Priority Five: Ensure the future sustainability of fire services

What success looks like at year 5

Success statement

The Year 2–5 Implementation Plan defined success at year 5 for Priority Five as:

Fire agencies and the government use evidence-based planning and continuous improvement strategies to support a shared understanding of risk and capability. Working together, we create a more sustainable service which meets community needs and expectations now and into the future.

Actions under this priority

Priority Five had 8 actions for the CFA, DJCS and FRV to acquit, either through individual or joint efforts.

The intent behind the actions below was to assist the fire agencies to identify opportunities for efficiencies, improve performance and provide insights that can underpin viable and sustainable services into the future.

Findings and considerations

Measuring against the success statement

At the end of the Year 2–5 Implementation Plan, we note that all required actions were acquitted and consider that the work of the CFA, DJCS and FRV has contributed towards the objective delineated in the success statement, with the foundational supports required for long-term success in place.

The Priority Five actions are crucial foundational elements to the overall FSR, with DJCS supporting the fire agencies to meet statutory obligations, community expectations and remain sustainable into the future.

Overall, the completed actions have paved the way for the fire agencies to identify opportunities for efficiencies, to improve performance and to embed business and operational practices that reflect complementary fire services. Viability and sustainability are ongoing challenges.

We acknowledge and commend all parties on the work undertaken to review elements of capability (action 5.2) and take part in costing studies and planning activities (actions 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7).

Understanding service costs and developing plans is simply a starting point. Employee and volunteer recruitment, including the ageing workforce and implementing the Secondment Agreement have been the main issues affecting agency people–related capacity and capability to deliver services that meet community expectations, and these are likely to extend beyond FSR. There are challenges in other aspects of capability and capacity including fleet management, providing contemporary training and the ability to fund innovation.

We acknowledge there is still work to do as part of BAU and encourage all parties to continue their journey towards the success statement beyond the Year 2–5 Implementation Plan.

Seconded workforce requirements

Action 5.1 was a joint action with 3 deliverables designed to outline the operational parameters and needs of the seconded workforce.¹⁰

Although both agencies acquitted the action, we noted the differing views on the deliverables.

This action was updated in July 2024 to more accurately reflect what FRV could potentially deliver in the context of its complex industrial environment while recognising it may not fully deliver on the workforce needs of the CFA.

Since acquittal, we have received differing advice from the agencies on how this action will be progressed, with the CFA advising they will continue to work with FRV, through JSWAG, to strengthen the gap analysis and roadmap, whereas FRV has informed us that they wish to develop a new ‘secondment strategic roadmap’ intended to guide implementation strategies in areas including workforce planning, vacancy fulfillment and interagency collaboration.

Also, as mentioned under ‘Compliance with training obligations for seconded instructors’ above,¹¹ child safety requirements and the requirement for FRV secondees who work with children and young people to hold a valid WWCC has been a contentious issue with the UFU. Reiterating our findings earlier, compliance with child safety requirements is critical and is being driven by the Child Safety Working Group, with oversight provided by the HoA. Secondee positions that have a direct connection to children and young people under 18 must comply with the requirements of the Child Safe Standards. We note that FRV is progressing a dispute with the UFU on the WWCC requirement for all seconded positions through the Fair Work Commission.

At year 5, we acknowledge the progress the agencies have made to work together to find solutions that could achieve success for the secondment model. The secondment model is critical to the success of FSR, and its implications are likely to be far-reaching in terms of the future sustainability of fire services. We understand both agencies support the ongoing progression of work through BAU and strongly encourage them to continue working together to achieve the shared objectives, noting that FRV’s industrial environment will play a key role in how this matter resolves.

Fiscal responsibility and planning

Assessment of the agencies’ financial sustainability (action 5.5), budget/cost management and future funding needs (actions 5.2, 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8) were all undertaken by DJCS with input from the CFA and FRV.

Acknowledging both DJCS’s portfolio responsibility for supporting government in respect of the financial sustainability of the fire agencies, as managed through the State Budget process, and the broader work by government on financial sustainability across the whole emergency sector, both of which fall outside of FSR, we have chosen not to monitor and report further on these actions beyond their acquittal under the Year 2–5 Implementation Plan.

The actions have all been acquitted with action 5.2 in 2025.¹² We understand that DJCS and the agencies will continue working together to address and manage future financial pressures driven by changes in community demands on fire and rescue service delivery and each agency’s capacity and capability to respond to such changes.

We consider the outcomes of these actions paramount to the long-term success of FSR and its impact across Victorian communities. We encourage all parties to engage early, openly and transparently to manage the balance between what is needed for success and fiscal responsibility.

FRV strategic planning

FRV was required to develop the FRV Strategy (action 5.3) to set the organisation’s direction for the next 10 years and a Strategic Workforce Plan (action 5.4) that ensures FRV would have the workforce capacity, capability and culture required to deliver on community expectations, especially in regional and remote areas, including FRV’s secondment obligations to the CFA.

The FRV Strategy describes establishing ‘targeted approaches to mitigate and manage community safety risks developed in partnership with relevant organisations’¹³ as an indication that intended aims are being achieved.

Since acquittal, FRV has advised us of its approach for improved community focus (targeting regional and rural communities) and the transition to a modern, trusted and inclusive fire service. This will be delivered under the umbrella of developing community risk assessments and embedding a continuous improvement cycle – refer to ‘Community risk-based service delivery’ above.¹⁴

We also consider the alignment between the strategic pillars defined in the FRV Strategy and outcomes measured through indicators contained in its Outcomes Framework to indicate FRV’s success in meeting the strategy’s aims. FRV has reported an overall positive trend in the number of people engaging with the Fire Equipment Services over the past 3 years.¹⁵ Fire Equipment Services provides emergency management training and instruction in evacuation drills and delivers other education sessions. The increasing number of people taking part in these services represents growth in FRV’s community focus. We also view the focus on at-risk-groups¹⁶ and fire safety education and tailored services for adult migrants¹⁷ and seniors¹⁸ as more evidence of FRV’s efforts to connect and understand the community it serves.

The process of developing the Strategic Workforce Plan 2022–2027 was complex and multipronged. As well as including a strong focus on regional and remote delivery of services, FRV was also tasked with forecasting changing workforce requirements through to 2026 and outlining the actions required to ensure it has the workforce capacity, capability and culture required to deliver on community expectations and secondment obligations to the CFA.¹⁹

We assessed action 5.3 as partially completed in 2023 on the grounds that the Strategic Workforce Plan²⁰ had not included the forecasted number of seconded staff to the CFA, despite an initiative under the plan being to ensure a pipeline of appropriately skilled ACFOs and commanders were available to the CFA to provide services to the CAoV.

The requirement to support the CFA through secondees intersects with action 5.1 and the need for the CFA’s Capability Statement, which outlines the necessary skills, qualifications and attributes of seconded staff.

Since acquittal, progress includes those discussed under ‘Seconded workforce requirements’ above.²¹ FRV also advised that it completed a technical capability gap analysis and roadmap to address the skills, qualifications and experience that the CFA has determined are helpful when delivering services in rural and remote areas, with a detailed implementation plan under development to show how the roadmap will be delivered to meet the CFA’s requirements. The JSWAG established the foundation for a 10-year workforce plan with current and future state defined, operational, tactical and strategic actions to bridge the gaps.

Furthermore, FRV advises it had developed a Secondment Management Roadmap that aims to address immediate, medium to long-term challenges within the seconded workforce. A workshop is also planned for both agencies to agree on shared priorities and identify the actions for short and long-term success.

Upon review in 2025, we have reassessed action 5.4 as completed.

We are also aware of FRV’s revised Outcomes Framework and the intention to provide us with data gathered for each measure in 2025–26. It may be useful for FRV to test the effectiveness of its Strategic Workforce Plan by including measures relating to knowledge and satisfaction of services it delivers on behalf of the CFA in the CAoV, to help guide initiatives and resource allocation.

At year 5, we commend FRV on its work to embed the FRV Strategy. We also acknowledge the significant efforts made to develop initiatives that have the potential to drive workforce requirements for FRV and the CFA in line with the Secondment Agreement.

Footnotes

1. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Appendix, Action 5.1.
2. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Appendix, Action 5.2.
3. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 5.3.
4. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 5.4.
5. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Priority Five: Ensure the future sustainability of fire services.
6. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 5.5.
7. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 5.6.
8. FSIM, Annual Report 2023–24, Monitoring 'in progress' actions.
9. FSIM, Annual Report 2023–24, Monitoring 'in progress' actions.
10. Action 5.1 deliverables as listed in the Appendix A.
11. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Priority Three: Plan and build for the future.
12. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Appendix, Action 5.2.
13. FRV, Inaugural Strategic Plan, 2022–2032, p. 19.
14. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Priority Two: Strengthen FRV as a career firefighting agency.
15. Annual figures for this indicator are: 2022–23 – 5,603; 2023–24 – 5,200; and 2024–25 – 6,029.
16. FRV, People at higher risk.
17. FRV, Fire safety for adult migrants.
18. FRV, Seniors' fire safety.
19. Victorian Government (2023) ‘Action 5.4 Objective’ Year Two to Five Fire Services Reform Implementation Plan, p. 30.
20. We viewed a draft of the workforce plan for our assessment in the 2022–23 reporting period.
21. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Priority Five: Ensure the future sustainability of fire services.