Log Your Readiness

Build your core emergency skills to be able to help out

Tens of thousands of emergency volunteers help our families get through severe weather emergencies. In fact – 500,000 volunteers work with groups like the SES, Red Cross, Bushfire Brigade, Surf Lifesaving, St John Ambulance, Lifeline and many others.

They have one thing in common: great skills.

If you want to help support communities through the impacts of climate change you will need to build these great skills up. Here are some basic skills you can start getting under your belt right away:

Heaps of emergency agencies require you to have a First Aid Certificate. Why not organise a bunch of your friends to enrol in a course? It will be heaps of fun with your footy club, school class, or friends from the local neighborhood.

Find out where to go to learn first aid:

Red Cross first aid courses

St John first aid courses

First Aid International

Emergency.com.au - Melbourne only

EFirstAid - Brisbane only

Once you and your friends are qualified, throw yourselves a party to celebrate and send us a photo of you with your certificates to photos@extremeweatherheroes.org. In two years we want to see hundreds of photos and who knows – we might even convince Dominos to start throwing in some free pizzas!

It might seem basic, but having a current drivers license helps you contribute during emergencies in lots of ways. Make sure yours is up to date, and consider getting more advanced qualifications like learning how to drive a manual or a 4WD.

Here’s where you go to get your license:

Australian Capital Territory

Northern Territory

Get Your Grief & Trauma Counselling Certificate

Natural disasters can uproot communities, and helping people to cope with loss is one of the most important things that emergency volunteers can do. Some emergency volunteering groups will consider this to be one of your most valuable skills.

Find out how you can get a certificate that lets you help people that have been affected by extreme weather, without using a chainsaw!

Australian College of Applied Psychology

Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors

Health and Community Services Careers

MyFuture occupation information

Get Some Occupational Health And Safety Training

Occupational health and safety skills will help you be more effective in handling emergency situations, no matter where you live, study or work.

These skills are important in knowing how to manage risks efficiently, effectively and safely, both on the ground and at the operations centre.

Having an OH&S certificate will make you an asset to your community. Find out how you can get trained:

National government courses in OH&S
Swinburne University, Victoria - OH&S courses
Australian Institute of Public Safety
Certificate IV in OH&S at TAFE

To get involved with some emergency volunteering groups, like the SES, you will need to have an up to date police check. Check with the emergency volunteering agency of your choice for the correct procedure.

The government is considering the development of a universal passport for volunteers to streamline the volunteering process, eliminating numerous background checks with a one off police check that’s good to use across all volunteering agencies.

extreme weather heroes

Log Your Readiness

Build your core emergency skills to be able to help out