Recognise resilience in your community

REGIONAL Victorian communities are great examples of locals working together to help make their communities safer and better prepared for emergencies.

This was reflected at last year’s Resilient Australia Awards with communities such as Scotsburn, Melton, Wyndham and Strathewen, all topped the list of 2017 winners for the state.

The Resilient Australia Awards recognise and celebrate initiatives that make communities safer, more connected and better prepared for natural disasters and other emergencies.

The awards, held at both state and national level, highlight the opportunities and achievements in five categories: community, business, government, school and photography.

State winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in September and their entries will then go on to be judged at the national awards.

2017 Resilient Australia Award winners include:

• Grocon Constructors for the 2016 Victorian bushfire clean-up
• Scotsburn Community Recovery committee for their Strengthening Community after the Scotsburn Fires project
• Melton and Wyndham City Councils for the Emergency Ready Communities project
• Strathewen Primary School and Arthurs Creek Strathewen CFA for the Strathewen Education Partnership-Claymation project
• Chanh Huynh for Nature Resilient, a photo captured at Mt Hotham showing nature resilient after the bushfires in the Victorian high country.

Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said that resilience building before an emergency is an underpinning principle over the years that should not be underestimated.

“Building resilience is a Victorian strength with strong partnership between agencies, government and across the sector, Victorians have time and time again been better able to prepare, respond and recover from being more resilient.

“There are so many local initiatives and community projects occurring across the state and these awards are an opportunity for such great work to be recognised.”

The awards are sponsored by the Australian Government in conjunction with the state and territories.

Applications are open until 5pm on May 31. To apply online, head to https://resilient.awardsplatform.com.