Western Australia’s volunteer Bush Fire Brigade members are being urged to share their thoughts about volunteering and rural fire management in the inaugural “Your Voice” annual survey due to close shortly.
Bushfire Volunteers’ President Dave Gossage AFSM said that he was extremely proud that the peak body has been able to develop and launch this innovative consultation process available to all 20,000 volunteers despite the challenges of 2020.
And it’s clear from the results so far that the annual process will be another invaluable tool in helping the association better represent, promote and support its members.
“When it comes to challenges that face volunteer bush fire brigade members, the five most common themes our independent researchers have identified in the survey so far are; ‘Time’, ‘Bureaucracy’, ‘DFES’, ‘Competence’ and ‘Communication’,” Mr Gossage said.
“This is one of a suite of new initiatives that our committee volunteers and small team of staff have been working on to better engage with, promote, support, and represent the views of the amazing women and men of WA’s Bush Fire Service.”
“The association has always punched above its weight with the limited resources we have had, but with more than 20,000 volunteers working from 550+ registered brigades spread all across the state, even our most dedicated volunteer zone representatives haven’t been able to be available to everyone.”
“As a result of some excellent work, we’re developing income streams that will deliver and build this annual consultation process as well as some other very exciting member services in the coming years,” Mr Gossage concluded.
If you’re a current volunteer bushfire fighter, go to: https://www.bushfire.org.au/yourvoice/ to fill out the “Your Voice” survey and have your say on the issues that matter to you now.
