The funding from the joint Commonwealth-State $52 million National Partnership Agreement (NPA) on Natural Disaster Resilience will help reduce the destructive impacts of disasters such as bushfires and floods in NSW.
The funding will support the following organisations:
- The Salvation Army for training Salvation Army Emergency Service team members (volunteers) to provide safe emergency catering and support to communities during emergencies.
- The Adventist Development and Relief Agency to provide emergency accommodation training.
- The Australian Red Cross for a variety of training and workshops for emergency management volunteers and leaders.
- Anglicare to train 700 volunteers for disaster recovery to extend capacity across the state.
- The Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network (co-ordinated by the Uniting Church) to conduct seven, two-day disaster recovery chaplaincy courses for up to 56 new chaplains across NSW, and other training for existing chaplains.
Since 2015, more than $13.5 million has been made available to NSW from the NPA.
NSW Minister for Emergency Services Troy Grant said community organisations played a vital role in the state’s disaster response and recovery capability.
“NSW community volunteers worked tirelessly following the devastating fires in February and severe flooding on the North Coast in March and April,” Mr Grant said.
“The successful organisations will now have extra resources to ensure they are better prepared for whatever Mother Nature has in store.”
Find out more about emergency and disaster services in NSW