When people go missing in Queensland’s most remote and challenging environments, there is a specialised volunteer team ready to answer the call. Queensland Remote Area Trackers (QRAT) is a volunteer search and rescue organisation that responds to missing person incidents, disaster events and recovery operations across the state.
From the Daintree rainforest to Charleville and beyond, QRAT volunteers use specialist tracking and search skills to help bring people home, often deploying for extended periods when searches continue beyond the capabilities of many conventional resources.
The team currently has 32 qualified trackers and 24 members in training. Volunteers come from a range of backgrounds including mining, teaching, zoology and trades, though around 80 per cent are former defence force personnel, police officers and emergency services veterans.
Over the past 12 months, QRAT has responded to 19 activations across Queensland. About one-third involved people who had become lost or injured in remote areas, another third were linked to mental health issues, with dementia-related searches making up a significant portion of that work. The remaining activations involved people considered at risk of self-harm.
Nathan Galaar, a QRAT volunteer and one of the organisation’s founding members, said QRAT provides a valuable community service while giving former service personnel a meaningful way to continue serving others.
“So often ex-defence and emergency service veterans find themselves struggling to readjust to civilian life.
“Veterans have a strong sense of identity, service to others and comradeship. They typically have participated in a lifestyle that is outdoors, very physical and demands movement.
“During their service veterans amass considerable training in leadership, field craft skills, navigation, endurance marching, search techniques, radio communications and more. QRAT takes those skills and those veterans and repurposes them, refocuses them, and makes use of them for the benefit of the community.
“The boon is that the community gets an enhanced search and rescue capability and the veteran feels useful again, particularly while working peer to peer with those of like background.”
One of QRAT’s proudest achievements came when 17 members were awarded the Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner’s Certificate Operational, one of the highest recognitions rarely presented to civilians.
The award recognised the volunteers’ contribution to one of Queensland Police’s most challenging aircraft crash recovery operations. Working in steep rainforest terrain during the wet season, QRAT members helped establish access routes, rope systems and safe working environments for recovery crews over several weeks.
Nathan said the Community Gift would improve the organisation’s night search capability.
“It will be used to purchase a helmet to mount an expensive recently donated night vision device to as the current strap system causes terrible headaches on users over short periods of time.
“This will allow us to search more safely at night for those that are avoiding being found such as children, dementia sufferers and some who are despondent.”
Despite operating across Queensland, QRAT remains entirely volunteer-run and relies heavily on community support to maintain equipment, training and operational readiness.
The organisation’s deployment trailers, which serve as mobile headquarters during searches and disaster responses, were built by volunteers and provide communications, mapping, first aid and other mission-critical resources in the field.
“When you support a completely volunteer and ACNC certified organisation like QRAT, you know that all of your hard-earned resources go to fulfilling the objects of the organisation.
“In the case of QRAT, you and your organisation are directly saving the lives of persons in distress and returning them to their loved ones.
“You may not be able to carry 40 kilograms into the most remote and difficult terrain in Australia for multiple days, but we can’t do that job without the resources that make it possible.”
