VFBV

The State Government has responded to the Fiskville Inquiry’s final report, endorsing all of the recommendations, either fully or in part - download the State Government response here or download the Fiskville Inquiry Final Report here.

VFBV now hopes it will be the trigger for urgent Government and CFA action on replacing Fiskville’s vital training capacity, ensuring properly monitored water quality standards for all CFA training sites, and maintaining ongoing support to all of those affected by exposure at the Fiskville site.

The announcement follows years of work from VFBV since the issue was first raised in the media in December 2011.   VFBV has consistently called for urgent remedial action at the site, independent, expert monitoring, ongoing support for everyone affected, and the urgent replacement of Fiskville’s lost training capacity. 

The closure of the site came in 2015 after the surprising discovery that water quality problems were persisting in spite of the reassurances of WorkSafe, the EPA, technical experts and CFA.

The State Government’s response to the Fiskville Inquiry is not the end of the issue, but a cue for action to resolve the problems left in Fiskville’s wake.

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 2016 VFBV State Urban Championships have concluded, with Maryvale taking the title of Champion Brigade with a convincing win over Kangaroo Flat and Melton .

The team from Werribee has been victorious in B Class, with Patterson River second and Sale third.

C Class honours were taken out by Whittlesea, with Stanhope in second place and Knox Group third.

Victoria won the Interstate Challenge, in a very closely fought contest.

Congratulations to the Mildura Committee on their organisation and commitment to the championships, and we hope to see all competitors, families and spectators next year for the VFBV 2017 State Urban Championships at Bendigo.

Detailed results are available for download below.

To see results from the 2016 VFBV State Urban Junior Championships, click here.

Tatura A has won the title of Champion Team.  You can download detailed results for every event below.

The Final Aggregate Results are as follows;

DRY AGGREGATE:
1st TATURA A 57 points
2nd SALE A 26 points
3rd KOOWEERUP A 18 points

WET AGGREGATE
1st TATURA A 32 points
2nd MOE A 24 points
3rd SALE A 15 points

UNDER 14 YEARS AGGREGATE
1st TATURA A 61 points
2nd KOOWEERUP A 26 points
=3rd MELTON A & MOE A 14 points

UNDER 17 YEARS AGGREGATE
1st SALE A 41 points
2nd TATURA A 28 points
3rd MOE A 23 points

GRAND AGGREGATE
1st TATURA A 89 points
2nd SALE A 41 points
3rd MOE A 37 points

Since the submission date for the Inquiry closed, and following detailed discussion at VFBV State Council in September, VFBV has written to all Victorian Members of Parliament with a summary of our submission to the State Government’s Fire Services Review – see below for a copy of the letter.

The letter includes an introduction to the broader issues and a list of points that volunteers are particularly concerned about.

VFBV has also offered to have volunteer representatives meet with any MPs who would like to discuss the issues or learn more about volunteers’ concerns at the state level or in their local area. 

MPs are invited to call the VFBV office on (03) 9886 1141 if they would like to make contact with their local CFA volunteer delegates.

VFBV'S Letter to all State MPs, dated 28 September 2015

Dear Member

VFBV submission to the State Government’s Fire Services Review

As the association representing CFA volunteers, VFBV has recently made an extensive submission to the Fire Services Review. The VFBV submission and relevant material is available via the VFBV website (visit www.vfbv.com.au) and I encourage you to visit our website to read or download this material, as it explains a number of key matters about which volunteers feel very strongly.

Perceptions about the Review’s focus, process and background context have given rise to significant anxiety amongst Victoria’s volunteers, particularly over a number of principles fundamental to CFA’s future success as a volunteer based organisation.

The key and critical principles that volunteers find essential are the following:

♦ The obligations, duties and aspirations both express and implied in the CFA Volunteer Charter as recognised in the current CFA Act and the maintenance of Section 6 of the Act are fundamental to CFA volunteerism and its success in delivering CFA services to the people of Victoria. Critically, flowing from these and in recognition of the core role volunteers play in Victoria’s emergency management, any decision making that may impact on volunteers at any level of government or its agencies must incorporate volunteers in that process and the effects on volunteer capacity must be a clear, transparent and fair feature of such decision making.

♦ Recognition of the importance that the CFA Board has strong volunteer expertise, knowledge and understanding of CFA volunteerism must continue and the engagement of volunteers through current arrangements for volunteer nomination to and level of representation on the CFA Board as currently provided. These arrangements are central to the engagement and utilisation of volunteer knowledge and experience.

♦ The CFA must have genuine ability and empowerment to govern and manage resource decisions, including internal resource allocation and prioritisation of support to volunteers consistent with its current statutory obligations. This includes the powers of the Chief Officer to determine all operational and related matters free of external interference save from the requirements of the CFA Act as currently set out and the statutory role of the Emergency Management Commissioner.

♦ Active removal of external interference and arrangements (including those affecting CFA, EMV and Government) that impede, or block volunteers from being genuinely involved in decision making on all matters which may impact on them including proposed legislation and the adequacy of resources to enable volunteers to deliver the agreed services. 

♦ The CFA Budget and priorities must be established at a level and grow as required with such spending and resource priorities so as to ensure that volunteers maintain and continue to grow their capacity to provide CFA services to the people of urban and rural Victoria and provide Victoria with a high level surge capacity to deal with emergencies across the state. The determination and order of budget priorities consistent with this must be determined without inappropriate external interference or influence, and consistent with its statutory, governance and administrative accountabilities, obligations and requirements.

♦ CFA Budget priorities must ensure that there is sufficient resourcing to provide volunteers with best possible access to necessary training, up to date facilities and equipment including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), communications and vehicles, legal protection, and appropriate financial compensation for injury, illness and personal loss sustained during service to the people of Victoria.

♦ There must be transparency with regard to the determination, collection and expenditure of the Fire Services Levy (FSL).

♦ The total additional cost of any additional initiatives determined by government and not conforming to the order of CFA determined priorities must be resourced separately by government for the duration of the initiative and must not interfere in any way with CFA meeting its resource priorities for encouraging, maintaining and strengthening the capacity of volunteers to deliver CFA services to Victoria.

♦ CFA high level resourcing priorities must include volunteer support and capacity strengthening, including appropriate expansion of the BASO program, training and skills maintenance including first aid training, leadership development, and provision of EMR services to the public by volunteers, fixing communications problems and cyclic vehicle/appliance replacement.

♦ A culture of respect for volunteers, including ensuring there is no discrimination nor any barriers against volunteers simply because they are not paid. This includes barriers to the roles volunteers perform; access to training for volunteers demonstrating a willingness and capacity for higher level training; or utilisation and acceptance of volunteers’ authority and role in command and control within CFA and the broader emergency services.  There should also be a leadership culture of active intolerance to any discrimination against volunteers based on their volunteer status.

♦ Acceptance that appropriately trained and experienced volunteers can carry out duties of any designation within CFA and Victoria’s emergency management sector and proactive effort to engage their active utilisation in such roles. 

♦ Active encouragement and facilitation of individual volunteers demonstrating a willingness and capacity for high level training and utilisation in command and control and other CFA roles for training, building experience and sustaining qualifications, including for IMTs and the highest levels in incident control.

♦ Government and CFA’s active public and institutional promotion and demonstrated respect for CFA (and other emergency service) volunteers and the essential role they play in Victoria’s safety including advocacy against public attacks made on volunteers.

In summary, volunteers are particularly concerned about:

• Erosion of CFA’s ability to govern, manage resource decisions and allocate appropriate priority to resourcing/supporting the capacity of volunteers to deliver CFA services
• Erosion of the CFA Chief Officer’s statutory powers and operational decision making ability 
• The need to improve consultation with volunteers and/or the representation of volunteer knowledge and expertise at key decision forums in any future arrangements
• Erosion of the obligations, intent and authority of the CFA Volunteer Charter and/or the practical application of the CFA Volunteer Charter
• Any decision making processes at CFA, EMV or Government that impact on volunteers but block volunteers out of the process
• Any cuts to CFA budget relating to volunteer support and volunteer capacity building forced because of the need to pay for externally imposed or new commitments 
• Any failure to fully additionally fund externally imposed or new commitments  for the life of the commitment
• Ensuring adequate investment in resources for training of volunteers and for volunteer equipment, facilities, personal protection, service related injury/illness compensation etc.
• Any diversion of funding raised through the Fire Service Levy and the Government’s related share to other cost areas
• Continuation of industrial agreements that establish power of veto that overrides legitimate CFA decision making or block CFA progressing volunteer support initiatives, resource allocation and CFA organisational structure
• External direction to CFA Board or management that is not transparent, justifiable and consistent with legislation
• Resourcing priorities and funding allocation decisions that ignore more cost effective and reliably beneficial opportunities to encourage, maintain and strengthen the capacity of volunteers to deliver CFA services (specifically referencing section 6i of the CFA Act)
• Any discrimination in the roles volunteers can perform, training opportunities for volunteers or recognition of volunteers’ skills/expertise simply because they are not paid
• Failure to positively advocate the essential nature, benefits and professional capacity of the CFA volunteer based system.

If decisions are made that are not consistent with these principles and concerns, we fear the consequence will be a legacy of diminished emergency management volunteer capacity for Victoria. Our desire and commitment is to work with you towards a positive atmosphere so that volunteers can focus their energy on continuing to provide dedicated services to the community and prepare for the forthcoming summer.

Volunteers want certainty about the real respect and commitment of all key decision makers across Government and institutions to the service they currently provide day and night, every day of the year.

Volunteers want it known that they are committed to the safety of the communities they serve and will strongly resist changes that they feel are not in the best interests of their community.

I am hopeful that you find the VFBV submission to the Fire Services Review and the points outlined above useful to our continuing endeavour to keep all Victorian MPs well informed about matters of fundamental importance to volunteers.

As always I would be more than happy to discuss these matters with you at your convenience.

Yours Sincerely,

Andrew Ford

Chief Executive Officer

<Click here to return to the Fire Services Review Submission page>

VFBV MEDIA RELEASE - Friday, 8 May 2015

BUDGET A MIXED BAG BUT TRUCK FUNDING IS NEEDED AND WELCOME – CFA VOLUNTEERS

CFA volunteers say the State Budget’s $33.5 million for new fire trucks is needed and welcome, and the $1 million allocation to continue the program of providing amenities at all rural fire stations will be very welcome at those Brigades that don’t currently have toilets.

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) CEO Andrew Ford says the truck funding announcement is an encouraging sign the State Government is hearing the concerns that volunteers have raised over CFA’s ageing fleet of front line fire and rescue vehicles.

“There are hundreds of CFA trucks over the nationally accepted age limit of 20 years that are still in use as first response emergency vehicles, and VFBV’s research shows it will take around $30 million a year to gradually bring the fleet up to accepted standards,” Mr Ford said.

“The State Budget’s allocation of $33.5 million for 70 new fire trucks funded in the 2015/16 year is a good start; now it’s important to work towards an ongoing funding commitment and a rolling five year fleet replacement plan that gradually brings the CFA fleet under the 20 year age limit,” he said.

“While CFA’s older trucks are well maintained, they don’t have the speed, handling, crew safety and bigger firefighting capacity of newer trucks – a younger fleet will benefit volunteers and the communities they protect.”

“This year’s budget funding for trucks is a welcome acknowledgement of the volunteers’ concerns, and VFBV will continue to work with the Government on this important issue,” Mr Ford said.

On other fronts, there is some welcome funding but well short of what is needed, particularly considering the urgent need to replace the large scale training capacity lost with the closure of CFA’s Fiskville Training College. The State Budget has allocated $300,000 for planning of a new local CFA training facility near Ballan.

“It is vital that Fiskville’s training facilities and capacity be replaced as soon as possible, and volunteers are concerned that the State Budget did not include strong measures to achieve that,” Mr Ford said.

“Fiskville has had a critically important role in CFA’s network of facilities, training local Brigades in that part of Victoria and providing live-in training and specialist programs for CFA personnel from all over the state,” he said.

“There must be serious and immediate attention paid to meeting the training needs of CFA’s tens of thousands of firefighters,” Mr Ford said.

VFBV has also welcomed the expansion of the Emergency Medical Response (EMR) program to all integrated, staff/volunteer CFA Brigades, but is concerned the funding in the Budget is not enough.

“The funding allocated is certainly not sufficient to train and equip all of the state’s 33 integrated, staff/volunteer Brigades to deliver EMR,” Mr Ford said.

“And there is still no mention of funding to continue implementing EMR in more volunteer Brigades,” he said.

CFA Brigades, including five all-volunteer Brigades, have been providing EMR since 2008 and have saved a number of heart attack victims by dispatching specially trained crews who provide CPR in the vital first minutes until paramedics arrive.

“VFBV welcomes the expansion of EMR so far, but will continue to work with the Government to encourage funding for its introduction to more volunteer Brigades, particularly in country areas where the ambulance service is stretched or needing support,” Mr Ford said.

Ends…

Background information on EMR:

Emergency Medical Response (EMR) was first introduced in 2008 as a pilot program involving five volunteer Brigades, with five integrated, staff/volunteer Brigades joining the program later.

EMR Brigades are specially trained and equipped to deal with heart attack patients and use their shorter response times to begin CPR in the vital minutes before the ambulance arrives and paramedics take over.

The program has resulted in increased survival rates for heart attack victims in areas where Brigades provide EMR.

Torquay A achieved the highest points overall at the 2015 VFBV State Rural Championships, which brought 600 competitors from 46 Brigades to St Arnaud for the weekend’s competition.

Napoleons/Enfield A won Division A with 38 points and Dunrobbin/Nangeela D won Division C with 42 points. St Arnaud, Strathdownie and Hurstbridge all appeared among the placings, District 22 won the Discipline Award, and Greta runners Sarah Hooper and Nathan Hooper won the sprints.

At the 2015 VFBV State Rural Junior Championships, Willaura A won the Champion Team title and the 11-15 Years Aggregate.

Springhurst A won the 11-13 Aggregate, Slaty Creek won the VFBV State President Encouragement Award, Willaura won the Stan Ross Conduct Trophy, Erin Munro of Dunrobbin/Nangeela and Lachlan Peck of Miners Rest won the 11-13 Years sprints, and Tiffany Bussem-Jorgensen of Beazleys Bridge and: Cooper Nelson or Irrewarre won the 11-15 Years sprints.

There will be a full report in the April edition of the Fireman, there are more pictures on the VFBV Facebook page www.facebook.com/cfavol and you can download the full results from both Championships by clicking here.

UPDATED 29 January 2015 - Now includes Concessional Loans for Primary Producers

The Victorian Government lists financial assistance, health and safety advice, and local recovery support for residents affected by the 2015 Victorian Bushfires at its Emergency Relief and Recovery Victoria website:

http://www.recovery.vic.gov.au/2015-victorian-bushfires

The site also includes phone numbers for Lifeline (13 11 14) and Nurse On Call (1300 60 60 24).

LABOR’S PRE-ELECTION COMMITMENTS

Taken from Labor media releases;

• $141.3 million to recruit an additional 350 CFA firefighters and 100 Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) firefighters over the next four years
• Legislation to give career and volunteer firefighters presumptive rights to compensation for cancer claims arising from their service
• A Parliamentary Inquiry into the pollution, contamination and unsafe practices at the training college at Fiskville to examine health effects on employees
• Ensure that the Fire Services Property Levy is used to support firefighters and improve emergency response
• Implement Emergency Medical Response at all integrated CFA stations
• Re-establish a CFA/MFB Board of Reference to resolve staffing and station needs
• Examine options for the establishment of a Career Firefighters Registration Board
• Honour all agreements
• Also train and equip firefighters with the latest technology to battle brown coal fires
• Expand support services for firefighters suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• $18 million to purchase 50 new fire trucks… …to fund the new medium tankers in its first budget
• $1 million to install toilet and wash room facilities at up to 100 rural CFA stations, with grants of up to $25,000 to brigades (while contributions from brigades will be welcomed, they will not be mandatory)

Dear members,

On Tuesday last week, Labor announced a suite of initiatives, including their deal with the union to allocate an additional 350 paid firefighters to CFA and 100 to MFB. Labor have confirmed to VFBV that this 350 additional paid firefighters is in addition to the 342 they forced into CFA’s EBA. Labor have confirmed that CFA did not request these additional firefighters and they do not have any idea where they are to be allocated but they have said CFA is to employ the 350 within the next 4 years.

Labor have also announced that they will reintroduce the Board of Reference and that they support the union having a say in where, how many and what numbers of paid firefighters are employed by CFA. They did not agree with us that this should be based solely on the determination by the CFA Chief Officer and based on a transparent, evidence and risk based needs analysis.

Last week, confirming they had no plans for where the additional paid firefighters could be located, Labor also confirmed they had not contemplated any specific fire stations capital funding to accommodate these firefighters, suggesting they thought they would be accommodated at existing CFA facilities.

One conclusion is that they genuinely have no idea and they will now need to strip $100 Million out of CFA’s existing budget to buy trucks and build new integrated stations. Another conclusion is that they are going to convert existing integrated stations to fully paid stations, marginalising volunteers and destroying 1000’s of CFA volunteer firefighter surge capacity workforce.

Labor’s policy announcement is a step backwards to the deal making of 5 and 6 years ago. There has been no discussion with CFA, VFBV or volunteers about what is needed to build and strengthen CFA capacity and no discussion about what would be smart in terms of maintaining and building volunteer capacity and strengthening and sustaining CFA’s volunteer based and integrated model.

None of the initiatives announced on Tuesday are designed to have any benefit or support to volunteers. When asked why Labor have turned their backs on volunteers; why they have ignored the fundamental principles of trust and integrity the Shadow Minister Wade Noonan said this was a very important issue for the union.

Be very clear, VFBV supports the provision of additional resources wherever determined by CFA Chief Officer and welcomes the support of additional paid firefighters wherever they are needed.

But a union/industrial driven CFA, designed and aided and abetted by a Labor Government to fulfil UFU’s stated position of creating a “career-based firefighting services to cover the whole of the Melbourne urban area and other major regional centres in Victoria” is something that we cannot stand by and let happen. We know what this means for a volunteer based and fully integrated CFA service model and is a disaster for Victoria’s emergency management capability. It will mean Victoria has no surge capacity for major incidents; it will reduce CFA volunteer numbers by 1000’s and it will kill CFA as we know it today.

For months we have been talking to Labor about what is needed if they are really serious about improving community safety and this includes:

• More resources to support training of volunteers
• Investment in a modern firefighting fleet
• Remove industrial restrictions that are designed to erode volunteer capacity
• Give CFA the flexibility to deploy resources when and where they are needed
• Remove industrial control over how CFA uses its workforce. 
• Ensure CFA’s integrated paid staff and volunteer model can work well 

They have ignored this and didn’t even have the decency to talk with us about their latest announcement.

Labor’s policy is a plan to destroy CFA’s volunteer based and integrated foundations and to reduce CFA volunteer firefighter numbers.

On the issue of Presumptive Legislation, Labor says it will do it; says it will include the 12 cancers but in the fine print says it will effectively discriminate against CFA volunteers. Labor said they could not provide VFBV a commitment that they will not differentiate between volunteers and paid staff in their legislation. They have quoted the Tasmanian model which discriminates against volunteer firefighters exposed to the same risks as their paid counterparts.

They are happy to find $150 million for more paid firefighters even when CFA hasn’t asked for them; even though CFA still has not had the need to deploy 100 of the last 342 but they say their model for Presumptive Legislation for volunteers will need to be restricted because there isn’t enough money. By the way they as we understand it, they haven’t limited the $$ for the paid firefighters Presumptive component. Similar to the Tasmanian approach to discrimination.

Labor have said it will support the unions push to reopen another inquiry into whether Fiskville is safe to use, and the contamination and health impact on employees.  From our conversation with Labor it looks to be nothing more than the unions push to close Fiskville.

CALL TO ACTION

Be very clear - the union will twist our reaction as being opposed to paid firefighters – this is not true.

The reality is that this deal between Labor and the union, and their complete disregard and disrespect for what it means for CFA volunteers, a CFA integrated service model, and actual local community capability, is sinister and the biggest threat to Victoria’s public safety, that we have not seen since Labor Minister Race Matthews tried to amalgamate MFB and CFA many years ago.

In summary can you spread this message as wide as you can.

We need to get our volunteers active so that the community can see the extreme threat that is posed by Labor’s policy announcement.

We need you, and the people you talk to, to activate a community backlash to this announcement now, and when they contemplate how to vote.

Hans van Hamond AFSM
State President

District 12 has elected two new State Councillors;

James Holyman of Highlands Caveat Fire Brigade is a former senior CFA staff member and a long serving volunteer.  Brigades can contact him on 0408 544 392.

Peter Sharman is Captain of Tarnagulla Fire Brigade and a volunteer at Kinglake West. He has been volunteering for 28 years. Brigades can contact him on 0421 612 291.

Retiring State Councillors Greg Murphy and Gary Fitzgerald will continue to play significant roles on the District 12 team.

The VFBV State Council and Executive will meet at Fiskville on Saturday/Sunday, 12 and 13 April.

Issues to be discussed include;

•          A District 16 motion that VFBV approach CFA to have the maintenance level of Field Command Vehicles changed from current level 3 to level 1
•          A District 16 motion that VFBV approach CFA and relevant government agencies to develop a Grain Harvesting Code of Practice similar to that used in SA
•          An issue raised by Beaufort Group calling for improved procedures for the recognition of interstate volunteers’ training records
•          District 20’s concerns about the performance of the new pagers and the way they were distributed to Brigades
•          Concerns from Brigades in District 20 about the need to continue the SMS alerting service alongside the pager system
•          Concerns from District 22 about pagers and radios

The VFBV State Council and Executive will meet at Fiskville on Saturday/Sunday, 12 and 13 April.

Issues to be discussed include;

•          A District 16 motion that VFBV approach CFA to have the maintenance level of Field Command Vehicles changed from current level 3 to level 1
•          A District 16 motion that VFBV approach CFA and relevant government agencies to develop a Grain Harvesting Code of Practice similar to that used in SA
•          An issue raised by Beaufort Group calling for improved procedures for the recognition of interstate volunteers’ training records
•          District 20’s concerns about the performance of the new pagers and the way they were distributed to Brigades
•          Concerns from Brigades in District 20 about the need to continue the SMS alerting service alongside the pager system
•          Concerns from District 22 about pagers and radios

The VFBV Annual General Meeting included the re-appointment of Board Members Hans van Hamond AFSM, Gary Lyttle AFSM and Tom Brodie AFSM for two years from 1 October 2013.

Mick Nunweek was newly appointed for a two year term as a Board Member, having previously served ex-officio as Vice President Urban.

State Council elected Graeme Jilbert as Vice President Urban and Bruce Vine as Vice President Rural. Whilst the titles cease to exist as a result of constitutional changes at the AGM, State Council confirmed both members as the two State Council nominated ex-officio members of the Board for one year terms, as per the new constitution. 

State Council delegates nominated for the Welfare Fund Committee of Management are Ron Cole, Mary Ann Egan, Bill Maltby and Mick Nunweek.

The nine State Council Executive Committee members for the upcoming year from Brigades with predominantly bushfire risk profile are; T Brodie, M Egan, R Cole, B Conboy, K Clough, T Wyatt, R Auchterlonie, M Dumesny, G Neyenhuis.

And the nine State Council Executive Committee members for the upcoming year from Brigades with predominantly structural risk profile are; B Maltby, M Nunweek, P White, R Waterson, C Dennis, B Pickett, T Desmond, P Slender, M Jones.

Following this years AGM, State Council has also awarded VFBV Life Membership to Andy Cusack, Mike Evans, Phillip Lind, Bill Maltby and Col Pomroy, all of whom have given more than 10 years’ outstanding service to the Association.

Structure

The diagram below illustrates the overall structure of VFBV and process links between key VFBV forums plus the links and inputs to decision making levels of CFA Management. In simplest terms the roles of the three levels can be described as follows:

Board – Governance, strategic direction, policy and oversight;

State Council – is the operating level, key advisory forum and State wide representation;

District Councils – allow local level input and the local operating level

The VFBV CEO and staff secretariat provide overall coordination, management, advice and support to the Association at each level.

You can download a copy of the VFBV Constitution at the bottom of this page.

The roles of the three key levels of VFBV are:

Role of VFBV Board

• Governing body, responsible and accountable for the control of the business affairs, performance and governance of the Association;
• Determine policy and direction for the Association;
• Determine VFBV policy on matters referred by CEO or State Council;
• Appoint the CEO and monitor the CEO’s performance;
• Ensure the VFBV’s financial affairs are effectively managed and controlled;
• Ensure adherence to the Association’s Statement of Purposes;
• Ensure internal communication and consultative processes effectively engage membership;

Role of VFBV State Council

• Provide a forum for expression of views from Regional Councils and ensure issues raised by Regional Councils are addressed in a timely and satisfactory manner;
• Consider matters referred to it by VFBV Board and CEO and make recommendations on action to be taken;
• Elect State Council Executive Committee;
• Select representatives to VFBV/CFA Joint Committees;
• Manage process for selection of VFBV Board members;
• Make recommendation to VFBV Board for CFA Board nominations;
• Provide guidance to VFBV representatives on CFA/VFBV Joint Committees and be a conduit between VFBV Board and Regional Councils;
• Advise VFBV Board on the business affairs of the Association.

Role of District Councils

• Provide a forum for affiliated brigades to express volunteer concerns/views;
• Help brigades resolve matters of concern at local level;
• Provide volunteer leadership and represent volunteers at CFA Regional level;
• Provide a conduit for communication and information flow between VFBV Board, State Council and brigades;
• Refer matters that cannot be resolved at local level to VFBV State Council or CEO.