Key Points
- Volunteer firefighter numbers are on the decline, raising concerns ahead of a potentially bad bushfire season.
- Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt has proposed a method of boosting firefighter numbers.
- An expert says it's clear bush firefighting volunteers need help in their roles.
An increased risk of bushfires this summer due to El Niño will force many Australians to rely on thousands of volunteers to spring into action and face danger to save their lives and homes.
Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of volunteer firefighters, but with a number of natural disasters in recent years to hold a hose.
During the 2019 and 2020 catastrophic fires more than 7,000 Defence force personnel stepped in to provide much-needed backup.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"Semi-professional firefighting services, which is what they have in places like California, where people can come online and be paid … for the fire season rather than an entire year," he told ABC's Insiders on Sunday.
Retired Major General Peter Dunn has praised the "outstanding suggestion" after years advocating for a similar model as part of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action Group.
The idea is also expected to be raised at the first National Bushfire Preparedness Summit at Parliament House on Monday and Tuesday as it focuses on a cohesive response to the bushfire season ahead.
Brendan Moon, Australia's first Coordinator-General for Emergency Management, has warned people to keep other natural disasters in mind as the country braces for its worst bushfire season since the disastrous Black Summer blazes of 2019-20.
"Yes, we are going to experience a warmer, drier spring and summer, but we also should prepare for the possibility of cyclones, floods, bushfires and also heatwaves," he said.
What are seasonal firefighters?
Dunn told SBS News that seasonal firefighters are "absolutely essential".
The former ACT Emergency Services Authority commissioner was part of the reform and operational program following the 2003 Canberra fires and more recently was living in the NSW town of Lake Conjola when the Black Summer bushfires hit, later helping coordinate recovery efforts.
He explained that these firefighters would be employed between three to six months a year and work hand in hand with volunteers.
"They would work for the volunteers. The volunteers are extremely capable. It's just that there's not enough of them and they've also got other lives," he told SBS News.
"They're very, very good. So we want to see them supplemented in the times when we know that they're going to be busy, like coming into the bushfire season right now."
Dunn argues that it would help a workforce that "get no rest whatsoever", warning that there isn't a "bottomless pit of volunteers."
The seasonal firefighters would also be integral to other mitigation work like hazard fires, working alongside rural fire services, local councils and national parks.
While praising Watt as "ahead of the pack", Dunn accused other politicians of adding fuel to a problem that will only get worse.
"The problem is that some of his colleagues keep on throwing petrol onto the fire because they keep approving coal mines and other fossil fuel extraction projects, and they do not write legislation," he said.
"That includes climate change for the environmental legislation as a key point. And we're not driving down emissions fast enough. So we've got a bit of a quandary here.
"Of course, if we don't drive down our emissions, we're going to be facing this sort of problem for many years to come."
There are concerns about this year's bushfire season. Source: AAP / Darren Pateman
Why is there a decline in volunteer firefighters?
Volunteering Australia estimates more than 400,000 people volunteer in energy response and relief, with around half of those volunteers at fire services organisations.
Both the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA) and NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) told SBS News they had seen numbers decline.
RFS spokesperson Angela Burford explained some residents were reluctant to join due to a lack of confidence around fires after relocating from cities to more regional areas.
"They may not have fire experience, whereas those who have sort of grown up on the land know a lot about fire and they sort of naturally will join their local brigade," Burford told SBS News.
"It's part of living on the land is to be part of the brigade to be able to protect your own land, your neighbour's land, and so on."
She also pointed to the cost of living as having "inadvertently" impacted people's ability to dedicate time away from paid work as they look to keep up with soaring prices.
"Our volunteers are really volunteers in the true sense of the wording that they will give their time to help others for a range of emergencies and disasters," Burford said.
"But we're certainly aware that … people have less and less time and that's obviously a challenge for any organisation that relies on volunteering."
Meanwhile Victoria's CFA has noticed an uptick in "spontaneous" volunteering, with residents committing to windows of time in a way that suits them.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said the authority was focusing on ways to move away from the "traditional notion" of what it means to volunteer.
"[We're] embracing people's desire and ability to come and volunteer for a set period of time … and really harness the potential of the community wanting to give back," Heffernan said.
You don't need to hold a hose to help
Both organisations stressed that if you want to help out this bushfire season there is a "role for everyone".
"We've got nurses and paramedics who volunteer with us who look after our rehab unit, the firefighters that come off the fire line into our staging areas," Heffernan said.
"And we've got staging area managers, logistics officers, and even those that volunteer to fill those firefighting aircraft that you see operating out of some of the airports across Victoria.
"There'll be a role that we can find for anyone to participate in our great organisation. Don't be afraid. It's a great opportunity."
- with AAP.
