As Queensland’s fire season commences, rural communities are increasingly dependent on the Rural Fire Brigades, despite facing a shortage of volunteers.

Changes made to the volunteer program by the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service have been attributed to the lack of volunteers.

Justin Choveaux, the General Manager of the Rural Fire Brigades Association, told Peter Gleeson on Drive, “…Let’s say we’ve had a net loss of  8,000 brigade members, a lot of people we’ve lost have been bridgae members for 20 – 30 years so the amount of experience that has walked out the door is critical for our state…”

“…The Fire Service created a system that is based around what they want volunteers to comply with not what volunteers want to give to their community,” Mr. Choveaux continued.

Press PLAY to hear the changes made to the volunteer program

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