VFBV

The Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Samantha Collins as the new State President and Board Chair, and Captain Andy Cusack AFSM as State Vice-President. This follows the retirement of Captain Nev Jones AFSM who has served as State President since 2015.

Ms Samantha Collins (Rothman) was appointed to the VFBV Board on the 1st October 2015, and has served as State Vice President since 2017.

Sam first joined Bacchus Marsh Fire Brigade as a junior and is now with Maryborough Fire Brigade where she has served as a firefighter and lieutenant. She is a secondary school teacher, mother of three, and is also a volunteer lifesaver with Life Saving Victoria, having also worked as a Project Firefighter with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Sam has a strong interest in the development of youth and volunteerism and developed a special program on the emergency services for year 9 students, which won the 2016 Fire Awareness Awards prestigious Education award.

“It is both an honour and a privilege to be the incoming State President” Sam said.

“Nev has been such a wonderful mentor and role model for me to learn from, and while I have big shoes to fill, I feel prepared, and I am really looking forward to the challenge.”

“VFBV is such an amazing organisation, and I feel so proud of what we as volunteers achieve together.”

In stepping down from the role of State President, the VFBV Board reflected on Captain Nev Jones’ significant contribution to not only VFBV but to CFA also.

Nev first joined CFA at the age of eleven and growing up in a family where CFA involvement was firmly entrenched, he has served with distinction for over 40 years. Nev joined the VFBV Board in December 2009 and has served as State President since 2015.  

Nev advised the board early last year that he was looking to retire from the Chair role and would not be seeking re-nomination at the following board’s AGM.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted these plans and last year Nev, in consultation with the board - agreed to serve a further term as State President to see through the work that the board had commenced with the new CFA leadership, but on the understanding that he would be retiring mid-term.

“I wanted to step down early so that I could provide the new State President the benefit of my support and experience while they were new to the role and while I could still contribute to the board” Nev said.

“Usually, the new Chair takes over when the previous one leaves, and I felt, given the challenging times we have been through, I owed it to the next person to hand the baton while I was still there to cheer them on and support them settle in.”

“Sam has served as my Vice-President since 2017 and I could not be more pleased that the board has thrown its unanimous support behind her, electing her as State President.”

“I am so proud of her journey and contribution to our organisations leadership over the years and am confident she will do a fantastic job advocating for our volunteers.”

Nev will continue to serve his full term as a regular board member until 1st October 2022 with Sam assuming the role of State President effective immediately. Nev has indicated he will not be seeking reappointment to the board when his term expires in October.

With Sam vacating her Vice-President role, Captain Andy Cusack AFSM was elected as the new Vice President. Andy has been on the board since 2010 and has been Treasurer since 2012. He too has been involved with CFA most his life, and has served as Brigade Captain, Lieutenant, Secretary and Group Officer over his career.

On behalf of the VFBV Board, officers, volunteers and staff we congratulate Sam and Andy on their appointments. We say thank-you to Nev for the outstanding contribution he has made, with the knowledge that the Association’s long record of strong leadership and stewardship of the vital role that CFA volunteers play in Victoria’s emergency management arrangements are in safe and experienced hands.   

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) welcomes today’s release of the independent external review of culture and issues management conducted by Dr Helen Szoke AO and Allen+Clarke Consulting.

VFBV believes the commissioning and release by CFA of this review provides a watershed moment for not only the Country Fire Authority, but for other partner agencies across the emergency services sector.

We welcome the findings and support all ten recommendations.

You can’t fix what you can’t see, and after many years of VFBV being the canary in the coalmine on these issues, our hope is that the stories and experiences of all the courageous volunteers and staff who contributed to this review will be the catalyst for positive change.

CFA’s acknowledgment and apology to those who have experienced negative workplace culture and behaviours that have caused harm is welcomed and represents an important milestone in CFA’s accountability and change journey.

As is clear throughout the report, VFBV has taken an active role in the review, and has supported Dr Szoke and her team throughout.

Our vision is for CFA to be the exemplar of healthy, safe and respectful workplaces across the fire sector. VFBV accepts its leadership role to support and contribute to this work and we thank and acknowledge not only those members who bravely contributed to this and previous reviews, but all those members who model and exemplify our shared values of safety, teamwork, respect and integrity every day of every week, and act as a beacon for all to follow.  

The review recognises that culture is led from the top, nurtured in the middle and supported by all.

Having discussed these issues with CFA Chair Greg Wilson, CEO Natalie MacDonald and Chief Officer Jason Heffernan, we admire their commitment and determination in commissioning the review and committing to releasing it in full and implementing all its recommendations.

The test will now be how effectively they are supported across the organisation and across the sector to ensure real change is not only achieved but is long lasting.

And while we are cautiously optimistic that CFA will use this review as the catalyst to address these long standing and related issues, they will need the support of government, stakeholders and the sector as a whole to ensure this work is joined up, resourced, and transparent.

This review gives CFA a solid baseline and framework to strengthen and support the vital goal of promoting diversity and ensuring all CFA members feel safe and have access to robust systems of accountability. As CFA volunteers, we want to be part of a fire service where all members are encouraged to speak up about the importance of a safe and respectful workplace, and one that walk’s the walk.

VFBV will remain vigilant by contributing to the next phases of the implementation journey and will also monitor progress and efforts to independently verify that members receive the support they require. We will also seek to ensure that CFA does in fact implement improvements to complaint systems and we will continue to advocate for systems that are victim centred, trauma informed and embedded with the principles of equity, natural justice and procedural fairness.

We are seeking a collaborative approach and are requesting CFA pursue improvements in partnership with volunteers.

CFA members, volunteers and staff spend their lives and careers protecting the safety of their communities and putting their fellow Victorians ahead of themselves. They deserve no stone to be left unturned when it comes to- ensuring they themselves are protected and have safe and respectful workplaces.

The release of this report is an important step forward and one that all CFA and VFBV members take together.

About VFBV: VFBV is established under the Country Fire Authority Act and is the peak body for CFA Volunteers in Victoria. VFBV works tirelessly to represent, advocate and support CFA volunteers to the CFA Board and management, governments, ministers, members of parliament, councils, instrumentalities, business and the public. Our vision is for Strong Volunteerism, Embraced to Build Community Resilience for a Safer Victoria.

Unity and generosity of spirit 
By Adam Barnett, VFBV Chief Executive Officer 

In this month’s edition of Fire Wise there is enclosed the VFBV Quarterly Supplement, which like each quarter - contains 16 pages of crucial updates on the current issues and topics that VFBV and your fellow volunteers are pursuing on behalf of all CFA volunteers.

When people ask me why VFBV is pursuing a particular topic, and not something they feel is more important, my answer is always very simple. Not every issue will be screamed from the rooftops. Some require finesse, tact and precision. But more importantly, let’s have a chat about how you, your brigade or group have contributed to your local District Council discussion to help build peer support for the idea or initiative you want pursued?

Our forums rely on fellow volunteers contributing to the discussions and debate and learning from each other to help move things along. The worst thing we can do is just turn up when there is a problem we need others help on. The relationships, the trust and the goodwill are built over time by toiling away with a unity of spirit and a common purpose to make things better. Your surrounding brigades and groups will remember the support and assistance you offered to them in their time of need when it comes time to help you with a problem you may be experiencing.

And if this pre-work hasn’t been done, how can we best support you to begin contributing to the discussions before you need someone else’s help?

You see, nothing VFBV pursues comes from some secret backroom hidden from sight. Rather, issues come from volunteers attending and contributing to local discussions via the myriad of consultative forums available to thrash out and progress issues of common concern and interest.

Every brigade and group are invited to contribute via your District Council. And each District Council office holder is elected by their catchment brigades and groups. In addition to this, every brigade and group can nominate any volunteer to contribute via a VFBV/CFA Joint Committee. And any volunteer is welcome to provide feedback on a policy or initiative that is undergoing consultation. You don’t get much more open than that.

The trick is to bring a generosity of spirit to the discussions and forums that honours all those volunteers who came before us. The idea that glues us together is we serve our communities best by building strong, safe, sustainable and resilient communities that are better prepared and equipped to deal with the inevitable natural disasters that will present themselves time after time after time.

This means not only discussing ‘problems’ or issues, but acknowledging the successes and improvements and contributing to solutions. It’s how we stay constructive and build a culture of civic pride and active citizenry.

And one of the easiest and most efficient ways that each volunteer can contribute to the discussion on what are the most important issues (and not) to our brigades is through our annual VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey. A survey designed by volunteers, for volunteers, with the questions, the themes and the measures all selected and designed by your fellow volunteers.

This year the survey quietly celebrated its 10th year anniversary. In a sector that changes direction and strategies more often than the seasons change in Melbourne, this demonstrates the dedication, commitment and foresight of all our senior volunteers who run and govern your volunteer association. An initiative that has stood the test of time and has slowly but surely built respect, recognition and results across the sector.

And while a survey in of itself does little to solve individual problems, it does serve as a strong evidence base and lightening rod to measure and advocate on areas of priority chosen by volunteers. Running each year’s survey is frankly the easy part. It is using the information, protecting its integrity, explaining what the results mean to decision makers, and relentlessly advocating, influencing and building momentum on initiatives to address the various challenges and issues that are highlighted that is the real work behind the survey.

And while a cohort of people as large as the CFA volunteer family can never be expected to agree unanimously on everything, we don’t all have to. But how amazing is it that those decisions on what is being pursued and what isn’t is not made by faceless bureaucrats or senior managers, but rather by those very same volunteers participating and contributing to the discussions. Including of course the many of you who work tirelessly every day to represent their fellow volunteers. Every single VFBV office holder is a volunteer themselves, and is elected by their peers, making VFBV a living and breathing democracy that is at its best when it is having the sometimes-difficult conversations. We don’t get to control the timeline – but we never give up and we never stop trying no matter how dejected we sometimes feel about the slow progress.

It was Winston Churchill who said that democracy is the worst form of government until you consider the others. And democracy is not an end point in of itself. It requires constant work and is a process not an event. It is sometimes difficult, uncomfortable and challenging. People participating, contributing and responding to the aspirations of the group are critical, but so too is displaying dignity, respect and appreciation for those putting themselves out there to take on roles that make them a focal point of attention.

In this edition of the Quarterly Supplement, you will find the initial summary results of the most recent VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey. The survey was conducted between late November 2021 and February 2022 and attracted close to 2,700 CFA volunteers, many of whom not only provided their responses to the questions but contributed also to a treasure trove of qualitative comments across the themes.

Thank-you to each and every volunteer who took the time to participate and contribute to this work. You are making a difference.

This year’s results are encouraging, and show a marked improvement across four of the seven themes. In particular, was a statistically significant improvement in volunteer’s attitudes to how they feel volunteers are effectively consulted and involved in decision making at CFA corporate level. This measure improved from a worst ever VolWEL result of 4.2 in the previous survey, to 3.6 for the current survey.

And while a VolWEL of 3.6 still indicates a critical need for priority action, we must acknowledge the efforts made over the last 12 months to improve how CFA goes about consulting and engaging with its volunteers. From little seeds grow mighty trees.

And for those that think surveys of this kind are a complete waste of time, I can only convey to you in the strongest possible terms that this has been one of the key priority focus areas for VFBV in many of its discussions with Government, EMV and CFA alike. The constant declining satisfaction of the previous year’s surveys have been one of the central discussion points with the new CFA leadership, and priority focus over several of the survey themes has been pursued over the last two years in particular to try and drive a paradigm shift in how consultation is approached.

And while I am far from satisfied that the issues are fixed and resolved - I am deeply encouraged by these early results. And while we can despair that too many of the result areas still indicate significant to critical gaps, we should take comfort that in this year’s results, 21 of the 33 key result areas saw an improvement over the year before which indicates a strong and positive sign that things are improving. We should recognise this and use it to propel the momentum for more positive change.

And while I have passed on my thanks and acknowledgment to CFA CEO Natalie MacDonald and Chief Officer Jason Heffernan for the work and efforts they and their leadership teams have undertaken over the last little while in collaboration with VFBV, I reserve my greatest thanks and respect to each of the individual volunteers who have tirelessly committed (and recommitted) to contributing and participating in the survey and the work underway to turn those results into meaningful action. Without you – those conversations could not even start.

And while we still have a way to go, I urge all readers to consider being part of the positive change journey we are pursuing. It’s not easy, and it’s by no means fast – but change is happening. My desire is for volunteers to lead that change through active thought leadership as well as tangible action and contribution. We are at our best when we are coming together with a unity of purpose and a generosity of spirit to fix issues, not just complain about them. We cannot achieve change on our own, and to those that are already contributing – thankyou!

And to those that have a desire to contribute more, please get involved. Given my reference to Churchill already, I will leave with a quote attributed to him from 1954: “My hope is that the generous instincts of unity will not depart from us...so that we become the prey of the little folk who exist in every country and who frolic alongside the juggernaut car of war to see what fun or notoriety they can extract from the proceedings.”

To me this reflects a simple acknowledgment that unity is not just required of us to steer a country through war, but that unity is also critically important to steer those very same people through a new found peace. I’m excited by the opportunities, and I hope you are too.

Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022

The 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours list announced on 13 June 2022 included four CFA members who were awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal (AFSM) in recognition of their contribution to the community of Victoria among the 992 Australians who were recognised.

John Cowan AFSM (District 14 Headquarters East Brigade) has served as a CFA volunteer across several brigades and groups in District 14 for the last 44 years. John is an experienced fireground commander and has a passion for sharing his experience with emerging operational leaders through both formal training and informally as a mentor.

Richard Cromb AFSM (Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade) joined CFA in 1970 and two years later was instrumental in establishing the Sassafras-Ferny Creek Junior Fire Brigade to ensure that more young people in the area developed an interest in CFA. Richard has served as the Captain of Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade and is still a member of the Brigade Management Team.

Alistair Drayton AFSM (Wallington Fire Brigade) joined the Highton Fire Brigade in 1982 before moving to Wallington Fire Brigade in 1996 where he is still a member today. Alistair is a Level 3 Incident Controller and has been involved in many incidents across Victoria, Australia and has even been deployed to the United States of America and Canada.

Debra Luke AFSM (District 14 Headquarters Brigades) has held many roles since she first joined CFA in 1980 including volunteer, administration coordinator, project manager, regional operations coordinator and lieutenant with Captain to join the list from 1 July this year. Debra has been involved in many multi-agency deployments across Victoria, Australia and internationally as a Level 3 Logistics Officer.

The honours list also included three Fire Rescue Victoria members who also received the Australian Fire Service Medal in the honours, Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer Roger Chitty AFSM, Assistant Chief Fire Officer James Dullard AFSM and Commander Philip Taylor AFSM.

VFBV congratulates all these members for their outstanding contribution to Victoria, to read more about the  CFA members who received honours on the Queen’s Birthday visit the VFBV website.

Safety Compliance
CFA has recently provided VFBV with a comprehensive status update on LVFR (Low Voltage Fuse Removal) and SWaH (Safe Working at Heights) Training from the Safety Compliance Project Team that manages these projects. It is clear to VFBV that CFA is well behind the intended training target with both these courses although there is an understanding that the pandemic has created training delivery issues.

VFBV has continued advocacy that there needs to be a transparent and acceptable RPL process in place for members that already practise these skills in industry, especially in bolstering the training delivery aspect with TAs. VFBV is aware that CFA has a small pool of TAs and Instructors for these courses and are encouraging CFA to build the capacity within the volunteer cohort.

VFBV has also expressed concern that unrealistic and in many cases, unachievable pre-requisites are creating unnecessary blockers for suitably qualified Trainer and Assessors to achieve endorsement to deliver these programs. CFA has committed to review the pre-requisites with a hope to engage and recruit a pool of experienced and suitably qualified TAs to assist in the delivery of LVFR and SWaH.

VFBV encourages any TAs or members who would like to become TAs in either LVFR or SWaH, with industry backgrounds to express their interest with CFA. Expression of Interest can be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

VFBV is also continuing to advocate strongly for an increase in resources to develop required doctrine and training in relation the increasing risk in electric vehicles and alternative power supplies, this includes reviewing current research, working with industry stakeholders and subject matter experts as well as partner agencies including AFAC. VFBV will continue to advocate on this and look forward to reporting on positive outcomes soon.

 
Presumptive Legislation – Women’s Reference Group
VFBV is seeking expressions of interest from members to join a Presumptive Legislation Women’s Reference Group we are putting together to consider and advocate for the inclusion of female specific cancers into presumptive legislation.  

Any member that would like to contribute to this work, should please contact Mark Dryden via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

 
Affiliation
Thank you for members’ continued strong show of support! More than 93% of Brigades demonstrated strong support for VFBV’s important work representing and advocating for all CFA volunteers. Thank-you to all brigades and groups who affiliated last year.

2022/23 renewal notices should have arrived to your secretary for your Brigade/ Group’s VFBV Affiliation and Welfare Fund subscriptions.

Those who pay their VFBV affiliations before 31 July 2022 will automatically be entered into a draw to win one of four equipment prizes valued at approximately $4,000. The prizes have for the third year running been donated by GAAM Emergency Products and Powdersafe and we sincerely thank them for their continued generous support.

We also strongly encourage Brigades to subscribe to the VFBV Welfare Fund. The Welfare Fund is an exclusive benefit to affiliated members and VFBV fund all the administration and operating cost ensuring 100% of funds received go directly to CFA volunteers experiencing personal hardship. The Welfare Fund provides small grants of up to $5,000 to assist volunteer members and long serving ex members. The grants support members and their families experiencing personal financial hardship/crisis by providing welfare grants, on a needs-assessed basis, that may help alleviate stress impacting their ability to maintain involvement as a volunteer.

District Council’s continue to promote opportunities for members to contribute to the vital work that VFBV performs on behalf of all CFA volunteers. Advocacy, support and the provision of trusted and credible advice are all strengthened when members work together and share a unity of purpose. Become involved today.

Quarterly Supplement

Included with the June 2022 edition of Fire Wise is the latest edition of the VFBV Quarterly Supplement.

The Quarterly Supplement contains 16 pages of relevant news, updates, information on current issues being pursued by VFBV on behalf of members. It also includes additional resources or updates that are available via our website.

An electronic copy of the Quarterly Supplement can be downloaded here.

Brigade Captains and Secretaries, Group Officers and Group Secretaries as well as VFBV delegates are requested to please take the time to read this and future editions, and table at your upcoming meetings for the benefit and knowledge of your members.

 
Training
Results from the most recent VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency survey indicate volunteers believe things across CFA are improving, with 21 of the 33 key result areas recording an improvement over the year before.

However, one area that has consistently scored poorly, and again saw a decrease in satisfaction were questions relating to CFA Training. In particular, the question “CFA provides enough training opportunities in formats at times and at locations that make it easy for me to participate” recorded a VolWEL of 3.5 indicating that there continues to be a critical gap between volunteer expectations and performance with volunteers being highly dissatisfied.

VFBV is continuing to work extremely hard at the State level through the Joint Training Committee to improve state-wide processes, such as course development and the upskilling of volunteer trainers and assessors. However, it is clear, that many of the training issues continuing to impact brigades and groups are the result of local arrangements, with Districts responsible for the majority of training delivery which is where many of the pressure points for brigades is being experienced.

It is important for issue resolution that members understand that decisions about how many courses are scheduled, where and at what times are all made at the District and Region level. If brigades or groups have concerns about the lack of courses, where they are being run or in what format they are being run in, we encourage brigades and groups to raise these issues at VFBV District Council forums and work together with local CFA management to facilitate discussions with your Regional Manager Learning and Development, and your District Coordinator of Learning Development.

And in the case of individual issues impacting specific members - there are formal arrangements in place to support and assist brigades resolve specific training issues, with assistance available to any brigade who needs support escalating issues of concern.

In the first instance, a member experiencing an issue with training should discuss their matter with their Brigade Training Officer, which the brigade elects every two years. This is the member nominated by the brigade to coordinate issues regarding training and is likely best placed to have developed a working relationship with the District Training office.

The Brigade Training Officer would then raise the issue or concern in the first instance with the Administrator or Coordinator of Learning Development. These two positions are staff roles located at your local CFA District Office to assist with training matters.

If you are unable to resolve the issue at this level, you have several options depending on the severity of the issue. The issue can be escalated to the Lead Learning of Development, or the Manager Learning Development. These two positions are staff roles located in your CFA Regional Office.

If the issue cannot be resolved, your chain of command may also be able to assist, which is via your catchment officer (Commander) your ACFO (Assistant Chief Fire Officer) at the District level, and your Deputy Chief Officer Service Delivery which sits at the Region level.

Your VFBV District Council Executive can assist and provide advice during the early escalation stages of the complaint resolution processes. For complex or sensitive issues, our advice is to ensure your issue or concern is well documented, and your complaint has been made in writing, especially once it requires escalation to more senior levels of the organisation.

While members are encouraged to raise issues at the local level first - VFBV is available to assist you navigate the process, and can also use its own escalation processes should local resolution fail at the District or Region level. However, in order for these escalations to be effective, it is important that the issue try to be resolved locally first. If you need more guidance or support, please discuss the issue with your local VFBV District Council Executive member, State Councillor or VFBV Support Officer so we can best guide you through the process.

 
VFBV Board Vacancies

More information can be found here. 

 
Recent articles on the VFBV website
VFBV Board Vacancies: Invitation to Apply 

Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022 

National Volunteer Week 2022 

Updating your vaccination status (Update) 

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The 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours list announced on 13 June 2022 included four CFA members who were awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal (AFSM) in recognition of their contribution to the community of Victoria among the 992 Australians who were recognised.

VFBV congratulates these members for their outstanding contribution to CFA and the broader community.

John Cowan AFSM – John has served as a CFA volunteer across several brigades and groups in District 14 for the last 44 years. John is an experienced fireground commander and has a passion for sharing his experience with emerging operational leaders through both formal training and informally as a mentor. Recently during the pandemic John led the development of a virtual online training delivery program in District 14  to ensure that members stayed connected and maintained their emergency management skills. You can read more about John here. 

Richard Cromb AFSM – Richard joined CFA in 1970 and two years later was instrumental in establishing the Sassafras-Ferny Creek Junior Fire Brigade to ensure that more young people in the area developed an interest in CFA. Richard has served as the Captain of Sassafras-Ferny Creek Fire Brigade and is still a member of the Brigade Management Team responsible for driver education and skills maintenance. Richard is also employed as a Bushfire Instructor for CFA in District 13 and has provided extensive input into the development of training material for new CFA appliances. You can read more about Richard here. 

Alistair Drayton AFSM – Alistair joined the Highton Fire Brigade in 1982 before moving to Wallington Fire Brigade in 1996 where he is still a member today. Alistair is a Level 3 Incident Controller and has been involved in many incidents across Victoria, Australia and has even been deployed to the United States of America and Canada. Alistair has served as both a Deputy Group Officer and Group Officer in the Bellarine Group and led the establishment of a driver training pathway structured to suit volunteers. You can read more about Alistair on CFA’s website here. 

Debra Luke AFSM – Debra has held many roles since she first joined CFA in 1980 including volunteer, administration coordinator, project manager, regional operations coordinator and lieutenant with Captain to join the list from 1 July this year. Debra has been involved in many multi-agency deployments across Victoria, Australia and internationally as a Level 3 Logistics Officer. Debra also led the development of a national expression of interest process which is used to manage the selection of suitably accredited personal from agencies across Australia and New Zealand when international requests for assistance are received. You can read more about Debra on CFA’s website here. 

VFBV congratulates these four members for their outstanding contribution to the broader community along with the other Australians recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year.

Three Fire Rescue Victoria members also received the Australian Fire Service Medal in the honours, Acting Assistant Chief Fire Officer Roger Chitty AFSM, Assistant Chief Fire Officer James Dullard AFSM and Commander Philip Taylor AFSM. VFBV extends our congratulations to Roger, James and Philip.

Four further CFA members received recognition in the Queen’s Birthday awards with Graeme Legge OAM made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division and Alan Crosbie, Lyndon Hart and Geoffrey Penna each receiving the Medal (OAM) of The Order for Australian in the General Division.  Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp APM was also made a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division.

VFBV congratulates all recipients of honours announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year.

Nominations for AFSM's

Nominations for AFSM's are accepted at any time through CFA's Honours and Awards Committee. 

The AFSM honours the distinguished service of members of fire services who make an exceptionable contribution to their communities. The AFSM recognises those whose service is above and beyond the normal zealous and faithful discharge of normal or ordinary service, either in the short or long term.

CFA volunteers are often modest and reluctant to seek out recognition for the service they have provided to their community and may not have a realistic appreciation of the impact they have had on CFA, their community, within VFBV or your Brigade or Group. They’re not in it for the honour or glory, but it’s up to each of us to ensure we take the time to say ‘thank-you’ to those people who have stepped up and help inspire us all to do better.

If you know a quiet achiever who has contributed to CFA, who goes above and beyond what could be reasonably expected of someone in a similar position, please consider nominating them for an AFSM.  

The Australian Honours system has been designed to break down artificial barriers and open the Australian Honours to all parts of our society. Any member of the community can nominate any other Australian citizen for an award.

It is also critically important we encourage nominations for groups who are typically under-represented in Australian Honours like the AFSM. In particular we are encouraging a greater gender mix.

Women in particular are under-represented in AFSM’s awarded when we consider the thousands of women within the fire services across the country. And while things are improving, much more can be done.

There are so many exceptional CFA women and men deserving to be recognised, so please consider nominating someone you feel is deserving.

A common misconception is that only those members who have decades worth of service are recognised by the Honours system. The AFSM is not a long-service award, its sole criterion is distinguished service. And while prolonged service forms part of the key criteria, ‘prolonged’ is considered by the honour and awards committee’s to be taken in context as to what is considered ‘longer than usual’ and in context of what is ‘above and beyond’ the normal or ordinary service expected. Exceptional service that is sustained over a period of time can be considered as satisfying the criteria. For example, has the members contribution been in excess of expectations for a ‘normal’ member and over what duration? The Committee will consider the nature of the service or achievement within the context of a member’s service history when weighing up the various criteria.

This is especially important for women within CFA who may have their service overlooked simply because they haven’t been a Captain or Group Officer for 30+ years. While these are important leadership roles – our service is a team environment, and everyone’s contribution is valued.

Nothing should take away from the incredible achievement decade long service is, but the Honours system is designed to recognise those that make a significant contribution, and to represent the things that our communities believe to be deserving of recognition, including from those who are perhaps trailblazers for others to follow. Think of those people who have pushed the boundaries or have been first to reach and hold leadership positions that has been inspirational to those around them. For example, think of members who have overcome additional barriers, like English not being their first language and who have toiled away to learn the language and become masterful communicators designing new innovative community safety engagements to CALD communities and serving as a role model for other community members. Who are the people you look up to? Who are the people who have really made a difference in your Brigade or Group? 

Distinguished service includes service that is above and beyond and can be short-term or prolonged. It is service that can be exemplified by; responsibility for an outstanding event that has proven to be of significant benefit to the fire service or community; development of a new system, procedure or technique that is unique and made a significant contribution to the fire service; or outstanding leadership in the encouragement and development of others, particularly youth within the fire services.

While it can seem daunting to nominate a potential recipient, some guiding principles that could assist in completing a nomination for an AFSM are:

- In what role(s) has the nominee excelled?
- How has the nominee demonstrated service worthy of recognition?
- How has the nominee’s contribution affected a particular field, locality, brigade, group or community at large?
- Over what period has the nominee made a major commitment?
- Has the nominee’s contribution been recognised elsewhere?
- What makes this person stand out from others?
- What specific examples can be provided to show how the nominee’s contribution(s) have been outstanding?

Nominations for awards are strictly confidential. The person being nominated should not be approached for information or advised of the confidential nomination at any stage of the process.

Additional Resources to Assist

Honours and Awards Toolkit

Guide to Preparing Nominations for the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM)

AFSM Nomination Form

Want to discuss a potential nomination or need some more information? Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

About the Australian Fire Service Medal 

Introduced in 1988, the Australian Fire Service Medal recognised distinguished service by members of Australian fire services and is awarded to both volunteer and paid members. The award recognised the distinguished service by members of a State or Territory Fire Service, a Fire Service of an agency of the Commonwealth, and the Fire Services of the External Territories of Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling Island) and Norfolk Island.

The medal is awarded twice a year as part of the Australia Day award and Queen’s Birthday award announcements.

Criteria for the Australian Fire Service Medal 

To be considered for this award it would be expected that the nominee has given service beyond the norm exemplified by:

1. Prolonged service distinguished by exceptional performance in a particular area that has proved significant benefit to the fire service; and one or more of the following.
2. Responsibility for and management of an outstanding/exceptional event that has proven to be of significant benefit to the fire service, a community or community safety generally.
3. Development of a new system, or procedure, or technique that is unique and has made a significant contribution to the fire service, a community or community safety generally.
4. Outstanding leadership in the encouragement and development of others, particularly youth, within the fire service and the fostering and furthering of the aims of the fire service to the long-term benefit of the fire service and the community.
5. Demonstrated creativity in the development and implementation of innovative changes that have made a significant contribution to the fire service, fire/emergency operations, or the interests of community safety.