WITH Country Fire Authority staff vacancies going unfilled, volunteer firefighters and their communities are being let down by the state government, according to two local MPs.
District 10, which covers Wellington Shire, has four commander vacancies that were not filled at all during the summer period, and is about to lose its assistant chief fire officer.
Gippsland South MLA Danny O’Brien and Gippsland East MLA Tim Bull said volunteers were angry these staff vacancies had been unfilled for so long, reducing support available to volunteers who keep communities safe.
“Since the Andrews Labor government bowed to the demands of the United Firefighters Union and created Fire Rescue Victoria, the CFA has become the poor cousin of our fire services, just as we predicted at the time,” Mr O’Brien said.
“All career staff in the CFA must now be provided on secondment by the UFU-dominated FRV, but the experience in District 10 shows the CFA and its volunteers are being treated as an afterthought by Labor’s fire hierarchy.
“The commanders obviously do a lot of work in supporting our CFA stations and brigades, supporting the volunteers and assisting them to prepare for the defence of our communities and I am very concerned that that work is being compromised at the moment because of the lack of staff in those positions.
“I asked the Minister for Emergency Services in parliament back in November to fill these vacancies, but not only has she not done so, she hasn’t even provided the courtesy of an answer five months later.”
Minister Lisa Neville has been on leave since February to recover from auto-immune disorder Crohn’s disease, and will likely remain off work until June.
Mr Bull said inexperienced temporary staff was not a solution.
“I’ve been contacted by local brigades who are angry they are being left unsupported,” he said.
“They see this is a snub to the CFA – and rightly so,” he said.
“Labor promised the world with its fire reforms, but it seems all the warnings we made at the time are coming true.
“We have a fire service that is run by the UFU and where the CFA – and by extension, country Victoria – is treated as a second-class citizen.
“Labor needs to act now to fill these vacancies and ensure our communities are supported and protected.”
A government spokesperson said the government was aware the CFA and other emergency services agencies often had recruitment challenges in regional areas, particularly for higher skilled positions.
“FRV is working with CFA to develop a new vacancy management plan that provides long term stability to CFA management roles and ongoing support for volunteers,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes establishing a team who will conduct targeted recruitment for regional areas and create a pool of relief staff to help manage backfill and secondment requirements.
“While we work to permanently fill the vacancies, the Wellington Shire community should be reassured they continue to be well protected – with 40 CFA volunteer fire brigades and more than 1400 volunteer firefighters protecting communities from fire and other emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Victoria’s fire services have been working in partnership to fill vacancies, with FRV providing short-term relief to CFA districts via seconded staff when required.
Within Gippsland, there are currently five assistant chief fire officers and 17 catchment commanders, within these roles, there are two vacant positions in District 10, which Fire Rescue Victoria has filled with fixed term staff while recruitment is underway to fill the roles permanently.
There was also a vacancy in District 10 because of a commander filling an Assistant Chief Fire Officer position, which has now reverted and is no longer vacant.
