April 2017 - Volunteer Fire Fighters Association

Is the NSW State Government being Bullied?

Did you know that the bullying and harassment issue has been around for a long time in the NSW RFS and it is not limited to RFS Volunteers?
Where does this bullying and harassment come from and where will it end?
It looks very suspicious when we see the NSW State Government failing to respond to the views of regional and rural communities. One example is the decentralisation of the RFS Head Office.
Are they being influenced by the NSW RFS?
Are they being bullied in some way?

St Ivan Bushfire Aftermath

The St Ivan fire razed an estimated 55,000 hectares of farming-land east of Dunedoo, destroying vital agricultural infrastructure like sheds, machinery, homes, over 5,500 kilometres of fencing and more than 5,000 head of sheep and cattle.

New (simplified) Membership Form

The much simplified 2017 membership form is now available as a download.
It’s not just for new memberships, you can fill it in any time you need to update your details or change a subscription.

How do we stop volunteer emergency service workers quitting?

When the question “How do we stop volunteer emergency service workers quitting?” is asked, many volunteers will respond with “listen more and dictate less”

The NSW RFS Annual Report for 2014 / 2015 stated that there was a total of 74,516 volunteers.

The NSW RFS Annual Report for 2015 / 2016 (one year later) stated that there was a total of 73,162 volunteers.

This is a reduction of 1354 volunteers.

Although this decline was recorded in the NSW RFS Annual Reports, the VFFA believes that the total number of actively engaged NSW RFS Volunteers is grossly overstated.

Volunteer firefighters in many rural areas of NSW are distancing themselves from the bureaucracy and many farmers are choosing to “do their own thing” as we see an increase in “freelance firefighting” in rural areas.

Greg Godde on Green Tape Prevents Volunteer Rural Firefighters from Reducing Bushfire RiskOctober 20, 2024
Hi Pat, we have always said "no fuel, no fires". It's a sad state of affairs when it comes down…
Greg Godde on Recognition of your ServiceOctober 20, 2024
Hi Paul, No, although he did a lot of work and knocked on many doors all his efforts were ignored.…
Greg Godde on Recognition of your ServiceOctober 20, 2024
James, here's the link to the story I told you about. https://volunteerfirefighters.org.au/recognition-of-your-service Greg
Greg Godde on Recognition of your ServiceOctober 20, 2024
Hi James, which medal do you want see? A couple of years ago we had a guy that was pushing…
James Williams on Recognition of your ServiceSeptember 13, 2024
I would like to see a Five year Medal awared to Emergency services Volunteers as 15 years is to long…