In 2022, Australia experienced some of the worst flooding in recorded history, and the NSW State Emergency Service responded to thousands of flood rescues. Since the flood, the NSW SES has led a multi-agency approach to building flood rescue capability, with new purpose built vehicles, vessels, systems, coordination mechanisms and trained operators. As climate change leads and a growing population exposes more of the community to the risk of flooding, the state of NSW is better prepared.

During this presentation, we will share lessons for other nations on the process of building a flood rescue capability, the types of flooding experienced in Australia, lessons learned from operational response, and training and maintaining a volunteer rescue workforce.