VFBV’s Volunteer Leadership Program scholarships

Applications for 2017 have now closed, but volunteers considering applying for future courses are invited to download the information packs below.

The 2017 courses will be based in the Euroa (District 22) and Ararat (District 16) areas, starting in late March.  Successful participants will achieve the nationally recognised Certificate IV in Leadership & Management. The locations have been chosen based on an effort to rotate the courses across the State, and their location on major highways to make travel to and from those areas as easy as possible for members from neighbouring Districts.

The VFBV Volunteer Leadership Program has already produced over 250 graduates and many are in leadership positions with their agencies, volunteer representative organisations or local communities.  Graduates will achieve a nationally recognised Cert IV in Leadership & Management (BSB42015).

You can download the 2017 application pack for CFA volunteers here.  Scholarships are also open to volunteers from Ambulance Victoria, Australian Volunteer Coast Guard, Life Saving Victoria, VICSES and St John.  You can download a 2017 multi-agency application pack here.

The VFBV Leadership Scholarship course has been designed for volunteers, with a mix of lectures and interactive activities designed to suit the needs of adult students, as well as ample support using distance learning methods.  The course involves 12 units, eight face to face days (six Saturdays and two Sundays) throughout the year, with course work and assignments spread throughout the year.

The course includes units on;

• leadership
• decision making
• planning
• safety and risk management
• team effectiveness
• making presentations
• managing projects, and
• engaging the community.

Any questions or queries can be directed to any of VFBV’s Support Officers.  You can download the 2017 flyer here and a copy was posted to all Brigades as part of VFBV’s regular mail-out.

This is an exciting program and is well respected in the sector.  Applications always exceed places available, so please encourage your members and keep in mind that your Brigade Captain’s endorsement is very powerful when assessing potential students.

Coming up in August, the CFA-SES Community Engagement & Hazard Awareness State Forum is a 2-day community safety conference that brings together hundreds of emergency services personnel from across the state.

The conference provides training and mentoring opportunities to members. Participants can build on their community engagement knowledge; share outcomes of local community safety initiatives and projects; and expand their support networks.

The forum will take place at Mantra Lorne on the weekend of 6/7 August this year.  

Free of Charge: all conference costs, meals and overnight accommodation will be covered. Standard CFA approval requirements apply; volunteers must have approval from their Brigade Captain; employees must have approval from their Line Manager.

Any CFA member can register their interest in attending here:  State Forum 2016 RoI  

Registering does not guarantee a place at the State Forum - final attendees will be notified via email by 1 July 2016.

The State Forum is an initiative of CFA Member Engagement. For more information, Brigade members can talk to their CEC or BASO or contact CFA Member Engagement on (03) 9282 8982 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

VFBV Media Release

Fifty five emergency services volunteers from six organisations have just graduated from a leadership scholarship program run by Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV), the CFA volunteers’ association.

The volunteers are serving in Brigades, flotillas and units all over Victoria, and have achieved the nationally recognised Certificate IV in Frontline Management, delivered for VFBV by Chisholm TAFE.

The volunteers received their Certificates a few days ago, with presentations by VFBV Chief Executive Officer Andrew Ford, Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley, Mr Henry Plumptre of international racehorse breeding organisation Darley and Mr Ray Jopling of Chisholm TAFE.

VFBV Chief Executive Officer Andrew Ford said this latest group of graduates includes volunteers from CFA, Ambulance Victoria, Lifesaving Victoria, the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard, St John Ambulance and VICSES.

“The new scholarship graduates now have a nationally recognised qualification in leadership that will help them in their day to day careers, their work as emergency volunteers and their contributions to the community for years to come,” Mr Ford said.

“Victoria’s tens of thousands of volunteers are the unpaid professionals of our emergency services, and investing in volunteer leadership is a contribution to the vital work of encouraging, maintaining and strengthening Victoria’s emergency sector volunteer capacity,” he said.

“Leadership skills are part of the professionalism that makes volunteers vital contributors from the front line to the highest levels of decision making.”

“VFBV is forever grateful to the people who enabled us to put this and other programs into action with their donations. Particular supporters in the early days were International racehorse breeding and racing organisation Darley and the Victoria Racing Club, who were fundamental to our being able to begin this program in 2010 and remain active and generous supporters of VFBV,” Mr Ford said.

Many graduates of the earlier courses are now serving in leadership roles with their Brigades and units, as well as in representing volunteers at higher levels and contributing as leaders in their local communities.

The VFBV Leadership Scholarship course has been designed for volunteers, with a mix of lectures and interactive activities designed to suit the needs of adult students, as well as ample support using distance learning methods. To reduce travel time for the volunteers, the classroom sessions were made available at three locations: Colac, Inverloch and Mooroopna.

The course includes units on; leadership, decision making, planning, safety and risk management, team effectiveness, making presentations, managing projects, and engaging the community.

The VFBV Leadership Scholarship program is funded by VFBV, in large part through a trust established with public donations received after Black Saturday from generous donors such as international racehorse breeding organisation Darley, the Herald Sun and the Victoria Racing Club.

In recent years, the program has received top up funding and support from the Victorian Government through the Valuing Volunteers Program, which has assisted VFBV in extending the program to a larger number of emergency service agencies, including SES, Lifesaving Victoria, Ambulance Victoria and the St John Ambulance. The qualification is provided under the auspices of Chisholm Institute of TAFE.

VFBV emphatically acknowledges and thanks Darley for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for emergency service volunteers, and in particular their support of VFBV’s leadership program, which would not have been possible without their generous donation to VFBV following Black Saturday.

In particular this year’s Graduation ceremony would not have been possible without the generosity of Darley with their organisational assistance, the Victoria Racing Club and Racing Victoria.

Among this year’s 55 graduates are 27 from CFA, 16 from VICSES, four from the Australian Volunteer Coastguard, three from Life Saving Victoria, three from St John Ambulance and two from Ambulance Victoria.

This year’s course brings the total number of graduates to more than 230, with another 50 set to graduate in 2016. VFBV launched the program for CFA volunteers in 2010 and began expanding it to include other emergency organisations in 2012.

Ends…

EXTRA COURSE ANNOUNCED - MELBOURNE BASED

APPLICATIONS CLOSE SOON

Courses based at Colac and Inverloch - and now an additional course based in Melbourne.

2014 VFBV Darley Volunteer Leadership Scholarship Program

Forty eight emergency services volunteers have now graduated from the course with the national recognised Certificate IV qualification in Front Line Management that benefits their volunteering, their careers and their communities.

The course is designed to be volunteer-friendly, with a mix of face-to-face class time and off-campus tasks, available in 2014 at Colac, Inverloch and Melbourne.

The course is open to volunteers from CFA, SES, Lifesaving Victoria, St John Ambulance, Australian Volunteer Coast Guard and Ambulance Victoria, and includes units on; Leadership, Decision making, Planning, Safety and risk management, Team effectiveness, Making presentations, Managing projects and Engaging the community.

The course adds to the participants' capabilities in useful skills such as public speaking, business writing and influencing.

It comprises a mixture of lecture style teaching and interactive activities plus a distance learning component designed to suit the needs of adult students.

For more information, click here for the information/application pack.

For the Melbourne-based course, click here for the information/application pack.

APPLY NOW - VFBV’s Volunteer Leadership Program scholarships will be available again in 2017 and we are now calling for Expressions of Interest from potential participants.