MEDAL RECOGNISES EMERGENCY SERVICES WORKERS FOR BUSHFIRE RESPONSES

The National Emergency Medal is being made available to our heroic emergency services workers, including volunteers, who tackled some of the worst fires in living memory during Australia’s 2019-20 Black Summer.

Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said the medal was available to emergency services workers who responded directly to the fires.

“In the Riverina, especially the Dunns Road fire, and in other bushfire disaster areas around Australia I saw and heard of the enormous work done by our emergency services workers for fire victims, be it saving their properties from the flames or caring for them in the aftermath of tragedy,” Mr McCormack said.

“I cannot think of a group more befitting of this recognition.”

The Black Summer bushfires burnt 17 million hectares, destroyed 3109 homes and claimed 33 lives.

“The National Emergency Medal was established in 2011 and is an operational service medal which recognises both paid and volunteer service in response to a nationally-significant emergency,” Mr McCormack said.

Eligible service must be in the protection of lives and property, or in the service of interests, which are not their own, in direct response to the emergency, including support which enabled or facilitated the emergency response.

The minimum duration for sustained service is five days during the periods when the fires were at their most severe.

The Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat at Government House will notify relevant organisations that the National Emergency Medal is available to personnel. As each nomination for an individual to receive the award requires verification from the deploying emergency response organisation, nominations from the deploying organisations are preferred.

The declaration outlining eligibility criteria, and further information, is available at www.gg.gov.au/bushfires-2019-20-responders-now-eligible-national-emergency-medal