Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (19:19): (1318) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Government Services. However, I also appreciate that the Minister for Emergency Services is at the table, and this may fall within their portfolio. The action I seek is that the CFA volunteers are provided with paper copies of the rebate application form for the emergency services tax. The Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund has already begun, and it is adding enormous financial pressure to people across my region after rates notices recently arrived in mailboxes. Unfortunately, the promises of a rebate for CFA volunteers have done little to reduce the frustrations within my community, with several local firefighters reaching out to me over difficulties with the application process. I have had more than 30 complaints about how difficult it is. Paul Quirk of Murchison called it ‘extremely cumbersome and time consuming’. Theona Parton of the Whitegate CFA brigade said, after her and fellow volunteers spent over half an hour just to try and verify their ID, it was clear the application process was ‘developed to be as troublesome as possible to prevent many of our members from even attempting to apply’. Bill from Benalla said:

The process for applying for a volunteers rebate is going to be challenging for many CFA volunteers who, like me, are not very computer literate.

Many of these volunteers do not have computers, and even more, they do not have functional internet in some cases, while others are simply not tech-savvy enough to navigate through the convoluted application process – nine pages long, to be precise. It is quite difficult even for someone who can use a computer quite well. On top of this, the leadership and administrators of CFA brigades have been provided with no support to assist their volunteers, leaving them just as in the dark as those trying to apply.

By allowing volunteers to apply with a printed paper form we could ensure so many of our volunteers are able to access this much-needed rebate. I understand this might not be the government’s goal, but it is easy to see why our CFA volunteers are so frustrated with the government. Remember this is a $3 billion tax over the coming years and it is targeting our CFA volunteers. Not only were they staunchly against this cruel tax in the first place, but now they are having to struggle through yet another overly complicated form to access their deserved rebates. We have seen how difficult this application process has been for drought support – so much so that I am offering support sessions out of my office later this month, with trained professionals available to help.

More than 2000 CFA volunteers who took part in the annual Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria survey made their opinions clear: they feel undervalued and ignored by the Allan Labor government. If this government wants to win even the smallest amount of trust back from our volunteers in regional communities, they must act now and make this application process genuinely accessible or do what the Liberals and Nationals have called for and scrap the tax entirely. Our CFA volunteers deserve respect and not red tape, and providing a simple paper-based option is the very least that this government can do.