The Board held its sixth regular meeting of the year on 17 June 2019 at CFA Headquarters.
The Chair of Board, Mr Greg Smith AM, began by congratulating Mr Steven Warrington on his appointment as CFA Chief Executive Officer, noting that the role would be held concurrently with that of Chief Officer.
Safety share
As usual, the Board considered a safety share, noting that the meeting fell within Men’s Health Week. The Board noted the CFA events and programs related to this theme.
2019-20 CFA Plan and Budget
The Executive Director Volunteers and Strategy and the Chief Financial Officer attended the meeting, and jointly presented on the 2019-20 CFA Plan and Budget. The Board endorsed the general direction of the Business Plan, and approved the proposed Budget, noting that it:
- enables CFA to deliver the Government’s priorities aligned to the Board’s strategic goals;
- is a balanced budget from a funding perspective; and
- is within the overall funding envelope confirmed through the forward estimate process and the latest State Budget announcements.
Child safety
The Board received and noted an update on Child Safety compliance and discussed the application of Key Performance Indicators in respect of Child Safety compliance. The Board agreed that the CFA Corporate Plan should include measures of success in making CFA a child safe organisation.
The Board discussed the process for CFA to recognise the survivors of child sexual abuse in Ballarat.
Acting Chief Executive Officer/Chief Officer report
The Acting Chief Executive Officer/Chief Officer spoke to his report to the Board, highlighting:
- the People Matter Survey, which had been opened and would be available to staff for three weeks;
- the new look CFA Intranet landing page launched on 11 June;
- the Winter Smoke Alarm Campaign, includes an emphasis on the number and location of working smoke alarms in response to data showing that most house fires resulting in fatality start in bedrooms and living areas;
- the participation of CFA members in the AFL Emergency Services Round;
- the fourth DPC Chairs and OM Forum, which was held on Saturday 25 May with DPC Chairs coming together with OMs to learn about the strategic direction and corporate priorities for 2019-20, the possible impacts of fire services reform and the importance of child safety in ensuring a safe workplace;
- the second Enhancing Volunteerism Forum, which was held on 21-22 May in Creswick and was attended by more than 140 people from across the state;
- CFA led a multi-agency workshop with MFB and the Victorian Building Authority on the 6 May 2019 to develop a plan to engage residents on high density residential fire risk (including non-compliant combustible cladding; and
- the Government has funded Safer Together for the next two years, with investment of over $25 million, which maintains the current level of funding.
Diversity
The Board agreed that the People and Culture Committee should further consider strategies to increase diversity among volunteer firefighters and provide a report to the Board.
International deployment arrangements
The Board approved a delegation to the Chief Officer for the international deployment of personnel and resources pursuant to reciprocal arrangements.
Changes to the composition of groups
The Board endorsed variations to the composition of the Creswick Group and Ballarat Group in due course and agreed to delegate the power to vary the composition of groups to the Chief Officer in future.
Hazard Class Automation
The Board received a paper on Hazard Class Automation and noted the intent to automate the allocation of hazard class within the Fire Incident Reporting System (FIRS) on 1 July 2019.
Appointments to CFA Board
The meeting concluded with the Chair noting that the Governor in Council had made the following appointments to the CFA Board:
- Mr Smith as Chairperson of the Authority for a period of three years from 17 June 2019;
- Ms McLean as Deputy Chairperson of the Authority for a period of three years from 17 June 2019; and
- Dr Sparkes, Mr Weir and Ms White as members of the Authority for a period of three years from 17 June 2019.
The Chair noted his appreciation for the service to the Authority provided by all members over the past three years.