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 Application deadline for this year’s Emergency Services Foundation’s Volunteer Leaders Forum is this Friday, 10^th April.

There are a few spots still available, and it’s all free.  All you have to do is get yourself there.

Again, it will be based at the St Kilda Novotel on Saturday 2^nd and Sunday 3^rd May 2015.

Delegates will meet top people in emergency services, from the Victorian Minister for Emergency Services to the Director-General of Emergency Management Australia.  And they’ll also hear from some pretty amazing people, volunteers who’ve achieved great things in their sector.

They will also visit the State Police Operations Centre, Airservices Australia’s training centre at Tullamarine and the Department of Environment’s special Equipment Development Unit.

The full program is contained in the flyer, which you can download at http://www.hpe.com.au/esf/esfvols.html

Delegates will receive free accommodation at the hotel (generally twinshare) on the Friday and Saturday nights.  All meals are provided on Saturday and Sunday, including the BBQ and USAR display on Saturday evening.

If you have ‘leadership potential’, complete the Application Form in the flyer, and get it back to the secretariat immediately.  We expect more applicants than places, so make sure you get in quickly.

Successful applicants will be advised by Friday 17^th April.

The Emergency Service Foundation has announced that applications are now being accepted for this year’s Emergency Services Foundation’s Volunteer Leaders' Forum.

The event will be based at the St Kilda Novotel on Saturday and Sunday, 2/3 May 2015.

The program includes leadership talks and workshops, bus tours to some major emergency management sites around Melbourne and the always popular Chief Officers’ panel.

Click here for the full program

Delegates will receive free accommodation at the hotel (generally twin share) on the Friday and Saturday nights. 

All meals are provided on Saturday and Sunday, including the BBQ and USAR display on Saturday evening.

Numbers will be tight this year, so you are urged to complete the application form in the flyer and get it back to the secretariat as soon as possible.

Successful applicants will be advised by Friday, 17 April 2015.

VFBV’s final Open Forum for the year was held at Burwood, and was given the thumbs up by attendees, as highly engaging and well worth attending.  

The CFA Chief Officer, CFA CEO, CFA ED OT&V, Emergency Management Commissioner and VFBV President and CEO were all taking part in the panel session and talking shop with volunteers throughout the afternoon, and were able to deal with many questions and queries on the spot.  

The Forum came just a week before the State Election, so the future of CFA and the EM Sector was high on the list, and volunteer views were canvassed and discussed.

The panel session also tackled issues including female PPC, better organisation of strike teams to reduce waiting time, strike teams working in community recovery, improving communication within CFA, better access to information technology for volunteers, uniforms, and concerns with CFA’s plans for FEM administration cost recovery from Brigades.  

The Open Forums are an important link with grass roots volunteers, and provide opportunities for CFA senior management to connect directly with volunteers and discuss matters important to them. VFBV thanks all attendees to this year’s three forums and those who participated in the panel discussions.   See pictures (right) from the VFBV Volunteer Forum in November, which included speakers and a panel discussion and question session.

THIS SATURDAY AT BENALLA: There are still some places available at VFBV’s Open Forum for Volunteers at Benalla this weekend - see below for details and how to book - and plenty for the forums at Hamilton and Burwood East.

This is your chance to talk shop with senior CFA and VFBV personnel, raise an issue, ask a question or make a comment.

Dates and locations are;

THIS SATURDAY, 4 October - Benalla Bowls Club, 25 Arundel St, Benalla, with lunch at noon and forum at 13.00hrs.

Saturday 18 October – Hamilton Performing Arts Centre, 113 Brown St, Hamilton, with lunch at noon and forum at 13.00hrs.

Saturday 22 November – Whitehorse Club, Burwood Highway, Burwood East, with lunch at noon and forum at 13.00hrs.

Book now by contacting VFBV on (03) 9886 1141 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This year’s Emergency Services Foundation – 3rd Volunteer Leaders Forum, will be held in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 May.

Volunteers who wish to attend can be current volunteer leaders or prospective volunteer leaders - download the application form and details below.

The format for this year’s forum will include Day 1 at the Novotel St Kilda and Day 2 with a tour of the new training facility at Craigieburn.

The event offers;

• „„ New Technology
• „„ Meet Industry Leaders And Agency Chiefs
• „„ Leadership Training
• „„ Key Site Tours
• „„ Emergency Management Updates
• „„ Networking

CFA has the opportunity to have 40 members attend, funded by the Foundation.

Members who wish to nominate to attend can do so by forwarding their nomination direct to the Emergency Services Foundation as per the contact details on the last page of the attachment.  Applications close on the 31st March 2014.

VFBV Media release - 22 November 2013

VOLUNTEER FORUM TO ADVISE POLICE & EMERGENCY SERVICES MINISTER

The CFA volunteers’ association has welcomed the announcement of a Ministerial volunteer
consultative committee to provide direct input and advice to the Minister for Police and
Emergency Services on major changes to the emergency management sector.

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria (VFBV) CEO Andrew Ford said the new Volunteer
Consultative Forum will give the Minister direct access to the valuable practical knowledge
of the people at the front line.

It will provide a forum for volunteers to provide direct advice to the Minister, on;

• Issues affecting Victoria’s emergency management volunteers 
• Matters relating to the capacity of volunteers to deliver emergency management services in Victoria 
• Strengthening the culture of volunteerism in Victoria 
• Maximising the capacity, capability and utilisation of volunteers 
• Monitoring the health and wellbeing of the volunteers, and 
• Volunteer views about how to achieve changes proposed for the Emergency Management sector 

The State Government’s announcement of the new Forum follows many discussions
between VFBV and the Government, and comes with the endorsement of the Fire Services
Commissioner.

“The new Forum is being initiated at an important time; with the move towards a more
joined-up emergency management network,” Mr Ford said.

“For the new arrangements to work it will be extremely important that decision makers
listen to the volunteers on the ground, and take advice from volunteers about what it will
take to achieve improvement on the ground,” he said.

“It’s a matter of common sense; when making major decisions, nothing works as well as
listening to the people at the front line.”

“Engaging with volunteers should not be seen as a burden. Engaged and empowered
volunteers are tomorrow’s volunteers. Engaging and empowering volunteers must become
a core mindset of everyone in Victoria’s emergency management sector,” Mr Ford said.

“VFBV has committed its support to help the State Government to engage with volunteers,
and have regard to their practical advice about what works on the ground, what has or has
not worked in past, and what needs to be factored in to make sure things keep working into
the future,” he said.

The Volunteer Consultative Forum will include volunteer representation from the CFA, SES,
Life Saving Victoria, Australian Red Cross, Ambulance Victoria, Volunteer Fire Brigades
Victoria, St John Ambulance, Volunteer Coast Guard, Salvation Army, Volunteer Emergency
Service Association and the Victorian Council of Churches, plus management nominees from
the various agencies.

“The decisions being made now will have a strong influence on the capability and capacity
of volunteers to contribute to emergency management in Victoria into the future,” Mr Ford
said.

In addition to the establishment of the Volunteer Consultative Forum, the State
Government introduced the Emergency Management Bill 2013 into Parliament earlier this
month. The Bill continues the move towards a more joined-up emergency management
network, co-ordinated by an Emergency Management Commissioner.

In introducing that legislation, Police and Emergency Services Minister Kim Wells said
“Volunteers play a critically important role in the emergency management sector, and the
Bill recognises this by including specific measures to ensure volunteer capacity and
capability is encouraged, strengthened, and maintained.”

The Bill requires both the Emergency Management Commissioner and Emergency
Management Victoria to have regard to this important feature of Victoria's emergency
management arrangements in the carrying out of their functions. The Bill requires that
agency work plans include specific actions and measures to encourage, strengthen and
maintain the capacity and capability of volunteers and the community.

Minister Wells said, “Volunteers have been and will continue to be fundamental to
emergency management service delivery in Victoria. They do a magnificent job for this
state. Equally, they will be fundamental to the successful implementation of these reforms”.

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria, the Victoria Emergency Service Association and the
Volunteer Coast Guard made a joint submission on behalf of their volunteer members, to
the Government’s White Paper on Victoria’s Emergency Management reform and amongst
other things requested the establishment of a Ministerial-level Volunteer Consultative
Forum. VFBV’s representatives will be President Hans van Hamond AFSM and CEO Andrew
Ford, the SES volunteers’ association is represented by President Neil Hedger and David
Rowlands, and the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard volunteers by Richard Burgess and
David Goldfinch. All of those representatives are active emergency service volunteers.

Ends…

INTEGRATED BRIGADES FORUM

The detailed report from VFBV’s fourth annual Integrated Brigades Forum has been released – see below to download a copy.

With the theme of best practice integration for CFA, the forum included CFA Chief Officer Euan Ferguson and Deputy Chief Officer Joe Buffone working alongside VFBV officials and 52 Brigade members including senior volunteers and a number of Operations Officers/OICs from integrated Brigades.

The forum looked at the challenges faced by particular integrated Brigades, day to day practicalities, future models for integration, case studies on how well different arrangements have worked and the building of a help network for Brigade members and leaders as they go through the integration process or fine tune their integrated Brigade.

The forum was facilitated by members of VFBV’s State Integrated Brigades Reference Panel who began work early in 2012 on a framework for the future development of a Code of Best Practice for CFA Integration.

The Chief and Deputy have indicated their support for follow up work to progress many of the issues and opportunities confronting CFA’s Integrated Service Delivery Model.  VFBV will work with CFA towards the establishment of a Joint Working Party or Reference Group built upon the good initial work of VFBV’s State Reference Panel.

Invitation to 2013 VFBV Open Forums

Representatives from all CFA Brigades are welcome

FORUM 1 - Central / Outer Metro - Saturday, 20July

White Horse Club, Burwood Highway, Burwood East

Starting 1300 hours (Lunch provided at 12 Noon)

Advise attendance by Friday 12 July

FORUM 2 - Gippsland Region - Sunday, 25August

Sale Greyhound Racing Club, Maffra Road, Sale

Starting 1300 hours (Lunch provided at 12 Noon)

Advise attendance by Friday 16 August

FORUM 3 - Western Victoria– Saturday 12October

Venue Stawell Town Hall

Main Street , Stawell

Starting 1300 hours (Lunch provided at 12 Noon)

Advise attendance by Friday 4 October

Among the invited guests include Chief Officer Euan Ferguson AFSM, CFA CEO Mick Bourke, Senior CFA Directors, VFBV Board and CEO Andrew Ford, Local District Council representatives.

VFBV encourages all Brigades to send delegates to the closest Regional Open Forum to raise and discuss items of concern or interest

Previous Open Forums with Brigades have been highly successful and VFBV looks forward to your Brigade’s participation

Bookings are essential

Call (03) 9886 1141 to reserve your spot or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.