ATTORNEY GENERAL, HON PHILIP RUDDOCK ANNOUNCES JANELLIS AS NATIONAL WINNERS OF THE 2006 AUSTRALIAN SAFER COMMUNITIES STATE AWARD

After winning the NSW State Title in September 2006, Janellis were announced as the National Winners of the 2006 Australian Safer Communities Awards at an official ceremony at Parliament House on Wednesday 9 December.

Attorney-General, the Hon Philip Ruddock presented Natalie Botha and Hayley Parker, representing the Janellis Team, the award for the development and launch of the Sydney CBD Emergency 'Guidelines for Business' - a joint initiative with the NSW State Emergency Management Committee to assist the business community in preparing for a major emergency in the Sydney CBD.

Also on hand to congratulate Janellis for this significant achievement as a private enterprise was Ms Tanya Plibersek MP, Federal Member for Sydney and John Anderson, Chair of the NSW State Emergency Management Committee. 

The Australian Safer Communities Awards are organised by Emergency Management Australia (EMA) in conjunction with States and Territories. They recognise best practice and innovation by organisations and individuals that help to build safer communities across Australia. Janellis were the Private Sector winners in the Pre-Disaster category for projects aimed at preventing or mitigating disasters and emergencies or their effects, including community preparedness.

More about the Project

The Sydney CBD Emergency Sub Plan was developed in 2005 as a sub plan to the NSW State Disaster Plan (Displan) to detail the special control and coordination arrangements for an emergency in the Sydney CBD which may involve evacuation of all or part of the CBD. Development of the plan included taking into account the impact on multiple community and stakeholder groups – including the business community.

The State Government needs to engage and work with these groups to integrate aspects of the plan into their emergency management and business continuity capability.

With a vision to ‘minimise the loss of life and disruption to business’, Janellis initiated the development of the Sydney CBD ‘Guidelines for Business’ which include key elements of the Sydney CBD Emergency Sub Plan. It provides a clear set of processes and procedures foer best practice emergency management within businesses for dealing with a major incident in the Sydney CBD.

The Guidelines provide information on preparing for an emergency, contain tools for assessing business compliance against the government’s requirements and provide recommendations on best practice.

The Guidelines contribute to a safer community by: 

• improving business community preparedness;
• improving the opportunity for effective emergency response;
• providing a clear set of processes and procedures for best practice in emergency management within businesses for dealing with a major incident in the Sydney CBD; and
• providing a self assessment tool for businesses to apply to their current level of preparedness.

Download the Guidelines for Business.