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NDMOs visit the State Control Centre in
Melbourne
As part of capacity building for strengthening emergency response coordination, representatives of National
Disaster Management Offices from Nauru, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu visited the State Control Centre (SSC)
in Melbourne, Victoria from 20th – 24th February 2012. The visit was organised jointly by SOPAC/SPC and the
Office of the Fire Services Commissioner and Country Fire Authority of Victoria (CFA). It was also supported by
the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC)
The representatives were:
• Loti Yates, NDMO Director, Solomon Islands
• George Baragamu, NDMO Operations Manager, Solomon Islands
• Shadrack Welegtabit, NDMO Director, Vanuatu
• Gideons Mael, NDMO Operations Manager, Vanuatu
• Roy Harris, NDRMO Deputy National Controller, Nauru
They were accompanied by Mosese Sikivou, SOPAC Disaster Reduction Programme. The visit was coordinated
locally in Victoria by Mark Reid, Gippsland Regional Manager for the CFA. Mark Reid has a history of support
to the Pacific in DRM and served as the Chief Fire Officer for Fiji’s National Fire Authority from 2007 – 2009.
The visit provided the NDMOs with a first-hand appreciation of how emergency response coordination,
command and control functions in Victoria at State, Regional and Local levels. The NDMOs received briefings
from a range of CFA and State Emergency Service (SES) personnel. The group also toured the SSC and a Regional
and Local centre to get a better understanding of the interlinkages between the three levels of emergency
response.
The visit had positive outcomes for the NDMOs. Each gained some invaluable insight into how they may
strengthen their respective coordination centres and also a stronger appreciation of the critical importance of
agency interoperability in relation to emergency response. Each demonstrated a keen anxiousness following
the visit to apply the learning within their countries. Shadrack Welegatabit and Gideons Mael of Vanuatu
found the visit useful as they are currently remodelling the Vanuatu National Emergency Operations Centre to
ensure that it adequately covers all the necessary functional responsibilities within an emergency operation.
During the visit SOPAC held discussions with AFAC and CFA regarding the possibility of a ‘twinning arrangement’
for all NDMOs with state-level fire and emergency services in Australia. A twinning arrangement would facilitate
an ongoing exchange of skills and experience between ‘twinned’ NDMOs and their counterparts in Australia
and New Zealand. AFAC is the umbrella body for state level fire and emergency services for Australia and New
Zealand. A concept note for the establishment of a twinning arrangement has been developed and is to be
submitted for the consideration of NDMO Directors at the 2012 Pacific Platform for DRM which will be held in
Noumea, New Caledonia from 17th – 21st September 2012.