Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (19:35): (1340) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services. The action I seek is for the minister to reform the rebate system for CFA and SES volunteers for the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, in particular to provide for a paper-based option for volunteers. The minister will be aware that many volunteers are of advancing age or perhaps of a more manual disposition and the online system is not particularly conducive to them being able to make the application.

Just about all of my colleagues in the Nationals at least have had volunteers come to their offices seeking assistance to make their application for the rebate. We had a life member of the CFA who was completely unable to fill in the form. He was given a wrong password, I am told, and simply could not proceed. We have had volunteers report that the helpline to address this has not been helpful at all. There are a number of other issues that have come up from different volunteers seeking to apply for the rebate. For example, many of them have property in the name of a husband or wife but it is the spouse that is the volunteer so they are unable to apply. I have had at least one volunteer from the electorate of Gippsland South miss out on quite significant money simply because the property is in a different name. I had another one recently where a young captain of a fire brigade has a house block – he is trying to save money and is intending to build on that house block, but because it is not his principal private residence and nor is it a farm, he has to pay the full whack.

The Nationals and Liberals are very committed to scrapping this new tax, but in the interim, when the government is constantly saying that volunteers do not pay it, that they get the rebate, it would be helpful if all volunteers – or as many volunteers as humanly possible – were able to get this rebate. One of the ways that it could be done is to provide at least a paper-based option for the non-computer literate to be able to fill in the form. I ask the minister to take action on this matter.