We can’t hold rescue tools, if we’re chasing donations

Fund VICSES comprises dedicated volunteer leaders committed to establishing a sustainable funding framework for Victoria State Emergency Service. Our goal is to address both present and future operational demands effectively.

VICSES consists of 155 volunteer units, with a total of 4,956 volunteers covering the entirety of Victoria. We advocate for and seek funding on behalf of all these volunteers and their units.

VICSES plays a critical role in supporting our communities. We aim to secure ongoing support to maintain and enhance this essential service well into the future. Currently, the organisation relies heavily on volunteer-led fundraising efforts, which are unsustainable in the long term. We can’t hold rescue tools, if we’re chasing donations.

Australians are currently experiencing rising living costs and service provision expenses. Similarly, VICSES has observed a significant uptick in assistance requests, marking the past three years as the busiest in our history. Factors like climate change and population growth are expected to escalate these demands annually. To preserve our operational capabilities and continue supporting our community, an urgent enhancement of our funding model is crucial.

The funds will be specifically allocated to enhance the operational effectiveness of VICSES. This includes critical areas such as safety measures, providing up-to-date protective clothing, comprehensive training for our volunteers, and acquiring necessary equipment. Additionally, funds will be used for maintaining and upgrading our fleet and facilities, ensuring that our volunteers are equipped with the best tools and environment to serve the community effectively.

Implementing a levy is a strategic approach to secure steady and reliable funding. This method ensures that we have a consistent financial base to support the ongoing and expanding needs of VICSES, allowing us to maintain and improve our services without interruption. We are open to other methods of collecting this money, but a levy seems to be the most sustainable, and if it is combined with the existing Fire Services Levy, the process for collection of the levy is already in place.

The levy would be implemented as a nominal fee per year on rateable properties across Victoria. This could be done by extending the existing Fire Services Levy to an Emergency Services Levy, or could be done separately. It would be collected alongside existing property rates by local councils.

Across Australia, there are various models in place. For instance:

• In New South Wales, the Emergency Services Levy is collected to fund Fire and Rescue NSW, the NSW Rural Fire Service, and the State Emergency Service (SES).
• South Australia has an inclusive approach where the levy funds the Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS), Country Fire Service (CFS), State Emergency Service (SES), Volunteer Marine Rescue SA, as well as other services under the SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM), including rescue components of Surf Life Saving South Australia (SLSSA), South Australian Police Rescue, and the State Rescue Helicopter Service.
• In Western Australia, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services distributes funding to several areas, including the State Emergency Service (SES).
• Queensland’s Emergency Services Levy supports the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, which includes funding for the Fire Service, State Emergency Service (SES), and Volunteer Marine Search and Rescue (MSAR).
• Tasmania also collects a levy that goes towards the Tasmania Fire Service and the State Emergency Service (SES).

Each state allocates the funds collected through the levy to ensure a robust and responsive emergency services system that can effectively serve their communities.

The current Fire Services Levy works really well for the Fire Services, and we support it… We are not seeking a reduction in funding provided to our fire emergency service colleagues – we work with them and support the valuable work they do.

The levy would provide stable and predictable funding for VICSES, allowing us to ensure our emergency response capabilities are maintained, procure necessary equipment, maintain facilities, and invest in training and development. Ultimately, this will improve our ability to serve and protect the community during emergencies.

In short, VICSES will continue to slip backwards. Our volunteers will need to fundraise more – we can keep the lights on, and fuel the trucks. We won’t be able to fix things when they‘re broken. We won’t be able to replace our trucks when they get old. Volunteers will either need to spend more time away from their families to help with more fundraising or less time gaining valuable skills to respond.

Some units are lucky to have fabulous relationships with supportive local government authorities, which sometimes involves funding, or in-kind support for their unit. LGAs are not obliged to fund their unit. This is not a solution to our funding concerns. And every dollar provided by Local Government to VICSES units is money that cannot be used to support other services and initiatives that local governments provide for their community.