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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT |
Planning for the May 2019 FMA Conference is well underway, and the next Federal Election around that time will be a good rehearsal for our event in Canberra. Abstracts will be called for very soon, and our Technical Director Danny Rose will be urging you to get all those in ASAP. Our Conference brings together a wonderful growing network and it is exciting to see the quality of presentations these days. With a focus on Australia's national capital, it is an opportunity to think nationally and share what we know on a broad scale.
Our last Conference broke all records and I personally think that there is no better conference anywhere than our own FMA Conference.
As always, the 2019 Conference registrations will be
affordable, so I would like to encourage us all to start planning those abstracts and booking the Conference dates in your budgets and diaries. It would be great if we can recommend it to our neighbouring councils, fellow agencies and corporate partners.
With that in mind, our Queensland Director Dwayne Honor is planning our next
Queensland Chapter Meeting in Rockhampton on 14 November, which will be a great opportunity for the northern areas of Australia to come together and sample the great work we do. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing your abstracts ahead of Canberra 2019. ID Ian Dinham | FMA President
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FRM SHORT COURSE: SEPTEMBER BLOCK |
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The FMA-OEH Floodplain Risk Management Short Course continues in September with Block 2 Effective Consideration of Flood Risk in Land Use Planning.
The Course is held at the University of Technology, Sydney and the
second block will run over two days from 6-7 September 2018.
Taught by industry professionals, including flood risk and emergency management and land use planning experts with first hand experience, 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 built environment.
The Program will cover: - FRM issues for future development
- The role of FRM studies and plans in managing flood risk to future development
- Practical FRM options for future development and associated duty of care issues
- Information on the current
legislation and policy framework
- Interaction of FRM and emergency management with strategic and development scale land use planning; and
- Effectively implementing recommendations through land use
planning.
For more information on this block of the course, visit the UTS website.
From here you can also get details on fees and register directly for the course.
Have you taken the FMA-OEH Floodplain Risk Management Short Course already? What did you think of it?
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LARGEST QLD CHAPTER MEETING TO DATE |
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Pictured: Dwayne Honor (FMA Queensland Director) presenting to the Queensland Chapter Meeting in Brisbane.
There was a record turnout at
FMA's Queensland Chapter Meeting on 8 August with around 60 Local Government, Government Agency and business representatives in attendance.
It was great to see so many new people, particularly equipment providers attending for the first time to participate in the afternoon flood warning infrastructure
workshop.
Paul Birch from the Bureau of Meteorology provided a comprehensive explanation of current flood warning infrastructure, specifically the BoM ALERT system software, hardware and communications equipment, and the National Flood Warning Infrastructure Standards.
The Q&A session involving Arran Corbett from the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, discussed current and proposed infrastructure and standards, and what Councils should consider when planning their future flood warning systems.
There is plenty more to be explored on this topic, and the discussion will continue at our next meeting and workshop at Rockhampton on 14 November.
Special thanks go to Martin Boshoff and
Sharrell Dabe for hosting the meeting at their AECOM office in Fortitude Valley.
Make sure you mark Wednesday 14 November in your diaries now, and ensure to include the new location at Rockhampton! |
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NSW/ACT CHAPTER MEETING IN SYDNEY |
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Pictured from left: Ian Dinham (FMA President), Rhys Thomson (Rhelm) and Sue Ribbons (FMA Communications Director) in Sydney this month.
The grand Castlereigh Boutique Hotel in Sydney was the venue for FMA's 16 August NSW/ACT
Chapter Meeting where Rhys Thomson from Rhelm provided an encore presentation of his 2018 Conference Paper 'Show me the Money - Economic Analysis in Floodplain Management'.
Rhys was a finalist for the Harold Sternbeck Medal for best presentation at the Conference, and received a Highly Commended Certificate at the
Meeting. Congratulations Rhys on an excellent presentation covering the shortcomings of conventional benefit-cost analyses. Read the paper at floods.org.au/site/sternbeck
During the afternoon workshop, Lalit Singh and Mike Conlan from the NSW Office of Emergency Management explained the new Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), which will
replace the current Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) on 1 November.
While some Councils may be better off financially under the new arrangements, many don't appear to fully understand the implications of the new rules. FMA President Ian Dinham said the new arrangements in their current form are a long way from what he discussed in
2016 with then Commonwealth Justice Minister Michael Keenan, when the emphasis was on providing more funding for pre-flood mitigation to reduce post-flood costs. The new arrangements appear to be shifting more post-flood cost to Local Government, which is the level of Government that can least afford it.
The good news is that aspects of the
implementation are under review and will not be finalised for 12 months. Mr Dinham encouraged all Members to fully acquaint themselves with the new arrangements now, not after the next flood, and to provide their feedback to the DRFA Support Team at drfa.support/contact.
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NEED HELP WITH FLOOD INSURANCE? |
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Clare Cordingley from the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) attended both the Queensland Chapter and NSW/ACT Chapter Meetings in August.
Clare said that the vast majority of house insurance policies across Queensland and New South Wales/ACT are now
chosen with flood cover, and that the GIS data used by Councils for flood mapping is critical for insurers to be able to offer the flood product.
The ICA needs to know when Council flood data is updated so the DataGlobe, the ICA's library of natural hazard data, can be updated.
If Councils
have recently finished mitigation work or are considering options for mitigation the ICA can now provide advice on how insurance premiums can be reduced.
If Councils are proposing to release new flood data, the ICA is happy to speak to the community about how the data release may affect premiums.
If residents are having difficulty finding flood insurance, the ICA can provide advice on appropriate insurers.
ICA contacts are:
ksullivan@insurancecouncil.com.au
ccordingley@insurancecouncil.com.au
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2019 FMA CONFERENCE - CALL FOR ABSTRACTS OPENS SOON |
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Start planning your 2019 FMA National Conference presentations now - the Call for Abstracts opens very soon.
You don't need to be a 'flood expert' to provide a presentation at the FMA
Conference.
The Conference always has a great range of expert presenters covering an array of technical issues, but next year we also want to learn from the experiences of non-experts, Councillors and flood committee members about what worked, and what didn't.
We will be looking for presentations in the following streams; - Communicating flood hazard and risk
- Modelling
- Flood prediction and warning
- Land use planning
- Infrastructure
projects
- Climate adaptation
- Flood policy, guidance and best practice
- Social and cultural
aspects
- Emergency preparedness and management
- Recovery
- Flood stories and case
studies
- National collaboration and coordination
- Environmental aspects
For more details, presentation
requirements and closing date, keep an eye on the FMA National Conference website floodplainconference.com.
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ANAO AUDIT OF THE BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY |
The Australian National Audit Office is undertaking a performance audit of the Bureau of Meteorology's delivery of extreme weather services.
The audit will examine whether: - The Bureau's planning appropriately supports its ability to
respond to extreme weather events
- The Bureau manages it operational resources effectively in responding to extreme weather events
- The Bureau's assessment and reporting on the performance of its extreme weather services is fit for purpose.
The audit scope includes: - bushfires, heatwaves;
- cyclones, damaging/destructive winds, blizzards;
- thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, flooding, flash floods, tsunamis, surf and storm tides;
- space weather (e.g. solar flares affecting GPS); and
- weather related aspects of bio-security incidents and
pandemics.
Services delivered by the Bureau to be examined include: - monitoring and prediction
- interpretation
- products
- communications; and
- capability development.
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NATIONAL CENTRE FOR FLOOD RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM |
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Image: ABC News
The newly established National Centre for Flood Research brings together experts in world-class research instititions, with
well-established research capability in water management, health sciences, planning, hydrology, hydrogeology and hydraulics, hydrometeorology, land cover and floodplain science and policy, climate change and civil engineering. The Centre,
based at Southern Cross University, Lismore campus, will be convening a flood symposium on Tuesday 2 October 2018. The purpose of the all-day event is to seek input from the wider community about the needs for , and direction of, flood
research and training, and to raise awareness about the existence of the National Centre itself. The Symposium will attract a wide range of attendees and active partcipants including a LGA's, BoM, SES, flood modellers, climate scientists, and
university attendees. |
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The Queensland Division of the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards 2018 has recognised BMT and Aurecon, with the prestigious RJ Hawken Award for their work on the Brisbane River Catchment Flood Study.
This award recognises the Study as the best project in Queensland
across all engineering disciplines and is high-profile recognition of the valuable role that flood studies play in shaping our communities.
The Brisbane River Catchment Flood Study is a global benchmark for contemporary hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, and relies heavily on BMT's internationally recognised flood modelling software, TUFLOW.
It's now being used to help manage flood risks across the Brisbane River floodplain, which is one of the most hazardous and one of the most developed in Australia. BMT is currently delivering the Brisbane River Strategic Floodplain Management Plan, which builds on the work of the flood study.
The project has been put forward as a finalist in
the national Australian Engineering Excellence Awards (2018), which will be announced on the 18th September. |
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INTRODUCING NEW FMA MEMBER AQUAMONIX - A MEMBER
FEATURE |
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"Aquamonix is pleased to join FMA and continue our long involvement in the Australian flood industry.
The Aquamonix brands have a 55 year track record in the Australian market. We design, manufacture, and support our products in
Australia as well as exporting to global markets. With the recent acquisition of ELPRO Technologies, Aquamonix now provides a complete range of remote monitoring sensors, communication systems and data management solutions. We operate nationally with experienced teams and field proven project success.
Our expertise extends from the design, supply
and installation of environmental monitoring systems, through to the provision of experienced engineers, hydrographers and field teams to support the long-term operation, maintenance and data management requirements.
Our products and services integrate with each other - we combine hardware and our in-house expertise to deliver a customised end to
end solution, measure, monitor and master your water infrastructure with ease.
- Darren Humphris General Manager Aquamonix |
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DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT STUDENT SEEKING EMPLOYMENT |
An international candidate in the Newcastle University Disaster Risk Management PhD Course is looking for work experience/ paid employment while studying. He has a Masters Degree in Risk and Emergency Management from University of Pavia, Italy, and 10 years' experience in Disaster and Flood Risk Management in India.
If your organisation has an opportunity in flood mapping, developing or reviewing flood management plans, FRM research or training please contact Executive Officer Glenn Evans eo@floods.org.au. |
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS |
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Advisian Digital - waterRIDE
For more information on the position, please click here.
If
you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us, please contact us. |
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