Australia's emergency response to the tsunami.

The tsunami of 26 December 2004 was a natural disaster of a magnitude difficult to comprehend. It touched us in so many different ways. The countries affected in the Indian Ocean are within easy reach of Australia. They are its neighbours--many Australians work and live in these countries; they go there for holidays. The Australian Government has long-standing aid and diplomatic ties with many of them.

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When news of the tsunami spread and the death toll grew alarmingly, the Government knew there was a major disaster occurring on its doorstep. The AusAssist Plan, a standing government disaster plan used mainly to respond to disasters in the Pacific, was activated. Within hours, high-ranking officials from AusAID--the Australian Government's official aid agency--foreign affairs, police, defence and other arms of the Government had developed an urgent emergency assistance plan that would steer Australia's contribution to the international relief effort.

Drawing on expertise from within the Commonwealth and State Governments, professional associations and organizations and voluntary agencies, Australia swiftly mobilized teams of highly-skilled professionals to the tsunami-affected areas. This was the result of well-established partnerships between Governments, agencies and organizations, following well-defined processes. Their ability to provide food, water, medical assistance and shelter quickly helped prevent more deaths from disease and injury.

The Australian Government immediately promised $10 million in humanitarian aid, which swiftly grew to $35 million and then to $60 million when the extent of the disaster became apparent. At the same time, the Australian public showed its concern for the victims by raising a staggering $280 million in donations. Four months later, fund-raising activities were still under way.

In Indonesia, where the tsunami hit hardest, AusAID worked with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide substantial emergency relief. Its funding helped enable the World Food Programme (WFP) to buy and distribute food and support logistics, including air transport of humanitarian relief and the establishment of a UN Joint Logistics Centre. AusAID also provided funds for emergency health and education kits to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization for comprehensive health programmes. Australia supported the International Organisation for Migration, which was critical in the relief phase, distributing food and shelter and assisting internally displaced people, and also the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which was responsible for the coordination of UN relief efforts and supplying donors with daily reports.

In Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Australia worked with WFP, UNICEF and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to buy and distribute food, provide medical kits, conduct education programmes in water and sanitation, and set up temporary camps. Its funding to the United Nations Development Programme helped provide shelter and general economic recovery and infrastructure in the Seychelles. Elsewhere, Australian expertise was hard at work. A group of 48 officers from the Australian Federal Police played a major part in helping authorities in Thailand establish a tsunamivictim identification centre in Phuket, using methods that meet international standards.

In the Maldives, education officials were deeply concerned about the safety of school buildings, so AusAID sent a group of engineers to check for structural damage. Fortunately, they found that most schools sustained only minor damage, with just 17 per cent in need of major repairs. AusAID also sent 15 volunteer teachers to the country for six months to bolster the education system and work with traumatized children. Australian marine scientists were deployed to the Maldives to check on the damage caused by the tsunami to coral reefs and fish populations. The reefs are vital to the country's tourism industry and economy. The assessment surveyed 124 reef sites and found that the damage was minor. The team of experts provided advice to the Maldives Government on reef monitoring programmes and measures to safeguard its reefs and ecosystems.

There are other less visible but nonetheless substantial contributions. Australia played a leading role at the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Kobe, Japan in early 2005, helping to forge consensus about some guiding principles for a tsunami-warning centre. It also joined other creditor nations to postpone the debt repayments of tsunami-affected countries to free up funds for recovery and reconstruction. The recovery and reconstruction phase is under way in all affected countries. Australia will continue to play a role in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, but its focus will be in Indonesia, especially on education and child protection, supporting people in getting back their livelihoods, governance, health, water and sanitation.

The five-year, $1-billion Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD), announced on 5 January 2005 by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, highlights the importance of the relationship between Australia and Indonesia. The package consists of $500 million in grants and $500 million in concessional loans over forty years, with no interest and no repayments of principal over the first ten years. Although the focus will be on the tsunami-affected areas, all of Indonesia will be eligible for assistance under the Partnership.

AIPRD is additional to the ongoing Development Cooperation Program, bringing the Australian Government's aid to Indonesia to a total of $1.8 billion over five years. In March 2005, ministers from both countries arrived in the Australian capital Canberra to discuss how funding under the AIPRD would be used. They announced a $50-million Aceh Rehabilitation Program, which will go towards renovating the Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Banda Aceh and rebuilding the health workforce there that lost so many staff in the tsunami. It will also support education services and local government.

Australia will also help rebuild expertise in health and other fields by offering up to 600 additional post-graduate scholarships to Indonesians, more than doubling the number of aid-funded scholarships it already offers to the country. Another $50 million will be used to assist Indonesia in economic, financial and public-sector management, through the exchange of skills and expertise between both Government agencies. Funds will be provided to develop closer links between Indonesia's disaster coordination authority and the Emergency Management Australia to strengthen disaster management and response systems. The disbursement of the remainder of the AIPRD package will be developed through joint arrangements between the two countries.

There has been much mention internationally of the need for Governments and NGOs to show that they are using tsunami funds responsibly. The Australian Government works with credible national and international partners who understand the importance of accountability and transparency in their activities. AusAID has checks and balances in place specifically designed to monitor the effective distribution of Australia's aid to those most in need.

Australia has high levels of expertise in various areas of disaster management and has used it to good effect, especially in the Pacific region where cyclones are a regular event. It has well-established procedures that allow the initiation of a rapid response to these events. The tsunami was, of course, the biggest natural disaster the world had seen for a long time. Its force and the devastation it wrought were immense.

By harnessing our expertise, the Australian Government was able to respond immediately with practical, useful assistance, as demonstrated in the Indonesian islands of Nias and Simeulue since the tsunami, providing immediate emergency assistance to victims of the recent earthquake. As always, we learn from our experience and develop new and better ways of operating. We become even more resourceful and skilled at disaster coordination.

Alan March is Assistant Director General of the East Timor Humanitarian and Regional Programmes with AusAID. He also worked for its Indian Ocean Tsunami Task Force, overseeing the humanitarian assistance to tsunami-affected countries. Mr. March has been with AusAID for over 20 years.

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