Newsletter - October 2014
Dear ,
Welcome to our monthly newsletter. You can find a print version of this months articles on Page 2 of the October edition of the 'Fireman' newspaper. You can modify your subscriber details by following the 'Subscriber Options' link at the bottom of this email.
Editorial: AGM's Promising Signs By Andrew Ford, VFBV Chief Executive Officer |
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For the many volunteers who didn't get a chance to attend the recent VFBV AGM I want to share some of the important messages we talked about on the day.
We had a terrific
presentation from CFA Chairperson Claire Higgins who reinforced some important messages about CFA’s commitment to delivering progress on supporting volunteers and resolving issues raised in the Jones Inquiry.
There has been disappointment about the progress on issues relating to volunteers and the arrangements that will ensure CFA’s culture is conducive to the most effective volunteer based
organisation possible, and Claire’s address was very encouraging.
I also want to reinforce my messages to all of our members, in particular to thank our VFBV members, Brigades and Groups, Delegates and our officials’ and our staff team for the terrific work done over the past year.
At the AGM we
reflected on a year of progressive change with the creation of Emergency Management Victoria and the move to a skills-based CFA Board. The Government’s response to VFBV’s campaign to improve CFA truck funding, adding $29 million in 2014-15, although falling short of our desire to ensure ongoing adequate base funding, was a good success for this current year and we are still pushing to gain a commitment to adequate ongoing base funding.
The AGM also gave us the opportunity to thank Bruce Vine, who has been an important leader within VFBV since 2001 and who retired as a Board Member at the beginning of October.
It was also great to welcome two new CFA Board Members nominated by VFBV, in James Holyman and John Schurink, and an opportunity to recognise the outstanding
contribution and dedication of Don Robertson and Paul Denham.
At the AGM we also heard from Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley, and as part of our recent discussion, both at the AGM and at State Council, there has been renewed discussion on the need for practical steps to improve the deployment, tasking and empowerment of strike teams. There has been some recent media attention to
this issue with many of the messages mirroring concerns that have been expressed by volunteers over recent years.
The Chief Officer has committed to putting a strong focus on making some real improvements in this area and I would ask volunteers to tune in to this discussion, because it presents us with an opportunity to fix issues that have caused volunteers frustration for many
years. And finally a note of thanks and encouragement on our petition, there’s been some terrific work over the last few months and by the time you read this we will be in the process of submitting our first batch of many thousands of signatures to Parliament. We’ll continue to collect signatures right up until we are successful in achieving our goal, and I encourage you to keep
helping us with this work.
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Cancer Petition - Good work - Keep going! |
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At time of going to press, VFBV was preparing to lodge our first batch of thousands of signatures, for tabling in State Parliament in the next few days. The petition is just one component of our campaign on this important issue. Our members are doing a great job collecting signatures and we encourage you to keep
collecting signatures as this campaign will go on until we are able to achieve a result in Victoria similar to that now achieved in nearly every other state.
In early October, we have had reports from WA that the legislation to cover volunteers has progressed significantly, it has been approved by Cabinet and sent for drafting before going to
Parliament.
This adds to the frustration of volunteers in Victoria who now see WA, SA, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT all recognising the problem with the current compensation process in relation to cancer, and implementing the solution that was accepted more than two years ago by all of the major parties at a federal level.
Just a reminder, visit www.vfbv.com.au/petition for a copy of the petition and keeping sending them in to VFBV Cancer Petition, PO Box 453, Mt Waverley 3149.
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Congratulations to Jan Jilbert, the first female recipient of the VFBV Gold Star for 30 years’ service to the Association. Pictured
with VFBV State President Hans van Hamond AFSM, Jan is a long standing CFA volunteer and a Past President of the Swan Hill Fire Brigade Auxiliary. Jan has also been an active member of VFBV’s Auxiliaries Working Party and the team behind a series of successful VFBV championships held at Swan Hill.
District 7 State Councillor Gerry Neyenhuis has been elected to the VFBV Board as the State Council Delegate for 2014/15 from a predominantly bushfire risk profile.
Gerry (pictured), is from Wallington Fire Brigade and has served on
State Council since 2007.
District 18’s Graeme Jilbert has been re-elected to the Board as the State Council Delegate for 2014/15 from a predominantly structural risk profile.
And new to State Council is District 24’s Captain Howard Smith, of Barnawartha Fire Brigade.
The VFBV Volunteer Leadership Scholarship program’s fifth course is now well under way, and is set to bring the number of graduates achieving their Certificate IV in Frontline Management to nearly 200.
A sixth course is planned for 2015, and will be open to volunteers from CFA, SES, Ambulance Victoria, Lifesaving Victoria, the St John Ambulance and the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard. Details will be published in The Fireman and at www.vfbv.com.au
CFA has readvertised jobs for sessional training instructors to correct an error that would have excluded qualified, experienced volunteers from applying.
The renewed advertisements no longer included a requirement that applicants have prior history as
paid instructors.
VFBV has been pursuing the issue of Sessional Trainers for several years to help meet the need for training to be volunteer friendly in location, timing and format. The Jones Inquiry supported our concerns, and the employment of sessional trainers is a good step.
CFA plans to complete the selection process by December, with applicants notified in the New Year.
VFBV has received several enquiries from members who were unaware that there is bushfire PPC available that has been specifically designed to suit female members.
Modifications to the cut of
the trousers, and an elastic waist in place of braces are just some of the differences available. Any female member can have their existing bushfire PPC replaced with the new cut, with automatic pre-approval, by contacting their local stores or Operations Officer. VFBV has requested that CFA once again promote awareness among Brigades of the options available, and ensure that
female PPC options are added to all PPC order forms to make members aware of it.
CFA has agreed to VFBV’s request for volunteer delegates to the Listening Set working Party to evaluate CFA’s preferred model under field conditions.
Delegates have been trialling the unit
over the past several weeks, and results have been positive with feedback provided to CFA and the manufacturer on only minor items.
VFBV has strongly advocated for a significant financial subsidy program to subsidise the initial cost to members to replace existing sets that will become redundant when the analogue network is finally decommissioned. CFA has agreed to work with VFBV to ensure the subsidy program is both equitable and fair across the State. More details will be posted at www.vfbv.com.au as soon as contractual arrangements are finalised between CFA and the
manufacturer/supplier.
Medium Tanker Independent Testing |
After several reports to the VFBV/CFA Joint Equipment & Infrastructure Committee from Brigades using the new Medium Tankers raising concerns about road handling, CFA agreed to commission an independent expert report to test the vehicles’ road
handling.
The report has conclusively found not only that the vehicle is safe, but scores quite highly across the board on most of the individual test results.
Given Brigades are often upgrading from a 20 or 30 year old truck, and the number of changes made over that period to truck design, CFA has
agreed to the Committee’s request that CFA review its training materials in order to provide a better comparison between models – and to highlight areas on which Brigades should concentrate during vehicle changeover training.
Medium Tanker Independent Testing |
The CFA Chief Officer has agreed to a VFBV request to review the recently issued member registration forms, and Brigades should now set them aside and revert to the previous
version.
VFBV raised concerns when volunteers reported that new and transferring members were being instructed to complete an overly onerous medical
condition checklist that would have meant most new members would have to pay a medical professional to enable them to complete the form and sign a detailed declaration before CFA would accept the application.
VFBV raised concerns that the forms introduced an unwarranted increase in red tape and a source of unreasonable delay and cost to volunteers.
PHASED BA ENDORSED CFA’s Chief Officer has endorsed the volunteer proposal for two levels of Breathing Apparatus (BA) competencies – with Level One suited to external
situations such as car fires and haystacks, and Level Two incorporating internal structural attack and search & rescue. Work is now underway on the training and assessment packages.
SECTION 29 PILOT The Section 29 Brigade Feedback Pilot has been relaunched, and Brigades can
participate online until 30 June 2015 – ask your OM or OO for the link.
TRAINING GROUND USER GROUPS At the VFBV/CFA Joint Training Committee’s request, CFA has agreed to re-establish the CFA Training Ground User Reference Groups for all eight training grounds by 31 December this year. The
Committee commends this decision and will monitor their progress.
VOLUNTEER STRATEGY CFA’s draft Volunteer Strategy should be available for District and Regional level discussions in the coming weeks. The draft has been developed with input from VFBV State Council and Board, and work on
finalising the strategy should continue over the next three months or so.
Dates and locations for the 2015 State Championships are:
Urban Junior: 21 & 22 February, Horsham Urban Senior: 7 to 9 March, Bendigo. Rural Seniors & Juniors: 28 & 29 March, St Arnaud.
Urban Championships entries close 1 November 2014. Entry forms have been mailed to Brigades, or you can download them at
www.vfbv.com.au
Entry forms for the Rural Championships will be posted to Brigades in January 2015.
There will be hands-on urban competition skills workshops at;
Traralgon – Saturday, 8 November 2014 Ballarat – Sunday, 16 November 2014 Dandenong – Saturday, 22 November 2014.
Competitors and coaches are encouraged to attend, and this year junior events are being incorporated into the program. See www.vfbv.com.au for more details and please advise the VFBV office of numbers attending, call (03) 9886 1141 or email [email protected]
There are still places available at VFBV’s popular Open Forums 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. The next forum is scheduled for: - Saturday 22 November - Whitehorse Club, Burwood Highway, Burwood East, with lunch at noon and forum at
13.00hrs.
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