volunteer
reflections
All the Reward I Need, Veteran Phil Wharton
A veteran friend suggested I look at Disaster Relief Australia when I was looking for an opportunity to give back after many years of paid work. I was immediately impressed by DRA’s focus on getting things done and helping others in their hour of need. Thinking about...
Take a Leap, Volunteer, Alasdair McLachlan
I come from a military family. My father is an Officer in the Army Reserve and so I spent much time in my childhood surrounded by the ADF community. Whether through attending a family barbeque in Keswick Barracks or doing my homework on my dad’s Army Reserve office...
Use Any of Your Life Skills, Nurse Michelle
Everybody will be able to make a contribution in some way. They will bring their own life experiences and be able to make a purposeful impact on other people – and that’s such a wonderful thing to be able to do to people in our community who may not have that access to those resources in another way.
Put My Skills to Use Helping Australians, Veteran Spot Swales
I was drawn to volunteer with Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) due to its focus on supporting veterans. After service in the Royal Australian Navy in the 1960s and 1970s, I wanted to put my skills to use in helping Australians, especially with the recent floods in New...
Passion to Give up Time for Community, Veteran, Alan Ashman
I first heard about Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) by following the journey of another member who has been with DRA for a few years and seeing the operations that he had deployed on. Seeing the great work he's done as a member of DRA led me to think "this is an...
Positive Support Through Empowerment – Veteran, Josh Bailey
My military service began at age 17 as an Army reservist, with the 2/17 Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment. Based in Blacktown, Sydney. Not long prior, I completed year ten and had an apprenticeship fall through. It was a friend in the reserves who drew my...
True Heroes – Veteran, Wayne Larson
In the 80’s I was a writer in the Navy. My grandfather, my great uncle, cousins, myself and now my son, all joined the Navy. It was generational. After 5 years of service, I left and headed down a pathway in training and development, training in First Aid and...
Dirty Hard Yakka – Liam Rabone
In the wake of the 2020 fires which ravaged our beautiful bushlands and devastated communities, I was transfixed by the awful scenes and was almost overcome with a sense of helplessness. I desperately wanted to do something to help and knew that I would run out of...
Constant Push to Improve and Expand – Ben Abbott, Veteran, Fire Fighter
I found Disaster Relief Australia when I was searching for ways to get more involved with humanitarian aid. I had been involved with medical volunteering agencies, but when the focus shifted from international travel to domestic only, I thought DRA sounded great for...
Craig Barber – A Difference Made
Joining up with and volunteering for Disaster Relief Australia is something I was very strongly drawn towards after the Cuddlee Creek bushfire went through the local area. I felt it was an excellent way for me to give back to my community and help out those in a time...
One Less Thing for a Community Member to do – Tony Harring, Veteran
I had been volunteering in the community after the bushfires with another organization. It was during a job that a property owner mentioned Disaster Relief Australia, about a huge tree coming down so the family could safely re-enter their property again. He told a...
The Most Change – Jason McNamee, Civilian
I joined DRA after the floods in NSW. I saw on LinkedIn what DRA was doing after the immediate fanfare and the media had left. I found the cleanup and how DRA aids in that recovery process really interesting. Seeing the little snapshots of what’s happening and what’s...
Time to Help Other People – Scott Whiley, Veteran
A mate put me onto DRA, I have been looking for something different. I'm retired and spend a lot of time staying fit and traveling looking for something different. Now I have time to help other people. In the past I have been a bit selfish when I was always working...
Being on the Tools is Rewarding – Aaron Mangravati, Civilian
I first heard about DRA through a member that I met whilst doing some work with St John. She sold it to me as something that made a difference with a good group of people so I thought it was worth a try. Over the last couple of years I have done quite a few things...
Our People Are What it’s All About – Nick Backe-Hansen – Veteran, Current AFP
I first heard about DRA 3 years ago. Dean West and I worked together in the 5th/7th Battalion at Holsworthy in the 90’s. Opportunities for me at work had all but dried up and coincidentally I saw through Facebook that Westy was in the Virgin Islands, building a school...
Bringing Everyone Together – Andrew Cooke
In my normal life I work as a security consultant. I currently work for myself as a private contractor and cover all parts of security, mainly in sport. Prior to that I was in the Police Force. I heard about DRA while I was working at Invictus Games. It seemed...
Sense of Ownership – Aaron O’Toole, Ex Firefighter
I signed up to DRA because of my wife, she joined up first and it sounded like a good thing to do so I felt like I could have something to offer as well. Once I started deploying I found that the team had great camaraderie and that gave me the ability to feel at home....
Help Someone on Their Worst Day – Davina Pye, Veteran and Firefighter
I joined the army in 1996 as a medic. After completing 11 years of service, I moved onto the NSW fire brigade and have been a part of the team for 14 years. With both my work in emergency services and serving Australia, I felt that there was something missing. In...
Something Salvageable – Veteran, Kylie Baumback
Kylie Baumback: Front row, 3rd from left As a child my family home was totally destroyed by fire. The memories and details have never fully left me, the traumatic feeling of loss linger in the back of my mind popping up every now and again to remind me of the intense...
Time to Support – Rebecca Talbot
I'm a born and bred Perth Hills girl, previously in the Glen Forest volunteer brigade. The footage of the fires was heartbreaking, I wanted to give my time to support the community recover and rebuild. On this operation I spoke to a bloke to book a damage assessment....
A Bit of Hope and Joy – Minderoo Volunteer Leigh van der Merwe
My folks live on Kangaroo Island. My family and I got over there a couple of weeks after the fires. I got to see the devastation and hear the stories firsthand. I understand the amount of help these people need. When I heard about the call out for volunteers through...
Bec, Tegan and Samatha from Keno volunteered on Operation Corkhill
Joining us on Operation Corkhill were Bec, Tegan and Smantha from Keno! BEC FARRELL - I have been working with KENO for 4 years and I’m in the Port Macquarie Region. This is my second time working with DRA. In 2019 just after the bushfires I went to Willawarrin and...
Get Amongst us – Veteran, Guy Sadler
I started my Military career in the Navy as a Marine Technician. The trade I got was a Fitter Machinist and Boilermaker Qualifications. I did that for 6 years and worked on minor fleet, patrol boat and landing craft. I then did a bit of a stint on ‘waries’, bigger,...
I feel privileged – Raeleen’s reflection
Having recently retired I wanted to volunteer my time and skills to help others. I joined DRA following a suggestion from my sister, also a DRA member and Navy and VicPolice veteran. My first deployment was to the Adelaide Hills 3rd Wave. Everything was run like a...
Mateship and Friendships – Veteran David Nicolson
My name is David Nicolson or better known as “Nico”. This is my first deployment after joining DRA only 6 weeks ago. I live in Canberra with my partner, Amber, and have 5 dogs! (2 x Border Collies, 1 x Kelpie, 1 x Ridgeback and 1 x Shar Pei Pitbull) When I was younger...
I can’t wait for my next deployment – civilian Damien Threlfo
I am seriously impressed with DRA and I loved my first deployment. We made such an impact to community resident Janet. We made her cry in a way that "I haven't cried in over 11 years." From their good humour and easy organisation, DRA have everything possibly sorted,...
A Family Affair – Veterans Prepare for Gippsland Bushfire Recovery
Our Melbourne Disaster Relief Team recently assisted the Latrobe City Council in the Gippsland region, providing bushfire recovery post-Yinnar South bushfires of March 2019. Our members sharpened their chainsaw skills in December 2019 in preparation for an upcoming...
Filled with a sense of pride – civilian Michael Hoffman
The week before I started with Disaster Relief Australia, I was lucky enough to complete one day on a Service Project in the Adelaide Hills and thought I gained an understanding of what an Operation is like from that day. The next day I did the Core Ops training...
Unique ability to care for people – ex veteran and former police officer Nick Backe-Hansen
It was the Army that first gave me, indeed taught me, the unique ability to care for people I’d never met. It instilled in me what I call the ANZAC Spirit. I took these traits into my service with the NSW Police Force and now the Federal Police. I have now completed...
Drawn to help – first responder Hez
I first joined Disaster Relief Australia nearly two years ago but it wasn’t until the devastating 2019 fires on the NSW Mid North Coast that I deployed for the first time. I have an emergencies services background and with so many people in need, I felt drawn to help....
