- Ten local governments receive emergency services boost
- Community Emergency Services Managers (CESMs) help keep
regional WA safe
- Cook Labor Government has delivered six more CESMs over two
years as part of election commitment
Four additional emergency
services managers have been allocated to help local governments keep their
communities safe before, during, and after incidents.
The Community Emergency
Services Manager (CESM) program has been running since 2003 and has a key role
in overseeing and supporting local strategies to deal with a range of hazards
including bushfire.
CESMs work in partnership
with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) and local governments
to support their region's emergency services compliance requirements and to
develop volunteer bushfire brigade capability and capacity.
The Cook Labor Government
has delivered on its election commitment to provide $3.5 million to fund six additional
CESMs over two years.
Last September, a CESM
was allocated to help the Shire of Dardanup and another was appointed to work
with the shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley.
Four more will join the
program with the Cook Labor Government confirming CESMs will be allocated to:
- Shires
of Bruce Rock, Merredin, andNarembeen (shared);
- Shires
of Boddington and Wandering (shared);
- Shires
of Koorda, Mount Marshall, and Mukinbudin (shared); and
- Shire
of Dandaragan (shared).
In addition to the four
new CESMs, two existing managers have been realigned:
- Shire
of Coorow has been moved from the existing shared arrangement with the shires
of Irwin and Carnamah CESM position and reallocated to the new Shire of Dandaragan
CESM (shared); and
- Shire
of Mingenew is to be included in the program and added to the existing CESM allocated
to the shires of Irwin and Carnamah (shared).
The new allocations and
realignments have lifted the program to 41 CESMs supporting 70 local
governments across Western Australia.
Comments attributed to Emergency Services Minister Paul Papalia:
"The Cook Labor Government
was determined to increase support for the CESM program because of its
outstanding achievements in protecting communities throughout our State for
more than two decades.
"These roles are crucial in
linking local governments and DFES during an emergency, boosting the response
capabilities in regional areas.
"Their work helps reduce
or prevent the impact of emergency events and enhances the recovery process.
"The allocation of the
four new CESMs will now enable another 10 shires to access more training for
emergency services volunteers and improve the emergency management capacity,
skills, and knowledge within their local government areas."
