Articles in this Month's Edition
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From the President
A warm welcome to you all and where has the year 2023 gone?
We are nearly into our traditional Christmas Festivities and of course, the season brings some higher community risks with it. A hot start to November has highlighted the state’s fire vulnerability but with pride, I also acknowledge the SES Volunteers who turned out to support the firefighters in their suppression aims whilst still preparing for severe weather and many other incidents that require an immediate community response
Hardship Scheme
To give emergency services volunteers the opportunity to seek, or be offered, financial assistance during times of hardship and/or significant loss.
The Scheme was formally established in 2014 with the stated object of distributing funds to provide direct relief from poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, disability, destitution or helplessness to Emergency Services Volunteers and their families.
Withdraw of HF Radios
Leaders and members of SES units across the state have contacted the Association to express their frustration at the decision to withdraw the loved Q-Mac HF Radio from service without a replacement that meets the same needs and safety mechanisms that this equipment provides. By talking with our volunteers, we have also learned that DFES was quietly withdrawing vehicle mounted HF radios from metropolitan SES units. These initiatives have not been formally subject to an appropriate workplace safety risk assessment that we are aware of or have been disclosed.
Letter to the Minister
A letter to the Minister from from all Volunteer Associations expressing concerns over the objection amendment to extend presumptive PTSD to the Volunteers
Young People in Emergency Services
In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on recruitment and retention of young emergency services vol-unteers, as they are the future of developing community preparedness in responding to natural hazards incidents and building disaster resilience.
October SESVA Committee Meeting
A summary of the reports and issues raised at the October Management Committee Meeting
Midwest Gascoyne Forum
Volunteer leaders from the Midwest-Gascoyne region came together in Geraldton for a Leaders Forum hosted by Supt Mark Bowen and his staff. SES Volunteers Association vice-president Alan Hawke attended on behalf of your Association
MY Unit CSU
The SES Communications Support Unit (CSU) was created around 1962 as a part of the Civil Defence and Emergency Service of Western Australia. It was the Communications Section of the State Headquarters. Volunteer members were known as Staff Officer Reserve (SOR) and were part of a group of Staff and Volunteers, along with Operations Section Volunteers, who managed State level operations for emergency incidents.
