| FLYER ISSUE 4: APRIL 2019
| READ IN
BROWSER https://floods.optin.com/newsletter/awlist3776483/MzcwMTA2NQ==/fma-flyer-4-april.htm
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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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The National FMA Conference is the highlight of the FRM calendar in Australia, and it is now only two weeks away.
The four day event is being held at the nation's capital, Canberra, from 14-17 May and it is going to be our biggest and best yet!
This year we are making a special effort to engage with elected Councillors who may have previously thought the FMA Conference is too technical. The Tuesday morning Pre-Conference Workshop is Introduction to Floodplain Risk Management, designed to bring non-technical people up to speed with the terminology, and the mechanisms of rainfall, runoff and flooding. Also, on Thursday we have a Councillors' Only
Breakfast where Councillors can raise and discuss issues of importance to Local Government.
If you haven't registered for the Conference yet, I hope you will take the time to do so now to avoid missing out on the unparalleled learnings, networking opportunities and innovative inspiration the FMA Conference is synonymous for.
To find out more about Conference and Pre-Conference Workshop registration, visit the Conference website at floodplainconference.com.
I look forward to seeing you all in 14 days time, to reconnect and to share with you the incredible work our delegates have been doing over the past twelve months.
ID
Ian Dinham | FMA President
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MEET THE 2019-2021 FMA OFFICE-BEARERS
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Nominations for the 2019-2021 FMA Office-bearers closed on 3 April. As one nomination was received for each position the nominees are elected.
Returning Office-bearers are:
President: Ian Dinham, Full Member Moree Plains Shire Council
Immediate Past President: Allan Ezzy, Life Member
Technical Director: Danny Rose, Full Member Tweed Shire Council
Land Use Planning Director: Paul Grech, Corporate Member GLN Planning
Communications Director: Sue Ribbons, Professional Member
New Office-bearers commencing duty at the conclusion of the 2019 Annual General Meeting are:
Deputy President: Allan Gear, Professional Member
Queensland Director: Will Prentice, Professional Member
Executive Officer Glenn Evans offered his congratulations and appreciation to all nominees for volunteering for these important roles. He welcomed incoming Deputy President Allan Gear who returns to the Executive after having been FMA’s first Land Use Planning Director. Allan has also over the last few years been “FMA Ambassador” on visits to flood risk
management colleagues in the USA and UK.
Mr Evans also welcomed incoming Queensland Director Will Prentice who would be well known to Queensland colleagues, and is a member of FMA’s Queensland Working Group. Will brings a wealth of practical experience in river and catchment engineering to the Executive.
Mr Evans acknowledged the contributions to FMA of retiring Deputy President Larry Bolitho and Queensland Director Dwayne Honor, both of whom did not seek re-appointment.
Larry has held the Deputy’s position since 2011 and in that time FMA has benefitted from his extensive experience in flood and insurance issues, as well as his Local and State Government connections.
In the two years of his directorship Dwayne has substantially strengthened the Queensland Chapter by engaging with regional Councils, initiating FMA’s first Quarterly Meeting at Rockhampton, and establishing the Queensland Working Group.
“The new Executive team with its great depth of experience and expertise across a range of disciplines will ensure FMA’s continued national growth and relevance over the next two years,” Mr Evans said.
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2018 FMA-NRMA INSURANCE
EXCELLENCE AWARD
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With the winner of the 2019 FMA-NRMA Insurance Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award to be announced within 3 weeks we recently caught up with 2018 Winner Toowoomba Regional Council to find out how their $10,000 prize had been invested.
Jenna Buckley, Toowoomba Council’s Disaster Management Officer said the financial contribution from NRMA Insurance as the prize for Council’s strategic and drainage planning teams winning the 2018 Project of the Year Award was greatly appreciated and was put towards the purchase of the Guardian software for the new Toowoomba Region Disaster
Dashboard.
“During a disaster, the public’s hunger for information dramatically increases. People will seek and obtain information from a range of different official and unofficial sources. By having the Dashboard as a single point of truth that is directly linked to our Local Disaster Management Group member agencies and partner organisations’ live information, we
can manage some of the misinformation and fear mongering that may occur’ Jenna said.
The Disaster Dashboard automatically updates itself with live information updates all year round. The Dashboard is fully customisable and includes information on:
- Current flood studies to educate residents about the flood risk in their area,
- River heights to monitor water levels in heavy rainfall events, and
- Road condition (tabulated or on the interactive map) to inform drivers of road closures due to hazards such as floods.
Experience the Dashboard at: http://disaster.tr.qld.gov.au/
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INTERESTED IN USA FLOOD STAFF EXCHANGE?
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Benefits of FMA Membership include access to our wide network of flood professionals, and providing professional development opportunities. President Ian Dinham has been asked about the possibility of FMA facilitating the exchange of floodplain management staff with organisations in the United States, or
elsewhere.
We would like to gauge Member interest this idea, so if the opportunity for professional development overseas is appealing please contact Glenn Evans eo@floods.org.au or catch up with Mr Dinham
at the FMA Conference in Canberra.
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BRISBANE RIVER STRATEGIC PLAN RELEASED
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The Queensland Government has released the Brisbane River Strategic Floodplain Management Plan which includes 52 recommendations for the Queensland and Local Governments to implement to strengthen the flood resilience of communities living, working and visiting the Brisbane River floodplain.
The work is the result of a partnership between the Queensland Government, Seqwater and the Local Governments of Brisbane, Ipswich, Somerset and Lockyer Valley.
Measures include structural mitigation, land use planning, building guidance, community resilience, disaster management and landscape management.
See the Plan and comprehensive supporting information at: www.qra.qld.gov.au/brcfs
Also released is Flood Resilient Building Guidance for Queensland Homes which provides information about resilient design and construction options for new and existing homes, flood resilient building materials and systems, and the economic benefits of flood resilient design solutions.
The guideline is available at: www.qra.qld.gov.au/
resilient-homes
FMA President Ian Dinham congratulated the Queensland Reconstruction Authority team on delivering these very significant resources which will help build the resilience of communities in the Brisbane River catchment, and also across Queensland.
“There is a huge body of ground-breaking work supporting the Strategic Plan and the Flood Resilient Homes guide and we look forward to learning more about these at the FMA Conference.”
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As the FMA Conference is less than two weeks away, the FMA Conference Special Edition Flyer will be coming to your inbox next week.
The e-newsletter will remind you of what to expect during Conference week, give you a peek into the workings of the event and will reveal an exciting new announcement not to be missed.
If you are yet to register for the Conference, there is still time. Get all the information you need online at floodplainconference.com.
Also, make sure you add us to your email address book to ensure the Conference Special Edition gets to you safely.
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DISASTER RISK REDUCTION FRAMEWORK RELEASED
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The Minister for Emergency Management and North Queensland Recovery, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC, has released the final version of the National Disaster Risk Reduction
Framework.
Members would recall that FMA Queensland Director Dwayne Honor participated in last year’s co- design workshop in Melbourne which started development of the framework.
The Framework sets a new vision for reducing disaster risk in Australia.
It leverages initiatives already underway and calls for further coordinated action to reduce existing disaster risk, minimise new risk and ensure decision makers have the capabilities and information they need to do this.
The document sets out four National Priorities Understanding disaster risk, Accountable actions, Enhanced investment and Governance, ownership and responsibility, each with their own strategies for action to 2023.
The next stage in the process is development of a five-year implementation plan to be released in 2019.
A positive outcome of the Framework is the announcement by the Minister of a commitment to deliver an annual statement of action on disaster risk reduction to the Australian parliament.
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$3.9 BILLION EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND
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This month’s budget announcements by Treasurer Hon Josh Frydenberg included the establishment of “a new $3.9 billion Emergency Response Fund that will ensure additional resourcing is available to support future natural disaster recovery efforts”.
It is understood that the fund will allocate up to $150M per annum for natural disaster recovery and response initiatives above and beyond existing funding for severe and catastrophic disasters, and will not interfere with the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
The announcement makes no reference to funding for disaster mitigation, which FMA has long argued needs to be drastically increased if future natural disaster costs are to be contained.
Australia presently spends only 3% on prevention and 97% on clean up and recovery after each flood event, whereas the Netherlands spends 97% of its flood related expenditure on prevention and 3% on recovery.
While the announcement of dedicated funding to assist rapid recovery action after floods is welcomed, FMA will continue to campaign for appropriate funding levels for flood mitigation infrastructure and adequate pre-flood preparation.
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INFLUENCE OF ROAD CHARACTERISTICS ON FLOOD FATALITIES
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FMA Corporate Member Risk Frontiers’ Andrew Gissing has advised that the results of a study on the influence of road characteristics on flood fatalities in Australia has recently been made available.
An analysis of published flood fatalities in Australia occurring between 1960 and 2015 reveals that 49% of 229 flood fatalities were vehicle related.
The work by Risk Frontiers examines attributes of roadways that may have influenced driver decisions to enter floodwaters and the survivability of people in vehicles that did so, and concludes by discussing policy implications.
Read the report at the Taylor & Francis website online here.
On a related topic Members may recall the August 2016 Sydney Workshop presentation by Grantley Smith on testing by the UNSW Water Research Laboratory (WRL) on how small and large cars behave when they encounter flood waters.
This was accomplished by replicating flood conditions faced by motorists at full scale in an especially configured test tank at WRL’s facilities in Manly Vale, in northern Sydney.
Members can access the presentation at the FMA website, Members’ Section.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
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NO CURRENT POSITIONS
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us, please contact us.
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Pictured: Dr. Stephen Yeo (Flood Focus Consulting Pty Ltd) with his FMA cap on a recent trip to New Zealand.
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