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Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1955 |
Preceding agencies |
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Type | Public Service Executive Agency |
Jurisdiction | New South Wales |
Headquarters | 93–99 Burelli Street, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
Employees | 333 FTE (2021) [1] Volunteers = 11,930 (2023) |
Annual budget | A$405 million (2021) [1] |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executives |
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Parent agency | Department of Communities and Justice |
Key documents |
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Website | ses |
The New South Wales State Emergency Service (NSW SES), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, is an emergency and rescue service dedicated to assisting the community in times of natural and man-made disasters. The NSW SES is made up almost entirely of volunteer members, numbering over 10,214 as of July 2021. [2] Members are easily identified by their distinctive orange overalls.
From 1955 up until the 1970s the NSW SES was previously named the Civil Defence Service and is still in use up until today.
The agency is led by its Commissioner who reports to the Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience.
The current acting Commissioner of the NSW SES is Debbie Platz pending recruitment of a new Commissioner following the retirement of Commissioner Carlene York on 3 May 2024. The Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience, is responsible to the NSW parliament for the emergency services portfolio which includes NSW SES.
Prior to 1989 the NSW SES reported through a Pro-Director to the Commissioner of Police [3]
Name | Title | Term Start | Term End | Postnominals | Comments | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Major General Brian 'Hori' Howard | Director General | Late 1989 | 27 August 2001 | AO, ESM, MC | [4] | |
Brigadier Philip McNamara | Director General | 27 August 2001 | September 2008 | CSC, ESM | [5] [6] | |
Murray Kear | Director General / Commissioner | September 2008 | 7 November 2013 | AFSM | Officially resigned 12 June 2014 | [7] [8] |
Jim Smith | Acting Commissioner | 7 November 2013 | 5 January 2015 | AFSM | Fire and Rescue NSW Deputy Commissioner | [9] |
Adam Dent | Commissioner | 5 January 2015 | 30 January 2016 | [10] [11] | ||
Greg Newton | Acting Commissioner | 30 January 2016 | 27 February 2017 | NSW SES Deputy Commissioner | [11] | |
Mark Smethurst | Commissioner | 27 February 2017 | 8 March 2019 | DSC, AM | [12] | |
Kyle Stewart | Acting Commissioner | 8 March 2019 | 30 October 2019 | APM | NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner | [13] |
Carlene York | Commissioner | 30 October 2019 | 3 May 2024 | APM | Previously NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner, Commander of Human Resources. [14] | [13] |
The major responsibilities of the NSW SES are for flood (including Flood Rescue), tsunami and storm operations. The NSW SES also provides the majority of General Land Rescue effort in the rural parts of the state. This includes road crash rescue, vertical rescue, general rescue, bush search and rescue, evidence searches (both metropolitan and rural) and other forms of specialist rescue that may be required due to local threats. The Service's trained rescuers also support the full-time emergency services during major disasters. [15]
The NSW SES also assist other emergency services when they are performing major operations. These services include the New South Wales Police Force, NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and New South Wales Ambulance.
During the 17/18 Financial Year, NSW SES Personnel answered 81,197 calls at the State Operations Centre, including 36,169 calls to the Flood/Storm assistance line (132 500) and its volunteers responded to 18,040 Requests for Assistance (RFAs).
The State Headquarters (SHQ) of the NSW SES is located in Burelli Street, Wollongong.
At a state level, Directors are responsible for key functional areas (Finance, Assets & Business Services / Information & Communications Technology / Operational Response / Organisational Performance & Engagement / People & Development / Planning & Preparedness / Training) each Director is appointed to the rank of Assistant Commissioner. All these positions are based at NSW SES State Headquarters in Wollongong.
With 5 zones located across the state, Zone boundaries are generally based on river catchments, reflecting that floods are a major part of their work. The boundaries for the NSW SES's 240+ units are based broadly on local government boundaries, each unit is grouped with 2-7 other units to form a cluster.
As part of the Organisational Restructure project, on 2 October 2018, Regions were replaced with Zones. The previous 17 Regions had been based on river catchment areas, inline with the NSW SES responsibility to manage flood events, however an analysis of the demands placed upon the service indicates that a more effective way to organise Units would be based around areas which both reflected historic trends in terms of affected areas, and the distribution of the population across the state.
This resulted in the formation of 5 Zones.
Zone offices are managed by a Zone Controller and the Zone Business Support Services Manager, together form the Zone Management Team. Each Zone office could house a number of different staff roles including Zone Volunteer Communications & Engagement Officer, Zone Capability Officer, Zone Training & Delivery Officer, Zone Training Adviser, Zone Operational Readiness Officer, Financial Services Officer, Administrative Support Officer, additionally Zone offices can also accommodate some state wide staff roles, traditionally located at the state headquarters, these positions include, Coordinator Exercise Planning & Design, Planning & Research Officer, Safety, Health & Wellbeing Officer, Manager Hazard Planning, Coordinator Community Capability, Manager Capability & Resource Planning.
Zones may also have a number of volunteer capability units to support the Zone.
Dependent on factors such local operational demands, local Unit sizes, etc. Units can be grouped into Clusters. A cluster may contain 2-7 Units.
NSW SES Clusters are managed by a Local Commander. Local Commanders oversee operations at a scale between localised events which can be managed at a Unit Level, and larger scale events which require management at a Zone Level.
There are more than 240 SES Units forming the NSW SES. Most are based on former local government boundaries, although the NSW SES now also allows for the formation of Units which are not bound to geographic boundaries, such as the NSW SES Bush Search and Rescue Unit.
NSW SES Units are completely staffed by volunteers managed by Unit Commanders.
Prior to 2018 | 2018 to 2022 | From 2022 | |||
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Region Name | Region Code | Zone Name | Zone Code | Zone Name | Zone Code |
Sydney Northern Region | SNR | Metro Zone | MTZ | Metro Zone | MTZ |
Sydney Southern Region | SSR | ||||
Sydney Western Region | SWR | ||||
Central West Region | CWR | Western Zone | WTZ | Western Zone | WTZ |
Far West Region | FWR | ||||
Macquarie Region | MQR | ||||
North West Region | NWR | North Western Zone | NWZ | ||
Namoi Region | NMR | ||||
Lachlan Region | LAR | Southern Zone | SHZ | Southern Zone | SHZ |
Murray Region | MYR | ||||
Murrumbidgee Region | MER | ||||
Hunter Region | HUR | Northern Zone | NHZ | Northern Zone | NHZ |
Mid North Coast Region | MNR | ||||
Clarence-Numbucca Region | CNR | North Eastern Zone | NEZ | ||
Richmond-Tweed Region | RTR | ||||
Southern Highlands Region | SHR | South East Zone | SEZ | South East Zone | SEZ |
Illawarra South Coast Region | ISR |
In 2022 Commissioner York announced changes to the structure of the NSW SES. This included the creation of two additional zones, splitting the Northern Zone and Western Zone both into two zones to provided additional support and resourcing to local communities.
There is a number of state based units outside of the zone structure. These units generally have a state wide focus or report directly to the state capability team.
Unit Name | Unit Code |
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Alpine Search & Rescue | ASR |
Aviation Management | AMU |
Bush Search & Rescue | BSR |
Corporate & Spontaneous | COS |
Operational Support | OSU |
In January 2018 the NSW State Emergency Service commenced a review of the rank and insignia structure within the organisation. Between October and December 2018 all members of the NSW State Emergency Service transitioned to the new rank structure.
![]() | Emergency Service Medal (ESM) |
![]() | National Emergency Medal |
![]() | National Medal |
NSW SES Commissioner's Commendation for Courage | |
NSW SES Commissioner's Commendation for Service | |
NSW SES Long Service Medal | |
NSW SES Long Service Badge – 5 years | |
![]() | NSW SES Commissioner's Unit Citation |
![]() | NSW SES Life Member |
The NSW SES receives funding primarily from the NSW Government. Resources are often obtained through numerous grants provided by public and private entities.
The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,600 square kilometres with a population of more than 8.2 million people.
The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of civil defence organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the service deals with floods, storms and tsunamis, but can also assist in other emergencies, such as vertical rescue and road crash rescues, missing persons searches, and medical evacuations. In other scenarios the SES may provide a support role to other agencies, particularly police and fire. The SES is operational 24 hours a day. The SES is constituted as separate organisations operating in the various Australian states and territories. Eight of the SES organisations co-ordinate through the Australian Council of State and Territory Emergency Services (ACSES).
VRA Rescue NSW (VRA) is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides rescue services to the communities across New South Wales. The first rescue squads formed the Volunteer Rescue Association with the assistance of the New South Wales Police Force. The service is now called VRA Rescue NSW. Groups with common charters can become an affiliate of the Association.
Responsibilities for traditional coast guard duties in Australia are distributed across various federal, state and community agencies. The de facto coast guard of Australia is the Maritime Border Command, a joint command of the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Border Force which works alongside the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Each state and territory government have specific maritime safety agencies and police marine units. In addition, there are several private volunteer coast guard organisations which act as auxiliary search and rescue services and maritime safety educators with the largest organisations being the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol established in 1937, the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard established in 1961, and Marine Rescue New South Wales established in 2009.
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 districts, and shares responsibility for fire services with Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), which employs full-time paid firefighters in major urban areas; and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), which manages fire prevention and suppression on Victoria's public lands. CFA operations and equipment are partly funded by the Victorian Government through its Fire Services Levy, and supplemented by individual brigades' fundraising for vehicles and equipment.
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a government department that is responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review. DFES is responsible for the management, training and funding of career and volunteer Services including:
NSW Ambulance, previously the Ambulance Service of NSW, is an agency of NSW Health and the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) previously known as NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB), is an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. FRNSW is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas and towns across New South Wales. Fire and Rescue NSW is the fourth largest urban fire service in the world, with over 6,800 firefighters serving at 335 fire stations throughout the state, supported by 465 administrative and trades staff and 5,700 community fire unit volunteers. FRNSW are the busiest fire service in Australia, attending over 124,000 incidents a year.
As firefighting has a rich history throughout the world, traditions in this profession vary widely from country to country.
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
NSW SES Bush Search and Rescue (SES BSAR) (previously known as Bush Search and Rescue NSW, Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad (BWRS) and Bushwalkers Search and Rescue (B S&R) is a remote and rugged area land search and rescue service in New South Wales, Australia established on 27 November 1936. NSW SES Bush Search and Rescue is a wholly volunteer operated, specialist squad of the NSW State Emergency Service.
The Australian Aerial Patrol is an aerial observation and support service in New South Wales, Australia. It was formed in 1957 following a meeting convened by the City of Greater Wollongong Council, with a charter to maintain the safety and the welfare of the community through aerial observation and support. The Aerial Patrol is available to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The 2010–2011 Queensland Flood and Cyclone Citation is a Queensland honour established by the Governor-of-Queensland-in-Council in 2011.
Windellama is a rural locality in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in the Goulburn Mulwaree Council. It is northeast of Canberra and southeast of Goulburn. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 417. Windellama is a popular location for people from Sydney to make a "tree change". This has created a change in property sizes in the area, previously mostly large agricultural enterprises, now on a multitude of 50-100 acre hobby farms.
The 2018 Tathra bushfire was a bushfire that burned between 18 and 19 March 2018 and primarily affected parts of the South Coast region in the Australian state of New South Wales. The fire, understood to have been caused by a failure in electrical infrastructure, began in the locality of Reedy Swamp, near Tarraganda, which spread east towards Tathra in the municipality of the Bega Valley Shire.
The South Australian State Emergency Service is the South Australian branch of the State Emergency Service, partner of the Australian Council of State Emergency Services. The service, founded in 1962, is volunteer based, and prepares and responds to emergencies within the state. It receives on average 10,000 calls for assistance per year. The SASES is a separate entity, independent of other branches, and reports to the South Australian Minister for Emergency Services. The service is funded by a levy imposed on every household in the state, and is currently led by chief officer Chris Beattie with assistance from the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM).
Resilience NSW was a Government of New South Wales executive agency within the Department of Premier and Cabinet, focused on disaster management and was responsible for disaster recovery and building community resilience to future disasters. It was established on 1 May 2020, following the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season a few months prior. It replaced the Office of Emergency Management, an office within the Department of Communities and Justice.
The State of New South Wales has created several independent honours to that of the Australian Honours System.
The New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services is a minister within the Government of New South Wales who has the oversight of the emergency service agencies.
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