Priority Four: Valuing our people

What success looks like at year 5

Success statement

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

Fire service agencies are safe, inclusive and diverse workplaces, respected and trusted by the communities they serve. All people in our fire services have access to support, high-quality training, professional development and equipment.

Actions under this priority

Priority Four had 10 actions to be delivered by DJCS, the FRB and the fire agencies through individual or joint efforts.

The actions below were developed to operationalise and embed practices and outcomes that would strengthen inclusion and diversity in the fire services and ensure all staff feel safe and supported in their workplace.

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 delivered has contributed towards the delineated success statement, with the foundational supports required for long-term success in place.

The Priority Four actions consider the most important element of both agencies – their people.

Overall, completing the actions has set a strong foundation that enable both the CFA and FRV to be safe, respectful, inclusive and diverse workplaces that people trust and are proud to volunteer and work for, as well as access to support, high-quality training and professional development. Not least, it also highlights the importance of reward and recognition as drivers in positive behaviours, performance and morale.

We highly commend all parties on the work undertaken to ensure their services and people reflect the broader Victorian community and model the values their communities expect. We also acknowledge that the fire agencies have made concerted efforts to foster a respectful culture among and between their workforces.

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

Firefighters Registration Scheme

The appointment of the FRB (action 4.1) and operational establishment of the Firefighters Registration Scheme (action 4.2) were designed to support the broader secondment model through regulation by an independent entity.

The FRB had to be set up before work could begin to establish competencies that would satisfy the requirements for the Firefighters Register, to administer the scheme and to maintain the register.

Action 4.1 required DJCS, in consultation with the CFA and FRV to:

• develop the Fire Rescue Victoria (Firefighters Registration Board) Regulations 2022
• implement the regulations, including appointing members and establishing the supporting office.

Since acquittal, we are aware that the FRB has been convening regularly and has also successfully discharged its legislative functions.

Action 4.2 required the FRB to establish criteria and processes to register suitably qualified secondees from FRV to the CFA through 4 deliverables.¹¹

We were advised that the FRB engaged closely with both fire agencies as well as Emergency Management Victoria to develop the registration requirements for the ranks of assistant chief fire officer (ACFO) and commander and launched the scheme on 4 December 2024.¹²

In 2024–25 the FRB advised that they received 3 applications for inclusion on the register of which 2 were assessed during the same period. The third application was received in June 2025 and assessed after 30 June 2025.

The FRB has also advised of challenges, including that the scheme is mandatory only for lateral entrants seeking to be employed by FRV to be seconded to the CFA (that is, applying directly for a secondment position). And because registration is not mandated for the existing workforce, FRV has initiated minimal internal messaging on the scheme.

At year 5, we commend DJCS and the FRB on their work to establish the FRB and to administer the scheme. However, we also note this has limitations and only addresses one small aspect of the reform arrangement. Registration of lateral entrants under the scheme does not necessarily mean they meet FRV employment requirements. Also, it is uncertain as to how effectively the scheme can fulfill the CFA’s workforce requirements.

The FRB has advised that stakeholders have not raised issues or concerns with the arrangements. Links to the current regulations and information about FRB and its membership are publicly available on its website.¹³

Volunteer safety

Action 4.3 was designed to improve the skills, capability and safety of CFA volunteers through 3 initiatives that make up the volunteers’ health and safety initiatives program.¹⁴

We see that action 4.3 shares similar intended outcomes as those under ‘Volunteer lifecycle’ in Priority One.¹⁵ Improving volunteer safety can be considered part of their support and training. At year 5, we highly commend the CFA on its work to holistically enhance support for volunteers across the lifecycle and encourage the CFA to continue improving its services to its volunteers to enable them to safely serve their communities as best as possible.

Diversity and inclusion

Actions 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.9 and 4.10 were designed to promote and champion diversity and inclusive behaviours and practices within the CFA and FRV.

We noted in our 2021–22 annual report¹⁶ that we considered action 5.3 to have interdependencies with 7 actions, which also include the 5 actions under this section.

FRV culture

Action 4.4 required FRV to define its values and show how they are sustained through its organisational programs, practices and behaviours.

In our 2022–23 annual report, we identified the risk that FRV had not prioritised complaints management (particularly collecting data and reporting) and this could negatively affect the Values program.

Since acquittal, FRV has provided evidence of having advanced its complaints framework, integrating it with the Cultural Transformation Plan. Comprehensive policy and procedure review and development have taken place, and a policy suite is currently subject to consultation.

FRV also included 5 custom questions specific to reporting improper conduct, which enabled capturing that baseline data as part of the 2025 Victorian Public Sector Commission’s People Matter Survey. Its analysis of the baseline data showed strong awareness and willingness to report improper conduct but lower levels of trust in FRV’s response and support mechanisms. To address this, FRV has conducted integrity-focused information sessions and continues to capture complaints through internal mechanisms. Future improvements will be guided by local culture action plans informed by recent survey results.

We also noted that the lack of transparent employee experience data to inform FRV’s identification and management of issues could pose considerable risks to FRV’s ability to implement defined values and programs that support leadership, relationships and the way it operates.

However, FRV has advised that the Victorian Public Sector Commission recorded 1,019 FRV respondents to the People Matters Survey, equating to only 21% of its workforce compared with a response rate of 56% across the Victorian public service for the same period. Going forward, we encourage FRV to consider strategies that would improve uptake in future surveys to make these results more meaningful.

We have viewed evidence that FRV has released analysis of the results to its employees and that action planning is underway across all its departments. This will be published on the organisation’s intranet, together with defined measures of success, enabling all employees to monitor progress over time.

FRV has given us its Culture Transformation Plan, which sets out how FRV will foster a culture where everyone belongs and thrives, and is aligned in vision, accountable in action and strengthened by difference. Designed to ignite trust, the plan runs from 2025 to 2029 and includes complaints indicators and metrics.

We were informed that work to uplift FRV’s framework for managing unacceptable behaviour in the workplace has been undertaken over the past 2 years. As a result, FRV has seen a decrease from 2024 in reported discrimination and sexual harassment in its People Matter Survey compared with results in the 2024 Gender Equality Commissioner’s survey. While FRV cites this is a positive outcome, it also recognises the need to remain committed to addressing negative workplace behaviours.

FRV provided evidence to support the acquittal of all deliverables and subsequently we assessed action 4.4 as completed in 2023,¹⁷ noting that the Embedding FRV Values program continues beyond the Year 2–5 Implementation Plan. FRV has indicated that, post-implementation, this work transitions from reform-focused to BAU and that key outcomes are to become part of standard FRV practices, processes and policies.

Actions 4.6 and 4.9 collectively required FRV to embed and support diversity and inclusion across all functions and levels of the organisation through plan development and to apply those plans, particularly across its approach to recruitment and supporting the government’s commitment to increase the number of women firefighters in FRV.¹⁸

We consider the work FRV has completed in acquitting these actions as foundational and understand that progress will continue under BAU.

FRV has advised these plans will be embedded into its annual business planning processes and that regular progress reporting will be conducted and submitted to its Executive Leadership team and to external bodies such as the Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector and Reconciliation Australia.

We have been made aware that FRV is undertaking a workplace gender audit ahead of submission to the Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector in December 2025.

FRV has stated that attracting and retaining a diverse range of applicants continues as a long-term priority. The cyclical review of recruitment activities and procedures to assess the impact in attracting and recruiting diverse candidates is now imbedded in its recruitment cycle.

Since acquittal, FRV has also advised of new initiatives:

• developing the breastfeeding and menopause doctrine, to be launched in quarter 2 of 2025–26
• establishing a mentoring program for women firefighters to build skills to mentor and support colleagues
• establishing a Recruitment Working Party to jointly consider and develop strategies to increase diversity within the FRV operational workforce.

At year 5, we highly commend FRV on its progress in establishing and furthering diversity and inclusion values and practices at all ranks, roles and functions across the organisation. With the ever-changing societal landscape, it is important for FRV’s workforce to reflect societal and community expectations, and we encourage FRV to continue on that journey.

CFA culture

Actions 4.5 and 4.10 collectively required the CFA to strengthen its culture, diversity and inclusion in the organisation through developing enabling plans and to deliver on a commitment to increase the number of women in brigade leadership roles.

The deliverables under action 4.5 included:

• Develop a culture and issues management action plan.
• Develop a child safety compliance plan.
• Develop a diversity and inclusion strategy.
• Develop a mental health for leaders program.
• Deliver Fire Services Statement–funded initiatives.

Although the action was acquitted and we found it to be complete, we also noted in our 2023–24 annual report there were concerns about FRV secondees’ low rates of compliance with the CFA’s Child Safety Compliance Plan and the subsequent risks presented to the CFA of not complying with the Child Safe Standards.

Since acquittal, we acknowledge the ongoing efforts that occur within the CFA in managing the seconded workforce in relation to compliance risks to the Child Safe Standards. This is discussed under the ‘Compliance with training obligations for seconded training staff’ and ‘Seconded workforce requirements’ sections of this report.

The CFA has advised of actions undertaken to strengthen its organisational culture including commissioning a 2025 independent review of progress to date in implementing the 2022 external review. The CFA also informed us that future work will include an ongoing focus on strengthening culture and diversity, with plan implementation overseen by the CFA Executive Committee and Board.

The CFA has also advised us of its Mental Health for Leaders program, which included:

• a Leading for Wellbeing workshop and eLearn (launched in August 2023)
• a Psychological First Aid for Leaders workshop (to be piloted soon)
• consultations with regional Member Wellbeing advisors (mental health clinicians) to guide management of individual and team psychological health issues.

Notably, the CFA has advised that the eLearn has been completed by 577 leaders, with strong and consistent feedback scores indicating participants found it interesting, useful and relevant to their roles. To date, the Leading for Wellbeing workshop has had limited uptake, with members indicating a preference for the more flexible online learning option.

We acknowledged in our 2023–24 annual report that in acquitting action 4.10, the CFA was embedding diversity and inclusion to drive positive change that reflected its organisational values and behaviours and that the activity would be long term and extend beyond the life of the Year 2–5 Implementation Plan.

At the time of acquittal, the CFA’s commitment to increasing the number of women in brigade leadership roles to 15% was met, with us observing 17.5% of volunteer leadership roles were filled by women in quarter 4 of 2022–23.

Since acquittal, we note the number of women in brigade leadership roles continues to increase, with 18.5% of volunteer leadership roles filled by women as reported by the CFA against measure 3.2.2 Increase in women in volunteer leadership roles of its Outcomes Framework for quarter 4 of 2024–25.¹⁹

At year 5, we highly commend the CFA on its progress in furthering its diversity and inclusion agenda across the organisation and recognise the positive increases not only of women volunteers in leadership roles but also those in operational roles and women staff in senior roles. We encourage the CFA to build on the strong foundations it has established and continue driving cultural change and increasing workforce inclusion and diversity through leadership as well as strategic and operational initiatives.

Leadership

Action 4.7 required the CFA to develop a scope for leadership roles (particularly operational leadership) that reflect contemporary brigade and group models.

Our 2022–23 annual report noted that the work program under action 1.7 provided a logical sequence of activities to resolve broader questions on the CFA’s Operating Model, which were required to inform the delivery and implementation of action 4.7.

As part of the DJCS-led review of the Year 2–5 Implementation Plan, which received formal ministerial approval in July 2024, the CFA advised that action 4.7 would be delivered under the CFA’s Operating Model Program work, of which the progress of the CFA is discussed further under the ‘Operating model’ section of this report.

Reward and recognition

Action 4.8 was a joint action that required the CFA and FRV to identify new opportunities to recognise and value the contribution made by both volunteer and career firefighters to delivering fire services (for example, communications and collaboration).

Valuing the CFA workforce

In delivering this action, the CFA focused on addressing the identified gap to recognise secondees and their service while in the CFA via nominations for national awards, including the Australian Fire Services Medal and the National Emergency Medal. The CFA also focused on ensuring FRV secondees could be recognised for their service and contribution to the CFA via CFA service awards.

Since acquittal, the CFA informed us of the following proactive measures introduced to elicit nominations to recognise the admirable service of its people:

• publishing ‘how to’ guides and resources
• personalised help to nominators
• active promotion of the call for nominations through all channels (including the Women’s Advisory Committee and Young Adults Advisory Committee)
• publicly championing all award recipients
• launching a new Honours & Awards search and filter dashboard that allows the Board’s Honours and Awards Committee to monitor trends.

We noted in our 2022–23 annual report that the CFA was actively promoting award schemes to volunteers and was undertaking work to identify, understand and address barriers to women nominating or being nominated for awards.²⁰

These barriers include:

• limited awareness and understanding of award types, eligibility and how to nominate
• feelings of modesty or a reluctance to seek recognition
• strict limits on the number of Australian Fire Services Medals awarded each year
• the Australian Fire Services Medal was created to recognise people in the fire services whose roles are inherently more hazardous than most others and these roles have traditionally been held by more men than women.

We commend the CFA for its work to address barriers to the formal recognition of its women members and encourage the CFA continue its efforts to increase the number of women celebrated for their contribution to delivering fire services.

The CFA has for many years held an annual Firefighter Memorial Service to remember those firefighters who gave their lives to protect others and to honour the personal sacrifices and commitment firefighters make every day. The CFA’s fallen firefighters are also commemorated at the Victorian Emergency Services Memorial in Treasury Gardens and the national memorial site.

The CFA has advised that its Communications and Stakeholder Relations team uses a range of channels to inform, connect and celebrate its people and the CFA’s work including through its weekly e-news, regular Volunteer Forum and Staff Forum sessions, all-staff and all-member emails, Members Online content, periodic video updates and social media activity. Its annual report to Parliament summarises the CFA’s key achievements.

Valuing the FRV workforce

In delivering this action, FRV focused on establishing an honours and awards process that includes an Honours & Awards Committee, an Australian Fire Services Medal Committee, drafting an honours and awards manual, a suite of FRV internal medals and certificates, and recognition of FRV fallen firefighters at the state and national memorial sites. FRV notes that the Honours & Awards Committee assesses nominations from across FRV and makes recommendations to the Fire Rescue Commissioner of awards and recognition of their people.

FRV has highlighted that it recommends and bestows honours and awards to recognise, celebrate and say thank you to those who have given their time to serve others and to those who achieve their best for FRV and the community.

An example of this is the FRV Long and Good Service Awards, awarded to uniform, corporate, technical and workshop employees and recognises FRV people for their long service, good conduct and accomplishments. These awards are an important part of bringing FRV’s values to life by formally recognising an employee’s service and commitment to the organisation by achieving service milestones.

People who have achieved a long service milestone by 30 June are invited to a ceremony to receive their award from the Fire Rescue Commissioner or a member of the Executive Leadership team. FRV has advised there were 1,044 recipients in the 2024–25 reporting period.

FRV has also advised its Internal Communications and Engagement team uses a range of channels to inform, connect and celebrate its people and FRV’s work, including:

• FRV News – FRVs official staff fortnightly newsletter. The newsletter informs and engages the workforce on news, issues, trends and employee profiles.
• FRV intranet – features news on topics that align with FRVs purpose and the 5 pillars detailed in the
  10-year strategic plan.
• Intranet featured news banner – appears at the top of the intranet homepage and is updated weekly.
• All-staff emails – reserved for major announcements, leadership messages or situations where people need to act.
• FRV Connect – online sessions via Microsoft Teams featuring short presentations plus Q&As on a range of topics from operational and corporate colleagues.
• Online information sessions – quarterly or one-off sessions focused on a specific topic such as integrity series led by the Governance and Compliance team.
• Video updates – primarily used by the Fire Rescue Commissioner but available to teams/departments to promote project milestones, new initiatives and so on.
• What’s on at FRV – monthly email bulletin for operational and corporate people leaders.
• ‘What’s on’ calendar – supported by a dedicated intranet page that highlights key dates for the coming month.
• Team Talks – produced to help people leaders communicate important updates to their teams. Leaders are encouraged to use Team Talks for complex information or situations and team members are likely to have questions.

FRV’s External Communications team makes extensive use of the traditional media, print, broadcast and online, social media channels Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, the FRV website and the FRV annual report to feature stories that recognise and value contributions made by its people. The emphasis is on promoting the work of FRV personnel and their unwavering commitment to protecting life and property, either on the frontline or in support roles.

FRV noted that its people embrace the internal and external channels and platforms available to promote their work, with submissions to feature people, stories, photos and important safety information regularly received from across the organisation.

Footnotes

1. FSIM, Annual Report 2023–24, Monitoring 'in progress' actions.
2. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Action 4.2.
3. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Action 4.3.
4. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 4.4.
5. FSIM, Annual Report 2023–24, Monitoring 'in progress' actions.
6. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Action 4.6.
7. FSIM, Annual Report 2023–24, Monitoring 'in progress' actions.
8. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 4.8.
9. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Action 4.9.
10. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 4.10.
11. Action 4.2 deliverables as listed in the Appendix.
12. Refer to the Firefighters Registration Scheme.
13. Refer to the Firefighters Registration Board.
14. Action 4.3 deliverables as listed in the Appendix.
15. FSIM, Annual Report 2024–25, Methodology, Table 1: Comparison table for actions updated as part of the July 2024 change request.
16. FSIM, Annual Report 2021–22.
17. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 4.4.
18. Actions 4.6 and 4.9 deliverables as listed in the Appendix.
19. CFA Q4 Outcomes Framework – Quarterly Report 24–25.
20. FSIM, Annual Report 2022–23, Progress of Action 4.8.