SES History

Australia's Civil Defence Service had its beginnings in 1936 when Commonwealth and State Ministers agreed that key personnel would be trained in preparation for possible gas attacks and also provide equipment, manuals, technical information and advice.

During World War II many Australians were volunteers, appointed as air raid wardens by the National Emergency Services. They monitored air raid security and breaches of blackout regulations. In cities and towns around the country, evacuation procedures were planned and practised.

After the war, around the late 1940's,the Commonwealth reactivated the Civil Defence Service. During the 1950's the states accepted responsibility for civil defence organisations, with each having a headquarters and volunteer units at local government level.

The SES was formed in 1959 for the purpose of coping with civil disaster, including fires, floods, cyclones, railway accidents, crashed aircraft, explosions and the search for lost persons.

In 1961 the SES was amalgamated with the Civil Defence Organisation and became known as Civil Defence and Emergency Service of Western Australia. This followed a Royal Commission on bushfires and a government review into ways to combat cyclones and floods.

The combined organistation was responsible to the Western Australian Premier's Department and known as the Civil Defence and Emergency Service of Western Australia.

In 1974, responsibility for the organisation was transferred to the Public Works Department and the organisation was renamed the Western Australian State Emergency Service. Their headquarters was located at the "Bunker" in Belmont, with SES units also located at Subiaco, Perth, Westrail and the Swan Brewery.

SES Units were known as Local Volunteer Emergency Service Units, but by the end of the seventies they were referred to as State Emergency Service Units.

Responsibility for the organisation was moved back to the Premier's Department in 1977 and six years later to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Local Government.

In 1995, the State Emergency Service was established as a separate department and this remained in place until 1997 when the SES became a division of the newly created Department of Fire and Emergency Services, pending legislation to create the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia (FESA).

Since 1999 it has been an integral part of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority.


This information kindly supplied by FESA magazine 24seven and S.E.S. Volunteers Association (Inc)

Unit History

Established

The Mundaring State Emergency Service Unit was established on 15th August 1990.

The unit was established because the Shire of Mundaring saw a need for an SES unit when they designed their Counter Disaster Manual in 1989.

Coordinators/Local Managers

The original Coordinator was Mr Cornelius de Bruin Von Geldern. 
He was appointed on 26/06/1990 and resigned on 29/10/1990.
The next Coordinator was Mr Karl Mucjanko, appointed on 26/02/1991.
In 1997, Mr Jim Archibald was appointed Local Manager.
In 2003, Mr Lin Booth was appointed Local Manager.
In 2010, Mr Robert Palmer was appointed Local Manager.

Significant Events

The Unit have had several very severe thunderstorms in the Mundaring Shire, with teams having to work for in excess of one week straight in 1994 and 3 days straight in 2011. Each year the members of the unit will attend community members residences to carry out temporary repairs to mitigate the effects of storm damage.

Also, Unit members have attended as far north as Kulumbaroo following cyclones, cyclone damaged areas in Exmouth in 1999, fires in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria in 2000 and cyclone damage in Karatha in 2011.

Members of the unit have also assisted other units in the Perth metropolitan area with storm damage tasks after many annual storms.

Search is another area in which the Unit has had significant work over the years. It is not uncommon for at least one or two searchs to be conducted each year in the forrest surrounding Mundaring Shire, for people who become lost.

Members also assist in searches in all other areas of the state, when required.

 

 

 

The information in these pages is provided in good faith. Any errors or omissions are excepted.

Mundaring State Emergency Service Unit makes no representations, express or implied,as to the accuracy of the information contained in this site, and accept no liability for any use of theinformation or reliance placed on it.