Rugby league legend, Indigenous role model and former Queenslander of the Year Johnathan Thurston has been announced as the first ambassador for community disaster preparedness program Get Ready Queensland.

After becoming a Townsville local in 2005, he has experienced some of Queensland’s most extreme weather events including the North Queensland monsoonal flooding event in January 2019, Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and Cyclone Larry in 2006.

Residences that were affected by the 2018 Central Queensland Bushfires may be eligible for assistance of up to $10,000 to help pay for clean-up activities, damages or losses that are beyond the vicinity of the residential house.

Clean-up assistance can be used for the removal and disposal of debris, damaged material and deceased livestock, and repairing or replacing the fodder, fencing and essential water infrastructure.

Children’s physical, psychological and social welfare can be highly vulnerable to the impacts of disasters.

To empower young people and build their confidence in identifying and preparing for disasters in their homes and communities, the Australian Red Cross will be running the Pillowcase Project, funded by the Queensland Disaster Resilience Fund (QDRF).