Now is the time for small businesses in North and Far North Queensland to Get Ready for the upcoming disaster season, with tools and support available from the Palaszczuk Government.
Minister for Employment and Small Business Di Farmer said Get Ready Queensland Week might be coming to an end, but will be followed by a month-long Get Ready Small Business campaign based in North and Far North Queensland.
“In recent years, our small businesses have dealt with a range of disasters including bushfires, droughts, monsoonal floods, severe storms and cyclones,” Minister Farmer said.
“The Get Ready message is particularly relevant to small businesses in the north of the state, which were severely affected by the monsoon event in 2019.
“That’s why in May this year we launched the Digital Disaster Hub and App in Townsville, to help businesses be as prepared as they can be for the potential threats and to recover as quickly as possible.
“The small business disaster hub provides fast and easy access to checklists, financial assistance and other resources across different types of disasters.
“The online resource is the first of its kind in Australia designed to help small businesses to better prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from different types of crises ranging from natural disasters to workplace emergencies and IT threats.
“To date more than 300 users have downloaded the app and the website has been visited more than 7,600 times – the Get Ready Small Business campaign is a reminder for more businesses to get on board.
“The campaign will include webinars that can be accessed by businesses anywhere and expos will be held in Townsville on 3 November and in Port Douglas on 10 November with the Disaster Ready Day in Townsville on 7 November.
“We also have our brilliant NQ Small Business Recovery Centre in Townsville: a one-stop-shop providing a range of advice and support.”
Townsville’s Mick Devine, CEO Calxa Australia and App user, said being prepared for any type of emergency like cyclones, floods or pandemics, was critical to business continuity.
“Being disaster ready means for us that business goes on as usual – more or less,” Mr Devine said.
“Many of our customers around Australia and the world don’t know we’re in North Queensland and if we have just experienced a cyclone or that our offices are flooded.
“Having a plan helps us make quick decisions under pressure and ensures we can continue to service our customers globally.
“Similarly, when the COVID-19 lockdowns were announced, we simply enacted our disaster plan – within two days our whole team was working from home, helping our customers through their COVID-19 emergency.”
Get Ready Queensland is a year-round, all-hazards, resilience building initiative to help communities prepare for natural disasters. The regional campaign is a partnership between Townville’s Small Business Recovery Centre (SBRC) and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA).
