Phoenix Journal March 2023

CONTRIBUTIONS

Letters to the editor

If you have a point of view you feel would be of benefit to VicSESVA, or a request for any article which other members may be able to help source, mail it to PHOENIX. If your Unit has a need to publicise an event or Unit activity, send it to PHOENIX.

Content for Phoenix Photography should only be supplied digitally or as original prints (please supply stamped, self-addressed envelope for returning). Please avoid scanning of any type. Text should be supplied electronically as a Microsoft Word document.

Send all articles to: Email: phoenix@vicsesva.org.au

VicSESVA CONTACTS

VicSESVA Phoenix Editor & Mailing List Enquiries

To add, edit or delete members to mail list or password and technical support contact: helpdesk@vicsesva.org.au

VicSESVA STATE BOARD EXECUTIVE & STATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

VICE CHAIR AND DIRECTOR SOUTH

DIRECTOR EAST REGION In progress

E: erc@vicsesva.org.au

Advertisers Alert

Countrywide Austral is appointed by the Victoria Emergency Service Association as the authorised publisher of PHOENIX. For enquiries re advertising in this magazine, please contact the printers and publishers:

COUNTRYWIDE AUSTRAL

1/460 Bourke Street, Melbourne

GPO Box 2466, Melbourne 3001

Ph: (03) 9937 0200 Fax: (03) 9937 0201

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SECRETARY AND DIRECTOR CENTRAL WEST REGION

David Edwards

E: cwrc@vicsesva.org.au

VICSES PEER SUPPORT

DIRECTOR MID WEST REGION In progress

E: mwrc@vicsesva.org.au

Peer Support can be accessed at any time by ringing 1800 899 927 and asking for SES Peer Support (EAS Paging). The Clinical Director can be contacted on mobile 0417 565 927 or by ringing 1800 899 927 (EAS Paging).

CHAPLAINS CONTACT DETAILS

CENTRAL REGION

Major Arthur Ford

M: 0416 085 634

Major Eddy Holman

M: 0412 014 557

EAST REGION

Rev Judy McLeod

M: 0417 347 821

NORTH WEST REGION Rev David Mills

M: 0425 708 730

Disclaimer Countrywide Austral (“Publisher”) advises that the contents of this publication are at the sole discretion of the Victoria State Emergency Service Volunteers Association (VicSESVA) and the publication is offered for background information purposes only. The publication has been formulated in good faith and the Publisher believes its contents to be accurate, however, the contents do not amount to a recommendation (either expressly or by implication) and should not be relied upon in lieu of specific professional advice. The Publisher disclaims all responsibility for any loss or damage which may be incurred by any reader relying upon the information contained in the publication whether that loss or damage is caused by any fault or negligence on the part of the publisher, its directors and employees.

Copyright All advertisements appearing in this publication are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced except with the consent of the owner of the copyright.

Advertising Advertisements in this journal are solicited from organisations and businesses on the understanding that no special considerations other than those normally accepted in respect of commercial dealings, will be given to any advertiser.

The data that VicSESVA holds for its members is solely used for the production and distribution of Phoenix and associated products.

from the BOARD

Welcome to this first edition for 2023, and with a new year comes new projects and ideas. This edition features some exciting new research conducted in the sector, from Haydn McComas’ Churchill Fellow report on leadership, to AFAC’s strategic plan 2023-2027 and Volunteering Australia’s National Strategy for Volunteering. Sector-wide research is critical to improving systems and practices, and to make the emergency sector more and more effective in serving our communities.

Read also about the project – Tony’ Trek- about to get underway by the Inspector General for Emergency Management and Chair of the Emergency Services Foundation, Tony Pearce. Can you imagine walking for 50 days and covering 1440 kms? This is Tony’s goal; along the way to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing and to raise funds for the ESF to provide a Lived Experience program, a pilot Residential Wellbeing program and an ambitious research program. You can support Tony at www.esf.com.au/tonys-trek

As always, volunteers and their phenomenal contribution are featured: Denis Brain 50 years of service, Sarah Brennan-Dunn an inspiration for diversity, Hamilton members recognised by their community, and teams from Cann River and Mallacoota competed in the Cann to Coota Emergency Services Cup.

National Yearbook OUT NOW

For the first time at the end of 2022, The National SES Volunteers Association (NSESVA) published the Yearbook. The Yearbook will be published annually, with articles of interest drawn from all States and Territories member magazines.

Gordon Hall, the Chair of NSESVA explains; “The National SESVA is working to assist where required in promoting the State Emergency Services volunteers in all states and territories. This includes meeting with Federal Ministers or their staff, working closely with AFAC and attending the National Memorial Service in Canberra and the annual AFAC conference”. The Yearbook is part of the resources used to promote volunteers. It is distributed to federal and state politicians, other organisations and stakeholders. In Victoria, each Unit will receive a complimentary hard copy in coming weeks. Later, a digital version will be available for all members to access.

If you have a story to tell, submit to the VicSESVA Phoenix Journal ( phoenix@vicsesva.org.au ). All articles published during 2023 will be considered for a final selection of 2-3 articles from Victoria for inclusion in the NSESVA yearbook.

Chairperson chair@vicsesva.org.au

Treasurer treasurer@vicsesva.org.au

Secretary secretary@vicsesva.org.au

Volunteer Shop shop@vicsesva.org.au

vicsesva.org.au

Phoenix Editor phoenix@vicsesva.org.au

South West Regional Council swrc@vicsesva.org.au

Mid-West Regional Council mwrc@vicsesva.org.au

North West Regional Council nwrc@vicsesva.org.au

North East Regional Council nerc@vicsesva.org.au

East Regional Council erc@vicsesva.org.au

Central East Regional Council cerc@vicsesva.org.au

Central West Regional Council cwrc@vicsesva.org.au

DENIS BRAIN: 50 YEARS SERVICE

AT THE RECENT SES AWARDS NIGHT, DENIS BRAIN FROM FOOTSCRAY UNIT RECEIVED HIS 50 YEARS SERVICE AWARD. THIS IS A WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENT AND AN EXAMPLE OF DEDICATION AND TENACITY.

Denis has held many positions over the years, including assistant training officer, staff officer training, staff officer operations, deputy controller three times, boat section leader and boat coxswain, EVS truck driver, as well as an operational member and duty officer.

He has been honoured with various awards and medals: The Australian Defence Medal, the Australian National Medal for time spent in the CMF, CDO and SES, Maribyrnong Council Community Services Individual Award and SES life member medal.

Denis reflects on his early years training in Civil Defence: “Our training manual in those days was the ‘little red book’, and to this day I believe it to be the best training manual used by the service, ever. It was very comprehensive and included activities such as rescue from heights (or depths) by means of ladder slides, ladder derricks, ladder hinges, leaning ladders, knots and lashings, hydraulic equipment, cut quicks, Tirfor hauling equipment, searching collapsed buildings, tunnelllng into collapsed buildings, improvised equipment, and much much more. We also had lectures and films on what to do in case of a nuclear war and in the use of personal radiation monitors”.

Denis’ motivation started at an early age, while growing up in rural Tasmania. Denis recalls:

“I am often asked why I volunteer. I guess it started with my father who was an ex WW2 soldier. Among other positions he volunteered in, he was the local Rural Fires Board unit captain and the local SES unit controller. As a farming family we were all involved in attending fires in our local area as soon as we were a old enough to understand fire and be able to carry a 20 litre fire fighting knapsack and fire beaters. This I did at the age of 12 years.

I can remember my first official fire. As a family we had just finished our main course of Christmas lunch on Christmas Day 1957 when the call came through by landline phone. So off we go, my dad, my two elder brothers and I. It was quite an extensive fire started by a firebug. We ended up having our Christmas lunch dessert at around 6pm!”

Denis’ life has been dedicated to serving the community and mentoring new SES members; he is respected and admired by his colleagues and has made an outstanding contribution to the Service.

CHELSEA LHQ UPDATE

I’VE OFTEN SAID, WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE CHELSEA SES UNIT, THAT WE CAN HAVE ALL THE VEHICLES, ALL OF THE EQUIPMENT, AND THE BIGGEST AND BEST BUILDING, BUT WITHOUT OUR VOLUNTEERS, IT IS NOTHING; NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT THE PEOPLE.

Well recently our new Headquarters turned from being just a building, admittedly a huge, very flash building, but still a building, into being our new home, as for the first time, it filled with people, our people, our Chelsea SES Volunteers. Welcome to the new home of Chelsea SES, 13 Ashley Park Drive, Chelsea Heights; now open for business.

When you work towards a dream for almost 15 years, there are so many times that you think it will never happen. We certainly went through that, but now,

that dream has become a reality, a huge day in the long, proud history of Chelsea SES. Our new place has world class facilities, state of the art technology, cutting edge security, and importantly, room to grow, so why not come down for a visit. In November, Chelsea SES will celebrate our 70th birthday, and moving into this new LHQ is certainly one of the most significant moments over those 70 years. So now we are in, planning is underway for our official opening, and then look out for your invitation to join us for our Housewarming, and let us show you around.

Submitted by Phil Wall

SARAH BRENNAN-DUNN: CELEBRATING DIVERSITY PRIDE MARCH 2023

‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ is a mantra often used to advocate for greater diversity and inclusion.

SES volunteers have participated in Pride March for many years now, supporting the great diversity of our community.

Sarah Brennan-Dunn was the first transgender SES volunteer in 2003. Many volunteers have admired her courage and commitment to living her own identity, and she has set an example that makes it easier for others coming after.

Sarah was interviewed about Pride March:

When did SES volunteers first participate? Who initiated this, staff or volunteers?

The first time SES marched in Pride March was in 2007 and it started with one person: “me”, with the approval from my Unit Controller at the time, but then Central Region didn’t feel comfortable in doing it the year later. Two years on, Chris SmithWelsh (with the support from Brimbank SES Unit) co-ordinated the march and got other SES Units involved. It was the year later that I joined the VicSES contingent for Pride March, and have continued since then.

Does it make it easier for people who identify as part of LGBTIQ+ groups to see the range of emergency services participating in Pride March?

Every time I march at Pride March and hear the crowd cheer louder when they see the VicSES members (not all members who march are LGBTIQA) march past and say “Thank you” to us. Just having our presence at the march gives the knowledge that anyone who wants to join VicSES is always welcome, and that we come from all different backgrounds but willing to help support the community in time of despair or need.

Where to from here? Is there room for greater participation in leadership roles (in the EM sector) for LGBTIQ+ people?

As they say, the sky is the limit. I’ve been blessed to serve my community for over 19 years and been able to help mentor new members in the unit. Leadership takes on many roles and being able to listen to your fellow colleagues and to achieve the best outcome. I do hope with my experience and with support from within the service, to extend my leadership role, not just within the Unit I serve, but to assist other units and work closer with our fellow Emergency Service Organisations.

How has your experience been as coming from a diverse background? Have you faced any discrimination or unconscious bias?

Being the first openly out transgender SES member in 2003, there has been a few roadblocks not just for me, but the Unit had to face as well, and it wasn’t easy. But as I have said from the beginning that this journey I’m going through, I am not going through this alone. Everyone

who I work with and meet are part of this journey, we will hit rough seas but we always find our way out and sail to shore. The hardest part has been dealing with the pronouns and misconception being made by others. But, I do correct my pronoun to the member and chat to them. Making them feel valued and welcome and I know that there was no malice in their action.

The biggest hill that I face at this moment is the limitation of being able to be deployed to assist other services (floods or fire deployments). I have the required accreditations and training, but people go on about the facilities at the staging area (overnight sleeping facilities). I’m an ex-Scout, I’ve been in tents and limited resources before and know how to adapt to the conditions. All I want to do is help serve the community within, and abroad as well to achieve our goal to keep everyone safe.

Anything else you would like to add?

Being part of Pride March and meeting up with other SES members from around Victoria, it would be great to see many more Unit members and families joining in next year.

Novum

Law Group

L o c a l L a w y e r s , h e r e f o r y o u .

E x p e r t i s e . I n s i g h t . C l a r i t y . R e s u l t s .

W e t a k e o n t h e h a r d w o r k t o m a k e y o u r l i f e s i m p l e r .

L e d b y a n A c c r e d i t e d S p e c i a l i s t , o u r p r o p e r t y t e a m a r e h e r e t o g i v e y o u e x p e r t a d v i c e a b o u t a l l o f y o u r p r o p e r t y t r a n s a c t i o n s a n d d i s p u t e s

W h e t h e r p r e p a r i n g y o u r W i l l s a n d P o w e r s o f A t t o r n e y o r o b t a i n i n g P r o b a t e o f a l o v e d o n e ’ s e s t a t e w e a r e h e r e t o g u i d e y o u t h r o u g h t h e p r o c e s s

e p r o v i d e e f f e c t i v e a n d p r a c t i c a l a d v i c e a b o u t m a t t e r s r e l a t i n g t o l o a n s , m o r t g a g e s , p e r s o n a l g u a r a n t e e s i n t r af a m i l y l o a n s a n d e q u i t y r e l e a s e p r o d u c t s

W e h a v e t h e s k i l l a n d e x p e r i e n c e t o a s s i s t o u r o l d e r c l i e n t s w i t h a g e d c a r e a n d r e t i r e m e n t v i l l a g e a g r e e m e n t s

ONE STEP AT A TIME FOR MENTAL HEALTH

A SOLO WALK COVERING

On 10 March 2023, Chair of the Emergency Services Foundation and Inspector-General for Emergency Management Tony Pearce will start Tony’s Trek – a 1440km charity walk to support pioneering initiatives for mental health to help people across Victoria’s emergency management community.

Tony’s Trek will travel through many of the areas affected by Victoria’s 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires acknowledging the mental health impacts that those fires had – and continue to have – on emergency personnel and community members alike.

Tony’s Trek aims to raise awareness and support for building collaborative sectorwide mental health initiatives led by the Emergency Services Foundation (ESF).

Victoria’s emergency management sector includes more than 139,000 paid and volunteer members in frontline and support roles devoted to helping Victorian communities before, during and after emergencies like fire, flood, storm, and pandemic.

A study by Beyond Blue has revealed first responders and emergency service workers are more likely than others in the community to suffer serious and debilitating mental illness because of the accumulated trauma they often face while working. This is reflected in escalating mental injury claims.

“We are seeing larger and longer duration emergencies affecting our communities, and it is increasingly evident that members of our emergency services community –who give so much to Victorians before during and after these emergencies – are at increasing risk of suffering a mental injury

due to the type of work that they do to keep us safe”, says Tony Pearce

Despite considerable investment in mental health treatment programs and services, there is still much work required to help prevent mental injury.

CEO Siusan MacKenzie says, “ESF seeks to get ahead of the mental harm and injury threat that currently pervades the sector – that’s why our focus is on prevention and early intervention.

“We must make sure we have the best possible programs to help support those who

are always ready to support our community”, says Siusan.

Funds raised from Tony’s Trek will be used to enable ESF to deliver pioneeringprevention-focused mental health initiatives – a Lived Experience Program and Pilot Residential Wellbeing Program.

ESF is entirely dedicated to the prevention of mental health injury for Victoria’s emergency workers. It works with the support of 14 member agencies.

To find out more, donate or get involved go to www.esf.com.au

• A Lived Experience Program which will see ESF train mental health ambassadors from across the sector to safely share their stories of mental health injury and recovery. This will help to reduce the mental health stigma which pervades the sector and inhibits early help seeking when the chance of recovery is greatest.

• A Pilot Residential Wellbeing Program to bring together emergency workers who are mentally struggling to help them process trauma and develop resilience skills supported by experts who completely understand their experiences. This will help them effectively self-manage to reduce the cumulative effect of trauma and the risk developing serious mental health injury.

Chair of the Emergency Services Foundation, Tony Pearce.

1440 KILOMETRES ACROSS VICTORIA WILL PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN VICTORIA’S EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY – ONE STEP AT A TIME.

From funds raised through Tony’s Trek, ESF will deliver pioneering prevention focused initiatives to benefit emergency workers no matter whether they are at the frontline or in important support roles.

HAMILTON MEMBERS COMMUNITY RECOGNITION

AT THE 2023 SOUTHERN GRAMPIANS SHIRE COUNCIL AUSTRALIA DAY CEREMONIES, VICSES UNIT CONTROLLER TIM FRY AND DEPUTY CONTROLLER JESS MAYNE EACH RECEIVED COMMUNITY RECOGNITION AWARDS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY FOR THEIR ROLES AS SES VOLUNTEERS.

Tim is the current Unit Controller of Hamilton and played an important role coordinating 71 RFAs during a significant flash flooding event that hit Hamilton in October 2022.

Tim’s partner and Deputy Controller of Training Jess Mayne also assisted with the October flooding event. While both were

assisting the community in need, the pair were aware their own home was suffering water damage.

Tim and Jess are both endorsed trainers and assessors and have spent many weekends training members of Hamilton and other Units through a range of courses.

As senior leaders of the Hamilton Unit, our members were very happy to see their hard work and dedication recognised. We are so proud of you both.

Submitted by John McKenzie Deputy Controller – Service Delivery Hamilton Unit

PROUD SUPPORTER OF

“

THE SES.

Thank you to all the volunteers for their hard work and dedication to the community ”

CANN TO COOTA EMERGENCY SERVICES CUP

THIRD TIME LUCKY! AFTER BEING DEFERRED TWICE BECAUSE OF COVID, THE INAUGURAL CANN TO COOTA EMERGENCY SERVICES CUP TOOK PLACE ON SUNDAY 16TH OF OCTOBER.

Happily, both the weather and call out gods were on our side! No rain and no emergencies. (Unlike when the Governor General visited a few years back only to be deserted as pagers went off left right and centre as a truck had run off the road …)

The funding for this event was provided by Emergency Management Victoria to the CFA and SES to support volunteers and their families with mental health and recovery from the Black Summer fires of 2019 and 2020.

Wearing her Reclink hat, our very own Cassandra Op den Brouw was chief organiser, ably assisted by the Reclink team and a band of local volunteers. Well done, Cass! The artwork for the day was created by much loved local Vanessa Janns who sadly recently passed. Vanessa would have loved to see the event finally take place.

Teams from the Cann River and Mallacoota emergency services included the ambos, CFA, surf lifesavers, Parks Victoria, and the Coast Guard. A line search, first aid, uniform relays, trivia quiz and origami boat race were among the fun events. An aerobics style workout loosened up muscles and events were conducted to the beat of drums,

co-ordinated by John Grunden. Cass and Mick Bartholomew provided running commentary.

The Mallacoota SES Unit blinged up for the occasion wearing orange nail polish, thoughtfully provided by Maddy Sands. Team SES – Hans Van der Sant, Jenny Mason, Rebecca MacKenzie, Lars Van der with Maddy stepping in for the last event –

did brilliantly! We were in the lead right up to the last event and were pipped at the post by the Coast Guard in the origami boat race.

Alas SES team mascot Mick the dog was sent home in disgrace after eating the lollies put out for the line search.

Jason Carter – Reclink’s Sport & Recreation Operations Manager Victoria, NSW, QLD, and ACT – and Callista Cooper – Sport and Recreation Manager Regional East Victoria – spoke about the context of Reclink in far east Gippsland, paid tribute to Vanessa and thanked funders for making the event possible.

Speaking on behalf of the Emergency Services, SES member Jenny Lloyd talked about the importance of volunteer emergency services in an isolated town and the need for new blood to continue a proud tradition of volunteering. She also thanked families for supporting emergency services workers and acknowledged the work of the many volunteers in times of emergency who do not wear a uniform. This was particularly evident during Black Summer.

Congratulations to the Coast Guard team which was presented with the inaugural Cup by SES veteran of 44 years, Eileen Buckland.

AFAC STRATEGIC PLAN 2023-2027

AFAC IS AN INDEPENDENT, MEMBER-BASED ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO ACHIEVING CONNECTED AND CAPABLE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. AFAC NATIONAL COUNCIL COMPRISES MEMBER ORGANISATIONS SPANNING FIRE, EMERGENCY SERVICE AND LAND MANAGEMENT ORGANISATIONS, WHO LEAD A PAID AND VOLUNTEER WORKFORCE OF MORE THAN 288,000 PEOPLE, SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES TO BE SAFER AND MORE RESILIENT.

The AFAC Strategic Plan 20232027 defines AFAC’s purpose, strategic choices and the outcomes it is committed to delivering.

For thirty years, AFAC has played a key role in building a connected and capable emergency management system and sector across Australia and New Zealand. This remains our vision and our focus. We support our members every day to pursue and deliver their agreed and shared goals. We play a critical role in supporting AFAC National Council to achieve the fire and emergency services sector’s Strategic Directions.

Strategic Directions for fire and emergency services

The Strategic Directions for Fire and Emergency Services in Australia and New Zealand 2022-2026 is the third edition developed by AFAC. These documents are endorsed by the AustralianNew Zealand Emergency Management Committee (ANZEMC) and the National Emergency Management Ministers’ Meeting (NEMMM) and AFAC reports to these bodies annually on accomplishment.

The Strategic Directions consist of six priority areas that reflect a shared vision and joint commitment to safe and secure communities: Supporting resilient communities through risk reduction; Providing a trusted response; Using credible and timely information and data; Safe, capable and diverse workforce; Informed by knowledge, innovation and research; Effective and transparent governance.

Download a copy of the report at: https://www.afac.com.au/auxiliary/ about/strategy

FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICE LEADERSHIP: FACT OR FICTION?

Adam Davey, CEO of the Winston Churchill Trust congratulated Haydn on his Fellowship. “We recognise Haydn’s efforts alongside the many other brave firefighters who risk their lives to save towns and communities.”

“We are inspired by Haydn’s passion and commitment, and wish him well on his travels as he researches learning and development in volunteer firefighting, and brings these learnings back to Australia.” said Mr Davey.

Opening Comments

During the Australian Black Summer fires of 2019 – 20, I witnessed frontline leadership from painfully difficult perspectives as a volunteer firefighter. Whilst working on the fireground and talking with colleagues during brief moments of rest, the following question occurred to me: ‘How can we realistically send our emergency service volunteers into such stressful situations and expect them to effectively lead teams with little or no investment towards their leadership development? There must be a better way!’ It was this thought that inspired me to apply for a Churchill Fellowship.

I have deliberately crafted this report to bridge the often-wide gap between the theorist and practitioner worlds. As a result, this paper sits between the opposing trenches of the those that are engaged in thinking/planning and those operational/ first responders who go into harm’s way. This emergency services No Man’s Land can be an uncomfortably lonely place. Nevertheless, if we are to achieve positive change, the theorist/thinkers and those who wear the ash and sweat stained PPE must ultimately come together. There is simply no other way forward for us.

As we prepare for future disasters, we overlook effective investment in leadership development for Australian emergency service volunteers at our own peril. Ignoring this need would represent the ultimate failure of leadership.

Churchill Fellow Bio

A volunteer firefighter with the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) since 2012, Haydn has witnessed frontline leadership from some uniquely challenging perspectives. None more so than during the Black Summer of 2019 - 2020 whilst working in NSW, at the Adelaide Hills - Cudlee Creek fire and also at the equally tragic Kangaroo Island fires. As an adult educator interested in how people learn for leadership, the lack of any nationally consistent leadership learning pathway for Australian volunteer firefighters stood out to Haydn as a severe and systemic national capability gap.

Service has been the hallmark of Haydn’s career, spanning the Australian Regular Army, the South Australia Police, and most recently, the Australian Border Force, where 2021 marked his 36th year in uniform.

As a professional learning and development facilitator since 2010, he has delivered entry-level recruit and frontline supervisory leadership learning at various locations around Australia and in Papua New Guinea.

As a consultant, Haydn designs and provides bespoke leadership learning experiences for various federal and state regulatory and emergency service agencies. These focus on team building and assisting leaders to sharpen their focus towards creating effective, positive, psychologically safe, and engaging working environments.

Executive Summary Introduction

Between August and October 2022, I undertook a 55-day round-the-world Churchill Fellowship research journey across NZ, the USA, Canada, Denmark, and the Philippines. I undertook this research because Australian volunteer firefighters lead emergency response teams in various situations, interoperating with partner agencies and increasingly across state and

Advocating for lifelong learning has always been Haydn’s mantra, and, true to form, he has worked hard to live up to this. In 2018 he completed an M.Ed. (research) at the University of South Australia, focused on exploring learning for ethical leadership in law enforcement and regulatory environments. Continuing his learning journey, Haydn has recently commenced a PhD at Griffith University to research organisational culture and its impact on interoperability across the regulatory – emergency services – law enforcement –military spectrum.

Please feel free to contact Haydn via: haydn.mccomas@gmail.com

international jurisdictions (CoA, 2016). Commonly, those without specific leadership qualifications often fill frontline and senior leadership roles (McLennan & Birch, 2005). This Churchill Fellowship research is intended to offer strategic insight and impetus toward achieving better leadership development towards sustainable voluntary emergency services across Australia.

continued on page 18

Background

In January 2020, The Productivity Commission found that Australia’s volunteer firefighting force declined by 10% (about 16,000 volunteers) in the past decade (Karp, 2020). This decline has now been assessed as a significant risk to disaster mitigation (Darling, 2022; CoA, 2020a). About half of all emergency service volunteers leave within the first two years (Jones & Berry, 2017), often citing poor leadership and toxic culture as factors (Sakkal, 2019; Birch, 2011 p. 9; McLennan et al ., 2009). Notwithstanding the importance of effective leadership (BaxterTomkins & Wallace, 2009), Australia lacks a defined leadership development pathway for fire service volunteers. This is despite the fact that whilst paid staff will abide by poor leadership in trade for payment, the same cannot be said for volunteers, where the “...exchange is much more precarious, and tolerance for poor leadership does not endure.” (Jones et al., 2015, p. 2).

Five key emergent themes

As a result of this research, five key volunteer emergency services leadership development themes have emerged:

1. T he ‘Mea Culpa’ moment – where the critically explosive public reporting of widespread poor leadership behaviour can be attributed to a failure to invest in leadership development. In New Zealand, the USA, Canada as well as Australia, shameful circumstances involving the ‘dark quad’ behaviours of bullying, hazing, sexual harassment, and/or sexual assault have emerged. Fire services are universally loved and consistently rate highly in public trust sentiment surveys (IPSOS, 2021; Seven, 2021). Yet, multiple events of bullying, hazing, sexual harassment, and/or sexual assault in fire services persist, sometimes festering over many years. The common causative factors being no leadership learning investment, and a failure of leaders at all levels to stringently enforce standards to the point that the agency’s social licence may be voided.

2. Knowing our people – and the importance of measuring and assessing staff/volunteer engagement and satisfaction towards driving leadership development initiatives. Some volunteer fire and emergency service agencies invest significantly towards understanding their people, how their volunteering is going and what aspects of the environment are potentially hindering or limiting their sense of commitment. This theme connects directly with theme 1: The ‘Mea Culpa’ moment, because if senior leaders had clear empirical insights, this critical moment would perhaps not

have evolved to an explosive crisis point. Additionally, publicly available reporting leads to an atmosphere of openness and transparency which builds public confidence and strengthens the agency’s social licence. If we don’t know and understand how our people are travelling, we are effectively flying blind.

3. Leadership models – and the critical need to select a workable theoretical model towards an integrated fire service leadership learning system. Any leadership development system should be underpinned by a theoretical framework. Oftentimes larger organisations cobble together leadership learning units into stages with no common theoretical scaffolding. During my research, two large organisations emerged as having successfully integrated Situational Leadership (SL) as their flagship model: CAL FIRE and the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA). This has proven to be very successful, particularly given that SL also offers a way of communication and positions the leader as a coach, which aligns well with the operational nature of fire and emergency organisations. What is clear is that effective leadership development must be a part of a bigger system, and not series of disconnected elements. Commencing with new recruits, whatever model is selected must align with a sense of service through ‘followership’ and be directly linked to agency values.

4. Leadership development placement – In fire services worldwide the operational training portfolio generally assumes control of all learning, including leadership development. As operational training demands continue to expand, so does the impact on precious volunteer time, leaving little appetite for non-

operational strategic offerings. In such circumstances, resource hungry nonoperational learning, such as leadership development, becomes a lower priority because ‘training our people to put wet stuff on red stuff is simply more important at the moment...’ , and strategic leadership development becomes ‘...something that we’ll get to when we have time’ However, this is not the only option available. CAL FIRE elected to place responsibility for leadership learning with their Professional Standards team because this team was considered uniquely placed to understand the issues. This has proven highly effective and adds significant gravitas to the reinforcement of learning around agency values. The leadership development piece should be elevated to be the highest form of learning achievement for volunteer fire services.

5. Leadership learning connection –Should leadership learning be an internal offering, or should it be externally delivered, assessed, and certified? Is it better to involve external facilitators, or are internal training staff up to the task? A particularly challenging element in this theme relates to identifying suitably skilled leadership learning facilitators. This is because the skill set required for deeply reflective group-based learning is significantly different and much more nuanced than the delivery of rote technical training. Such a level of professional facilitation may require externally contracted facilitators; however, whether such facilitators will possess enough contextual credibility remains to be seen. For volunteer fire and emergency services, one of the most difficult and vexed questions is whether leadership certification should be made compulsory for leadership roles. Particularly noting that in dealing with

volunteers, fire and emergency service agencies have no sticks – but only carrots to use. Nevertheless, given the human and reputational costs arising from such ‘Mea Culpa’ moments, at some point it is likely that all aspiring volunteer emergency service leaders will require some form of certification before taking on such roles. It is possibly only a matter of time before some court, Royal Commission, or other enquiry questions why emergency service agencies hadn’t moved on this need earlier.

Recommendations

As a result of undertaking this Churchill Fellowship to explore learning and development options in leadership for volunteer firefighters a total of 14 recommendations have emerged:

Leadership Learning and Development

1. Leadership development should become a volunteer life cycle learning journey, commencing at the volunteer firefighter recruit stage. Moreover, it should be closely aligned with the agency’s values and the enforcement of its standards. The intent is to equally position effective leadership alongside workplace safety in the minds and hearts of all fire and emergency service volunteers.

2. Leadership learning experiences for volunteer firefighters should incorporate the use of Individual Development Plans, personal reflective journals, a structured mentoring program and the establishment of a regionally based leadership round-table concept. The intent is to deliver longitudinally impactful leadership development that repositions attitudes and reshapes personal action towards creating high performing volunteer fire service teams.

3. Volunteer fire and emergency service agencies should invest in developing a cadre of internally credible leadership learning facilitators with the skills required to deliver meaningful leadership educative experiences. The intent is to build internal facilitated adult learning expertise that goes beyond the operational training skillset.

4. Careful consideration be given to the impact of literacy on volunteer leadership development programs. Given that volunteer fire and emergency services do not generally assess literacy at recruitment, some volunteers may find the writing components of intensive leadership development programs challenging. The intent is to ensure that high performing volunteers with excellent leadership potential are not disadvantaged or dissuaded from participating or progressing.

Leadership Quality

5. Australia should establish a national learning academy to deliver multimodal leadership development programs for volunteer firefighters and other emergency services personnel. The intent is to build effective, robust, inclusive, and high-performing local brigades to attract and retain new volunteers.

6. A nationally consistent and accredited volunteer firefighter leadership learning curriculum and learning system be established to ensure volunteer leaders are appropriately skilled and competent to lead teams. The intent is to build a common national leadership development standard in the most efficient way possible, including sharing learning concepts and materials between agencies.

7. A framework to transition long term fire service volunteers from senior leadership positions into esteemed elders and mentors (Kaumātua) should be developed. The intent is to make space for and provide support to younger emergent leaders, whilst at the same time safeguarding the storehouse of agency knowledge and collective wisdom. This will enable older volunteers to gracefully relinquish leadership roles yet retain a significant and honourable place from which to positively contribute to the agency.

Research

8. Volunteer fire and emergency service agencies build a robust internal research capacity to measure and assess volunteer sentiment in a timely way. Such capacity should be founded through partnerships with reputable academic institutions and/or researchers with relevant deep subject expertise. The intent is to understand the volunteer workforce and the operating environment to guide good decision-making.

9. Volunteer fire and emergency service agencies develop an anticipatory leadership capability within their senior leadership teams. Such capacity should be aligned towards using empirical research to guide both project environmental and organisational change. The intent is to ensure that our national emergency response capacity remains fit for purpose and strategically sound.

10. Empirical research undertaken by volunteer fire and emergency service agencies should be publicly accessible. The intent is to create a spirit of openness and transparency towards reinforcing public trust and building social licence for volunteer emergency response agencies.

Governance

11. The previously recommended national learning academy should feature nodes based in each state and territory to act as campuses (real or virtual). The intent being to ensure the relevant state emergency services portfolio leadership team develops a sense of ownership and ensure progress accountability.

12. Agency responsibility for volunteer firefighter leadership development should be placed with professional standards. The intent is to link leadership development with professional behaviour and also to ensure that operational training demands cannot overwhelm or sideline leadership development due to misplaced priority perceptions.

Policy

13. The National Council for fire and emergency services in Australia and New Zealand (AFAC) should commission a strategic white paper on fire and emergency service leadership development. The intent is to kick-start a national conversation about volunteer emergency service leadership quality, particularly in light of the recent Australian ‘Mea Culpa’ moments and potential links to historically inadequate investment in frontline emergency services leadership development.

14. Any such Academy established (as per Recommendation 5) should be pursued as a partnership with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). Such a trans-Tasman collaboration would then enable delivery of fire and emergency service leadership development for Pacific nations towards building cooperation and strengthening capacity. The intent is to develop a joint capability that efficiently contributes to regional security and disaster mitigation (AP4D, 2022).

Download the full report at https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/ project/to-investigate-learning-anddevelopment-options-in-leadership-forvolunteer-firefighters/

By Haydn McComas Winston Churchill Fellow

** The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust will soon be opening applications for the 2023 round. If you have a project in mind, consider applying. Go to https://www. churchilltrust.com.au/news_item/ applications-for-the-2023-churchillfellowship-round-are-opening-soon/

SURF COAST SHIRE AND SES PARTNER FOR COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

The local Council, Surf Coast Shire Council and partner agencies had come together to focus on the problem of flood mitigation for the beautiful Painkalac Valley. When the Creek mouth closes to the sea around 50 private properties and businesses are at risk of inundation without occasional intervention. One of the only tools in the belt of agencies is to dig a channel across the beach and release the water, an artificial estuary opening.

La Nina conditions have seen an increase of unpredictable storm events and

rainfall, and has resulted in flooding risk to residential properties, businesses and critical infrastructure near the Painkalac Creek more often. It has also resulted in roughly a doubling of artificial estuary openings.

The Painkalac Creek is a shared agency responsibility. 6 different agencies have direct management responsibilities in the area so Council invited all the agencies to the session to give community the chance for a deeper understanding of each role.

There are also different community views about best practice management of flooding risk, these were explored during the session.

Climate change was an overarching concern, that impacts are becoming more frequent, and more severe when they do occur.

The event was well attended by 62 people, plus agency staff. Conversations between agencies and the community were productive and are continuing, and everyone is hopeful for a future with minimised flooding risk and less intervention in the natural system.

Submitted by Nick Guyett Resilient Communities Officer Surf Coast Shire

Martha Haylett MP Labor Member

volunteers for all that you do for us in times of need.

THE GREAT DELUGE:

AUSTRALIA’S NEW ERA OF UNNATURAL DISASTERS THE CLIMATE COUNCIL AND THE EMERGENCY LEADERS FOR CLIMATE ACTION (ELCA) RELEASED A REPORT TOWARDS THE END OF 2022, ‘THE GREAT DELUGE: AUSTRALIA’S NEW ERA OF UNNATURAL DISASTERS’.

Among the Key Findings (ii-iii), the following points are made. These will come as no surprise to emergency volunteers who have experienced their busiest periods in recent months and have been responding to what seemed to be never-ending flooding across the State:

• 2022 will be remembered as the year of the Great Deluge, when rain and rolling floods swamped Eastern Australia breaking many records.

• From Queensland to Tasmania all eastern states were affected by prolonged and intense rainfall events that led to wide-spread and repeat flooding.

• Wettest monthly records were smashed for Brisbane (Queensland), Lismore, Sydney (New South Wales), Shepparton, Falls Creek (Victoria) and Lorrina (Tasmania), with up to three to nine times the typical rainfall recorded in these places.

• Collectively, the storms and floods that affected southeast Queensland and coastal New South Wales in February and March were equal to Australia’s costliest ever extreme weather event at $5.56 billion in insured losses from more than 236,000 claims.

• All Australians are bearing these costs with insurance premiums and food prices on the rise, and more than $1.5 billion of essential infrastructure needing repair in New South Wales alone. In fact, the average cost per household of extreme weather disasters increased by 73 percent from the tenyear average to $1,532 in 2021-2022.

The report’s findings state that this new era of climate-fuelled, unnatural disasters carries severe consequences for disaster and emergency management in Australia:

• Those in the disaster and emergency management sector know we have entered a new era of escalating disaster threats, where the next impact often hits while communities are still reeling from the last. For some families in the Hawkesbury region, for instance, the July 2022 flood was the fourth time they had been inundated in 18 months.

• Long-term recovery operations - which are already difficult and expensive - are being set back by subsequent climate disasters. For example, on

the NSW South Coast many people made homeless by the 2019/20 Black Summer fires had their temporary accommodation flooded in 2020.

• As a result, the systems we use to plan for and manage disasters no longer cut it. We need to rethink and transform our response to climate- driven disasters starting with more accurate and accessible risk models.

• All governments should focus on reducing people’s exposure and vulnerabilities to disasters. However, risk cannot be eliminated and much greater investment should be made in supporting communities to respond, recover and remain resilient through programs like ‘Community First Responders’.

Greg Mullins is a councillor with the Climate Council and founder of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA). He is the former NSW Fire and Rescue commissioner and a serving volunteer firefighter. He was quoted in The Age (28/11/22):

“We lurched straight from unprecedented hot, dry, windy conditions driving jaw-dropping mega-fires to flooding rains of incredible intensity. The sheer volume of extreme weather records that have fallen in the past 12 months – across Australia and globally – is shocking. From Lismore to Lahore to London, extreme weather records have been broken on every continent on Earth”.

Mullins describes the new era as “a frightening new era of climate-driven ‘unnatural disasters’” and that “Australia’s disaster planning, management and recovery systems are regularly overwhelmed”.

Mullins states that “Emergency systems we developed in the 1990s and early 2000s simply cannot cope with the scale and ferocity of the worsening disasters being thrown at us… compounding disasters are becoming far more common. Terms such as ‘one in 1000-year event’ are becoming meaningless”.

The Climate Council make some salient recommendations (pp35-38), including:

There is an urgent need for a National Climate Change Risk Assessment to be conducted as a baseline for all levels of government to focus on and coordinate climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. The Assessment should underpin production of a national strategy and plan enabling climate risk information to be mainstreamed across all government agencies and sectors and at-risk communities. They also recommend

• Getting emissions to plummet this decade

• Strengthening disaster management coordination

• Implementing recommendations from expert inquiries

• Prioritising investment

• Supporting communities to ‘build back better’

• Putting community first

• Ending fossil fuel subsidies and creating a climate disaster fund

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR VOLUNTEERING

AT THE VOLUNTEERING AUSTRALIA (VA) NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN CANBERRA, HELD ON 13-14

FEBRUARY 2023, THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR VOLUNTEERING WAS LAUNCHED. EMERGENCY SERVICE AGENCIES FROM ACROSS AUSTRALIA WERE PART OF THE EXTENSIVE CONSULTATION PROCESS AND MADE SUBMISSIONS.

There is also a more EM focussed research project that begins this year. The Volunteer Management Technical Group (VMTG) of AFAC applied to the Natural Hazards Research Australia Board for support for their National Volunteer Sustainability Project Concept. In a competitive field of 27 applications, this was one of nine that were approved/funded.

The VA development of the National Strategy was conducted over a rigorous and inspiring 12-month co-design journey. Australia now has a new shared agenda for a reimagined future for volunteering. The National Strategy for Volunteering, co-created by stakeholders from across the volunteering ecosystem, provides a blueprint for the next ten years that will enable volunteering in Australia to thrive.

process identified a unifying vision, three focus areas and aims, and eleven strategic objectives.

The National Strategy for Volunteering was funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, led by Volunteering Australia, and co-designed by the entire volunteering ecosystem.

The National Strategy for Volunteering includes the following:

1. A vision for volunteering to be achieved over the National Strategy for Volunteering’s ten year timeframe.

2. Three focus areas, which include the aims of the National Strategy for Volunteering.

3. Eleven strategic objectives, which detail the work required to achieve the vision and aims.

4. A timeline for phased implementation.

Vision

Volunteering is the heart of Australian communities

• Where more people volunteer more often.

• Where volunteers feel respected and know their contribution makes a difference.

Summary

Thousands of stakeholders participated in online consultations, interviews, participatory design workshops, working groups, surveys, and a bespoke research project to build the National Strategy for Volunteering. The culmination of this

The National Strategy for Volunteering (2023–2033) is a ten-year blueprint for a reimagined future for volunteering in Australia. It is the first National Strategy for Volunteering in a decade, providing a strategic framework for enabling safe, supported, and sustainable volunteering. The purpose of the National Strategy for Volunteering is to guide the actions needed to achieve a better future for volunteering. It sets out the desired outcomes for volunteering in Australia over the next ten years. It provides a clear and compelling case, underpinned by robust data and evidence, for targeted and sufficient investment in volunteering and celebration of the role it plays in creating thriving communities. The National Strategy for Volunteering identifies an ambitious yet achievable future state for volunteering where individual and collective potential is harnessed for the common good.

• Where volunteering is valued and properly considered in policy settings, service design, and strategic investment.

• Where diversity in volunteering is recognised, celebrated, and supported.

• Where people individually and collectively realise their potential for creating thriving communities.

Focus Areas & Aims

Three interconnected focus areas, each with a clear aim, form the framework for the National Strategy for Volunteering:

1. Individual Potential and the Volunteer Experience – volunteering is safe, inclusive, accessible, meaningful, and not exploitative.

2. Community and Social Impact –the diversity and impact of volunteering is articulated and celebrated.

3. Conditions for Volunteering to Thrive – the right conditions are in place for volunteering to be effective and sustainable.

“The National Strategy for Volunteering was designed and will be owned by all of us. It presents our collective vision for a future where volunteering is at the heart of Australian communities.”

“Together, we imagined a powerful future for volunteering. Now we need to work together to make that future a reality.”

Strategic Objectives

The eleven strategic objectives identify what needs to be achieved over the National Strategy for Volunteering’s ten-year timeframe to achieve the vision and aims.

1.1 Focus on the Volunteer Experience

A good volunteer experience is paramount to achieving individual and collective goals. Providing volunteers with the opportunity to satisfy their motivations and aspirations, ensuring their time is used efficiently, and communicating how their involvement makes a difference will promote positive outcomes and improve retention.

1.2 Make Volunteering Inclusive and Accessible Participating in volunteering should be an easy choice where everyone feels welcome to come as they are and contribute their time, skills, and passion to activities and causes they care about. Access should not be mistaken for ability and volunteering should take place in environments where people feel culturally and psychologically safe and included.

1.3 Ensure Volunteering is Not Exploitative Volunteering should be safe and ethical. Appropriate supports are required to ensure that volunteers are protected. Volunteering should not be exploited as ‘free

labour’, used to replace paid workers or compensate for shortages in the paid workforce, or be wholly responsible for delivering public services.

2.1 Diversify the Understanding of Volunteering Improving the understanding of volunteering to include different cultural expressions and interpretations will ensure volunteering, in all forms, is wellsupported and celebrated across Australian communities.

2.2 Reshape the Public Perception of Volunteering Expanding the public consciousness on volunteering will inspire more people to contribute to activities and causes they care about and will improve awareness about the role of volunteering in Australian society.

2.3 Recognise the Inherent Value of Volunteering Celebrating and supporting volunteering as an activity with inherent value makes a powerful statement about the importance attributed to volunteering in Australian society. The innate value of volunteering should be recognised alongside the role volunteering plays in achieving other individual and collective outcomes.

2.4 Enable a Community-Led Approach Empowering and enabling communities to be drivers of how volunteering

influences their futures will ensure everyone who wants to participate can do so irrespective of their level of power or access to resources.

3.1 Make Volunteering a Cross-Portfolio Issue in Government Governments need to consider volunteers and volunteering across all domains. Comprehensive policy and investment in volunteering should be recognised as an essential remit of Governments at every level.

3.2 Build Strong Leadership and Shared Accountability Strong leadership for a shared agenda on volunteering will elevate its importance and foster collaboration and accountability, enabling greater collective impact.

3.3 Commit to Strategic Investment

The availability of and investment in common enabling infrastructure, including technology, research, resources, and support services, will improve capacity and capability across the volunteering ecosystem.

3.4 Recognise the Importance of Volunteer Management Recognition of and adequate resourcing for Volunteer Management as a function and profession will improve the experience of volunteers and amplify the impact of volunteering.

A QUICK GUIDE

Victoria State Emergency Service Volunteers Association

WHAT IS VicSESVA?

VicSESVA works to represent and advocate for VICSES volunteers, actively supporting members and engaging cooperatively with VICSES management, EM sector agencies and governing bodies, and State Government.

• VicSESVA is a non-profit organisation which exists to further the interests of VICSES volunteer members.

• VicSESVA uses its dedicated focus on volunteers to select and drive the resolution of issues that impact on skills, safety and how VICSES volunteers undertake their duties. It is important to note that VicSESVA is an Association not a Union. VicSESVA does not engage in adversarial campaigns but it does seek to further the interests of VICSES volunteers, and the public they serve, by promoting appropriate standards in training, equipment and ethics in VICSES.

WHO IS VicSESVA?

VicSESVA is wholly staffed by VICSES volunteers who provide their time and expertise gratis and is funded by a small fee from VICSES Units, used to subsidise costs such as publishing, website, minimal office admin support and VA delegates travel. VicSESVA is comprised of all VICSES Units (two delegates may represent each Unit), Regional Councils and a State Board.

VicSESVA’s MISSION

To be pro-active in the pursuit of excellence in service delivery for VicSESVA members and to maintain an effective communication and interaction with all emergency and support agencies.

VicSESVA’s VISION

To ensure that the highest level of skills training is available to the volunteers of VICSES. To ensure that the resources available to volunteers are applicable to the respective operational requirements.

VicSESVA’s STRUCTURE

VicSESVA is broken up into 7 Regions: South West, Central West, Central East, North West, North East, Mid-West and East. Each Region has a Regional Council which seeks input from local Units, meets and discusses the issues identified and selects issues for escalation to the VicSESVA State Board.

Unit Delegates

Each member Unit of VicSESVA may elect two delegates who convey the thoughts and feelings of their Unit and its members to the Regional Council or State Board.

Regional Councils

The elected delegates of the Units from within the region form their Regional Council. The Regional Councils raise issues relevant to VICSES volunteers to be presented to the VicSESVA State Board for the formulation of policy on the issues they perceive need to be addressed, and to further advocate an outcome with the VICSES CEO or VICSES Board for action.

Regional Council Positions

Each Council may elect members to undertake the following roles:

• President

• Secretary

VicSESVA Board

• Director

• Alternate Director

The VicSESVA State Board is comprised of Regional Council Directors. Matters raised at Regional Councils are brought to the State Board so that the Board can recognise and monitor any wide ranging issues as they develop. If appropriate, the board will present them to the respective VICSES Management stream for resolution.

VicSESVA Board Positions

• Chairperson

• Vice Chairperson

• Secretary

• Treasurer

• Board Member

• Board Member

• Board Member

PHOENIX MAGAZINE

VicSESVA publishes the Phoenix Journal for VICSES volunteers. Phoenix is published four times a year and features articles and photos of interest, submitted by volunteers and staff. To register to receive your electronic copy of Phoenix, go to https://vicsesva.org.au/how-to-subscribe/

WANT TO GET INVOLVED?

As a VICSES volunteer, you are welcome to participate in a VicSESVA Regional Council. Depending on the region, meetings may be held once a quarter at local Unit LHQs. The discussion is very informative and presents a great opportunity to network and share best practices across Units. VicSESVA Board meetings are also open to individual members to attend.

HISTORY

For more information about the history of VicSESVA, go to https://vicsesva.org.au/our-history/

NSESVA

VicSESVA is a founding member of the National SES Volunteers Association (NSESVA). For information on NSESVA and the National Raffle Campaign, go to: https://vicsesva.org.au/faq/ https://www.nsesva.org.au/

TO VicSESVA

VicSESVA Activities, Advocacy and Industry Influence

SUCCESSFUL ADVOCACY

VicSESVA has successfully represented volunteers in:

• Negotiating to meet regularly with the Minister for Emergency Services

• Advocating for Unit VESEP bids

• Advocating to EMV to retain the right of volunteers to go to VCAT in matters of dispute (VICSES Regulations Review)

• Meeting quarterly with the VICSES Executive and raising matters of concern to volunteers which have been brought to Board meetings

• Meeting quarterly with the VICSES Operations staff

• Supporting and promoting the annual EMV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey

• Providing grants of funds for individual volunteer welfare or hardship cases

• Supporting members undertaking the VFBV leadership courses

• Providing information and advice to individual members and Units

• Providing a support person to individual members in matters of dispute

• Collaboration with the National SES Volunteers in advocacy for matters such as transferability of skills, harmonisation of training, national recognition, awards

• Implementation of the NSESVA National Raffle Scheme to establish future funding

• Raising the profile and interests of VICSES volunteers at local, state and national forums, including conferences, other EM agencies, interstate agencies, working groups, task forces, expert advisory panels etc.

SECTOR COLLABORATION

VicSESVA has extensive membership of industry forums, regular collaboration with VICSES and influence through its membership of NSESVA, including:

1. EMV Volunteer Consultative Forum, founding member

2. EMV Expert Reference Group, The 3Vs: Volunteer Volunteering Volunteerism – Uncovering the hidden value

3. EMV Expert Working Group, collaboration in developing Strategic Priorities for Volunteering in Emergency Management

4. Emergency Services Foundation (ESF) Chair, Alumni Network

5. Member of Organising Committee, annual ESF Emergency Management Conference

6. Facilitator, ESF Alumni Strategic Directions planning and ‘Valuing Volunteers’ project

7. VESEP panel member (VICSES and EMV)

8. VICSES internal Fleet, RCR, State WH&S, Awards, Uniform working groups

9. VICSES Community Resilience Strategy, volunteer representation

10. AFAC Volunteer Management Technical Working Group

11. AFAC/SES member Project Working Group, ‘SES Fit for Task’

12. AFAC doctrine development ‘Volunteer Impact Assessment Guideline’ (VMTG)

13. AFAC doctrine development, ‘Volunteer inclusion Model’ (VMTG Diversity Working Group)

14. Member, AIDR Dranszen Forum

15. Member Steering Committee and Working Group, Communities Responding to Disasters: Planning for Spontaneous Volunteers Handbook (Australian Emergency Management Manual Series 2018)

16. BNHCRC member Advisory Group ‘Adapting the Sector’

17. NSESVA Youth Strategy

18. Volunteer Group Steering Committee, Victorian Government ‘Provisional Payments Pilot (Mental Health Injury)’

EXPERTS AND ADVICE

On request VicSESVA has provided experts as guest speakers, advisors or community representatives. VicSESVA Chair, David Rowlands, is a Life Member of VICSES. VicSESVA Secretary, Dr Faye Bendrups, has been recognised for her work in the EM sector by being named one of the AFR’s ‘100 Women of Influence’ in 2019. This has provided opportunities to promote the work of SES volunteers in major local and national forums, including:

• 2018 Informed Observer, Diversity in Disaster Conference

• 2019 Chair, Akolade 2nd Emergency Management Leaders’ Forum

• 2019 Guest panellist, Public Safety and Hysteria: Leading by example in the first 24 hours of a terrorist event, Akolade 2nd Emergency Management Leaders’ Forum

• 2019 Facilitator, EM conference panel Wellbeing: a Range of Perspectives from People on the Ground

• 2019 Expert Judge, Ch7 News Young Achiever Awards (CFA Volunteer Excellence category)

• 2019 Executive Judge, Victorian Regional Achievement and Community Awards

• 2019 Women in the SES: Reshaping Dynamics, AFAC19 ‘A Shift to the New Norm: Riding the Wave of Change’ international conference presentation, see www.afac.com. au/events/proceedings/29-08-19/article/109.-women-inthe-sesreshaping-dynamics