Female firefighters ignored by Council

Busselton Council has been told to update its local laws after ignoring female firefighters for more than 50 years. Warnings from a State Government department and WA’s local government body will see a South West council update its bush fire brigade laws for the first time since 1968. However any updates to the local laws will not come into effect ion time for the pending fire season. The Department of Fire and Emergency Service and the WA Local Government Association recently contacted the City of Busselton and other local governments with concerns their bush fire brigades might not be properly established until State Government legislation. The advice warns councils they may be carrying “certain risks” if the brigades are not properly established, with the City to now update its Bush Fire Brigade local law for the first time since 1968 after it was found to be “no longer fit for purpose”. The City’s regulatory services manager Rachel Runco said the change was something “that was needed”. “It just brings us to where we should be,” she said. “It is modernising it and making it reflective of the world we live in.” In December, the council’s Bush Fire Advisory Committee requested a review of management policies, with the City’s brigades currently governed by multiple policies and the State Government’s Bush Fires Act. Although DFES and WALGA’s advice warned councils would carry “certain risks” if bush fire brigades were not operating with a local law, City officers said short term risks to the City were “minimal” due to it already appointing bush fire control officers under the Bush Fires Act. The review of the 1968 local law comes despite State Government legislation requiring all local laws to be reviewed once every eight years. City officers said there were “a number of inconsistencies” between the 1968 law and a model local law provided by WALGA and that having brigade management practices inconsistent with the 1968 law was a risk. A draft of the new local law was shared with the City’s 22 fire control officers, with none of the 18 officers who responded being against it.