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VFBV News (201)

The long awaited CFA-approved digital listening sets/scanners for Brigades are not far away. CFA has chosen the successful unit and completed contract negotiations with the supplier.

CFA and VFBV are discussing the distribution of subsidised sets to Brigades, and should announce details in the next two weeks.

The unit has passed CFA technical evaluation and the volunteers who field tested it have given it the thumbs up.

The listening set has a large range of options, and the manufacturer has agreed to the volunteers’ request to supply it pre-configured with settings to suit CFA Brigades’ needs.

Having successfully had volunteers included in the field trials, VFBV has pressed for every Brigade to be offered an equal, guaranteed number of subsidised sets, with any sets not taken up to be equally redistributed to Brigades that want them.

The program is expected to be in full swing well before summer, and VFBV has offered to assist with logistics to ensure no Brigade is disadvantaged by remoteness or lack of access to electronic ordering.

We will post the announcement on the VFBV website as soon as it is available.

ANALOGUE CHANNEL SHUTDOWNS

The VFBV/CFA Joint Communications and Technology Committee has become aware that CFA is shutting down an increasing number of analogue radio channels, despite an agreement that it would not decommission analogue services until the new digital listening sets were available.

The Committee has expressed its frustration to CFA that the shutdowns have gone ahead. CFA representatives have explained that the analogue shutdowns where operationally required to provide increased digital capacity in the network, and did not go ahead without District Operations Managers’ approval.

CFA has told the Joint Committee that it was the OM’s responsibility to conduct local consultation before approving any shutdown. Should your Brigade have concerns, you should proactively discuss the issue with your OM before they approve any local Shutdown.

The subsidised distribution of digital listening sets should be announced within the next two weeks. In the meantime, CFA regional radio dispatch traffic is available online using the free website Broadcastify.  This web streaming service allows you to receive radio comms via your computer, smart phone or tablet. 

To hear CFA traffic, go to www.broadcastify.com/listen/stid/152 and select your region.  Anyone listening via their mobile phone should keep track of their data usage to avoid exceeding their monthly data limit.

Thursday, 16 July 2015 00:00

Cancer Law Battle in Queensland

With presumptive legislation at the committee stage in the Queensland Parliament, Queensland’s Labor Government is now trying to introduce a discriminatory extra eligibility requirement for volunteers.

With a private member’s Bill already proposing presumptive legislation that treats career and volunteer firefighters alike, the Queensland Government has introduced a Bill of its own that would introduce a discriminatory clause that only applies to volunteers and would require volunteers with cancer to have a minimum of 150 “exposure incidents” before they can qualify for presumptive compensation.

South Australian volunteers have already fought and won the battle against legislation requiring volunteers to have arbitrary numbers of turnouts, and the Queensland volunteers are gearing up to do the same, making sure Queensland Government MPs know exactly how they feel.

See the Queensland volunteers’ latest bulletin with their call to action.

 

 

The VFBV Auxiliary & Support Group Conference, originally scheduled for 8 August, has now been cancelled.

If you have any enquiries, call VFBV on (03) 9886 1141.

 

 

Click here to take The 2015 VFBV Volunteer Welfare & Efficiency Survey

Click here to learn more about the annual survey

Talk to other volunteers in your Brigade about taking part - More participants means greater influence for the survey results when we take them to CFA, the Emergency Management Commissioner and the State Government.

The survey is open until 31 August 2015.

You can see the 2014 results by clicking here

This year, VICSES volunteers have their own survey, hosted by VFBV on behalf of VESA – VICSES volunteers can click here to take part or find out more here.

Tuesday, 30 June 2015 00:00

Cold Climate Jackets

VFBV has been working with CFA’s State PPE&C Management Centre over the past year to develop a suitable additional jacket as an alternative to provide relief from cold and inclement weather.

With the withdrawal of the black woollen jackets from service, volunteer delegates identified that in cold climatic conditions across Victoria, predominantly where members are not issued with Structural PPC, the current Bushfire PPC jacket does not provide sufficient warmth during situations such as road accident rescue, storm events and other non-firefighting applications.

As bushfire PPC is inherently light weight to minimise the risk of metabolic heat build-up in the body, the challenge has been to design a garment to provide relief from cold and inclement weather, whilst providing good levels of day and night visibility, along with limited protection from heat and flame.

This jacket is not intended to replace bushfire PPC, and is not to be used for firefighting purposes, but may be used for other fireground or brigade activity where weather conditions and work load allow.

The prototype jackets are now being field tested, with four jackets provided to every CFA district.

The trial will go for 12 weeks, and District Offices have been asked to make the garments available to interested individuals that are willing to trial the jackets.

Districts have been asked to prioritise members who do not currently have access to structural PPC, are located in Brigades that best meet the intent of the trial (cold climate), are relatively active and willing to provide documented feedback. If you are interested in trialling the jacket, please make contact with your Operations Manager/Operations Officer for further information. 

Wednesday, 24 June 2015 00:00

Fiskville Inquiry - Interim Report Released

Just released: The Interim Report from the Parliamentary Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville is available for download below

NOTES FROM THE STATE COUNCIL DISCUSSION BEFORE VFBV’S PRESENTATION TO THE PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY ON 15 JUNE 2015

The Victorian Parliament’s Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville has the potential to affect far more than the future of the Fiskville site.

VFBV has provided a written submission and more than an hour of evidence and we have been invited to provide additional information in a second written submission.

The issues to be presented to the Parliamentary Committee were workshopped at the VFBV State Council on 13 June. The State Council determined that the key points to be presented to the Inquiry hearing were;

The safety of our members and support to any members who have been exposed in the past is paramount and should remain the primary concern.

The Committee must ensure the focus remains on safety of our members and support to any members, whether exposed in the past during training or at fire incidents, or members who may be exposed in the future.

Firefighters, paid and volunteer alike, need access to the best possible training and the most real-to-life training. If Fiskville operations are to be closed for rectification works, scaled back or ceased altogether, then the resulting gap in Victoria’s training capacity must be fixed immediately.

If this requires funding for improvements, alternative interim training facilities, or new facilities, then this must not only be a recommendation of the Committee it must also be backed by a firm funding commitment from all sides of politics.

Just as being safe whilst training is paramount, there is a huge risk to firefighters when they are confronted with real life situations if they haven’t had access to appropriate real-to-life training.

The Inquiry process must work to establish a level of confidence amongst firefighters, the community, the Government and the firefighters’ representatives, about the facts. There has been a lot of discussion of what is or isn’t safe, and what can or can’t be fixed. Our members need the Committee to ensure the facts are on the table, that the opinions and assessments of the independent experts are known, and the analysis, decisions and regime going forward are transparent and beyond partiality or self-interest groups.

Having spoken with volunteers across Victoria, we believe it is of utmost importance that the Inquiry must unbundle the issues;

  • Past versus present
  • Which problems have ceased or been fixed
  • Which current problems can be fixed
  • Which current problems require further solutions or warrant cessation of use
  • If there is a need for cessation of use;

o   Is it for all uses

o   Is it forever

o   Is it until the results of the remaining independent expert examination

Decisions about the future must also represent a sensible use of public money; funds already invested in the site, money that must be spent regardless of whether Fiskville continues to operate or not, and the cost of new facilities or new water treatment regimes. Compromising safety is unacceptable; compromising access to training is unacceptable; and any waste of scarce funding is likely to be met with equally severe criticism.

The importance of the real-to-life training undertaken at Fiskville over the years cannot be overstated; not just hot fire training but the full range of state level and specialised skills in incident management, incident leadership, operational decision making and real-to-life operational exercises.

Much of this requires multi-day and live in courses. The live-in experience and relationship building experiences are fundamental to the preparation required for firefighters to battle major emergencies.

Also of vital importance is access; the availability of training at a time and place, and in a format that suits members. We must fill the gap in local and state level training capacity left by any cessation at Fiskville, including in the interim until permanent solutions can be put in place. And while there is discussion of fixing Fiskville, we must also stress the importance of investment in training not just at Fiskville but at all CFA training facilities, and in the context of growing demand in future.

It is important that the Fiskville Inquiry gives careful consideration to the feasibility and cost effectiveness of all options, with no compromise on safety.

From the beginning, volunteers have asked for expert, independent, transparent and accountable analysis of decisions, and the Parliamentary Committee’s Fiskville Inquiry gives us the opportunity to ensure decisions, messages and treatment are based on facts, established independently by experts, in a properly transparent process.

It is also important that the Parliamentary Committee gives our members clarity, based on expert and independent analysis and facts, about the issues surrounding PFCs, PFOS and what is necessary to ensure safe water quality standards.

It is important to set clear standards and gain the support of Government and sufficient funding to establish this level of treatment and controls to ensure the cost of training, just as it shouldn’t jeopardise the safety of trainees, doesn’t jeopardise the accessibility of state of the art training. This may require a link to the full site audit currently underway before any final decisions – particularly any decisions along the lines of a permanent closure of Fiskville.

Fiskville is, of course, just a part of the big picture on training and maintaining the skills of our volunteer-based CFA and of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of its members, both paid and volunteer, and VFBV is alarmed at the continued delay in the introduction of presumptive cancer compensation legislation for Victoria’s firefighters.

Moving forward, we need;

  • Independent assurance of safety, based on facts
  • Informed decisions on any options for rehabilitating, fixing and reopening Fiskville
  • Protection of firefighters, not just during training
  • Empowerment and support to CFA to address training based on need, not capped artificially based on budget
  • Removing the rumour, speculation and uncertainty, and making decisions on independent, expert analysis of the facts

Ends….

VFBV MEDIA RELEASE - 9 June 2015

CFA Volunteers are watching with considerable interest as the Queensland Parliament begins the process to enact a law which gives all firefighters in Queensland - paid and volunteer - fairer cancer compensation rights.

Presumptive legislation now being enacted in most States except Victoria, works by reversing the onus of proof; the firefighter’s cancer would be presumed to be work related provided the firefighter has sufficient years of service. The claim could still be rejected if it could be proven the cancer was not related to firefighting duties.

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria CEO Andrew Ford said the legislation is not about a new entitlement, it is about removing an unfair barrier that blocks sick firefighters from receiving the cancer compensation to which they are entitled.

“It’s just a reversal of the onus of proof. Until now, Queensland firefighters have faced the same unfair barrier as Victorian firefighters; the near impossible task of providing sufficient evidence to prove the cause of the cancer arose from particular fires, incidents or other work duties - events that might have happened 10, 15 or more years ago,” Mr Ford said.

“The Queensland presumptive legislation is the fairer and simpler cancer compensation law that Victoria’s CFA volunteers have been promised, and are still waiting to see,” he said.

“Queensland is joining South Australia, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania, in moving to take away the unfair barrier that stops firefighters from accessing compensation when they suffer typical firefighter cancers,” he said.

The Bill now before the Queensland Parliament specifically provides that there will be no discrimination between paid and volunteer firefighters, under the new cancer compensation rights. The Queensland Bill lists the same 12 cancers and minimum lengths of service required to qualify as are standard under the laws adopted by the Commonwealth and most Australian States and Territories, but not Victoria as yet.

The Queensland Bill is what the current Victorian Labor Government promised Victorian firefighters in the lead up to the last election – it uses the same list of 12 cancers and the same years of service requirements as the current law in Tasmania, but without any additional eligibility hurdles that discriminate against volunteers.

“Current Tasmanian law includes additional discriminatory requirements that must be met by their volunteer firefighters, but thankfully these were not part of Victorian Labor’s commitment to CFA volunteers,” Mr Ford said.

“South Australia had similar discriminatory requirements in their original legislation but have now deleted them and given volunteers the same eligibility requirements as the paid firefighters who work alongside them,” he said.

“We are hopeful that the Victorian Government will be in a position to announce details to support their promise at last year’s election, in the very near future,” Mr Ford said.

CFA volunteers who have contracted cancer currently face the difficulty that as volunteers they have no firefighter sick leave or superannuation to fall back on. Victorian law leaves all firefighters, career and volunteer alike, battling red tape and sometimes a long legal battle just to get a fair hearing, whilst they are forced to prove which fires or incidents might have caused their cancer.

It is nearly impossible to meet the standard of proof required by current Victorian law, just as it was under the laws that other States have replaced with fairer presumptive legislation for firefighters with cancer.

“After years of procrastination by the previous Victorian Government on presumptive cancer compensation rights for Victorian volunteer and career firefighters, Labor promised presumptive legislation just like the law that Queensland is now enacting,” Mr Ford said.

“For our CFA volunteer members suffering from work related cancer, the implementation of this Labor promise can’t come fast enough,” he said.

Ends…

Representatives of all Brigade Auxiliaries and Support Groups to are invited to attend the 9th State Conference at Tabcorp Park, 2 Ferris Road, Melton South on Saturday, 8 August 2015.  

The Conference starts at 10 am (Tea and coffee will be available from 9 am).

Whilst the Conference Agenda has not been finalised, the following presentations are proposed:

  • Ms Claire Higgins, CFA Chair
  • Ms Christine Nixon
  • Ms Kate Harrap, Acting Executive Director, Operational Training & Volunteerism
  • Ms Toni van Hamond, Assistant Director, National Disability Insurance Scheme
  • Open Forum

A flyer and RSVP form have been sent to Auxiliaries and Support Groups – for more information, or to have your Auxiliary or Group added to the mailing list, please contact Jenni Laing at the VFBV office on 03 9886 1141 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Monday, 25 May 2015 00:00

Driver Training

VicRoads has tentatively committed to changes to its licensing arrangements that should make it easier to train and assess CFA volunteers.

The decision includes changes to the driver training course to incorporate a section on load securing that would potentially halve the licence test time for volunteers.

Further changes could lead to CFA conducting the licence testing.  CFA will investigate these options and determine a phased approach to improving driver training and testing for members.

The VFBV/CFA Joint Training Committee delegates see this as a positive and asked CFA to move forward with improving the process so that more CFA volunteers can access driver training and assessment.

Wednesday, 20 May 2015 00:00

EMR Expansion

Since the State Government announcement of the extension of Emergency Medical Response (EMR) to all CFA integrated stations, a number of additional volunteer Brigades have expressed interest in providing EMR and wanted to know how they can become involved.

Interest is strongest in country areas where ambulance services are stretched or needing support, and VFBV has advised the State Government that EMR would be very welcome in areas where the primary agency, Ambulance Victoria, identifies the need and local Brigades have the willingness and the capacity to deliver the service.

The introduction of EMR service in volunteer Brigades is extremely cost efficient, with equipment costs of around $15,000 per Brigade.

Volunteers were pioneers of EMR in CFA, with five volunteer Brigades starting an EMR pilot in 2008. Since then, those Brigades at Berwick, Edithvale, Mornington, South Morang and Whittlesea have shown the extra skills are not only lifesaving at EMR jobs but are also useful at road accidents and rescue calls.

Brigades that feel EMR would be beneficial in their area and within their capacity to deliver, should contact VFBV. Several Brigades are already actively in discussion with their community and local MPs.

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CFA Volunteers are the unpaid professionals of our Emergency Services. VFBV is their united voice, and speaks on behalf of Victoria's 60,000 CFA Volunteers.

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