Dianne Dale’s love for her Macedon Ranges community and dedication to helping people in times of crisis has been recognised in the Australia Day honours.
The Gisborne resident was awarded an Emergency Services Medal for distinguished service to the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES).
Ms Dale has been a volunteer with the Gisborne unit of the VICSES since 2003. She currently volunteers as a VICSES operational crew member and a leader in peer support.
She is also a serving member of Victoria Police and a volunteer with the Gisborne CFA.
During her 22 years as a volunteer, Ms Dale has taken part in more than 2,200 emergency responses, including major floods, storms, road crash rescues and bushfires.
The former chef was a busy mum when she decided to join the VICSES. Volunteering was normal part of her childhood thanks to her mum who volunteered with St John Ambulance and her dad, who was a member of Rotary.
“Back then ( in 2003) Macedon Ranges was small community and I wanted to help out in my community, provide the skills I had and learn new skills myself. I had a friend in the SES and they were always telling me how great it was and how it was a good community service,“ Ms Dale explained.
“As a mum you like to learn new skills and all the skills you do learn are nationally recognised, so it’s a way of embarking on another set of life skills that you can utilise when the community needs you.“
In 2022, Ms Dale led a large multi-agency response during the Murray River floods in Echuca as the divisional commander, coordinating over 100 emergency workers from VICSES, Country Fire Authority, Forest Fire Management Victoria, Life Saving Victoria, the Australian Defence Force, and local government.
In November 2024, she used her specialist skills in road crash rescue to help when a water tanker veered off road and crashed into a preschool in Riddells Creek, killing teacher’s aide Eleanor Bryant. She also provided emotional support to those affected by the tragedy.
She estimates that she has attended hundreds of road accidents over her more than two decades of service.
“There are a lot of high impact collisions here in the Macedon Ranges so it becomes very challenging getting people out of cars. I’ve learnt a whole raft of skills, not just how to operate the tools to extract someone (from a crash), but how to provide initial first aid, how to triage in an emergency and about working in a team.“
Ms Dale is also well known for her work supporting the mental health and wellbeing of fellow volunteers. She has developed training and led programs to help emergency workers cope with the stresses of their demanding roles. During the COVID-19 pandemic and flood responses, she helped many volunteers manage the emotional challenges they faced.
“I do pride myself on my leadership. Volunteers are unpaid, they turn up to do an amazing job for the community so I have to make sure I am coordinating and triaging their welfare, managing their fatigue and making sure teams are functioning effectively.
“Our colleagues do experience trauma at times, so it’s important to make sure we are looking after everybody. I am also mindful of my own self care. I have self care plans I look to when I need to. Welfare is a huge part of what we do.“
Ms Dale said her role involves making confronting decisions at times, but she prioritorises keeping calm.
“I make sure I am thinking things through and taking extra seconds to make a decision.“
One of the unit’s most challenging responses was to the 2021 storms that ripped through the Macedon Ranges. Ms Dale was deployed to the Kyneton CFA station to co-ordinate requests for assistance.
She described it as a ’dry fire event’ which resulted in some of the largest trees emergency responders had ever seen felled by the howling winds.
“It was challenging getting crews into those areas, making sure people weren’t isolated. Our crews did amazing jobs.“
She said volunteering had taken her on an “amazing journey“.
“I would definitely encourage people to join a volunteer organisation. You get new skills, make lifelong friends and there are a lot of personal rewards.“
Ms Dale was working in her role as a detective sergeant with Victoria Police on Australia Day, but was looking forward to sharing the news with her mum and the Macedon Ranges emergency volunteer community.
“I feel very honoured to be chosen as a recipient of the medal. I love serving the Macedon Ranges community.
“We might go out to a tree job at 3am in the morning and the residents are always very thankful that we are there. People are very appreciative.“
