Bushfires 2019-20 responders now eligible for the National Emergency Medal

National Emergency Medal (Bushfires 2019-20) Amendment (Kangaroo Island) Declaration 2020

Following the announcement of the National Emergency Medal (Bushfires 2019-20) Declaration 2020, the Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat received feedback regarding the eligible emergency period for the local government area of Kangaroo Island. The National Emergency Medal Committee considered advice from Emergency Management Australia together with an independent review by the Government of South Australia and made a recommendation to the Minister that the end date for the eligible emergency period for Kangaroo Island is extended from 6 January 2020 to 6 February 2020.

On 18 December 2020 the Governor-General approved the National Emergency Medal (Bushfires 2019-20) Amendment (Kangaroo Island) Declaration 2020.

National Emergency Medal (Bushfires 2019-20) Declaration 2020

On 2 December 2020 the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), agreed to a recommendation from the Australian Government and the National Emergency Medal Committee, that the Bushfires 2019-20 event be declared a nationally-significant emergency for the purpose of the National Emergency Medal. 

This means that individuals who rendered sustained service during specified dates in specified places or who rendered significant service in response to the fires may be eligible for the National Emergency Medal.

Who is eligible?

The National Emergency Medal Committee (the Committee) determines the eligibility criteria for each declared nationally-significant emergency.

The National Emergency Medal (Bushfires 2019-20) Declaration 2020 can be found here. 

Service during this nationally significant emergency will be recognised through the clasp, ‘BUSHFIRES 19-20’. The National Emergency Medal Committee determined the following criteria:

  • service must be in the protection of lives and property; or in the service of interests, that are not their own; in direct response to the emergency (including support that enables or facilitates the emergency response).
  • the geographical area in Australia where the declared emergency happened, are the Local Government Areas (LGA) listed in Schedule 1.
  • the qualifying period for each local government area is listed in Schedule 1. 
  • the minimum duration of service that a person is required to have completed to qualify for sustained service is 5 days (whether consecutive or not) each involving service in direct response to the declared emergency relating to a Schedule 1 local government area in an eligible emergency period for the area.

I think I’m eligible – how do I apply?

To submit an application for the National Emergency Medal with clasp 'BUSHFIRES 19-20', please contact your primary service organisation in the first instance.

If you rendered service as a private citizen, please submit a National Emergency Medal Application Form.

The National Emergency Medal Regulations 2011 established two avenues of consideration for how the National Emergency Medal may be awarded:

  1. The Governor-General may, on the recommendation of the Australian Honours and Awards Secretariat (the Secretariat), award the Medal and a clasp (denoting the nationally-significant emergency) to a person who has given sustained service during a nationally-significant emergency.
  2. The Governor-General may, on the recommendation of the National Emergency Medal Committee, award the Medal and a clasp (denoting the nationally-significant emergency) to a person who has given significant service during a nationally-significant emergency.

The preferred process to apply is the same for either of these avenues of consideration. In the first instance, contact your primary service organisation. 

For organisations submitting nominations

To assist primary service organisations in submitting sustained service applications, a schedule template has been developed and can be found here. Please note these templates may be updated from time to time, so ensure you refer to our website for the most recent version. 

Timeframes

Nominations will be processed as efficiently as possible, in the order in which they are received from organisations. 

Given the large number of nominations, this process may take some time (up to six months). The Honours and Awards Secretariat will provide updates to organisations to ensure those eligible are kept informed.