One of the most important jobs we have as the peak body for WA’s incredible 20,000+ registered Bushfire Volunteers is to ensure the public understands that without our amazing ES Volunteers, we would all be paying a lot – lot more in tax or Emergency Services Levy (ESL).
It really is that simple.
And while many in the public and Parliament do express their appreciation for the volunteer effort that goes into response, many simply don’t know that for every “hour” donated by a volunteer on a fireground, there’s probably somewhere around 20 hours of other volunteer labour given.
At this moment, no one is really sure of that statistic – but boy do we have some exciting news coming next month that will be an absolute game changer in that regard.
Nevertheless, WA’s Bushfire Volunteers and their families know all too well that for decades before the paid staff were funded to get involved in mitigation and recovery, Bushfire Volunteers exclusive work in these vital areas all year round developed the invaluable local knowledge, culture and methodologies we are so lucky to have today.
Even though an enormous amount of physical work is donated by our amazing members 24/7/365, a recent Facebook post from the team at Bakers Hill Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade reminds us there is also a growing amount of unseen, and often unacknowledged, admin work done by members on station – and invariably at home on their own computers as well.
So here’s to the army of ES Volunteers – and often their families – for the enormous load you carry behind the scenes to keep our communities safe.
And a huge thanks to the team at the Bakers Hill Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade for the great photo and this very simple, yet important message:
One thing not often seen behind the scenes, Admin being done on station. Also a lot of admin gets done at Volunteers homes when they can.
