State Emergency Service
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1962 |
| Jurisdiction | Australia |
| Employees | 20,000 + |
| Website | www |
The State Emergency Service (SES) is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared (natural or otherwise) disasters. The SES is also the primary or secondary agency for emergencies, such as storm damage, flood damage, building damage, traffic hazards and road crash rescue. In other scenarios the SES may provide a support role to other agencies, particularly police and fire. The SES is operational 24 hours a day. Eight of the SES organisations co-ordinate through the Australian Council of State and Territory Emergency Services (ACSES).
The Civil Defence Service began in Australia in 1955. It was formed as a precaution to any potential attacks on Australian soil. The name was changed to the "State Emergency Service" (abbreviated to "SES") during the 1970s, to reflect a change of emphasis into providing emergency help related to floods, storms and other natural emergencies. Every state and territory in Australia has its own State (or Territory) Emergency Service, and there are 43,000 volunteers spread across the country. Each state or territory is broken into regions, then units, and finally groups or teams.
The SES is one of many public safety organisations using AIIMS (Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System). Typically, small incidents (AIIMS type 1) are assigned to a 'unit' and dealt with by a 'team'. AIIMS type 2 or 3 incidents are coordinated at the regional level.
Each State Emergency Service has an Executive appointed by the Minister responsible in each state.
The SES provides assistance to local communities in times of need. Because every community is different, every SES Unit has a slightly different set of roles and activities. Depending on the needs of the local community, a Unit may perform only some or all of these roles:
In addition to funds provided through legislation to the SES by state and local governments, SES groups also supplement their financial resources with donations made by individuals and businesses, and through other government grants. These donations typically contribute to purchasing or maintaining group equipment, such as vehicles and tools, or to improvement of SES property and facilities.
The SES encourages members of the community to donate via stalls set up at local events (e.g. school fetes or other community-based events).
Western Australia SES OKA 4wd vehicle
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Wikipedia