Moves are being made in the Shoalhaven to revive the ancient art of firestick teams and cultural burns.
Eight members of the Djuwin Mudjingaalbaraga Men’s Group have undertaken fireground training with the Rural Fire Service in preparation of forming a local firestick team.
Through his job, National Parks and Wildlife Services ranger Noel Webster, one of the facilitators of the program, has attended a number of workshops around the country and came up with the idea that could be adopted at a local level.
“We have developed a partnership with the Djuwin men’s group, Grand Pacific Health, RFS and NPWS to facilitate the program,” Mr Webster said.
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.
VFFA General Meeting – Murrumbateman Inn – Sat 1st April 2017
Dear VFFA Members, Friends, Supporters and Sponsors
One last reminder that you are invited to join us for an important General Meeting to be held at the Murrumbateman Inn (near Yass) at 10am on Saturday April 1st 2017.
This post includes the agenda for this meeting.
Draft Grievance Service Standards for Comment
The following Draft Service Standards are currently out for consultation and members are encouraged to provide feedback.
The VFFA is sharing this material to help provide the widest circulation possible.
Send you feedback or enquiries by email to feedback.standards@rfs.nsw.gov.au or provide your feedback via the MyRFS forums.
1. Consultation Draft Service Standard 1.1.3 – Notice of Grievance Form.
2. Consultation Draft Service Standard 1.1.3 Grievances v3.0
RFS (RFSA) Telemarketing
The RFSA telemarketing scandal has damaged the reputation of the RFSA as seen in this newspaper editorial.
We are still waiting to find out how much was spent on the RFSA birthday celebrations at Penrith Panthers using money donated by the public.
Fire and Emergency Services Levy Bill 2017 – Second Reading
The Fire and Emergency Services Levy Bill will establish a fairer way of providing the funds needed by our fire and emergency services – Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and the New South Wales State Emergency Service (SES). This bill will abolish the insurance based Emergency Services Levy (ESL) and introduce in its place a Fire and Emergency Services Levy (FESL).
How do we move people to the bush?
A move to a regional or rural area has many benefits.
This post features a Radio 2GB podcast.
The podcast is very interesting and somewhat scary in terms of population growth in the big cities. Chris Smith (Radio 2GB) speaks with Foundation for Regional Development CEO, Peter Bailey, about decentralisation.