A WOMAN who led the Kinglake Ranges community through the immediate recovery after the 2009 bushfires has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Anne Leadbeater said she was ” surprise and humbled” by the award for her work leading the 12-week Black Saturday recovery program.
“There were so many people who did so many incredible things at the time, I am humbled,” she said.
Ms Leadbeater was working at the Murrindindi council at the time of the fires and was sent 70 kilometres from the council’s Alexandra office to co-ordinate immediate response and recovery efforts in the Kinglake community. She then co-ordinated an ongoing response to the fire by local, state and commonwealth agencies including the police, State Emergency Services, Department of Human Services and the Australian Army for about three months.
Ms Leadbeater, a Kinglake resident, said recovery for survivors was a long process.
“This is something we need to learn, when a community goes through a disaster it takes not just one year or a few years to recover from,” she said. “Some people will never recover.”
