Renowned storyteller and Play School presenter, Justine Clarke, and Australia’s favourite family matriarch, Melanie Zanetti, aka ‘Chilli’ in Bluey, have teamed up with Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) and Think HQ on a campaign aimed at raising awareness about navigating emergency scenarios during high-risk weather seasons.

The campaign leverages the existing national Australian Warning System (AWS) and features Clarke and Zanetti voicing a new series of animated ‘ambassadors’ - the warning signs themselves, representing emergencies like bushfires, floods, storms, and extreme heat. These ambassadors star in stories designed to appeal to both children and adults, including 'Felix and his Friends Festival Adventure', 'A Camping Trip Takes a Turn', and 'Georgia and the Girls Great Weekend Adventure'.

These stories have been adapted across multiple formats including video, printed picture books, audio books, radio spots and social assets. The campaign also includes a suite of in-language assets across five different languages and was supported by Think HQ's multicultural communications arm, CultureVerse.

"We have really enjoyed working on the project and the chance to bring the warnings system to life through creative storytelling," said EMV Manager, Operational Communications, Lucy Bell. "The execution is really engaging, easy to understand and strikes the right balance between informative with a touch of humour. As we head into summer, we know how useful the materials will be for community members to understand our warnings and what they need to do during an emergency."

Think HQ ECD, Rob Barnett, shared his personal connection to the project.

"After spending my summers over the past 10 years in a fire prone area in country Victoria, I have firsthand experience in the risks we face every year. We had a lot of fun collaborating with Justine and Melanie on set as well as working closely with Think HQ’s team of illustrators and animators to bring the characters and stories to life," he said.

Think HQ copywriter, Lauren Brown, also hoped the campaign would help people to feel more informed.

“Weather-based emergencies can be such scary and difficult things to navigate, which unfortunately many of us know from experience. It was incredibly fun bringing all elements of this campaign to life," she added.

The campaign will be launched by the Deputy Emergency Manager Commissioner, Chris Stephenson at a school in a high-risk area. Stephenson will facilitate ‘storytime’ with the children and each will be presented with a hard copy of the book, 'A Family Camping Trip Takes A Turn'. Local Emergency Management agencies will also be on-site to answer any of the children’s questions.

EMV is leading this tailored, multi-faceted AWS initiative on behalf of Victoria’s emergency services.