This paper provides a brief overview of some of the issues that affect firefighters and other emergency service providers, and poses a number of questions concerning how they are recruited, trained and supported; how their equipment is managed; how they communicate during an emergency; and how they share resources.

Part of a Master thesis titled “ Valuing Volunteers: Better understanding the primary motives for volunteering in Australian emergency service”, this discussion paper critically analyses the all-hazards risk management policy context within which Australian emergency services operate, in order to evaluate the efficacy and integrity of current processes for determining and resourcing national emergency management...

This thesis, the Valuing Volunteers Study, aims to provide a better understanding of the primary motives for formal volunteering in Australian emergency services, through the empirical examination of the shared and contrasting values of a sample of emergency service volunteers.

This audit found that the NSW State Emergency Service cannot be assured that it has sufficient volunteers to respond to future demands. Introduction The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) is the lead agency responsible for preparing the community for and responding to storm, flood and tsunami events. Many non-metropolitan SES units respond to other emergencies...