- Title:
-
Understanding Islam: An emergency service organisation’s experience
- Date:
- September 2008
- Organisations
- FESA
- Authors:
- K.J. Roberts
- Location:
- Western Australia, WA, Australia
Overview
The International Bushfire Research Conference 2008 - incorporating The 15th annual AFAC Conference, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
In an emergency management context, reciprocal trust, i.e. citizens of their government and government of its citizens, is essential during times of natural disasters, major incidents and other catastrophic events.
Western Australia is a vast State, with many communities settled in remote and isolated locations. WA is inherently vulnerable to natural disasters ranging from severe cyclones in the north, intense storms in the southern regions and a high threat of bush fires across the State.
WA is home to an increasing number of Australian Muslims, including many of whose past experiences of uniformed personnel together with language barriers, cultural differences and stereotyping of Islam can make forming partnerships and delivering emergency services challenging.
The Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (FESA) has also previously deployed specialist personnel to countries of predominately Islamic faith during times of major disasters. FESA also provides services to the Christmas and Cocos Islands both of which have large Muslim populations.
Recognising the need to build FESA’s internal capacity and understanding of Islam, FESA collaborated with Murdoch University to develop a one day workshop to meet the needs of emergency service workers.
The initial decision to conduct this training did attract some isolated resistance and criticism. However, the pilot workshop was fully subscribed and provided some powerful personal learnings for participants. This paper describes the organisational context and motivators for conducting the training, reflecting on the personal experiences and lessons learnt by workshop developers.
