Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (17:44): I rise to speak on the Victoria State Emergency Service’s annual report 2024–25, tabled here on 20 November. In doing so I want to shout out the amazing SES Glen Eira unit and the SES Moorabbin unit for all the hard work they do in the inner southern and Bayside suburbs. It is really appreciated. Our emergency services personnel do incredible work in the community. They answer the call when we are most in need, and they serve without getting paid. They volunteer their time. When the weather says stay inside, they are the ones who are getting ready to go out and help. The annual report tells us that in the 2024–25 financial year VICSES personnel volunteered more than 342,000 hours, responding to more than 35,000 incidents. The report says:

With an increase in the frequency and intensity of severe weather events due to our changing climate … VICSES is experiencing growing complexity and demand for the services we provide, and increased pressure on our … operating model.

It is obvious that VICSES need support. They need more support. They need funding for equipment so they can respond to the floods and the storms. That is one of the reasons why the Victorian government legislated for the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, and through the ESVF we are investing to deliver things like a rolling fleet replacement program for our emergency services, of which units such as Glen Eira can be beneficiaries. Through the fund VICSES volunteers will be better equipped for the future. Every dollar raised is going to emergency services, funding vital, life-saving equipment, vehicles, staff training for volunteers, community education, recovery and support when Victorians need it.

Most recently the government announced recipients of the volunteer emergency services equipment program. This year $30 million was made available for volunteer groups through VESEP, double last year and the largest round ever. We increased the maximum grant from $100,000 to $250,000, with the state government contributing $2 for every dollar raised locally, and the boost has been made possible through the funding from the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, every dollar raised going back to supporting our emergency services. The VESEP funding will be doubled over the next four years, with an additional $62 million invested in support. We have seen increased demand. We are seeing increased need for our volunteers, so it is only fitting we provide them with increased support. Several of the emergency services organisations in the Southern Metropolitan Region have received support through this grant round recently. They do an amazing job. I want to thank them. We are here to support them.