Former Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC PhD student Dr Kamarah Pooley has been awarded an Australian Fire Service Medal, as part of the Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours List. The AFSM recognises Dr Pooley’s distinguished contributions to prevention programs and community fire safety.
Dr Pooley completed her PhD research project – An evaluation of Youth Justice Conferencing for youth misuse of fire – through the CRC at Queensland University of Technology in 2018.
Her PhD investigated the Youth Justice Conferencing program that was convened in NSW for young people who have committed a fire-related offence. The research found that the program contributed to a reduced risk of general recidivism, providing an avenue for delivering better fire safety education to at-risk groups across the community. Her work led to the development of an interagency digital training resource that prepares conference convenors, firefighters, police, young people, victims and other participants for Youth Justice Conferencing.
Dr Pooley’s work has previously been awarded an Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award in 2018. Since completing her PhD, she worked as a senior research analyst at the Australian Institute of Criminology before joining Fire and Rescue NSW as a senior firefighter.
While serving as a frontline firefighter with Fire and Rescue NSW, Dr Pooley has also completed secondments with the Community Engagement Unit and is currently a fire research officer with the Fire Investigation and Research Unit. Dr Pooley has consistently sought opportunities to extend and apply her knowledge of misuse of fire by young people, along with her research into youth offending, public safety, and community risk reduction more broadly, publishing more than 16 peer-reviewed papers in the last seven years.
The 2022 Honours List was announced by Governor-General, the Hon David Hurley AC, on 13 June 2022, recognising the strengths and achievements of Australians in the fields of community service, science and research, industry, sport, the arts and more. The full Honours List is available on the Governor-General’s website.