NSW RFS Commissioner
Rob Rogers AFSM
Welcome to the 2022 Australian Community Engagement and Fire Awareness (ACEFA) Conference in Newcastle.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Compassion. Grit. Innovation. Engaging with our communities when times are tough”. The conference will focus on the period between August 2019 and now, a time that has been particularly tough for many people. In August 2019, what was to become the longest and largest fire season in Australian history was just beginning. The fire season that followed saw 26 people lose their lives, 2,448 homes destroyed and 5.5 million hectares of NSW burnt. We all know the devastating impacts the fires had on our communities.
Soon after the Black Summer fires, we were confronted with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Social distancing and public health orders protected communities, but challenged us to find new ways to engage with our communities. More recently, we have seen tens of thousands of people across NSW affected by devastating floods.
These have been challenging times, and our communities and volunteers have indeed responded with compassion, grit and innovation. NSW RFS brigades and volunteers worked tirelessly to help their communities understand their risk and prepare for the Black Summer fires. They found ways to overcome the challenges of isolation and engage with communities in new ways. Last year, over 420 brigades rose to the challenge and found innovative ways to deliver Get Ready Weekend, our largest community engagement event of the year. Brigades adapted and innovated, sharing the preparedness message with their communities via social media campaigns, online meetings and contactless deliveries.
This year’s conference features an impressive line-up of speakers with diverse experiences and knowledge of community engagement and fire awareness. I encourage you to make the most of the 2022 ACEFA Conference and take the opportunity to build and expand your networks and knowledge that can be taken back to your own communities and brigades.