VFBV

An independent Review Team from Allen + Clarke, which includes Dr Helen Szoke AO as Lead Reviewer, has been engaged by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to undertake a review of culture and issues management to support the CFA of the future (the Review).

The Review will seek to ensure that the CFA:

• has a robust and effective approach to issues management across a complex volunteer-based organisation

• sets and embeds behavioural and cultural expectations at all levels of the organisation

• efficiently and effectively manages issues when they do arise and supports members and leaders to work these issues through.

The Review will consider structural and systemic issues and improvements. It will not investigate individual reports of misconduct.

The final report and recommendations will be made available to the membership and employees of the CFA.

Discussion Paper

This Discussion Paper builds upon and is informed by the valuable feedback already provided to the Review Team during initial consultation and a high-level desktop review of the CFA’s policies, procedures and other relevant documents. The purpose of this Discussion Paper is to provide the framing for the next stage of stakeholder consultation.

Members can download a copy of the Discussion paper at the bottom of this page.

How to Contribute

Consultation with CFA volunteers, employees, secondees and other stakeholders across the regions is a key part of the Review. Between October and December 2021 the Review Team will consult with participants through interviews, focus groups and meetings, preferably face to face but potentially via telephone, or online. Where consultations are held face-to-face, the Review Team will comply with the relevant public health directives to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Interviews will be between 30-60 minutes. During consultations, the Review Team will ask a series of questions and invite participants to share their views and experiences. A sample of the sorts of questions the Review Team will ask appears in part 5 of this Discussion Paper.

VFBV is encouraging members to contribute to this review by requesting an interview with the review team.

To arrange an interview, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Interviews can be face to face, over the phone, via video conference or part of a group.

Planned field visits are tentatively scheduled for the following dates.

Questions or concerns about the Review can be directed to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.