Department of Emergency Services recognised for excellence

The Queensland Department of Emergency Services received the highest Australian Business Excellence (ABE) award of any government department from across the country last night.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the Department was award a bronze ABE award at the 2008 SAI Global Better Business Conference and Awards in Sydney.

“I congratulate the staff of the Department of Emergency Services on the award. They should feel very proud,” Mr Roberts said.

“This award is the premier recognition in Australia for superior organisational performance and sustained improvement, and we’ve been afforded high prestige in receiving it this year.”

“The Department of Emergency Services and its divisions perform vital work on behalf of communities across Queensland. This award recognises the Department’s commitment to continuous improvement in what it does.”

All divisions, and now the entire department, have been using the Australian Business Excellence Framework (BEF) as the basis for ongoing and systematic business improvement.

The BEF is a leadership and management improvement model that specifies what a truly excellent organisation does.

This latest achievement further builds upon a decade of success at divisional level within the DES. These remarkable business achievements began with the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) in 1999 when they received their first of three ABE Awards to date (1999, 2001, 2005).

Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) was recognized with three ABE Awards of their own with one in 2001 and two in 2006. Emergency Management Queensland were also awarded an ABE Award in 2003.

10 July 2008
Media contact: Kirby Anderson 3247 8194