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SA Firefighter General / Courier Extract 22/2/06
« on: February 23, 2006, 12:40:38 PM »
An extract from the Courier 22/2/06. I believe there was a little more to the article, but it is not on the Couriers website.
Quote
CFS chief blasts ‘abuse’ of volunteers
A senior CFS leader in the Hills has lashed out at the excessive bureaucracy in the organisation and claims the State Government is treating volunteers like “unpaid public servants”.
Mt Lofty Group Officer Rod Cooper said the government and its CFS bureaucracy were “putting dollars and cents ahead of public safety” which in turn was sapping morale and making long-serving members leave the organisation.
Mr Cooper – a CFS volunteer for 27 years, with more than 10 of those years at group leadership level – said he put in between 20 and 25 volunteer hours a week to keep up with all the paperwork.
“We’re happy with the checks and balances on an operational basis,” he said.
“What we’re not happy with is the bureaucratic interference that
is affecting the morale of volunteers.
“The workload on senior volunteers is really unrealistic.”
Mt Lofty Group, which encompasses eight brigades including Stirling, Aldgate and Bridgewater, attends more than 1100 call-outs a year.
Mr Cooper has called for more “direct support”, such as paid administrative staff, to handle the paperwork the government has demanded.
“If they’re wanting us to do all this paperwork, they should pay
someone to do it,” he said.
