There is significant news in the campaign for fairer and simpler cancer compensation for firefighters, both here and interstate.

The Northern Territory has now joined Tasmania, WA and SA in accepting the evidence and introducing its own firefighters' cancer legislation, leaving Victoria lagging further behind.

We have thousands of signatures for the volunteers' cancer petition in hand, and we call on all volunteers to send in any batches of signatures that you have and keep collecting signatures in your community.

Our recent letter to Victorian Members of Parliament has prompted many MPs to respond with statements of support for CFA volunteers, and many are now displaying our petition in their electorate offices.

However, some MPs have replied that they understand volunteers are entitled to cancer compensation.  This is correct, but our point is that it is nearly impossible to access it for cancer related to firefighting.

The Assistant Treasurer has said that firefighters don't need to list all incidents they have attended to lodge a claim, and while this is technically correct, it misses the key point and volunteer concern that the claim doesn't stand a chance unless the firefighter can identify incidents, possibly from many years ago, that caused the cancer.

We are not asking for blanket coverage or a free ride, we just want the process fixed and we want it to be fair.

Volunteers across the state are collecting signatures for our petition and I can't emphasise enough how important it is for everybody take action on this.  We've had great response from volunteers, families, friends, workplaces and communities who are happy to sign and are generally surprised that we are having so much trouble getting this legislation through in Victoria.

Please help your fellow volunteers by collecting signatures.  Don't leave it to someone else, keep talking to your local MPs, we need to keep this message going strongly until we get support from the Government.

Elsewhere on this page, we welcome two new VFBV-nominated members of the CFA Board, James Holyman and John Schurink, and I would like to sincerely thank and recognise the contribution of retiring members Paul Denham and Don Robertson, whose terms conclude at the end of this month.  Thank you Paul and Don for your service to CFA, volunteers and the community. 

The report into the Hazelwood Mine Fire includes recommendations for more effective air monitoring at incidents, better information and protection for firefighters and a 20 year study of the health of residents in the area.

The report shows the wisdom of VFBV's focus during the incident on air quality and firefighter safety, and the value of our successful request to the Emergency Management Commissioner for an independent monitor of air quality hazards.

The report's call for earlier and better information for firefighters is a vindication of VFBV's calls during the incident for more information and protective measures for firefighters at the scene.

VFBV's submission to the inquiry was based on direct involvement with the incident, feedback from volunteers and a strategic reflection on matters we believe to be of importance.

VFBV's submission covered;

•  The absolute importance of Victoria's emergency service network maintaining the CFA's volunteer based surge and sustain capacity and capability for large and protracted incidents;
  
  
• The importance of adequate protection for all firefighters (paid and volunteer alike);
  
  
• Concerns about under-utilisation of volunteers, particularly in senior incident command and specialist appliance roles;
  
  
• The need to improve fire prevention across the whole landscape

 The Inquiry's recommendations included that the State;

•  Equip itself to undertake rapid air quality monitoring at major incidents
  
  
• Review carbon monoxide response protocols and include assessment methods and trigger points for specific responses
  
  
• Inform all firefighters about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning
  
  
• Run a 20 year independent health study in the area, with regular progress reports

Two new volunteer-nominated members have joined the CFA Board, they are James Holyman (pictured, left) and John Schurink (pictured, right)

James Holyman is a VFBV State Councillor for District 12, has a strong background with CFA, previously working as the Executive Manager of Regional Services and Executive Manager of Human Resources and Quality, and is a long serving CFA volunteer.

John Schurink is the Captain of Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade, Chief Customer Officer at the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority and the former General Manager of Operations at Rural Ambulance Victoria.

They join Ross Coyle and Michael Tudball as VFBV-nominated members of the CFA Board.

Their appointment follows this year's refinements to the CFA Act, which brought in a skills-based CFA Board, whose members are now chosen for the specific skills and expertise required to operate as a high performing Board, including extensive knowledge and experience of volunteering and volunteer management.

The change recognised and reinforced the importance of the Board possessing strong knowledge, expertise and understanding of CFA volunteerism, and it recognised VFBV's crucial role, continuing our role of nominating four of the nine CFA Board members, the remaining five being named by the Minister. 

VFBV extends its thanks to retiring VFBV-nominated CFA Board members Paul Denham and Don Robertson for their service to CFA, volunteers and the community.

Centralised registration of Brigade Owned Vehicles (BOVs) and the removal of personal liability from Brigade nominees has now been resolved.

After lengthy groundwork and ongoing encouragement from the VFBV/CFA Joint Equipment and Infrastructure Committee, CFA has worked with the State Revenue Office and VicRoads to resolve the registration technicalities that had left some Brigades with unregistered vehicles and some Captains and Secretaries dealing with traffic fines and demerit point losses from Brigade owned vehicles being attached to their personal licenses. 

The solution involves no cost to the Brigade, with CFA picking up the first year's registration during the transition to a common registration date, transfers liability for infringements to Corporate CFA whilst retaining ownership of the vehicle with the Brigade, and allows Brigades to retain their existing plates including those Brigades with personalised number plates.

This avoids Brigades having to move to red number plates, which was initially seen as the only answer to the liability issue and centralised registration.  The problem with the red plate solution was that Brigades would have had to transfer ownership of the vehicles to Corporate CFA, which would have resulted in long delays when it came time to sell or replace the vehicle, a proposition that VFBV did not support.

This solution is a good thing for Brigades and shows the strength of the VFBV/CFA Joint Committee system, with the issue raised by volunteers, moved along by the Committee, and resolved by action at Government Departmental level by CFA.

For more details, see the VFBV News section of our website www.vfbv.com.au

The petition to support CFA volunteers with cancer is well on its way, with thousands of signatures already collected and more coming in each day, and there are fairly simple ways you can add to the momentum;

• Whenever you have a reasonable batch of signatures, post them in to VFBV at PO Box 453, Mt Waverley 3149
  
  
• If the batch is really big, gives us a call and we can arrange postage
  
  
• Get your local shopkeepers on the team, with a petition on their counter - takeaway food shops and hairdressers are doing particularly well
  
  
• Volunteers gathering signatures from people arriving at local football and netball finals are doing quite well
  
  
• Don't forget family, friends and work mates
  
  
• Keep collecting signatures - we're looking to have a big haul the end of September, but will keep collecting until the petition has done its job

You can download the petition from www.vfbv.com.au/petition ask advice or give us some feedback at [email protected] or on (03) 9886 1141.

A change in the new Brigade Member Application form has raised volunteer concerns about privacy and delays to the recruiting process for new volunteers.

The VFBV State Council Executive has noted that the new form asks applicants whether they have been convicted or found guilty of a criminal offence, and to provide details if they have.

Members of the committee have asked why the question has been included when new volunteers are already subject to a routine Police Check.  The Executive has expressed concern that while the police check has strong privacy controls and is only seen by Operations Managers, the application form that now asks the same question is handled by a variety of staff and a copy is kept in the Brigade's own records and at the District Office - a far less secure process.

VFBV has written to the Chief Officer asking whether he is satisfied with the way the information is to be handled and that the form complies with national privacy legislation. VFBV has also requested that he review the new form and provide a reply at his earliest convenience. 

VFBV members of the Listening Set Working Party have successfully pressed for more meaningful involvement of volunteers in the selection, trialling and approval of CFA's preferred model of digital listening set.

The members were not happy that the CFA selection process was nearing a point where the decision had been made without any effective volunteer involvement.

Volunteers on the working party will now be provided with CFA's preferred model of listening sets to test in the field.  They will also be given a copy of the results of CFA's evaluation of the four models being considered, to allow them to ensure the evaluation process was satisfactory.

The method of allocating the subsidised sets is still to be decided, and VFBV is pressing for a model that would see a quarantined number of subsidised units for Brigades and Groups to place capped orders on behalf of their members, providing sufficient time for all Brigade and Groups to have the opportunity, with any remaining subsidised sets to be offered first to Brigades and Groups in a second round, then to individuals on a first-come-first-served basis. This is seen as important to ensure distribution is fair to all Brigades.

VFBV has been successful in securing additional funding for the subsidisation of listening sets through the VESEP program, and is pressing for CFA to ensure the chosen supplier gives more than a token discount, to ensure as many sets as possible can be subsidised at the lowest possible price for volunteers.

Members of the VFBV/CFA Joint Community Safety Advisory Committee were encouraged to hear that there has been significant progress towards a well co-ordinated strategy for the mitigation of fire risk in the Alpine Regions.

Innovative response plans are soon to be trialled at Mt Buller.  Volunteer delegates on the Committee have been campaigning for action to address this unique risk and are pleased to see a strong and coordinated approach from CFA, the Fire Services Commissioner and Alpine Resorts Management Boards. 

VFBV's popular open forums are back, with dates through October and November with two regional mini-forums in the North East and South West complementing the State Forum.

This is your chance to talk shop with senior CFA and VFBV personnel, raise an issue, ask a question or make a comment. 

Each forum includes a keynote address followed by a panel session, and past forum participants have included the VFBV CEO, CFA Chief Officer, CFA CEO, senior District personnel, VFBV Board Members and other senior VFBV officials.

Driven by volunteers, the discussions are always lively and to the point, and the forums are always back by popular request.

Confirmed dates and locations are;

• Saturday 4 October - Benalla Bowls Club, 25 Arundel St, Benalla, with lunch at noon and forum at 13.00hrs.
  
  
• Saturday 18 October - Hamilton Performing Arts Centre, 113 Brown St, Hamilton, with lunch at noon and forum at 13.00hrs.
  
  
• Saturday 22 November - Whitehorse Club, Burwood Highway, Burwood East, with lunch at noon and forum at 13.00hrs.