How the emergency service sector can create a better brighter future after COVID
Humanity has recovered from many crises in the past: war, depression, pandemic, natural disaster. Often, we’ve bounced back to create a better future. The Spanish flu was followed by the economic prosperity of the Roaring Twenties. After World War II, the German economy grew to become the world’s most advanced. US social and economic policies responding to the Great Depression paved the way for twentieth-century prosperity.
Meet our Speakers
Author and public servant Andrew Wear proposes in his latest book, Recovery. How we can create a better, brighter future after a crisis that while the pandemic has been the biggest crisis in a generation, our recovery represents an enormous opportunity. It has the potential to spark us to renewed prosperity, advance us on a path to net zero emissions, reduce inequality and strengthen our democracy. It’s time to raise our ambition. Andrew will challenge us to apply this thinking to the emergency management sector.
John Richardson is the National Resilience Adviser for Australian Red Cross. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne in Global and Public Health focussing on the health and wellbeing trajectories of the Black Saturday Bushfires. He has been invited by United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction to be part of Global Risk Assessment Framework working groups. He has 24 years of experience in preparedness, response and recovery in government and NGO settings, working closely with disaster affected individuals and communities. He led the development of Red Cross’ unique preparedness program, Rediplan.
Carmel Flynn is the CEO at Bushfire Recovery Victoria (BRV). She brings to that role over 20 years of experience working as an executive in emergency management across the government, not-for-profit and corporate sectors. BRV is the agency established in January 2020 as a dedicated and permanent Victorian Government agency to coordinate recovery from the devastating 2019–20 Eastern Victorian bushfires and provide strategic leadership on whole-of-government recovery activities. In June 2021, BRV was asked to coordinate clean-up and recovery from the storms and floods that caused damage and disconnection across 39 local government areas. Working directly with affected communities, all levels of government, agencies and industry, BRV coordinates effective and timely support that communities need to recover after a major emergency.
