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MFB Annual Report 2018-2019

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Annual Report 2018 – 2019 MFB responds to around 38,000 calls a year Metropolitan Fire Brigade 03 Contents 04 16 41 Vision and strategic Our Minister Improving community themes safety and resilience 05 16 47 Letter to the Minister The Board Valuing our people 06 17 62 President’s foreword Executive Delivering Leadership team exceptional service 08 18 70 Acting Chief Organisational Working Executive Officer / structure with others Chief Officer’s report 10 19 73 MFB Plan Our performance Governance 11 28 77 Purpose and Major incidents Other disclosures functions 12 33 86 About us Emergency Medical Disclosure Response index 14 34 89 MFB region and Always safe Financial report district structure 04 Annual Report 2018—2019 Vision and strategic themes The Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services MFB also upholds the Victorian Board (MFB) is a contemporary fire and rescue Government Public service which has proudly served the Victorian Sector values: community for 128 years. We aspire to provide an exemplary fire and rescue service for Melbourne and Victorians. Our shared vision with Emergency Responsiveness Management Victoria is building safer and more resilient communities. Integrity Our strategic themes for 2018–2019 are: • Always safe • Improving community safety and resilience Impartiality • Valuing our people • Delivering exceptional service • Working with others Accountability MFB’s values are: Safety: We strive for a workplace culture of safety, identifying and remedying the causes of workplace injuries. Respect Response: We are responsive to the needs of our people and our community. Professionalism: We work in a highly Leadership professional manner. Initiative: We demonstrate initiative, innovation and agility as we continuously improve our service. Human rights Metropolitan Fire Brigade 05 Letter to the Minister The Hon. Lisa Neville MP Minister for Police and Emergency Services Level 17, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne 3002 Dear Minister, In accordance with the Financial Management Act 1994 (Vic.), I am pleased to present the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board’s Annual Report for the year ending 30 June 2019. Jasmine Doak President Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board 4 September 2019 06 Annual Report 2018—2019 President’s foreword I am proud that as an organisation we remain deeply It has been a busy, eventful year at MFB connected to our key vision to provide an exemplary fire and I am grateful to all of our employees and rescue service for Melbourne and Victorians, with a key for their dedicated work over the last focus on continuous improvement and community service. In March 2019 Victoria’s emergency management services year, and for making our community came together to celebrate the vital role of women as part safer in so many different ways. Not only of the International Women’s Day celebrations. Throughout the day, the community interacted with the people who help do we provide incident response we also keep them safe and learned more about the diverse roles and skills required to work in emergency services. It was advocate for important safety measures fantastic to see so many organisations come together to and initiatives, provide leadership in recognise the vital role women play and I felt privileged to be part of an agency that is so trusted by the community. recycling and waste management and MFB is all the better for the invaluable contribution of our female operational staff who, together with their male cladding–focused work, educate and colleagues, dedicate their lives to protecting the Victorian support, drive reform, and provide community. I recognise there is still work to be done to ensure MFB is truly reflective of the community we serve, training and technical expertise. and as an organisation we have embarked on our journey. At MFB, the safety of our people continues to be our highest priority. MFB has a proud 128-year history, and everything we have learned has made us one of the safest fire and rescue services in the country. Throughout the year we have continued to invest in resources, infrastructure, research, and health and wellbeing programs that enhance our operational efficiency and increase the safety of our people. We have continued to build on our people-centred approach to mental health and wellbeing with the roll–out of a two-year pilot program which provides proactive mental health and resiliency education to all of our employees. We are justifiably proud of being the first fire and rescue service in Australia to make Road to Mental Health Readiness, and Mental Health First Aid training available to all employees. Metropolitan Fire Brigade 07 At MFB, the safety of our people continues to be our highest priority. MFB has a proud 128 year history, and everything we have learned has made us one of the safest fire and rescue services in the country. In June 2019, a key milestone was reached when the Finally, I wish to acknowledge MFB’s former Chief Officer Dan Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Stephens who served MFB from May 2018 to July 2019. Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 Dan demonstrated great leadership, strong direction and received Royal Assent from the Governor of Victoria. This service to MFB and the people of Victoria, and provided new organisation will bring all existing MFB employees and stability and focus to the organisation during a crucial CFA career firefighters together, into a single entity operating period that has prepared MFB for our transition to FRV. throughout greater Melbourne and in regional centres. Deputy Chief Officer Greg Leach has been appointed as Acting Chief Executive Officer / Chief Officer and I extend Importantly, the legislation also delivers crucial presumptive my thanks on behalf of the Board to Greg for continuing rights reforms for our firefighters who give of their best to show great commitment and leadership for MFB. to support the Victorian community and it’s only right that they are supported. Once implemented, firefighters This is an exciting time for fire and rescue services as we claiming compensation for specified cancer types will enter a new era and as always, I am immensely proud to no longer have to prove that firefighting is the cause of lead MFB. I thank all MFB staff for their continuing service their cancer. Instead, it will be presumed that their cancer and unwavering commitment to the Victorian community. was caused by their firefighting and that they have an entitlement to compensation under the WorkCover scheme. Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) presents us with a golden opportunity to enrich the exceptional service we deliver to our community, and I am enthusiastic for the year ahead as we transition to the new organisation. We will Jasmine Doak continue to work with government, our Country Fire Authority colleagues and our unions, to establish FRV. President The MFB Board has welcomed a new Board member this year and I am grateful for Frances Diver joining me and my fellow Board members Kylie Hall, Fiona Chamberlain, Gennaro Fittipaldi, Peita Duncan, and Greg Sword. I feel immensely privileged to lead such a knowledgeable and dedicated Board, whose counsel and expertise is so highly regarded. 08 Annual Report 2018—2019 Acting Chief Executive Officer / Chief Officer’s report The last year has been dominated by important reforms to the fire services, and the development of Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) in 2020 will ensure that we continue to deliver an exemplary fire and rescue service to the Victorian community for the future. I’d firstly like to acknowledge each and every one of MFB’s employees for their commitment and dedication to our shared vision of a safer and more resilient Victoria. This year MFB has marked a number of important historical February 2019 marked a decade since the 2009 Victorian milestones and responded to several major and complex bushfires, and MFB acknowledged and remembered emergency incidents. We have been at the forefront of fire those who lost their lives and homes, and the countless safety advocacy that will create lasting change, and we communities who were affected. The solemn anniversary have continued to promote enhanced safety outcomes was also a chance to honour the contribution of the for both our firefighters and the community we serve many firefighters, emergency responders, volunteers and while we prepare for major change within our sector. community members who worked tirelessly throughout the most challenging circumstances and assisted in the ongoing In September 2018 we marked 20 years of MFB firefighters relief and recovery effort. These bushfires were one of the delivering Emergency Medical Response alongside our most significant natural disasters Victorians have ever faced, partners from Ambulance Victoria. The past two decades and this incident changed our approach to emergency of remarkable life-saving work from our employees management, and as a result, we live in a more resilient has meant that hundreds, and maybe even thousands, Victoria today. As a direct result of the tragedy which claimed of people have returned home safely after a medical 173 lives, vital lessons were learnt. We have seen an increase emergency. MFB firefighters have attended almost 4,000 in interoperability, cooperation, and planning by emergency medical emergencies this financial year alone, and this services, government, businesses, communities and program continues to go from strength to strength. individuals, and from the ashes we have grown together and This year we celebrated 35 years since the first women in directly built safer and more resilient communities as a legacy. Operational Communications joined MFB, and 30 years of We provide a modern fire and rescue service for the women as firefighters. While firefighting has traditionally been community, and these days we rescue far more people from a male-dominated industry, these trailblazers took those first non-fire incidents than we do fires.
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