymond Laine and Ashlee Clarke, graduates from the University of Wollongong, win the 2015 edition of the Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge. The two teams will travel to the Netherlands to further
develop their projects and will participate in the International Water Week in Amsterdam.
The closing Conference Forum – Vision for Australian Floodplain Management provided a wrap up of the FMA’s national development over the last two years, and received suggestions for future direction. Forum Facilitator Allan Gear invited the strong contingent of Victorian attendees to work with the FMA to form a Victorian FMA Chapter
before the next National Conference in 2017.
With outstanding coordination by Brisbane City Council and East Coast Conferences, the Conference was a highly educational and enjoyable event. It would not have been possible without the help of our sponsors, supporters and trade exhibitors: - Brisbane City Council
- NRMA Insurance
- NSW Office
of Environment and Heritage
- BMT WBM
- Planning Institute of Australia
- The Queensland Government
- Worley Parsons WaterRIDE
- NSW State Emergency Service
- WMAwater
- Delft Software
Australia
- Deltares
- AWMA Water Control Solutions
- HDR
- Aquatic Informants
- Bluemont
- DHI Water and Environment
- Geoscience Australia
- IKUTEC
- J Steel Australasia
- Hygrade Water
- NSW Public Works
- Royal HaskoningDHV
- Schlencker Mapping
- XP Solutions
- Water Technology and
HydroNET
Presentations and papers from the Conference will be made available on floods.org.au and the conference website once we have received them all – we will let you know when they’re up so you can get them ASAP.
Our next Conference will be held in Nowra in May 2016, hosted by Shoalhaven City Council. In the mean time, we hope to see you all at our Quarterly Meetings in Sydney and Queensland Chapter Meeting in Brisbane later this
year. |
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A huge thank you goes out to all of our Members who attended the Annual General Meeting on 21st May in Brisbane. Because of your presence, the FMA was able to make some important and exciting changes to the organisation:
First – Name Change In the next few months, you will notice that our name will change. In keeping with the FMA’s
continuing growth as the national voice for flood risk management, we will be known as Floodplain Management Australia.
Second – A National Conference in Newcastle During the AGM, Newcastle City Council (NCC) received the hosting rights to the FMA’s Third National Conference in 2017.
2017 will mark the tenth anniversary of the devastating and extensive 2007
Newcastle/Hunter floods, and the Conference will showcase improvements in flood risk management in the region since then.
Nathan Evans of NCC spoke to the Meeting of the proposed high quality, well-supported Conference on the New South Wales coast, with relevant technical tours around Newcastle and the Hunter Region. (Also, it’s on the beach so bring your surfboard!)
Third – A New Director’s Position Following on from
our successful Queensland Chapter Meetings, it became clear that our Northern Members were after further opportunities to contribute to the expertise of the FMA. The Executive Committee has been expanded to include a Queensland Director position, and our new Director is Con de Groot of the Queensland Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.
The FMA very much looks forward to Con’s contributions over the next two
years.
Another New Director At the AGM, Mariana Cidade of Insurance Australia Group officially took over duties from the outgoing Communications Director Brooke O’Rourke. Mariana has extensive experience in Communications and is keen to help the FMA move forward as the Australian national voice of flood risk management.
And the Other Directors Are? The remaining Executive Committee Members
have been returned for another two years. Only one small change was made to the line up – the title ‘President’ and ‘Vice President’ will be replacing ‘Chairman’ and ‘Deputy Chairman’.
- President – Ian Dinham, Moree Plains Shire Council
- Vice President – Larry Bolitho AOM, Individual Member
- Immediate Past
President – Allan Ezzy APM AM, FMA Life Member
- Technical Director – Danny Rose, Tweed Shire Council
- Land Use Planning Director – Paul Grech, GLN Planning
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2015 FMA Excellence Awards |
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Pictured from left: Glenn Evans (FMA Executive Officer), Dwayne Honor (Bundaberg Regional Council), Kyme Lavelle (Richmond River County Council), Paul Goldsmith NRMA Insurance, Ian Dinham (FMA President).
The FMA Excellence Awards were presented at the FMA National Conference Dinner on the 21st May at the magnificent Brisbane City
Hall.
The FMA NRMA Insurance Flood Risk Management Project of the Year was awarded to Bundaberg Regional Council for its Burnett River Floodplain Action Plan. The Award was accepted on behalf of Council by Dwayne Honor, Manager Design. - The Burnett River Floodplain Action Plan initiated by Council following the extensive flooding of January 2013.
- The Plan
identifies and assesses a set of preferred FRM options for 6,500 flood-affected properties covering a flood inundation area over 275km2 that builds flood resilience, fosters community preparedness, and ultimately saves lives.
- The Plan covered not only the City of Bundaberg but also the communities living on or adjacent to the Lower Burnett River.
- The project gave consideration to a full range of
flood risk reduction measures including:
- Land Use Planning – for the new Regional Planning Scheme;
- Flood Modification – Structural mitigation works such as levees and channels
- Property Modification – Resilience improvements to private property
- Response Modification – Improvements to early
flooding warning systems; and
- Community Education - Community understanding of flood risk.
Richmond River County Council was Highly Commended for its Integrated Flood Information and Emergency Website. The Website places vital information at the forefront, seamlessly integrating SES messaging, weather warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology, and providing valuable resources during flood events. In
addition, the Website provides community education; offering preparedness and recovery tips, flood studies, and historical information on floods.
NRMA Insurance and the FMA are proud to showcase the valuable work of FRM professionals from around the country.
The Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award was presented to
Vic Tysoe of Gosford City Council due to his exceptional achievements in FRM. - Vic has worked diligently to improve community awareness in all aspects of local flooding both within the local community and amongst various State and Local Government Departments.
- Vic developed the idea of making an educational DVD to address identified
gaps in practitioners’ knowledge of the FRM process. The DVD went on to win the 2013 Resilient Australia Awards, NSW Division.
- Vic instigated the development of a Gosford City Council Flood website.
- Vic has also worked tirelessly to promote the FMA and has undertaken many projects on its behalf – most recently sea level rise encoding and flood insurance.
Mayor of Rockhampton Regional Council Councillor Margaret Strelow was Highly Commended because of her untiring work in improving her community’s awareness and understanding of flood risk in the region, and efforts to reduce future losses.
The FMA Excellence Awards will return again next year, and it’s never too soon to start thinking about your submission – you are
making our communities safer, and we want to celebrate that. |
Conference Presentation Winners |
The outstanding presenters acknowledged at this year’s conference were:
Best Poster at Conference: Janet Pettit and Shannon Heathcote for Developing Strategies for Vulnerable People Living in Caravan Parks.
Best 10 Minute Presentation at Conference: Chris Thompson for Understanding the Geomorphic System for Floodplain Hazard
Awareness.
Harold Sternbeck Highly Commended Certificate: Grantley Smith for Delineating Hazardous Flood Conditions to People and Property.
Harold Sternbeck Medal for Best Presentation at Conference: David Webber and Elspeth Rae for Reliance Towards Resilience – Involving Community in the Planning Process.
Congratulations to all! |
National Conference Photos |
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Our Conference in Brisbane provided great networking opportunities (Pre-Conference Workshops, Welcome Reception, Field Trips, Casual Dinner, Conference Dinner) and we hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as it looked like you did.
We had photographer Peter taking some happy snaps over the three days and we’ll be posting more on floods.org.au soon. |
FMA ICA Flood Insurance Fact Sheets |
As announced at the Conference the FMA together with the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has prepared three Flood Insurance Fact Sheets covering Flood Insurance Pricing, Insurer Flood Data Requirements and Sharing Flood Risk Information for use by Councils when considering sharing flood data with the Insurance Industry.
The FMA website, Members’ Section, also has a template flood insurance fact sheet which Member Councils can use for community education purposes. |
FMA OEH Floodplain Risk Management Short Course |
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The FMA OEH Floodplain Risk Management Short Course will be offered again this year in July, September and October at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Taught by industry professionals, including flood risk and emergency response management and land use planning experts from NSW Government, local government and consultancies, this course uses lectures and interactive
tutorials to show how the development and implementation of plans to manage flood risk can reduce the impacts of flooding on the community and the built environment.
Floodplain Risk Management is aimed at engineers, emergency managers and land use planners who are engaged in, or seeking to enter, the floodplain risk management industry in Australia and wanting to learn more about developing and implementing management plans considering best
practice.
It is also suitable for elected local government officials and community representatives on floodplain risk management committees seeking a background in floodplain risk management, flood mitigation, emergency management and land use planning issues.
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POSITIONS VACANT
As a service to our Members we welcome information on career opportunities in the area of floodplain management.
No Current Vacancies
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us,
contact us. UPCOMING EVENTS
• ASFPM 2015 Conference, Atlanta, United States, 31 May - 5 June 2015
• 36th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, Hobart, Tasmania, 7-10 December 2015
• CFRIR 2016: XIV International Conference on Flood Recovery, Innovation and Response, New Delhi, India, 8 - 9 February 2016
• FLOODRisk 2016, Lyon, France, 17 - 21 October 2016 Thanks for reading, and see you next month! |
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