NAB News

When disastrous floods hit Brisbane in 2011, NAB’s Ilyas Livanes was part of the Mud Army who volunteered to help with the clean up.

“I’m a born and bred Brisbanite and I felt like the city and its people were hurting,” he said.

“I had water up to my front door, but it didn’t matter. I just wanted to help.”

In the floods of 2022, Ilyas was there again, alongside a group of volunteer veterans, emergency services personnel and civilians from Disaster Relief Australia.

“I saw the ingenuity of the people helping and how well the organisation behind it was working,” he said.

“Disaster Relief Australia was quite clear on what to do, helping on the ground when it was really needed.”

Disaster Relief Australia

Disaster Relief Australia launched in 2016, combining the skills and experience of veterans with emergency service specialists and civilian volunteers to respond to large-scale disasters.

“As former ADF personnel, our volunteers are well-placed to operate effectively within the recovery phase of a disaster and put their military skills to good use serving the community,” said DRA CEO Geoff Evans.

“Over the past year, DRA has completed seven operations across Australia and New Zealand, with more than 630 volunteers spending nearly 35,000 hours on the ground supporting community clean-ups.”

DRA estimates 100,000 volunteer hours will be needed to support communities this disaster season.

A partnership with NAB Foundation

NAB has announced a partnership with DRA through the NAB Foundation, granting $1 million plus in-kind support to bolster the organisation’s community and corporate volunteer capacity over the next two years.

“Organisations like DRA are crucial in getting Australians back on track when disasters strike, just as we saw after the 2022 Brisbane floods when NAB first joined DRA’s army of volunteers,” NAB CEO Ross McEwan said.

“When the floods hit Brisbane, many Australians, including local NAB colleagues, wanted to get out there and volunteer but there wasn’t the capacity to manage spontaneous opportunities. This partnership will fill that gap.”

Read the NAB media release for details.

Colleagues rolling up sleeves

NAB colleagues are supported to make a difference with 16 hours volunteer leave per year. And they’ve been making the most of it.

Such as after the floods in Rochester, Victoria…

And in Mannum, South Australia…

Rebuilding communities takes many hands

DRA CEO Geoff Evans said it takes many hands to get communities back up and running.

“This partnership to boost our capacity to manage community members on stand-by will help us get more boots on the ground where, and when they’re needed most,” he said.

“[It] will also assist us in our ongoing goal to recruit more than 5,000 additional DRA volunteers over the next three years.”