‘You get back as much as you’re willing and able to put in,’ award-winning SES veteran says

Albion Park local Terrie-Ann Hurt has volunteered with the State Emergency Service (SES) for 20 years, all while holding down a job and raising a family. A member of the Shellharbour unit, Terrie-Ann served during the 2013 Kiama tornado and Shellharbour windstorm. She has volunteered in Queensland during cyclone emergencies and on the South Coast during the Black Summer Bushfires.

In June, Terrie-Ann’s achievements were recognised with Emergency Services Medal (ESM) in the King's Birthday Honours for her outstanding service.

In two decades with the SES, Terrie-Ann has overseen multiple units in the Illawarra while balancing full-time work with her volunteer commitments.

“It's something I never honestly thought that I would be in that calibre to achieve,” Terrie-Ann said.

“I've worked alongside some very amazing people in the New South Wales SES who have been recipients of the ESM and they're people that I aspired to be like.”

Terrie-Ann began her SES career eager to volunteer and learn, especially keen to handle a chainsaw. She advanced from media officer and community engagement roles to unit commander, eventually becoming a cluster commander watching over multiple units across Illawarra for 11 years.

“I think volunteering is one of those things where you get back as much as you're willing and able to put in yourself.

“I wasn't a nurse, I wasn't a manager or anything like that.

“I really wanted to go and work and play with a chainsaw, to be quite honest.”

Outside of volunteering, Terrie-Ann works full-time with the federal government and cares for her family, including two children, aged 23 and 21, who also volunteer. Terrie-Ann's husband lives with disabilities, which is part of the reason she has put so much time into volunteering.

“Originally volunteering was to give back to the doctors and nurses at the time that had given us a significant amount of assistance and support."

Terrie-Ann's role has involved a variety of tasks, including hands-on work and managing units throughout the region, from the Shoalhaven area to Wollongong. She has faced numerous challenges, including having to travel to places such as Bega to help fight fires during the Black Summer bushfire season of 2019-20.

It's a challenge to balance her volunteering and work with her personal life.

“I think most of us are very, very lucky to get the support of our employers but we're also very cautious about not overextending that,” Terrie-Ann said.

Terrie-Ann's greatest achievements include guiding volunteers to surpass their own expectations and she finds joy in watching them grow as a result of the SES's supportive training environment, which she helps to foster.

“It's one of those things that volunteers are very passionate about, supporting each other,” Terrie-Ann said.

“They will support you through that training process, getting those skills and the opportunity to then go and practise it on an ongoing basis.”

The SES is always looking for new volunteers – to sign up, click here.