Moolboolaman local Brian Roberts was recently awarded the prestigious National Emergency Medal for his services and commitment to assisting with emergency management operations during the Victorian bushfires.
Brian, who volunteers at the Gin Gin Community Hub offering IT support, was involved in four of the six nationally significant emergency events recognised by the award in his role as an Emergency Management Officer.
Brian said he believed helping others was a great use of anyone’s time and he hoped others would be inspired to help in times of need.
“Seeing how communities pull together during emergencies is wonderful and restores [your] faith in people,” Brian said.
“The memories I have of so many people that had lost a significant amount of their worldly goods saying, ‘I’m alright, there are people worse off than me’ is truly humbling.”
Brian’s wife Teresa Roberts detailed the significance of her husband’s award by answering the questions below:
What is The National Emergency Medal?
The National Emergency Medal was established, within the Australian Honours System, in recognition of the significant service provided in response to declared nationally significant emergencies.
It was introduced and approved by Her Majesty the Queen in 2011.
This medal is awarded at the discretion of the Governor-General to eligible people.
There have been six declared nationally significant emergency events that are eligible for the medal and Brian was involved in four of them: Victorian bushfires (2009), Tropical Cyclone Debbie (2017), North Queensland floods (2019) and Victorian bushfires (2019-20).
The Executive Director of the Emergency Management Branch said “I know we (the team and department) highly valued Brian’s work in those emergencies and he was always one of the first to put his hand up…he will be able to reflect with pride on some of the incredible work he did with the department to help communities during those difficult times.”
This is a HUGE honour for someone in our community to have received.
What was Brian’s involvement in the Victorian bushfires?
Brian returned from helping out with the North Queensland floods in 2019 to the beginning of the Victorian fires.
He arrived at Melbourne airport to be greeted by road and railway closures therefore a four-hour trip home took about 12 hours.
Next day he was straight into working bushfires.
When the bushfires finally finished COVID arrived and as the Department was the responsible agency for pandemics he went into COVID emergency mode.
Brian was nominated for the medal for his services and commitment to assist with emergency management operations during the Victorian bushfires in 2019-20 however only just received the award from Victoria.
Brian worked 12 to 14 hour days, mostly seven days per week for several months.
Some of the work that he did during that time included:
- Preparing daily Situation Reports
- Attending Emergency Operation Centres on behalf of the department
- Liaising with government and non-government organisations regarding information dissemination and collaboration
- Creating spreadsheets/dashboards and analysing data that was provided for State Minister
- Going into affected areas ensuring people received emergency funding and support
- Supervising and supplying people to visit sites and giving emergency funding relief
- Assisting with arranging emergency housing for displaced people
How does it feel to have Brian’s efforts acknowledged with an award like this?
It is a huge honour – such an important medal and Brian is not one to brag about his own achievements or abilities.
I recall however, many times when he spoke with humour and admiration about his experiences in Queensland with the floods.
I am extremely proud of how Brian has volunteered to go outside his comfort zone and work in very challenging conditions to help others.
Brian was so enamoured with the people of Queensland – the fortitude, humour and ‘mateshipness’ that it is no wonder we ended up moving here.
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