From the SESVA President
Welcome again to the SES Volunteers Association. Here we are in October, traditionally time to ramp up our operational activities to lead our communities at the local level.
Many communities suffer from learned reliance, but what does that mean and how do we reverse the enormous cost bourn by the governments that have adopted these principles?
The fewer communities do for themselves in prevention, preparedness, response and recovery from emergencies and disasters, the more external intervention the state and commonwealth governments must do. Indirectly, taxpayers are footing the bill for this.
An emergency plan for households is not just about knowing who to phone, but what they can do to reduce the impacts of disasters on them. Community members and groups collaborate to make their communities a safer place for all.
State governments try to resource this but there is a limit to the number of funded positions and there is a shortage of enabled volunteers to coordinate these activities within our communities.
Such is the case for the government to better fund community resilience programs and volunteers to manage them in their communities. Funding response-only resources may well be building our learned reliance on Departments and ideals.
We need bigger picture thinkers. Are you part of the solution?
Greg Cook
President, SES Volunteers Association
