Volunteer and Employer Recognition and Support Program

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:11): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Can the minister advise the house about the Volunteer and Employer Recognition and Support Program that was held last Wednesday evening at Clare Town Hall?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:11): I thank the honourable member for her question and also her support for volunteers. Last Wednesday evening, I attended the Volunteer and Employer Recognition and Support Program (known as VERSP) at the town hall in Clare. I was joined by the shadow minister (the member for Morphett) and the member for Goyder, and I would like to thank both of them for their support of the sector. The CEO and the deputy mayor and other elected members from the Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council were also present at the presentation.

VERSP events are held throughout the state to acknowledge and thank the employers of emergency service volunteers and our retained MFS firefighters. There have been more than 30 VERSP events across South Australia, with over 750 certificates presented. Since the program started, I can actually recall representing the minister, the Hon. Carmel Zollo, some years ago at a VERSP event in Clare Town Hall.

In addition to the employers recognised at the event, many volunteers who are self-employed were also recognised, and they are the important group we sometimes forget. The self-employed volunteers often have to close their business to attend incidents and emergencies, putting the safety of the community ahead of their personal profits. The Clare VERSP event was an opportunity to acknowledge and thank them all for their contribution to the safety of their local community.

The emergency service chiefs, chief executive of SAFECOM and I provided a number of appreciation awards and certificates to those businesses attending. I also had the opportunity to thank some very inspiring volunteers, including Neil Gibson from the local Clare CFS unit, and also to congratulate Mark Hill from the Tarlee CFS brigade, who received an Order of Australia in this year’s Queen's Birthday honours list. Mr Gibson, from the local Clare CFS unit, was also inducted as a life member of the SES. This year has been a particularly busy year for our sector. Without the support of employers and self-employed volunteers, things could have been much worse at places like Sampson Flat.

Individuals grow and learn new skills and experiences while serving as emergency service volunteers, particularly in management and leadership, administration, work health and safety, bookkeeping, auditing and many more. This was highlighted by Horrocks CFS Group Officer, Michael Colbert, who talked about his early days in what was then the emergency fire service and fitting out trucks from scratch. He still retains those skills which he learnt in those days and which are of benefit to his employer. One of the important things about the program is to actually highlight the additional benefits for an employer from people who volunteer in their community—they bring a lot of skills with them. All these skills and experiences benefit the businesses where they work.

I encourage businesses who are recruiting to consider hiring emergency service volunteers as they will certainly see the benefits in the long term. Those businesses that already have emergency service volunteers on their books will certainly testify to that.

Last but not least, I would also like to acknowledge the support of family members of the volunteers. They often miss out on a lot of family life as the volunteers are working for their communities. In closing, I would like to thank everybody involved in this event, with a special mention of the staff of the Volunteer Services Branch in SAFECOM who organised and ran this very effective event.