South Australian CFS volunteers now have equal access to cancer compensation with their career colleagues under that State’s presumptive legislation.
Amid media reports of a backdown, the SA Government has scrapped its discriminatory extra eligibility requirement that applied to volunteers but not career firefighters.
The SA Government had been resisting the introduction of presumptive legislation for volunteers, based on incorrect and exaggerated costings.
With a year’s experience, the SA Government realised it had the costings wrong and has now moved to fix the problem and introduce legislation to give equal coverage to volunteers as soon as possible.
This leaves Victoria as one of the few States still resisting the introduction of presumptive legislation.
