We absolutely love seeing creative ideas that help make preparedness fun and engaging, especially for our youngest community members. That’s why we had to share this fantastic initiative from Burdekin Shire Council.

Burdekin has just welcomed its brand-new Disaster Management Mascot, Prepared Pete, a friendly, approachable character designed to help promote storm and disaster readiness in a way kids can easily relate to.

Prepared Pete got his name thanks to a fun community competition held with local primary schools as part of the ‘Are You Ready?’ week campaign. The council dropped off entry forms to schools, promoted the comp on social media, and made forms available at their Customer Service Centre. Students were asked to name the mascot with no real limits, but themes like resilience, weather events or preparedness were encouraged. They even ran a colouring-in competition alongside it.

The naming competition was a big hit, with loads of entries. After narrowing the list down to a top 15, the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) team and advisors voted to choose their favourite. And that’s how Prepared Pete was born.

The winning student received:
• A $1,000 voucher for school resources
• A $25 Woolworths gift voucher
• A Get Ready Kit backpack filled with emergency essentials, plus some fun goodies like stickers, lollies and pencils

Plus, three additional age-level winners also received prize packs, including gift cards and Get Ready Kits.

Since his debut, Pete has been a hit. He even made a special visit to the Ayr Library during Get Ready Week in October 2024 to help the DM team educate locals on storm preparedness.

We asked the team what inspired this brilliant idea, and it turns out it came from their Local Disaster Coordinator and former Mayor. They wanted a mascot that would be engaging for kids while subtly reinforcing important messages about staying safe and being prepared.

Fun fact: Pete’s outfit even includes navy and orange cross-hatching to match the disaster management team's uniforms.

The hope is that Pete will help plant the seeds of resilience early. As one team member put it, “Children of today will be the adults of tomorrow. If we can embed preparedness into their thinking now, it’s more likely to become second nature, and hopefully, the message will ripple out to their families too.”

Want to see Pete in action and meet the young naming champion? Check out the full story here.

What a brilliant way to make disaster readiness feel less daunting and more empowering—especially for our youngest community members. Hats off to the team at Burdekin!