RICHMOND Valley residents living with a disability are invited to participate in a Disability Inclusive Emergency Planning Forum in the Casino Community Centre on Monday 26 June.
Getting underway at 9.30am, the forum is being hosted by Richmond Valley Council in partnership with St Vincent de Paul Society, Bushfire Recovery and Community Development Program NSW and the University of Sydney.
Emergency services personnel are also invited to attend and develop an understanding of how the community needs to be supported during times of emergency.
At the forum participants will learn about:
- People-centred approaches to emergency management.
- Factors that increase risk for people with disability in emergencies.
- Strategies to reduce risk and increase the resilience of people with disability to disaster.
- Local community resources which can be shared before, during and after an emergency to keep people safe.
Council’s Director Community Service Delivery and Local Emergency Management Officer Angela Jones said some people needed additional support, resources or advocacy to prepare, respond and recover from disasters.
Ms Jones said the aim of the forum was to bring people of all abilities, carers, emergency responders and Council together to identify what worked, where the gaps were and how to successfully plan for emergencies.
She said the forum was a great opportunity for Council and the community to work collaboratively to ensure disability-inclusive emergency planning was present in Council planning and the Local Emergency Management Committee Emergency Plan.
“The fires, floods and pandemic of recent years have shown us that disasters happen fast and can have long-lasting impacts on our communities,” Ms Jones said.
“Council is pleased to host this forum to give people living with a disability a voice on their preparation and recovery from disaster.”
St Vincent de Paul Society, Bushfire Recovery and Community Development Program NSW spokeswoman Tracey Doherty congratulated Richmond Valley Council for bringing the first of many discussions together to formulate a united plan for diverse emergency preparedness.
“Hosting this forum in partnership with Council and the University of Sydney means support can be provided for everyone in our community, regardless of age or ability and can assist in equipping them with the skills we all need to better prepare, respond and recover from disaster,” Ms Doherty said.
Numbers will be limited for this event, so people are encouraged to register via bit.ly/3JaAQeF or using the below QR code.
