State Emergency Service

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Western Australia SES OKA 4WD vehicle.
Western Australia SES OKA 4WD vehicle.
Victorian SES volunteers working to free the victim of a car crash.
Victorian SES volunteers working to free the victim of a car crash.

A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after natural disasters.

SES began in Australia during the Cold War as Civil Defence, as a precaution to any potential nuclear attacks on Australian soil. The name was changed to SES during the 1970s, to reflect a change of emphasis into providing emergency help related to floods, storms and other natural emergencies. Every state and territory in Australia has its own State (or Territory) Emergency Service, and there are 43,000 volunteers spread across the country.

Because every community is different, every SES Unit has a slightly different set of roles and activities. Depending on local needs, a Unit may perform some or all of these roles:

  • General rescue procedures and skills — working safely to remove people from dangerous situations
  • Flood and storm preparation and response — making structures safe after floods and storms, helping people prepare for floods and storms and using specialised equipment like flood boats and chainsaws
  • Operations management — helping to coordinate the activities of teams in the field
  • Media, public relations and community education — working with the media and the public to communicate safety messages and warnings and to promote the SES to the community
  • Training coordination — helping to plan and carry out the training in a Unit
  • Vertical rescue — rescuing people from heights and depths such as cliffs or ravines
  • Road-crash rescue — rescuing people from crashed vehicles
  • Logistics — helping to plan how to acquire, distribute and use resources during emergencies
  • Management — helping the Unit to run smoothly
  • Emergency services liaison — working with representatives of other emergency services during emergencies
  • Urban Search and Rescue — extending basic rescue techniques to situations such as collapsed or unstable structures, using specialised equipment such as after bombs or explosions.
  • Marine Rescue - working with the Coast Guard and other marine organizations in assisting boats in distress.
  • Land Search - searching for missing persons usually in rural areas but also in suburban areas.
  • Air Observers - assisting in searches over land and sea from both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
  • First Aid - aiding members of the public requiring basic medical aid and assisting ambulance officers and members of St. John Ambulance of Australia with triage and mass casualty situations.
  • Fire Support - Assisting the police and the rural and metropolitan fire services with road closures, evacuations and delivery of welfare during major fires.
  • Mines Rescue - Some SES units have specific training to allow them to rescue trapped persons from inside collapsed mines.

In Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT, the telephone number for all SES units is 132 500. In Western Australia, the number is 1300 130 039. In Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory, there is no state-wide telephone number. However, if in the Brisbane area call Brisbane City Council on 3403 8888.

In South Australia, calls and dispatch are managed by the Metropolitan Fire Service, having previously being managed by the CFS. This is in preparation for full deployment of the South Australian Computer Aided Dispatch (SACAD) system. Management of this implementation is by Justice Business Services, a section of the Attorney-General's Department of South Australia.

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