Mackay emergency preparedness project receives resilience award

Mackay Regional Council has been working tirelessly to improve the safety and wellbeing of people with disability during disasters through an approach of person-centred emergency preparedness (P-CEP).

So much so, that council’s work has been recognised at the 2021 Get Ready Queensland Resilient Australia Awards in Brisbane.

Council was crowned joint winner in the Local Government category for the “P-CEP in Mackay” project.

Mayor Greg Williamson said the win was a testament to council’s dedicated team of emergency management experts who have been busily working in this space.

“In the event of any emergency, what we know is, immediate action is required and we need to have the confidence that our community is not only trained – but ready to go,” Mayor Williamson said.

“Mackay is the first community to widely distribute the P-CEP workbook and instigate a comprehensive program of community engagement and capacity development,” he said.

P-CEP in Mackay has delivered training to 100 service providers and seen more than 4000 workbooks distributed to help people with disability create tailored emergency plans.

The service providers include disability, community, health, aged care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Australian South Sea Islander organisations, and domestic violence services.

Mayor Greg Williamson said community-facing council staff, such as community development officers and library team members, were also trained.

To learn more about P-CEP in Mackay and council’s timeline towards a person-centred emergency preparedness approach, visit pcepmackay.com.au.

Residents can also download a copy of the P-CEP workbook from council’s website