Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister is seeking to add to an answer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to add to an answer to a question from the member for Calare to me at the last question time, Thursday 28 August, where I indicated I would get more detail and get back to the member at the first opportunity, and this is the first opportunity.

The member for Calare asked me about the availability of the National Emergency Medal for emergency responders, community workers and volunteers for their acts of service during the floods in the Central West of New South Wales in 2022.

I am advised that the independent National Emergency Medal Committee has requested additional expert information on the timeline of events and overall impact on individual areas and localities. This will enable the committee to consider whether the Central West floods should be recommended to the minister—who would be the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, to whom I have allocated responsibility for this—to be considered a nationally significant emergency for the purpose of the National Emergency Medal. Under the National Emergency Medal Regulations 2011, the responsible minister must not make a recommendation to the Governor-General to declare an event as a nationally significant emergency unless the responsible minister has received advice from the National Emergency Medal Committee.

To date, over 530 National Emergency Medals have been awarded to individuals who served during the 2022 flooding event.

The National Emergency Management Committee will next meet in November this year and will be considering further events for possible declaration at that meeting, pending the receipt of this expert advice. I commit to the member for Calare that I will inform him at the first available opportunity as to their deliberations.