Disaster Relief Australia to mobilise Defence and veteran community for flood relief
Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) has committed to deploying a veteran-led volunteer workforce to south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales in response to this week's flooding.
DRA unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams in Australia and around the world. DRA is a not-for-profit organisation offering veterans a chance to continue their service by helping and empowering those afflicted by disasters, and also themselves.
CEO Geoff Evans called on veterans and the Defence community to support the relief effort.
‘Veterans have many of the skills that define an excellent responder,’ he said. ‘DRA requires veterans to draw on the skills, experience, and initiative they acquired in the military and use them to help communities devastated by disasters,’ Mr Evans said
‘We are looking at one of DRA’s largest operational commitments to date in south-east Queensland and Northern New South Wales.
‘We are asking veterans and emergency services specialists to join our team. Although 80% of our organisation are veterans, you do not have to be a veteran to join. If you value service, we can train you.’
The not-for-profit organisation, which has supported communities with disaster relief and emergency management operations since 2016, has put their volunteer workforce on stand-by to help get people back into their homes as soon as floodwaters subside.
Working alongside locals, DRA’s skilled veteran volunteers will provide hands-on help including mould treatment, debris removal, rubbish removal, clearing key access points and general clean-up.
‘Our scope of works is limited only by the ingenuity of the teams on the ground,’ Geoff said. ‘They are pretty phenomenal at this type of work.
‘The natural disasters don’t end when the first responders leave, or an emergency declaration expires; for families who have spent months – and sometimes years – living in make-shift homes our work continues.
‘When we work together in operations like these, we can improve a homeowner’s ability to bounce back and restore the overall cohesion of the local community. We do this by mobilising one of Australia’s most valuable resources: Australian veterans. Events like the floods in Queensland and New South Wales demonstrate that they are needed more than ever.’
DRA asks those wishing to help to register as a volunteer on its website.
