VFBV

The 2017 VFBV Welfare and Efficiency Survey is now open for registrations.  The 2017 survey will officially open on September 1 and run until October 16.   The survey continues to be an important and reliable method to capture the views of volunteers and track what has been achieved and is improving, as well as addressing areas that are the cause of dissatisfaction for volunteers.

Register here to receive a direct link to the survey when it opens

The VFBV Volunteer Welfare & Efficiency Survey is an annual snapshot of volunteer opinion, which includes 33 questions on issues chosen by volunteers. Last year a record number of CFA volunteers completed the survey and over 7,000 volunteers nationally took part through our interstate surveys. Your comments are confidential, but the results go straight to the decision makers. 

2016 VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey – Results

The full report can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.

The 2016 survey had 3,066 respondents, a statistically valid sample size providing a credible view on the opinions of the CFA volunteering population. 

The high number of survey responses against the number CFA volunteers represents a very robust sample of the views of CFA volunteers and can be treated as a ‘statistically significant’ response.

Overall Satisfaction

The 2016 survey showed a significant decline in volunteer satisfaction, which based on the comments received, was substantially linked to the Victorian State Government’s attitude to CFA volunteer concerns about the lack of consultation on matters which could affect them.  In 2015, 80% of volunteers indicated they were satisfied with their role as a CFA volunteer, and this has dropped to 76% in 2016.  In 2015 59% of respondents indicated they were satisfied with the way volunteers are treated by CFA and this declined in 2016 with only 49% of volunteers indicating satisfaction for this area.

Volunteers are more satisfied with activities and relationships at brigade level, which is a positive outcome as some of the statements within this area are rated with the higher importance scores.

Theme and statement results

The themes relating to organisational support: Respect and Professionalism; My Role as a Volunteer, Cooperation across CFA; Support from CFA; and, Training by CFA, all experienced a decline in satisfaction from the previous year.   Recruitment and Retention and People Management-My Brigade results remain similar to previous years, and continue to be the better performing themes in the survey.

Whilst consultation at State level continues to be the worst performing area of those surveyed, volunteer consultation at brigade level performs well, being one of the strongest performing areas.   

Training continues to receive some of the worst performance scores, particularly in the area of “CFA provides enough training opportunities in formats, at times and at locations that make it easy for me to participate.”  This is supported by a significant number of additional comments relating to issues with training.   Another area of concern in 2016 was the results for “CFA’s workforce arrangements allow the paid staff and volunteers to work cooperative as an integrated team.”  The gap between importance and performance, which is an indication of whether volunteer expectations are being met, for this statement increased from 2.8 to 3.1 between 2015 and 2016.

Acceptance of diversity was again highlighted as extremely important, and also identified as something volunteers believe is done well.    Volunteers also viewed very favourably their welcoming environment and good morale at a brigade level.  

It also is apparent that despite the lower satisfaction levels, particularly with treatment by CFA, volunteers do still feel the time they devote to CFA is productive and worthwhile.

There is not a lot of difference in the results between different genders, but an obvious trend identified from previous years, that of declining satisfaction with length of service, continues to be evident in the 2016 results.

Reasons for Volunteering

2016 results show a distinct shift in the reasons for volunteering.  “To help protect the community I live in” has always been one of the primary motivations for volunteering, and in 2016 58% selected this option, an increase from 51% in 2015.  Most of this movement came from a decline in the option “A sense of fulfilment in supporting my community in a meaningful way” which changed from 41% in 2015 to 34% in 2016.

Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey 2016 – other fire and emergency management agencies

In 2016, volunteers with fire services from around the country also participated in the same welfare and efficiency survey, as did many other volunteer emergency management organisations in Victoria.   Overall, including CFA participants, over 7,000 volunteers took part in the survey, which is a significant results when compared to other large surveys.

The results for CFA have been able to be compared with these other agency results for the first time.  Overall, CFA volunteers were far less satisfied than their peers in other volunteer fire and emergency management agencies.

Full survey results can be read in the report available here.

The results for Victorian Emergency Management agencies can be found here

Results for the fire services nationally will be available on the CAVFA website shortly.