Resilient Australia Awards

2020 Resilient Australia Awards Logo

The 2020 South Australian Resilient Australia Awards have been announced

The Resilient Australia Awards are managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, and proudly sponsored by the Australian Government in conjunction with the states and territories.

The Resilient Australia Awards are celebrating 21 years of community resilience.

Every year, Australians face devastating losses caused by disasters and emergencies. The Resilient Australia Awards celebrate initiatives that help us better prepare, respond and recover together.

The State Winner of the South Australian 2020 Resilient Australia awards is:

The Sherwood Community for their project "Sherwood Shows the Way"

This application demonstrates how a resilient community rebounds from a devastating fire event.

In January 2018 over 12,000ha of agricultural land across 19 properties was burnt, with the loss of two homes.

Thousands of animals and extensive infrastructure was lost as a result of the fire.

In the days, weeks and months following the fire, the community showed collective vision, determination, and a capacity for working together with support, to exemplify community led recovery.

The South Australian Highly Commended Community Award recipient is:

RSPCA South Australia for their project "Kangaroo Island Bushfire Response"

In early January, Kangaroo Island was hit by devastating fires, thousands of animals perished, with many more in desperate need of urgent veterinary treatment.

Almost overnight, RSPCA launched a major fundraising appeal and deployed rotating teams of frontline inspectors and veterinary staff to assist on the island, 7 days a week – the biggest activity in the charities 144-year history.

Once the immediate threat of fire had passed, a huge area of Kangaroo Island was affected. The remaining wildlife populations that survived the fire faced the risk of starvation and dehydration.

In late January, RSPCA launched their stage two response to deploy volunteers and staff that maintained 89 feed and water stations across the island, seven days a week, for 5 months.

 

Background on the Awards Program

Every year, Australians face devastating losses caused by disasters and emergencies. The Resilient Australia Awards celebrate initiatives that help us better prepare, respond and recover together.

There are six award categories at the State and Territory level;

  • Community Award - open to communities, non-government organisations, tertiary colleges and universities.
  • Business Award - open to private sector and businesses.
  • Local Government Award – open to Local Government and Local Government Associations.
  • Government Award - open to Local and State Government.
  • School Award - open to all public and private pre-school, primary and secondary schools.
  • Photography Award (People’s choice) - open to individuals and copyright holders.

The RAA program supports the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience by promoting shared responsibility – all individuals and sectors have a role to play and can contribute. Projects submitted for an award should demonstrate a contribution towards priority outcomes of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience.

  • Strengthening the resilience of a community or group
  • Embodying or promoting shared responsibility for resilience.
  • Innovation and long term thinking in terms of sustainability.

Jurisdictional winners will be considered for a national Resilient Australia Award.

For more information, visit Australian Institute of Disaster Resilience at  www.aidr.org.au/raa

 

Further Information

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