New look gets a hose down

Opposition leader Matthew Guy told CFA members in Emerald that the restructure would destroy their organisation.

By Victoria Stone-Meadows

A shake-up of fire services in Victoria has created waves among the CFA with uncertainty surrounding the future of volunteer fire services in Victoria.
State Emergency Services Minister James Merlino announced on Friday 19 May that paid members of the CFA will join with the MFB to become Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and the CFA will be left as a solely volunteer organisation.
The announcement came as the long-running dispute between the United Firefighters Union and the CFA over an enterprise bargaining agreement sees no end.
FRV will be responsible for fighting fires in Melbourne and large regional towns bringing together paid CFA members and MFB firefighters along with a further 450 career firefighters.
The volunteer CFA stations across the state will be unchanged under the new model with the 1220 current CFA brigades continuing to serve their communities.
The restructure also includes $56.2 million for training and recruitment and $44 million for new stations for the CFA as well as the extension of presumptive legislation to volunteers which gives all firefighters equal access to compensation for cancers contracted while on duty.
The FRV will take over the areas currently covered by integrated stations and boundaries will be redrawn by a new Fire District Review Panel.
Integrated fire stations such as Pakenham, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Hallam, and Springvale – where volunteer and paid CFA members work alongside one another – will continue to do so as CFA volunteers and FRV paid firefighters.
The Fire Services Statement updated on Thursday 18 May outlines volunteers at integrated stations will be encouraged to stay in their communities to work alongside the paid firefighters who transition into FRV.
The statement also details that volunteers who wish to move to a CFA brigade or transition into a position with FRV will be supported to do so.
The announcement drew criticism from the Victorian Opposition and Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV), the organisation that represents CFA volunteers.
The VBFB urges all volunteer firefighters to contact their local MPs with questions about the restructure and criticised the government for a lack on consultation regarding the changes.
“VFBV welcomes any reforms that improve the way Victorian fire services work but these reforms need to be developed collaboratively and openly,” the statement said.
“VFBV will continue to urge the Government to stop, take a breath and work with us constructively and in consultation with our people delivering the services on the ground to find a model that will modernise Victoria’s fire and emergency services, not take it backward.”
At a press conference in Emerald on Friday 19 May, opposition leader Matthew Guy called the restructure a “political fix” that aims to “destroy the CFA”.
“With no evidence on breaking up CFA; there is no document that says what the government is announcing is the right way forward, no evidence that says destroying a successful operation is going to be a positive or safe step forward,” he said.
Shadow Emergency Services Minister Brad Battin also took aim at the restructure claiming it will create an atmosphere in integrated stations that is hostile towards volunteers.
“I’m hoping between the actual firefighters on the ground it won’t cause divisions but my feeling is we are going to end up with two leadership groups and volunteers not being called out and therefore dropping off.”
However, on Friday the CFA has praised the restructure and the extra funding for the organisation.
“These reforms will deliver better training, brigade support and equipment for volunteers across Victoria,” the statement said.
“Volunteers will remain integral to Victoria’s response to fires and other emergencies, particularly in campaign and surge events.”