The National Emergency Medal is being made available to both employed and volunteer emergency service workers who tackled some of the worst fires in living memory during Australia's 2019-20 bushfire period.

Coming just one year on from the traumatic natural disaster, Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said the medal will be available to those who responded directly to the fires.

"In the Riverina, especially the Dunns Road fire, and in other bushfire disaster areas around Australia I saw and heard of the enormous work done by our emergency services workers for fire victims, be it saving their properties from the flames or caring for them in the aftermath of tragedy," he said.

The Dunns Road bushfire burnt more than 330,000 hectares, destroyed 100 homes and public buildings and claimed one life.

The South West Slopes RFS zone, including Young, Boorowa, Harden, Cootamundra and Gundagai, supplied up to 16 trucks at a time over a 24 hour period.

To be eligible for the medal, the service must be in the protection of lives and property, or in the service of interests, which are not their own, in direct response to the emergency, including support which enabled or facilitated the emergency response.

Sustained service is five days during the periods when the fires were at their most severe.

More information at gg.gov.au.

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