On 28th October 2021, Disaster Relief Australia members Australia wide joined a live linkup to celebrate the milestone of 5 years in serving disaster-affected communities.
Guest Speaker Shane Durdin joined DRA in the beginning and deployed on first operation to Proserpine in 2017. Shane reflected on his first experiences. He felt immediately a “passion and willingness to get it done” and has continued to note the resiliency, hard work and support of the growing band of volunteers determined to make a difference.
2021 Awards
In recognition of excellence, mateship, leadership and a dedication to service, awards were given to the following recipients:
CEO Award
Dean West QLD South
Mateship Award
Jane Hiatt ACT
Ted Tiessem QLD North
True Grit Award
Jodie Turpin SA
Leadership Award
Peter Jones VIC
DRT NSW Champion Award
Marina Rowe
DRT Champion VIC Award
Chris May
DRT WA Champion Award
Ben Abbott WA
DRT ACT Champion Award
Stephen Hull
DRT QLD North Champion Award
Kevin Ryan
DRT QLD Sth Champion Award
Robert Delaney
DRT SA Champion Award
Dean Pye
National Emergency Medals
131 DRA members were awarded a National Emergency Medal (or a clasp to add to a previously received NEM). A national emergency medal provides recognition for the committed and courageous efforts of frontline responders, volunteers and community supporteres during nationally-significant emergencies in Australia
The below emergencies were formally responded to as an organisation and have been declared nationally significant for the purposes of the National Emergency Medal:
Bushfires in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA or ACT between September 2019 and February 2020.
DRA is immensely proud of their members who selflessly served Australian communities in their worst hour. You see the full resources and FAQ’s about National Emergency Medals on the Governor Generals’ website.
Milestone Awards
In honour of DRA’s 5th year anniversary, members were recognised for their many years of service.
5 Year Service - 2016
Smiley Billings ACT
Martin De Domenico ACT
Andrew Young NSW
Samantha Cantwell NSW
Clare Sutton NSW
Geoff Evans NSW
Luke Gordon NSW
Samuel Corby NSW
Raymond Bennie NSW
Stephen Luke QLD North
Louise Lommerse QLD South
Nicholas Goss QLD South
Dean West QLD South
Oren Burg QLD South
Markus Bucy SA
Nicolas Davy TAS
Peter Sanderson VIC
Angela MacQuibban VIC
Paul Copeland VIC
Clark McConachy VIC
Brad Mason WA
James Erwin WA
Special Mentions
David Fascinato
Lukas Woolley
Adam Cantrick
Camille Reed
Sean O’Laughlin
Ken Harbaugh
William McNulty
First Operation 2017
Megan Read NSW
Arthur Drozd NSW
Kachi Ngai NSW
Samantha Cantwell NSW
Adil Jain NSW
Andrew Quinn NSW
Adam Hobson NSW
Deborah Fenton NSW
Geoff Evans NSW
Mark Dobson NSW
Clare Sutton NSW
Leasa Stephen QLD South
Louise Lommerse QLD South
Cade Cooper QLD South
Shane Durdin QLD South
Chantelle Bradford SA
Anastasia Bougesis SA
Markus Bucy SA
Peter James Major TAS
Paul Copeland VIC
Peter Sanderson VIC
Nicholas Clarke-Daniel WA
