News 
Issue 4, 24th March2013
Quick snapshot of the priority issues and actions worked through at the most recent Joint Committee meeting between CFA and VFBV. (Meeting held 24/03/2013)
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY OFFICERS
The number of Equal Opportunity Officers / Contact Officers is declining. CFA believes that they have not been appropriately used or resourced. However, it is not appropriate to use the CIS/ Peers in cases of conflict or issue resolution. VFBV has strongly requested that volunteers be consulted at an early stage as new systems are developed. CFA is planning that the newly appointed VSO’s will take on much of this role, having specialist backgrounds and training in conflict resolution. Planning to date indicates that they will be based in “the field” and work in a particular geographic area, to reduce unnecessary travel.
OH & S
OH & S arrangements will be changing within CFA. There is an obligation to maintain vigilance in matters of safety and the CFA is currently investigating the best way to provide this. There is a lot of organisational restructure occurring as a result of budget cuts and this is resulting in CFA considering what tasks are of a lower priority and what activities they can cease. They are considering that there is a need to employ a person to be specifically dedicated to the oversight of common standards and processes across each of the training campuses. However, this will leave a gap in OH & S when brigades are not at a training campus. At present an options paper is not available.
REVIEW OF VOLUNTEER DISCIPLINE PROCEDURES
Consideration of CFA Regulations is being undertaken. CFA considers that formal charges would be dealt with by the Chief Officer or his representatives, the Deputy Chief Officers. VFBV and CFA are in agreement that there is a need for involvement of the HR Department. Further consultation between VFBV & CFA is required to continue to progress this issue.
VOLUNTEER COMPENSATION PATHWAYS MATRIX
Information about the Volunteer Compensation Pathway is available on the CFA Intranet. As yet a flow chart has not been developed. The current Regulations and CFA Act need to be amended to better support volunteer compensation. To enable this CFA has appointed someone to specifically work on this project and identify issues of concern and align these with current practices. CFA tries to be flexible and look at the needs of individual claimants when providing compensation cover for injury claims. It is important to note that statistics presented indicate a decline in the number of injuries in recent years.
