Courier Extract 22/2/06

[Mike]

An extract from the Courier 22/2/06. I believe there was a little more to the article, but it is not on the Couriers website.

CFS chief blasts ‘abuse’ of volunteers

A senior CFS leader in the Hills has lashed out at the excessive bureaucracy in the organisation and claims the State Government is treating volunteers like “unpaid public servants”.
Mt Lofty Group Officer Rod Cooper said the government and its CFS bureaucracy were “putting dollars and cents ahead of public safety” which in turn was sapping morale and making long-serving members leave the organisation.
Mr Cooper – a CFS volunteer for 27 years, with more than 10 of those years at group leadership level – said he put in between 20 and 25 volunteer hours a week to keep up with all the paperwork.
“We’re happy with the checks and balances on an operational basis,” he said.
“What we’re not happy with is the bureaucratic interference that
is affecting the morale of volunteers.
“The workload on senior volunteers is really unrealistic.”
Mt Lofty Group, which encompasses eight brigades including Stirling, Aldgate and Bridgewater, attends more than 1100 call-outs a year.
Mr Cooper has called for more “direct support”, such as paid administrative staff, to handle the paperwork the government has demanded.
“If they’re wanting us to do all this paperwork, they should pay
someone to do it,” he said.

[CFS_Firey]

That pretty much sums up the the article, but Rod gives a few examples including
*Having to rent the command cars from state fleet, which makes them more expensive, and they're not replaced as often (I think they used to replace the command cars every 2 years, and the cost was the depreciation of the cars, about $2,500. Now they are rented, they group pays ~$7000 a year (Anyone correct me if I'm wrong))
*Having a milage limit on command cars
*brigades having to buy goods like stationary and computers from government chosen organizations rather than supporting local businesses
*Having to wear different types of PPE to different jobs (eg. Having to take both Nomex and PBI Gold to a grassfire)

He also said volunteers should have more input before decisions are made for us.

The minister for Emergency services Carmen Zollo Said she had spoken with our CEO and everything was cool.

[oz fire]

What a great political statement - the minister has spoken to the CFS CEO and everything is cool - must be election time!

How often does a minister remove their head from ....... the sand or the other dark place and see the real world - how could there be problems in CFS, that would never happen, we are all dedicated volunteers who graciously give up 1000s of hours a year for our state and community

We would never find fault or complain if the system wasnt right

[Darius]

That pretty much sums up the the article, but Rod gives a few examples including
*Having to rent the command cars from state fleet, which makes them more expensive, and they're not replaced as often (I think they used to replace the command cars every 2 years, and the cost was the depreciation of the cars, about $2,500. Now they are rented, they group pays ~$7000 a year (Anyone correct me if I'm wrong))
*Having a milage limit on command cars
*brigades having to buy goods like stationary and computers from government chosen organizations rather than supporting local businesses
*Having to wear different types of PPE to different jobs (eg. Having to take both Nomex and PBI Gold to a grassfire)

He also said volunteers should have more input before decisions are made for us.

The minister for Emergency services Carmen Zollo Said she had spoken with our CEO and everything was cool.

I believe the changeover was quite a bit less than $2500 (every 2-3 yrs) and now it's quite a bit more than $7000 per year but don't know the exact figures.

The Courier article continued on a fair bit more than that, but only what was on the front page is on their website.  I will attempt to scan the rest and post it as the quote at the end attributed to the minister is quite interesting.  I read it to mean groups can still buy locally and are not forced to use govt suppliers.

[pumprescue]

First it was Mt Barker getting shafted, then Stirling last week and now Lofty group are standing up for themselves against staff who have truly lost touch with the job.

[Darius]

tried to attach the scans but without success so here they are as links:
http://www.sacfs.org/courier1.jpg
http://www.sacfs.org/courier2.jpg

[Mike]

Cheers Darius....