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.

The 2015 Volunteer Welfare & Efficiency Surveyis now open until 31 August - to complete the survey now click here.

The Victorian Emergency Service Association (VESA) invites all VICSES volunteers to take part in a volunteer-run survey that will better equip your association to advise VICSES and Government on what’s most important to volunteers.

The survey as designed and road tested with emergency management volunteers, so it gets straight to the point on issues that matter to the people on the front line.  The survey includes 33 questions on those issues, and takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete.  Each question asks how important the issue is to you, and how well you feel it is being handled by VICSES. 

Why a volunteer survey?

This annual survey began with the CFA volunteers’ association, Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) three years ago, and VFBV is how hosting the VICSES volunteers’ version on behalf of VESA.

The results will be compared year to year, to show trends in how volunteers feel on each of the issues.  It is a co-operative process; VFBV and the CFA Board both study the CFA volunteers’ version to highlight aspects of volunteer support that need attention.  VESA will put our survey to the same use, providing reliable facts and figures to support the association’s representation of all VICSES volunteers.

Your individual answers will be confidential, but the overall results will go straight to the decision makers.

The survey is designed to identify the factors that volunteers feel have a key impact on their welfare and efficiency, to establish ways of measuring whether things are getting better or worse, and to develop a process that uses these measures to ensure better support for VICSES volunteers and Units. 

Open to all VICSES volunteers

This survey is making our representation more effective and making sure every volunteer’s voice has the chance to be heard, whether you and your Unit are actively involved with VESA or not.

Last year’s survey drew more than 1,600 responses.

The survey will give VESA facts and figures we can use in working for the benefit of volunteers, Units and the communities they protect, so we urge all VICSES volunteers to take part. 

To complete the survey now, click here.

If you would prefer a paper survey sent by post, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or email the VESA Secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  The survey will remain open until 31 August 2015.

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.