VFBV

Volunteer consultation must be strengthened

By Adam Barnett, VFBV Chief Executive Officer

There is an old 14th century saying that means “misery loves company” that is often used light-heartedly to describe a feeling that by commiserating with others we can feel less alone on a particular issue or challenge which in turn helps us persevere or renew our strength to overcome it.

I was thinking about this – this week when reflecting on the controversy of the alleged poor consultation with the business and industry groups over the governments COVID-19 roadmap. The issue of poor consultation and the criticism of just paying lip service, undertaking tick box exercises and briefings masquerading as consultation would be a familiar frustration to many volunteers.

But my focus this month is drawn from another Shakespeare play ‘Measure for Measure’ which does perhaps provide a rhetorical answer to the dilemma of misery loving company. The line from the play is “The miserable have no other medicine - But only hope.”

And while I am conflating a couple of issues – my main message is that hope is crucial to CFA’s current predicament. Without it – we are left to slowly stew like a frog in hot water. We cannot afford to lose sight of the opportunities ahead of us. Many are immense if we embrace them and seize the opportunity.

And as for hope – well in order for it to have any credibility, our responsibility is to not simply accept blind or false hope but to work together to build some confidence that there is indeed genuine hope, informed by reality and that the decisions being made today are laying a strong foundation to turn those positives into practical and achievable outcomes for the long term, rather than anchors or nooses around our necks.

By the same token, and equally important – we need to make sure that we don’t cynically cut ourselves off from all positivity and hope and mistrust everyone we come across. For that really would be miserable.

For this reason, and within this context – I continue to share my cautious optimism that we are making some headway in encouraging CFA to embark on the paradigm shift as the organisation brushes itself off and pivots to the new environment. I have seen evidence of this starting to emerge in pockets at the executive and senior leadership levels of CFA. While it is still very early days - the challenge ahead is how to give those new seedlings of hope, some fertile ground to prosper.

The ‘hope’ of many volunteers is that we make the most of the current predicament and use the current environment to solve some of the systemic issues that have plagued us in the most recent past. At a high level, I am speaking of volunteer consultation, engagement, empowerment, self-determination, trust and respect. All areas that have slipped in recent times and feature prominently as recurring themes in volunteer feedback.

Many of you have heard me speak ad nauseum on the importance of genuine consultation and engagement. And while we are all incredibly proud of the volunteer Charter and of enshrining the shared principles, values and commitments into legislation, we must face the fact that without any teeth – the Charter can too frequently be dismissed and ignored.

But we also need to be careful we don’t push the pendulum too far towards a punitive and aggressive stance. For you can’t just legislate respect. You also have to teach it, earn it and demonstrate it. Respect is more often given rather than taken.

Tellingly, there is some very wise advice from our forebears built into the Charter itself. The commitment that is enshrined at the very end of the Charter helps prepare the road ahead. It says that all parties commit to using and applying the Charter in the spirit of mutual respect and goodwill and to work together in that spirit to resolve any disputes which may arise between CFA, the State of Victoria and the Volunteers by reference to the key principles set down in it. These are enduring words and are perhaps a beacon for the journey ahead.

Is our current predicament worth abandoning this commitment that was so hard fought for? Will giving up on that ‘hope’ lead us to any better conclusion? I’d argue that we can’t let fear, anger and disappointment cloud our judgement or hold us back from moving forward, and we have the greatest chance of success if we use all our patience and energy to try and take those steps WITH CFA rather than attempting to single handily drag the organisation down this path. And I observe a CFA tentatively taking those first few steps, more receptive and more open to progress and accountability.

I respect that for many volunteers, given recent experience and events, the notion that there is any goodwill left in breathing new life into a tripart commitment to living and honouring the principles in the Charter is going to be hard to imagine. And I’ll be honest with you – there are days that the prospect or possibility of goodwill emerging with some parties is not only hard to imagine but downright impossible. But thankfully – those days are few in number. Our eyes must be fixed on the pathway ahead, not just the one recently travelled.

We also can’t be naive. The Charter was written for a time where one’s word was one’s honour. Clearly times have changed. A practical way to move forward and provide genuine hope is to pursue both outcomes and balance them to honour the spirit and intent of the Charter. In other words - pursue changes to give the Charter some teeth AND work together in the spirit of mutual respect and goodwill with those willing to do so to try and effect positive change.

Teeth need not be just a stick – there is a reason a carrot is usually paired with it to achieve persuasion.

So returning to consultation and engagement, this remains one of the highest priorities of the VFBV Board and State Council. It is based on the principle that in any workforce, the genuine engagement with the ‘workers’ is fundamental to an organisations success. In a community embedded and volunteer-based workforce, not only is genuine, robust and meaningful engagement important, but as an underlying driver of organisational culture, values, behaviours and approach – it is critical.

CFA cannot operate on the premise that all leadership, direction, governance and performance management will be provided by paid personnel. Just as volunteers are essential to front-line firefighting and incident command, volunteers in CFA are vital to the leadership and management of CFA at every level of the organisation from brigade to board.

Empowering volunteers, trusting them and engaging with them as equal partners to consider issues, challenges and opportunities will be fundamental to volunteers rebuilding confidence and trust in CFA (and vice versa) and ensuring it prospers and is restored to a confident and proud volunteer and community organisation of choice.

Fortunately, we already have some really good foundations to ensure we don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. We are also an organisation overflowing with exceptional people. We have some good existing consultative structures and processes in place that are simply not being used to their potential and are being hampered by a lack of accountability, commitment and governance.

We have broad consultative forums and structures throughout both CFA and VFBV at State, Region and District levels that have been squandered or ignored for far too long.

One way for CFA to signal that the organisation is ready to embrace its volunteer focus and commitment is to work with VFBV to strengthen these structures, better connect them to the various leadership levels and hold managers accountable for their performance in genuinely engaging with and embracing volunteers.

Too often change is done to volunteers, rather than with them. Too often I hear people asking ‘if’ volunteers were consulted. This has lost all meaning – as the question is normally dismissed with a simple yes – with no accountability on that person to demonstrate the robustness of their answer. So please stop asking IF – and start asking HOW. This is the only way a qualitative judgement can be made on its efficacy.

And consultation also needs to be a partnership. You, we and us have an incredibly important role to play. Genuine consultation cannot simply be demanded. It’s hard work – and requires a commitment from all parties for it to be effective. But its rewards are infinite.

The key to effective consultation is to consult early and consult often. Its often slow and deliberate in order to bring people along on the journey. It needs to occur when policy, proposals or approach are still under active consideration and development. The objectives of the consultation and the problem or opportunity we are trying to address needs to be clearly explained.

There has to be an opportunity for volunteers to readily contribute to the development of the solutions and the sharing and exchanging of information and analysis to form genuine and informed dialog between the parties. This is critical to ensuring everyone is working off the same assumptions and baseline and also helps manage expectations.

Information and issues papers, draft assessments, impact statements, white papers, surveys or exposure drafts should always be readily available to help illicit informed comments and feedback loops that develop robust impact assessments from the various outcomes or approaches. It cannot be rushed, and must be well planned, methodical and transparent.

Robustness is achieved by the proper analysis of alternatives; providing timeframes that are respectful and appropriate for a volunteer-based organisation; as well as a commitment to show how feedback was taken into account and considered before decisions or next steps are taken.

None of this is rocket science - but it does require a mature and disciplined commitment. We really do have some good and strong foundations – but we must evolve and mature them to survive in this brave new world and to rebuild confidence that CFA is serious in volunteer consultation and engagement.

The VFBV Board, State Council and Executive are absolutely committed to seizing this opportunity and ensuring volunteer consultation and engagement is restored and strengthened. We are pursuing all opportunities to embed this work in everything we do. We are also working with District Councils to support relationships and help improve and strengthen the local escalation and issue management pathways so that brigades and groups can be actively involved in strengthening volunteer consultation with CFA at the local level.

My hope is that whoever you are, and wherever you are reading this - you will consider what you can do to assist and support this work. We cannot do it on our own and everyone has a role to play.

VFBV will be there to help, support and encourage you along the way. Please share and discuss your ideas with each other and share these discussions with your BMT, delegates, State Councillor’s and District Councils. Please don’t wait for hope to come knocking – seize the moment and let’s create some of it ourselves.

For in the words of novelist Brian Moore; If misery loves company, then triumph demands an audience.

Affiliation

The number of Brigades affiliating with VFBV for 2020/21 is on track to match previous record numbers, a sign of continued strong support for VFBV’s work on behalf of volunteers in a time when it has never been a more important for CFA volunteers to show unity and support the state-wide independent advocacy of our volunteers as their representative body.

If you are not sure whether your Brigade or Group’s VFBV affiliation and Brigade’s VFBV Welfare Fund subscription have been paid please contact your Secretary urgently, as we encourage all those who have not yet affiliated to do so as soon as possible.

We strongly encourage Brigades to subscribe to the VFBV Welfare Fund in the interests of supporting your members in times of personal hardship. In 2019/20 the Welfare Fund distributed over $273,000 to volunteers and their families in need.

VFBV AGM

In line with current Victorian Health Guidelines under Victoria’s State of Emergency and advice from Consumer Affairs Victoria the VFBV Board have lodged a three month extension and postponed this year’s Annual General Meeting to December 2020.

Following consultation with the State Council Executive, the Board has also endorsed State Council Executive’s recommendation that all State Council & Welfare Fund office holder’s terms that were due to expire in September 2020 will be extended through to December. The two State Council nominees to the VFBV Board terms have also been extended through to December 2020.

This decision does not impact on the VFBV Board member application process, with the interview and selection process of the four expiring Board members to continue as planned.

Further details of arrangements for this year’s AGM will be provided closer to the date.

2020/21 Championships

With the current COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria, it is still not clear whether we will be conducting local competitions or State Championships next year. VFBV however is planning for the best-case scenario and that restrictions will ease in time for these events to go ahead.

Obviously this will be dependent on Government restrictions and the directions of the Chief Health Officer at the time.

It is highly likely that if local competitions and Championships are permitted, they will have to be conducted under specific Government health guidelines. VFBV delegates and CFA are working closely with the Championship Host Committees in pre planning to manage the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and requirements to conduct the events in order to comply with any potential health guidelines – and information on this will be forwarded to entered brigades once the guidelines become clearer.

VFBV has recently emailed Urban Competition Associations and District Rural Competition Committees to inquire if subject to Government advice and restrictions if they intend to conduct a competition; and VFBV has emailed all Rural and Urban competition brigades to inquire if subject to Government advice and restrictions they intend to compete.

Responses are due by 30th October 2020. This information is required to support development of the COVID Plan that will need to be submitted to the health department.

VESEP Support

This year’s Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP) is now open

This year Brigades and Groups have 12 weeks to complete their applications, with applications due back to CFA by 16th November 2020.

VFBV has developed a VESEP Application Pack to assist Brigades and Groups understand what they need to put together for a successful application. The pack has been developed by volunteers and includes many helpful tips and ideas of how and what to apply for.

The pack also includes information on the Special Access Grant that is available that can reduce or in some cases eliminate the Brigade/Group co-payment.

The VFBV VESEP Application Pack is available from the VFBV website.

VFBV State Councillors and Support Officers are also available to assist any Brigade or Group with their application so please feel free to reach out should you need assistance.

Quarterly Supplement

The September edition of Fire Wise also contained the latest edition of the VFBV Quarterly Supplement.

The Quarterly Supplement contains 16 pages of important news and updates and includes links to additional resources or updates that are available by via our website.

An electronic copy of the Quarterly Supplement can be downloaded here.

Brigade Captains and Secretaries, Group Officers and Group Secretaries as well as VFBV delegates are requested to please take the time to read this and future editions, and to table at your meetings for the benefit and knowledge of your members.

VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey

The annual VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey was conducted between August and October last year. At the same time, VFBV supported VICSES volunteers conduct their own survey through their association in Victoria, as well as conducting additional surveys across 6 other Australian volunteer fire services in collaboration with each of those State’s volunteer association.

Nationally over 5,500 emergency management volunteers participated in the survey, with almost 2,600 CFA volunteers participating in the Victorian survey.

Our Welfare and Efficiency Survey is thought to be one of the biggest surveys of volunteer satisfaction in Australia, and the 2019 survey is the eighth annual survey to be conducted with CFA volunteers.

Who participated?

The demographics of the survey respondents indicate that the participants are representative of the wider CFA population which enhances the reliability of the results being representative of the views of CFA volunteers. Some of the highlights include:

•         Volunteers from every CFA district took part

•         All age groups were represented

•         Volunteers with less than one year of service through to volunteers with more than 30 years of service were involved

•         Female volunteers made up 16% of participants, 83% were male, with 1% of participants choosing either transgender, or prefer not to say

•         Volunteers from all brigade types – rural, urban, integrated and Coast Guard brigades, participated.

What does the survey measure?

The survey measures volunteer opinions on what is important to their welfare and efficiency and how well agencies are performing according to what they are experiencing. The gap between this measure of importance and performance is referred to as the VolWEL (Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Level) Outcome.

The VolWEL Outcome is a way to simply illustrate where things are working well or what needs attention. A high VolWEL Outcome is a sign that things are not working well and by what degree volunteer expectations are not being met. While a low VolWEL Outcome is a sign that things are working well and indicates that volunteer expectations are closer to being met.

Results

The survey contains a series of statements which form the core of the survey. These statements are then grouped into seven main themes each with several statements. The results of the 2019 survey are reasonably consistent with the previous year’s survey. This reinforces the integrity of the results and also indicates that little to no action has been taken to successfully remedy the issues that have been identified by volunteers that are impacting upon their welfare and efficiency. The 2019 results for each of the seven themes are:

The overall VolWEL outcome of 2.1 is considered a large gap indicating that there are issues impacting volunteer welfare and efficiency that will be causing high levels of dissatisfaction with the volunteering experience. Action to address volunteer concerns should be implemented immediately.

The results indicate that CFA volunteers are highly dissatisfied with the statements contained within the Cooperation Across CFA theme, particularly consultation or the lack of consultation by CFA at both a corporate level and regional or district level. The VolWEL outcome of 3.1 indicates that there is a need for priority attention in this area. The Training by CFA theme result is the worst result for Training since 2012, with a steady decline in volunteer satisfaction in training recorded for the past three consecutive years. This indicates that there are significant issues that need to be addressed, and current treatments are not addressing the issues in a way that improve volunteer satisfaction.

The VolWEL outcomes for the Recruitment and Retention and People Management – My Brigade themes indicate that these areas are performing better than the other survey themes. The results indicate that volunteers are most satisfied with performance where the responsibility lies with the local brigade or group.

The full results of the 2019 survey will be released shortly and will be available on the VFBV website.

VFBV would like to thank all volunteers who took the time to participate in last year’s VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey. Your participation ensures that our survey is a credible and reliable source of volunteer opinion.

VFBV Continues to stand in solidarity with Trafalgar & Westbury Fire Brigades

As previously reported on the 4th June and again in July - Parliament was due to consider legislative amendments to the official primary brigade area for the CFA/FRV co-located brigade of Latrobe West. The proposed boundary significantly impacts on both Trafalgar and Westbury primary areas, with large amounts of their area being proposed to transfer to FRV, which is contrary to all previous government assurances. The brigades are not opposed to the proposed response arrangements, but are deeply opposed to large sections of their primary area being removed from their brigades area where they are best placed to be the primary agency in their own community.

These changes are being made via the “Police and Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2020” which was due to go to third reading in the lower house earlier this month.

With the Victorian government’s decision to suspend the lower house (Legislative Assembly) during the current COVID restrictions, the Bill remains on the agenda and will be dealt with when parliament resumes. (Generally speaking - the Bill cannot proceed to the upper house until it passes the lower. So, while the upper house is continuing to sit – the amendment bill will remain on hold until the lower house sits again.)

VFBV supports Trafalgar and Westbury brigades and is recommending to MP’s that they do not support the amendments proposed in Part 6 of the amendment Bill.

Brigades and groups are encouraged to support these brigades and are reminded to forward letters of support. You can find details on the VFBV website.

Recent articles on the VFBV website

Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook: September - November 2020

Commonwealth Royal Commission Interim Observations

COVID-19 Resources 

COVID-19 Financial Support Resources

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The Commonwealth Royal Commission has this week published its interim observations. These observations are intended to share its present perspectives as the Commission approaches the final stages of its inquiry.

You can download a copy of the observations from the bottom of this page, and the online version can be found on the Commissions website at: https://naturaldisaster.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/interim-observations-1 

Members will no doubt be interested in many aspects covered by the initial observations, with particular interest to volunteers the section under “Opportunities for improvements in national mitigation and preparedness arrangements.” A brief excerpt has been reproduced below:

As you would be aware, VFBV made extensive submission to the Commission and also has assisted the Commission including appearing as a witness to provide perspectives of Victorian volunteer firefighters. The commission’s interim observations are certainly consistent and supported by our evidence and testimony.

Live webcasts of witness testimony can be found here: https://webstreaming.lawinorder.com.au/rcnda 

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) has released the Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook: September – November 2020.

The seasonal outlook is predicting that the 2020/21 fire season will be driven by different climate drivers than the previous two fire seasons.

Specifically, in Victoria, the BNHCRC is indicating that the possible influence of La Niña is expected to reduce the risk of prolonged fire activity across most of Victoria. The assessment is that there is normal fire potential for the outlook period across Victoria.

The Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook is produced quarterly for fire authorities to make strategic decisions such as resource planning and prescribed fire management to reduce the negative impacts of bushfire.

The full seasonal outlook can be downloaded at the bottom of the page or from the BNHCRC website.

From the BNHCRC website, published 31 August 2020:

The 2020/21 fire season will be driven by vastly different climate drivers than the previous two fire seasons. With a La Niña ALERT now active, large areas of eastern and northern Australia are expecting wetter than average conditions through spring. Despite the wetter climate signals, parts of Queensland face above normal fire potential in the south east and central coast, extending to the north.

While these wetter conditions in eastern Australia will help in the short-term, they may lead to an increase in the risk of fast running fires in grasslands and cropping areas over summer. These conditions will be monitored closely over the coming months.

In contrast to the wetter conditions for the east, dry conditions persist in Western Australia, with above normal fire potential continuing to be expected in parts of the north.

Fire is a regular occurrence across Australia, and it is important to remember that areas designated as normal fire potential will still see fires. Normal bushfire risk does not mean there is no risk.

The Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook is produced quarterly to be used by fire authorities to make strategic decisions such as resource planning and prescribed fire management to reduce the negative impacts of bushfire.

You are not alone

By Adam Barnett, VFBV Chief Executive Officer

On day of writing, Melbourne and surrounds are entering Stage 4 COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, with the remaining areas of Victoria returning to Stage 3 restrictions. No-one should underestimate the significant impact this is having and will continue to have on Victorians.

I want to acknowledge the considerable anxiety and uncertainty that many of you are feeling. CFA volunteers, drawn from the very communities they protect not only need to adapt and make sacrifices to maintain our emergency response to our communities during this time, as well as deal with reform implementation but are also having to deal with a myriad of external pressures such as home schooling, job insecurity, and working from home arrangements. Our self-employed and primary producers are also dealing with the added pressures of interrupted supply chains, restrictions on trade and business continuity pressures.

In essence – people’s livelihoods are being challenged. From a psychological perspective this starts to chip away at our most fundamental needs that are central to our health and wellbeing, and helps explain the considerable anxiety, fear and concern pulsing through our communities.

I have heard from members who are just feeling it is all getting too hard, and the collision of work and home life, diminishing job security and the like, pushing people to their limits.

No-one should be going through this alone and I encourage members to be using our brigade and group networks in addition to CFA’s wellbeing support services to ensure we each look out for one another and stay on top of our mental health.

My plea to you is to give yourself some space and time and be kind to yourself and each other. You are not alone. If CFA commitments are getting on top of you at the moment, have a chat with your Captain or Group Officer and I’m sure they’ll understand you need to take a small break. But don’t cut yourself off from your brigade. No-one will judge you for taking a step back, and I’m confident you’ll find members in your brigade/group are only too happy to support you in whatever way they can. We are a family. We’re all just doing the best we can in what is a very tough environment. The important thing is to keep the lines of communication open.

By bringing your brigade management team into your confidence so they understand what you’re going through and what you need, it will help them plan and support you as best they can. Don’t feel you have to do it on your own. And if you need a hand or any additional support, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your local VFBV district council who can give you some advice and assistance if required.

VFBV has been working closely with CFA’s pandemic management team to constantly review updated health guidelines and changing restriction levels and move to adapt CFA systems and processes. Not just at the corporate level but also ensure there is a focus on how best to support brigade operations and response at the local level.

The wonderful team of CFA peer support members continue to be available, and are adapting to phone and online contact to ensure members and their families have access to 24/7 support. Peers, psychologists, counsellors and chaplains are all available by calling 1800-959- 232.

Supplies of disposable face masks have been secured and will provide every brigade with access to face masks. In order to protect Victoria’s stock levels, brigade leaders and CFA line managers are being requested to ensure adequate stock is maintained to support current and predicted activity and to ensure the masks are only used for CFA activities. These same restrictions apply to all members – staff and volunteers – and we all need to work together to ensure our critical health workers continue to have access to supplies.

Distribution to each of our 1,200 brigades is a significant logistical exercise, but the expectation is that masks are supplied to all locations as quickly as possible. Please contact your delegate should your brigade be having any difficulty accessing masks, or any other protective equipment you need, and we’ll help you sort it out. My expectation is brigades will be provided with sufficient access to whatever supplies they require.

Whatever you need you should have. But please understand that dealing with 1,200 brigades means we don’t have the luxury of stockpiling for the what if scenarios. Order what you need and be confident that if you need more – then that can be arranged when and if you need it. I acknowledge there is low trust in some of the ordering systems and processes, but I want to encourage brigade leaders to discuss any concerns with CFA management early and in good faith.

From a VFBV perspective we will support and back any brigade or group having difficulty accessing appropriate supplies, so please have some confidence that you don’t need to be stockpiling.

The supply systems are fragile enough without adding any additional pressure to them. I have every faith that our brigades and volunteers will more than meet the challenge.

For those brigades operating in or supporting into areas covered by the Stage 4 restrictions, you are encouraged to keep your CFA ID card on you when responding in your private vehicles to the station or CFA operational activities. Your ID card will assist you identify as an emergency service worker, and therefore exempt from curfew, providing you are responding or returning from an emergency call out.

CFA has requested VFBV support for a quick COVID related survey to be conducted across the membership. This support has been provided, and we have worked closely with CFA to tailor the survey questions for the local brigade environment. The survey will ask members how they are feeling about the arrangements and support being put in place in order to respond to the COVID environment.

I highly encourage members to participate as soon as it becomes available. It is expected to be available by the time this edition of Fire Wise goes to press. All responses will be confidential so you can participate in confidence knowing that no personal identifying information will be collected or attributed to in the results.

VFBV will work closely with CFA to review the results. It is critical to ensure that every CFA brigade, group and member feels supported and equipped so you can continue to safely perform your roles during the pandemic.

Fire Season Preparedness

We need to prepare for some of the unique challenges that this year’s fire season will bring during the pandemic. Changes will need to be made to accommodate social distancing and safe work group practices to protect our operational response but also mitigate against cross contamination during large and potentially long duration fires.

Discussions have already commenced at agency levels, and I would encourage volunteer leaders and group officers to also start involving yourselves in discussions and thinking. Be proactive about identifying what you will need at the local level to have confidence in arrangements and how administrative processes and practices will need to work to best support you and your brigade/group.

There will need to be changes to strike team deployment, crew selection and screening, and base camp operations to name just a few. Many of these will require significant modification, and even after modification it will be almost impossible to eliminate every risk. Therefore, we will need to plan for additional redundancies to best manage the residual risks. This is likely to be very disruptive during what has traditionally been our peak activity period.

Please start having these conversations amongst yourselves now. Don’t wait for changes to be foisted on us, start the discussions now so we can shape the discussions and decision making. No one has the background, experience or familiarity with local conditions, capacity and capability that you do, so it will be critical that volunteers and brigade/group leaders are treated as equal partners in these discussions. VFBV will continue to advocate early engagement and involvement of volunteers in these discussions so please be ready to step up when asked.

Royal Commission

Earlier this month, I appeared and gave evidence on behalf of VFBV to the Commonwealth Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

VFBV made extensive submission to the royal commission and has advocated strongly for the respect and recognition of the fundamental importance of volunteers in disaster preparedness, response and relief arrangements across Australia. We have advocated strongly for strengthened and improved support for volunteer safety, consultation, support, training and recognition.

On the 23rd July the Commission announced that it had been granted a request to extend its reporting date from the 31st August 2020 to the 28th October 2020.

New CFA Chair

On behalf of VFBV I welcome new CFA Chair Mr Greg Wilson who was appointed by the government on the 21st July. Mr Wilson was a former secretary of the Department of Justice and Regulation and has also previously served as secretary of the former Department of Sustainability and Environment. He is currently chair of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES).

On the 15th July VFBV issued a statement reporting on ex Chair Greg Smith AM sudden resignation and departure, and thanked Mr Smith for his service.

Early interactions with the new chair and acting CFA CEO Ms Catherine Greaves have been positive, and VFBV will continue to foster and nurture constructive relationships with the newly appointed leadership.

Early discussions on strengthening and improving volunteer engagement and consultation has commenced, and I am encouraged by initial discussions. We will keep your apprised of progress.

Welfare Fund

VFBV continues to prioritise the VFBV Welfare Fund, and we have put in place processes to ensure it continues to operate uninterrupted during the current lockdown restrictions. All welfare operations and processes have been maintained and are operational, with the committee of management continuing to meet regularly through the pandemic electronically. The fund hit an important milestone recently, with welfare grants paid out since its inception surpassing $2 million.

The fund has been operated by the association since 1913 and is a critical safety net to support members who find themselves in severe financial hardship. Its emergency grants have assisted over 1,228 members over the years and highlights the critical importance of this work.

The fund has come under immense pressure this year and I want to acknowledge the tireless and selfless work of the VFBV Board, State Council, Committee of Management, and our welfare fund secretary Jenni Laing for the incredible work done not just to assist members when they need it the most, but also the incredible foresight and management of the fund that has sustained it for more than 107 years.

This means the fund is not only supporting todays volunteers, but the thousands of volunteers in generations to come. A legacy we are all incredibly proud.

Electronic Addendum

The following is provided in the electronic version of our newsletter to provide an update on developments that have occurred since this month’s update was provided in the August page 2 edition of Fire Wise.

Secondment Agreement

The Minister has granted a 90-day extension to the temporary secondment agreement that was signed by the Acting Chief Officer Garry Cook on the 30th June. While this agreement is referred to as the Secondment Agreement it is officially known as the “Temporary Administrative Agreement”.

This agreement outlines how CFA and FRV will operate with secondments of FRV officers to CFA.

The temporary agreement that was struck on the evening of June 30 just prior to the midnight deadline does not include most of the controversial aspects that were put to the previous Chair and CEO/Chief Officer.

Section 102 and 103 Transfers

VFBV continues to pursue transparency over the section 102 and 103 transfers. These refer to the mandatory transfers of CFA staff to FRV made by the Minister under sections 102 and 103 of the transition provisions contained in Part 6 of the governments fire services legislation Bill.

With appeal and grievance processes largely over and the dust only just starting to settle, there is still very little information available to fully understand the reduced capacity across CFA’s district and region structures as a result of transferred staff, and the myriad of vacancies left by internal transfers and promotions done across the agencies during the restructure.

VFBV is continuing to pursue concerns around reduced capacity in roles that are vital to volunteers such as training, specialist response and administrative support to name just a few.

VFBV will continue to pursue.

Tenancy Agreement

A short extension has been granted to the status quo arrangements currently in place at CFA/FRV co-locations (formerly known as the CFA integrated brigades.)

Discussions are continuing with all parties to progress a formal tenancy agreement and associated schedules.

VFBV is regularly discussing key issues with the senior volunteer(s) at each of these locations and have supported every brigade request for support and assistance with matters in which they do not agree with CFA on. While the initial extension was to expire on Saturday 15th August, a brief two-week extension has been provided to facilitate negotiations.

VFBV continues to argue that volunteers need adequate time to go through changes and understand its impacts. It is hoped an updated draft will be provided early this week.

Of deep concern to VFBV has been some last minute changes to remove volunteer access to the administration and resources room, primary turnout areas and unacceptable arrangements proposed for volunteer access and right of movement accessing the station, common areas and the brigade multi-purpose room in particular.

VFBV continues to strongly advocate and escalate the concerns of volunteers at these locations. VFBV does not support the changes being requested to these areas and believes the overall treatment of volunteers at many of these locations is inequitable and unfair, with arrangements moving far away from status quo and becoming very heavily biased in favour of FRV.

Due to the broad range in station age and layout, VFBV has taken a location by location approach – in order to support each location with their unique needs. VFBV support officers are facilitating discussions with brigades directly - with many district councils also running regular video conference hook-ups to support broader groups. Any locations requiring any further support or assistance should make contact with your VFBV support officer or State Councillor ASAP.

Thankfully, in many locations existing relationships between volunteers and staff are helping mitigate the deterioration in arrangements proposed in the agreement, with good relationships allowing robust status quo arrangements to apply.  The main concern is when these people change or if further pressure is put that continues to drive a wedge between the two groups, how this will manifest down the line.

VFBV will continue to support the position of each of the co-located locations and will continue to add its voice to the concerns raised in order to pursue fairer outcomes for these locations.

Allocation Statement

Work is continuing on the allocation statements that will formally transfer CFA assets to FRV. (The former integrated brigades and CFA trucks exclusively responded by staff etc). While technically the initial statement had been due to be signed prior to July 1, a considerable amount of detail that was not originally envisaged or planned for did not exist and therefore they did not meet the required legal requirements.

VFBV has worked closely with each co-located brigade to ensure any volunteer funded brigade assets intended to be transferred have been reimbursed, returned or allocated for shared use. This has been a long process, and VFBV has supported each individual brigades’ position. This has required very strong advocacy by both us and the brigade but by and large has resulted in most outcomes being reached to the satisfaction of the brigade.

This work is almost completed, with only a couple of remaining disputed items.

Secondee Uniforms

For noting, the temporary administrative agreement maintains current status quo with regards to uniforms. Seconded officers continue to wear CFA uniform while the temporary agreement continues.

It is CFA and VFBV’s position that all seconded officers seconded to CFA should continue to wear their CFA uniform.

VFBV is advised that the Minister has not yet intervened to make a direction one way or the other, however it is worth noting that recent correspondence sent by the Minister to volunteers who have been writing and raising concerns directly with her, does not provide much optimism.

It is VFBV’s express position that officers fulfilling CFA roles and holding CFA positions should be proud to identify as CFA and continue to wear their existing CFA uniform.

COVID-19 Financial Support Resources

VFBV's COVID-19 financial support resources page has been updated recently with new advice and resources available to those who have been impacted financially by COVID-19. 

The update resources page can be found on the VFBV website and provides updates the original article published in March detailing what support is available and how to access it. This page will be updated as more information comes to hand. 

Reform

Considerable work is continuing to try and mitigate consequences from the reform implementation.

VFBV acknowledge the very difficult and negative environment that this work entails. We wish to pass on our utmost admiration and respect for all those members and delegates involved in discussions and negotiations. In particular the Captains, Captain- elects, former 1st Lieutenants and all members of the former CFA integrated brigades who are having to deal with the stress and anxiety of trying to represent their brigades and members throughout a very unfair and inequitable process.

VFBV is working closely with each of these locations to provide tailored support and advocacy for any issues as they arise. VFBV will continue to standby each brigade and group leader and support their advocacy.

Discussions continue on the CFA/FRV allocation statement that will formally transfer former CFA assets to FRV. Each brigade has been required to work through an asset allocation process and identify brigade assets that will either remain with CFA, or transfer to FRV.

VFBV has supported any brigade that has wanted to dispute any item intended to be transferred that they don’t agree with and have backed the brigade position on each occasion. We have worked with government to provide a guarantee that no equipment that was paid for by volunteers would be transferred without volunteers agreeing to it, and largely that principle has prevailed.

On the few occasions where agreement could not be reached, VFBV has successfully advocated for full reimbursement provided to the brigade to ensure the equipment can be replaced and they are not out of pocket.

Priority negotiations are continuing on the tenancy agreement, with the status quo extension due to expire on 15 August.

CFA's COVID-19 Pulse Survey

CFA’s COVID-10 Pulse survey is now available for all members to complete.

You can complete this survey by going to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFAVolCOVID19Survey 

The intent of this survey is to help CFA understand how well you and your brigade/group is being supported during this time and to gather feedback on any gaps or anything else you may require to support you during the pandemic.

VFBV has worked closely with CFA to help tailor the survey for the brigade environment, and you can be assured that your responses will be confidential, with no personal information being collected that will personally identify you.

The survey closes on 30 August.

VFBV will continue to work closely with CFA’s pandemic management team to ensure you are getting the support you need. Your participation in the survey will help CFA understand if what they are doing is hitting the mark, needs tweaking or if you need anything else.

VFBV continues to stand in solidarity with Trafalgar & Westbury Fire Brigades 

As previously reported on the 4th June and again in July - Parliament was due to consider legislative amendments to the official primary brigade area for the CFA/FRV co-located brigade of Latrobe West. The proposed boundary significantly impacts on both Trafalgar and Westbury primary areas, with large amounts of their area being proposed to transfer to FRV, which is contrary to all previous government assurances. The brigades are not opposed to the proposed response arrangements, but are deeply opposed to large sections of their primary area being removed from their brigades area where they are best placed to be the primary agency in their own community.

These changes are being made via the “Police and Emergency Legislation Amendment Bill 2020” which was due to go to third reading in the lower house earlier this month.

With the Victorian government’s decision to suspend the lower house (Legislative Assembly) during the current COVID restrictions, the Bill remains on the agenda and will be dealt with when parliament resumes. (Generally speaking - the Bill cannot proceed to the upper house until it passes the lower. So, while the upper house is continuing to sit – the amendment bill will remain on hold until the lower house sits again.)

VFBV supports Trafalgar and Westbury brigades and is recommending to MP’s that they do not support the amendments proposed in Part 6 of the amendment Bill.

Brigades and groups are encouraged to support these brigades and are reminded to forward letters of support. You can find details on the VFBV website.

COVID-19 Updates

The VFBV COVID-19 resources page has been updated to reflect the new Stage 4 restrictions in Metropolitan Melbourne and Stage 3 restrictions for Regional Victoria including Mitchell Shire. The resources page can be accessed here.

VFBV has also complied information relating to COVID-19 Financial Support Resources that are available, this information can be accessed here.

VFBV Board Vacancies