Service during major emergencies recognised with limited pin

20/06/2025, 4:53 AM
VICSES Volunteer Support Officer Garth Matthews (left) presents VICSES Cobram Unit volunteer Emma Bugler with a pin recognising her service during the 2021 storm emergencies, alongside VICSES Cobram Unit Controller Luke Herezo. 

Hundreds of Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) volunteers and staff from across the state are set to be recognised for the vital role they played in protecting lives and property during recent major Victorian storm and flood emergencies, with special pins commissioned to celebrate their efforts.

Honouring first responders and support members active during the 2021 June and October storms and the 2022-23 Victorian floods, which stretched from October through to January, the pins, featuring artwork designed by VICSES Sunbury Unit volunteer and Dja Dja Wurrung woman Kim Kavan, acknowledge the selfless service of members and units across Victoria, including members who:

  • attended requests for assistance (RFAs) related to the specific storm or flood events,
  • provided essential support at unit level for those attending RFAs,
  • remained at their local unit to maintain local capability while their fellow volunteers deployed to areas hardest hit,
  • served as Unit Duty Officers and deployed personnel during these emergencies, and
  • fulfilled incident management team roles related to these major emergencies.

Local Unit Controllers were also permitted to nominate other members deemed to have significantly contributed to their unit’s capacity to respond during these periods, including those who provided vehicle and equipment maintenance, and those who provided logistical support and staging area management.

The 2021 storms, which first commenced on 9 June and saw parts of the state record more than 280mm of rain over a 48-hour period and wind gusts exceeding 100 km/h, resulted in widespread major flooding, fallen trees and damaged telecommunications and power lines, and left more than 100 homes uninhabitable.

Further storms which hit Victoria on 28 October saw considerable building, tree and power line damage throughout metropolitan Melbourne and along the state’s surf coast, while large parts of regional Victoria were also impacted.

Across the twin storm events, VICSES volunteers were called to around 20,000 RFAs throughout the state over weeks of continued operations.

Less than 12 months later, destructive floods which impacted 64 of Victoria’s 79 municipalities saw VICSES members again leap to action in October 2022, with volunteers from 147 units exhibiting outstanding dedication to manage more than 16,000 RFAs during the protracted, three-month emergency.

During this period, which included the state’s wettest October on record, VICSES volunteers supported more than 1,500 flood rescues as large sections of the Campaspe, Goulburn, Broken, Murray and Maribyrnong rivers, as well as their tributaries, suffered major flooding and left communities isolated.

The pins, which have already been received by several volunteers, will be presented during intimate ceremonies with each unit involved over the coming weeks, to honour the diverse range of contributions members made to protecting Victorian communities during these major emergencies.

 

The artwork for both pins was designed by VICSES Sunbury Unit volunteers and Dja Dja Wurrung woman Kim Kavan.

 Artwork on both pins features Kangaroo tracks, an animal incapable of moving backwards, signifying the community moving forward, rebuilding and helping the land to regenerate, as well as gathering circles, which represent the ways in which communities come together in times of hardship.

The Victorian Storms 2021 pin also features a wattle branch, a tree with deep roots in Aboriginal culture which is able to cope with all kinds of weather conditions in Australia, while the Victorian Floods 2022-23 pin depicts land and waterways, which are essential to Indigenous spiritual and cultural practices, environmental management, food production, language and lore.

To find out more about volunteering with VICSES, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.

Quotes attributable to Alistair Drayton, VICSES Acting Chief Officer Operations:

“VICSES volunteers have been kept busy in recent years, but have continued to show incredible dedication, commitment and skill in providing a vital emergency service to their communities throughout.

“The 2021 storms and the 2022/23 floods saw volunteers respond to a combined more than 36,000 requests for assistance across Victoria, exemplifying VICSES’ values and protecting lives and property in the process.

“These special pins honour the tireless commitment our volunteers exhibited during these emergencies, and their preparedness to always assist communities in their hour of need.”