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NEXT FMA MEETINGS: QLD 18 AUGUST + NSW/ACT 26 AUGUST
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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Another great FMA National and International Conference!
With over 410 registered delegates it was another fantastic FMA National Conference this year.
At the outset I’d like to again acknowledge the contributions to our conference from:
The Hon Dr Steven Miles MP, Queensland Deputy Premier Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning
The Hon Rob Stokes MP NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces
The Hon David Littleproud MP Federal Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management
Department of Planning Industry & Environment (Biodiversity Conservation Division) as our Platinum Sponsor
Mr Chad Berginnis, Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) in the USA.
My sincere thanks to everyone involved in the preparation and presentation of our second on-line conference and a special thank you to all our loyal sponsors who make our growing conference possible.
There was a lot to talk about with major floods occurring around Australia in March this year.
We were also thrilled with the success of the welcome dinners in Brisbane and Sydney, and also Young Floodplain Manager dinners in Sydney and Brisbane.
Whilst COVID-19 and social distancing prevented us from getting together in Melbourne we will aim to hold that event when the current restrictions are over.
The success of this conference illustrates our “resilience” as a national and international network and we can continue to work towards next year when we hope to have our full conference in Toowoomba.
In the meantime… when things get difficult with COVID-19 and floodplain management, remember the words of the great Henry Ford:
"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." -Henry Ford
ID
Ian Dinham | FMA President
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2021 ONLINE NATIONAL CONFERENCE WRAP UP
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From the 26th - 28th May, FMA held its 2021 Online National Conference, and it was one of the most exciting and informative events in FMA's 60 year history. Throughout the week, delegates were able to virtually
sit in on a number of presentations focussed on flood risk management throughout the nation, while still safely connecting and networking with their colleagues.
On Tuesday evening, a select number of delegates were able to gather in Sydney and Brisbane for our Pre-Conference Dinner of three courses and drinks by the water, sponsored by BMT, and Thursday evening in Sydney and Brisbane held the Young Floodplain Managers Network Casual Dinners, sponsored by WMAwater.
Unfortunately, the Melbourne YFM event had to be postponed. Hopefully our Victorian YFMS will be able to enjoy their Conference celebration very soon.
Pictured: Pre-Conference Dinner at Sydney.
We got the opportunity to experience the new Conference Platform which allowed multiple concurrent streams, improved attendee connectivity and networking, and greater interaction overall. While it may not have been an in-person event as is the norm for our annual Conferences, this platform hosted just as many fantastic conversations and lively Q&A sessions!
The FMA Excellence Awards, held over three days, were a highlight of the Program, with the following being announced Winners:
FMA NRMA Insurance Flood Risk Management Project of the Year
Winner: NSW SES + Infrastructure NSW for the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley Community Resilience Program
Highly Commended: Central Coast Council for Davistown and Empire Bay Climate Change Adaptation Landform Design
Pictured: Maree Abood (Infrastructure NSW) accepting the FMA Excellence Award on behalf of Infrastructure NSW and NSW SES during the 2021 Online FMA Conference.
FMA Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year
Two Winners: Graeme Milligan (QRA) and Paul Grech (GLN Planning)
FMA YFM Young Floodplain Manager of the Year
Winner: Tim Morrison (Catchment Simulation Solutions)
More about the Award winners can be found in the Media Releases below.
Conference presentations will be made available for viewing until Friday 4th June, so if you were unavailable to 'visit' a presentation last week due to an overlapping session, now is the time to check it out.
And with that, another Conference has come to a close, and we very much look forward to welcoming you to Toowoomba in 2022.
We would love to hear about your Conference experience, so get in touch and let us know what you thought. East Coast Conferences has sent out a Conference Feedback Survey and if you haven't completed it yet, please do so now - your feedback is very important to us.
P.S. The winners of the Harold Sternbeck Medal and the Outstanding YFM Presenter recognition will be announced at the upcoming FMA Quarterly Meetings in August.
MEDIA RELEASE: 2021 YOUNG FLOODPLAIN MANAGER OF THE YEAR
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Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) has announced Tim Morrison, from Catchment Simulation Solutions, as the winner of the 2021 inaugural FMA YFM Young Floodplain Manager of the Year Award.
The prestigious award is presented to a Young Floodplain Manager who has made an outstanding contribution or achievement to the flood risk management industry in their early career.
FMA is pleased to support the Young Floodplain Managers (YFM) network which was established to represent, engage, and inspire young floodplain management professionals across Australia.
FMA President Ian Dinham said the award provides an opportunity to publicly showcase and promote the incredible work Australia’s young flood risk professionals are undertaking.
Mr. Morrison has had a varied career in water engineering contributing to the public and private sector, including starting his own consultancy in 2016. He has worked on and led innovative and challenging projects, while encouraging and supporting young and early career professionals.
An example of his achievements is his contribution to the Healthy Floodplains Project, for which he developed large scale rural flood models, and communicated the model outputs in a clear and concise way, which has helped deliver positive outcomes for communities.
Mr Dinham said “Mr. Morrison’s technical expertise and focus on best practice, collaboration and knowledge sharing have made him an indispensable asset to the industry, and an excellent role model”.
The winner of the FMA YFM Young Floodplain Manager of the Year was announced at the Online FMA National Conference this week.
About
FMA brings together experts from across Australia and overseas to help build a more flood resilient nation. Members include over 170 councils, catchment management authorities, government agencies, businesses, and professionals involved in urban and rural flood risk management.
For more information on FMA, visit floods.org.au. To read more of FMA's Media Releases visit floods.org.au/site/releases.
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MEDIA RELEASE: 2021 FLOOD RISK MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
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Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) has announced Graeme Milligan (Queensland Reconstruction Authority) and Paul Grech (GLN Planning) as the joint winners of the prestigious nation-wide FMA Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award.
The coveted award is presented to an individual who demonstrates best practice in FRM, community engagement and awareness, and an overall drive to make their community safer from flood.
FMA President Ian Dinham said the award provides an opportunity to publicly showcase and promote the incredible work Australia’s flood risk managers are undertaking.
“The work of both of these men in their professional lives is nothing short of inspiring. During their time in the FRM space they consistently strive for excellence and best practice with the end goal of encouraging greater national resilience” said Mr. Dinham.
“Throughout his career, and during his time at the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, Graeme Milligan has changed the landscape of flood management in Queensland. Mr. Milligan’s commitment to policy and strategic development, stakeholder collaboration and integrated catchment management has provided the state with a tangible shift in focus from disaster recovery to prevention,
particularly after the devastating floods of 2011.”
“Paul Grech has been a force within the land use planning profession for over 30 years and during that time has contributed his wealth of knowledge to over 30 floodplain risk management plans in New South Wales, countless government inquiries (including the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry) and promoting the importance of wise land use planning across the state through his
participation in the FMA-DPIE Floodplain Risk Management Short Course at the University of Technology, Sydney.”
“The tireless work of these individuals should be celebrated. Not only does it encourage the flood risk managers of tomorrow to be innovative, passionate and expert in their knowledge, it publicly recognises the essential significance of Australia’s flood risk managers.”
Natural disasters are costing Australia over $560 million a year, and flooding is the most costly, yet manageable, natural hazard.
The winners of the FMA Allan Ezzy Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award were announced at the Online FMA National Conference this week.
About
FMA brings together experts from across Australia and overseas to help build a more flood resilient nation. Members include over 170 councils, catchment management authorities, government agencies, businesses, and professionals involved in urban and rural flood risk management.
For more information on FMA, visit floods.org.au. To read more of FMA's Media Releases visit floods.org.au/site/releases.
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MEDIA RELEASE: FMA NRMA INSURANCE FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD
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Floodplain Management Australia (FMA) has announced the New South Wales State Emergency Service (NSW SES) together with Infrastructure NSW as the winner of its 2021 Flood Risk Management Project of the Year Award.
The winning project, the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Community Resilience Program, aims to increase and sustain flood resilience in the most flood-exposed area in New South Wales.
The Program includes 19 projects in partnership with government agencies, local councils, emergency services, NGOs, and an education and engagement program for young people and their schools. It also involved 40 project partners and had over 300 participating organisations throughout its multi-channel approach.
FMA President, Ian Dinham, said the FMA NRMA Insurance Excellence Award aims to recognise and promote the invaluable work individuals and organisations do to better prepare their community for floods.
“We’re pleased to present NSW SES and Infrastructure NSW with this prestigious award. This project is an exceptional example of how a comprehensive approach which focuses on broad communication and deep engagement can categorically improve the flood awareness and preparedness of local communities,” Mr Dinham said.
“It is critical to be proactive with our communities in terms of preparing for natural disasters, especially flood events. Not only will it save millions of dollars in restoration and reconstruction, it will save the lives of many loved ones. Projects like this help make our communities safer.”
As the winner of the Excellence Award, the project team will receive $10,000 to continue their important work.
NRMA Insurance Natural Perils Specialist, Andrew Dyer, said recent disasters have highlighted the importance of effective floodplain management initiatives.
“In addition to helping these communities recover, it’s critical that we do everything we can to help make them more resilient to the impacts of flooding in the future,” Mr Dyer said.
“We’re proud to sponsor this award and we congratulate and thank all the individuals and organisations that are dedicated to protecting and supporting the residents of the Hawkesbury-Nepean, and communities across the country.”
The winner of the FMA NRMA Insurance Excellence Award was announced at this year’s Online FMA National Conference on the 26 May 2021. For more information about FMA, visit www.floods.org.au.
About
FMA brings together experts from across Australia and overseas to help build a more flood resilient nation. Members include over 170 councils, catchment management authorities, government agencies, businesses, and professionals involved in urban and rural flood risk management.
For more information on FMA, visit floods.org.au. To read more of FMA's Media Releases visit floods.org.au/site/releases.
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ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK OF FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
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As we heard at last week’s FMA Conference the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) has released the Economic Assessment Framework of Flood Risk Management Projects, to guide the economic assessment of flood risk mitigation projects.
QRA General Manager of Resilience Jimmy Scott said the framework was an action from the Brisbane River Strategic Floodplain Management Plan, and aligned with the Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience and National Strategy for Disaster Resilience. “QRA undertook extensive consultation with stakeholders to produce the framework, with input sought from flood mitigation experts from
universities, government and the private sector, both locally and interstate,” Mr Scott said.
The Framework is a resource to support Queensland’s flood risk practitioners, state and local governments to:
- undertake consistent and comparable economic assessments of flood risk mitigation
- make informed decisions for investment in flood risk management and intervention
- build a case for increased investment in risk mitigation and disaster resilient communities
- use recommended methods to quantify a wide range of tangible and intangible damages
- understand the methodologies to quantify the benefits of implementing flood risk mitigation activities, including non-structural options such as community awareness and education, building more flood resilient homes, and investing in emergency management, allowing for a fair comparison
of potential options.
For more information on the framework or to download a copy, go to: qra.qld.gov.au/EA-flood-risk
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GOVERNMENT MINISTERS AT THE FMA CONFERENCE
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This year's Online Conference provided the opportunity for three virtual Ministerial visits. Queensland’s Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) the Hon Steven Miles provided a welcome, and recounted the history of the QRA, Australia’s first standing reconstruction authority in Australia, set up after the 2011 Queensland
floods.
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management the Hon David Littleproud MP thanked attendees for coming together at the conference, and said that by the Federal Government sees that by 2050 unless natural disaster issues are tackled they will cost the economy around $39 billion per year, “so pre-emptive action is important right here right now”. The Federal budget
provided $400 million for community mitigation works, $200 million for household mitigation works, and funding for 22 mitigation works under the Emergency Response Fund.
NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces the Hon Rob Stokes used the conference to announce major changes to planning legislation affecting flood prone land. The revised “flood-prone land package” provides advice to councils on considering flooding in land-use planning, and commences on 14 July 2021. Councils are required to amend their land-use planning documents before the
changes commence.
This is an important policy change to a 2007 Flood Planning Guideline which required exceptional circumstances departmental approval for adopting flood planning levels for residential development different to the 100 year flood level plus freeboard. FMA has advocated for a review of the Flood Planning Guideline since it was first introduced, promoting instead a risk based approach
tailored to meet the social, economic and environmental factors.
Minister Stokes thanked FMA for its continuing advocacy. “Hopefully with the announcement of these controls that demonstrates that the Government is clearly listening to your concerns” Mr Stokes said.
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ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN...
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FMA Members will soon be receiving their Membership Renewal Invoice for 2021-2022, so please watch for it in your inbox. If you would like to receive your invoice early so it can be paid this financial year, let Glenn Evans know by emailing [email protected].
The annual subscription is FMA’s main source of operating income so we do appreciate your prompt payment. It is only through the support of Members that we can continue FMA’s advocacy, professional development, information sharing and networking services.
Fees have been retained at last year’s rates, and your Membership will entitle you to early access to the 2021 Digital FMA Conference papers and presentations (where these have been provided by the presenters) and discounted registration rates for next year’s FMA Conference in Toowoomba, QLD.
If you are not yet a Member, please check the FMA website for details on joining: floods.org.au/site/membership
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Ipswich City Council
The city of Ipswich being on the confluence of the Bremer and Brisbane River systems is no stranger to floods. Ipswich City Council is committed towards achieving sound and practical floodplain management across multiple layers across the organisation.
Examples include an already adopted Floodplain Management Strategy and a soon-to-be adopted Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan (IICP) which considers integrated catchment approaches across the various aspects of floodplain management.
The IICP will become an important roadmap for Council into the future. Council is also progressing a new Planning Scheme which will adopt a regionally consistent full risk-based approach, in line with the requirements of the Brisbane River Catchment Studies project and the commission recommendations following the 2011 floods.
To learn more about Ipswich City Council, visit www.ipswich.qld.gov.au.
FloodMapp
FloodMapp is a world-first flood modelling solution purpose built for flood forecasting and early warning. Aimed at improving safety and preventing damage, FloodMapp provides highly accurate, real-time, property-level and dynamic flood inundation and depth insights for businesses exposed to flooding.
FloodMapp predominantly service utilities, transport, mining, insurance and public sector. FloodMapp combines big data analytics, automation and machine learning techniques with novel hydrology and hydraulic models to achieve large-scale, rapid flood modelling. Their proprietary technology reads in real-time and forecasted rainfall and river height data, which their models use to
estimate predicted peak river heights at scale and generate large scale inundation mapping.
To find out more about FloodMapp, visit www.floodmapp.com.
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Brisbane had a fantastic YFM social to celebrate in person networking again after what’s been a very interesting FMA online conference this year, on the theme of “Essential Knowledge for a Flood Resilient Future”.
There were some great conversations around the room and everyone enjoyed the food and the bar tab! Special thanks to our speaker Garath Wilson for a great talk on his experience as a land use planner after the 2011 floods and his involvement in the Brisbane River Catchment Flood Studies.
Thanks also to the co-host and organisers Cheryl Briars, Katrina Smith and Alana Mosely, and of course to the sponsor of the event WMAwater. We’re looking forward to the next YFM event which will be a story telling walking tour of the Brisbane River to put into perspective the great work we do, hearing first hand from people of their experiences of the 2011 floods, how they recovered and their resilience to future flooding.
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Pictured: The YFM Casual Dinner function in Brisbane last week.
The Sydney YFM Social event was a huge success also, with over 70 guests attending from Councils, SES, BoM and a range of consultancies. Ailsa Schofield captivated the audience with stories from the Bureau’s flood warning desk, where a forecasting shift feels like a 12 hour exam where questions are constantly added and changed.
We were also thrilled to congratulate the inaugural YFM of the Year Tim Morrison on his award!
Many of the guests commented on how good it was to be able to catch up with ‘our people’ in person, particularly after such a challenging year. It was such a treat to be able to nerd out over modelling and the new LEP clauses with like-minded floodplain managers, something we’ve all missed during isolation. The YFM are honoured to be able to make these moments of connection possible,
and would not be able to do so without the generous support of the event sponsor, WMAwater who made sure the bar tab flowed like the Hawkesbury River in March!
While the Melbourne event was unfortunately been postponed due to last minute COVID restrictions, we look forward to hosting this event in the near future, so stay tuned for further details!
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The FMA Flyer reaches a wide range of industry professionals from Australia and overseas, and if you have any recent projects or exciting news we would love to share it with our readers.
Send through details of your stories and we can include them in our upcoming issues by contacting [email protected].
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
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No current vacancies.
If you are interested in promoting a vacant position with us, please contact us.
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TRAVELLING CAPS AND BEANIES
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Do you have an FMA Cap or Beanie photo you'd like to share with Flyer readers?
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