Disaster Relief Australia looks to formalise relationship with NT government

A disaster relief not-for-profit has jetted to Darwin for a stakeholder meeting as it seeks to formalise ties with the government.

Disaster Relief Australia's Adam Moss and Cassie Brown at the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre, Marrara, June 1, 2024. Picture: Alex Treacy

The next time the Top End is hit by a Tracy or a Marcus, how well are we equipped to handle the aftermath, not just the days but the weeks, months and even years that follow?

For emerging not-for-profit Disaster Relief Australia, a veteran-led organisation founded in 2016 to aid in disaster recovery by offering services such as incident management, damage assessments, debris management, aid delivery and quick home repairs, the answer is not very.

“Our expectations of help are disproportionate,” said DRA’s manager of the Northern Territory Disaster Relief Team, Cassie Brown, a Northern Territory Emergency Service volunteer.

“We’re conditioned to call on help, listen to directions and do as we are told.”

Yet in the Territory, that doesn’t work as well.

Or, as another DRA volunteer put it: “We know we’re resource-poor up here. That’s why we’re a territory and not a state.”

DRA’s Adam Moss, a defence veteran who now leads the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service’s Office of Bushfire Mitigation, said this was not the fault of emergency services.

Disaster Relief Australia modelling of 1 per cent AEP flooding in the Rapid Creek catchment. Picture: Supplied

“They do an amazing job, but what we’re finding is that disaster events are getting bigger and bigger, and the emergency services’ ability to respond is becoming more limited,” he said.

“You’re not going to have a fire truck on every house during an event.”

This vulnerability, and the need for Territorians to take greater responsibility for their own safety and recovery during and after a major disaster is one of the reasons why the organisation, which boasts 4000-plus volunteers nationally, 93 of which are based in the Territory, is looking to expand its local footprint.

DRA’s chief business officer Gary Sanderfield told this masthead the organisation is looking to formalise its relations with the NT government via an agreed framework that would include the positioning of a liaison officer within the Territory Emergency Operations Centre during natural disasters, which occurs in the southern jurisdictions.

Disaster Relief Australia modelling of 1 per cent AEP flooding in the Elizabeth and Blackmore river catchments. Picture: Supplied

“We’re being positioned as the Australian Defence Force [ADF] alternative,” Mr Sanderfield said.

“If you need people with chainsaws or for light plant operation, its Disaster Relief Australia.”

Last year, the ADF caused a stir when it announced it would be refocusing towards its core function of defence and away from disaster response.

As part of its bid to bed down further within the Territory, DRA held a two-day strategy session on the weekend at Marrara’s Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre, featuring its ‘Big Map’: a custom-printed, massive overhead map of Darwin, Palmerston and surrounds.

Disaster Relief Australia presenting at the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre, Marrara, June 1, 2024. Picture: Alex Treacy

Day one saw DRA host a session alongside stakeholders including NT Police, Fire and Rescue, NTES and government agencies, as the groups war-gamed responses to a variety of disasters, such as a 1 per cent annual exceedence probability (the term 1-in-100-year doesn’t reflect current circumstances, according to DRA) flood, or a Category 4 cyclone.

On day two the map was thrown open to members of the public, with DRA volunteers and TIO insurers presenting to those wishing to boost their disaster preparedness.

DRA volunteers marked all the pieces of critical infrastructure – Robertson Barracks, Royal Darwin Hospital, the Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility, the Peter McAuley Centre, Darwin Airport – as if to pose the question: with that much critical infrastructure for emergency services to protect, when the s--- hits the fan, will you be prepared?