CFA Connect Blogosphere

Our primary purpose in Loddon Mallee region is to create and deploy an effective operational capability focused on preventing and suppressing fire, in order to achieve our CFA objective of minimising loss of life and property.

Loddon Mallee Region has conducted a number of teamwork and leadership courses at Hattah in the last couple of months. These always provide an invaluable opportunity for discussion amongst participants about what good teamwork and leadership really mean, how best to lead and what a good team looks and feels like.

I have particularly found the exchanges of views, experience and ideas at the leadership courses to be of great personal value. It's been very instructive for me, as always, to see how others go about exercising leadership. The debriefs we conduct, after each participant has a go at leading the team through a mission, have produced some deep and meaningful exchanges.

In the last edition of the Nor' Wester I wrote about the major floods, their effect on numerous communities and individuals and the extraordinary response to them by so many volunteers and staff, both during the event and afterwards.

One of the common denominators during the major flood Response and Recovery Phases was courage; another was initiative.

The following is a transcript of Mick's address in the video above.

Strategy
Today I’d like to take the opportunity to talk to you a bit about organisational change.

In the last couple of weeks, the Board’s met and they’ve considered proposals that we’ve taken to them on strategy. And that strategy, they’ve termed ‘Creating our Future Together’.

As a fire service we could be described in many ways: by the number of brigades and fire stations that we have; the numbers of fire appliances; or the size of our communications system. But our most defining characteristic is, has always been, and always will be - our people.

Recently the Bayswater CFA Brigade elected Diana Ferguson as their Captain. She joins a small but growing number of females who share the leadership in the organisation.

2011 State Championships:
The first of our State Championships will take place at the end of February.

CFA Ramps Up To Support Flood Victims

Last week CFA and DSE, on the advice of SES, VicPol and DHS readied for a new task in the wake of the floods occurring in the west and north of the State.  We accepted the role of “clean up” in the immediate time after flood waters receded.  CFA and DSE then established a structure that reported to O/O Rohan Luke on the Regional Relief and Recovery Committee.  R/C Mike Wassing initially represented CFA on the Regional Emergency Management Team, then accepted the role of Chair of that Team in order to free up SES personnel.

Welcome to 2011! - Let' s make this a year "when everyone goes home safe!"

Ahead of the 2010/11 fire season I want to thank the CFA's 60,000 members for their hard work and commitment.

I strongly believe the person at the front-line of an organisation - in our case CFA firefighters - is the most important person and everything the organisation does should be focused on supporting that man or woman.

 

A two-year journey has recently ended for several of our senior Community Safety staff graduating from the specialised Advanced Diploma of Public Safety (Community Safety), and congratulations are owed.

A new landscape is developing in the online world. When people log on to the internet now, they expect to be able to engage with corporations. Simply providing information without further means for discussion is no longer enough.

At CFA, we're embracing this new wave of online engagement; not because it's trendy, or it's fun to use the latest gadgets, but because it's what our community is demanding. Increasingly, our members, and the wider community, are relying on the online environment to find news, incident information and community safety advice from CFA. As a community service organisation with a diverse and geographically spread membership, we must listen and respond.

BEST WISHES CHIEF

A change in season brings with it a change in perspective.

When concentrating on the bushfire season we can be forgiven for focusing on the here and now, but of course work at CFA is not just seasonal, and as we approach the winter months we need to remain as ready as ever in dealing with new conditions and different challenges.

The days of businesses existing solely to turn a profit are now a lengthening shadow into the past. From multinational, billion dollar enterprises to locally owned and operated small businesses, we are now in an era when Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities are a critical feature of corporations both locally and abroad.

CSR refers to the practice of including the community's interests in corporate decision making. Often, it is associated with offsetting the environmental impacts of particular businesses' activities, but it can include a variety of corporate initiatives that ultimately benefit the public.

In my blog post Q & A update - Boundaries, Command and Control in December, one of the questions I answered was:

As the first anniversary of 7 February approaches, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the events of not only that day, but the weeks leading up to it, particularly the fires in Gippsland, and the tremendous work CFA members have done in Black Saturday's aftermath.

While I wasn't with CFA last fire season, like so many other Australians I watched the events unfold with anguish and sorrow, but also with an overwhelming sense of pride in the response.

The bushfire season is now in full swing and, as usual, is placing high demands on CFA members and their families. While this is happening, many parts of our organisation continue to implement the raft of changes that have flowed from the Royal Commission.

Throughout each year, and especially in tough times like the bushfire season, we value and respect the enduring effort that you apply to your role.

After the One Source One Message (OSOM) system failure on Wednesday 16 December 2009, we commissioned an independent review by Deloitte to find out what went wrong. I talked about this in my last blog post when I said:

"It's important to clarify that the CFA website itself was unaffected; the problem was with the messages being fed to the website. The computer server that enables the messages to go to the website failed . . . We also immediately commissioned a full and independent audit of the OSOM system by auditors Deloitte to make sure all actual and potential pitfalls are identified."

The fire season is well and truly upon us. There have been almost 4000 fires since the start of the season. We've had severe and extreme days, Total Fire Bans, Emergency Warnings and, of course, fires.

CFA crews have responded to incidents across our state and over the border. We've gone in early, hit fires hard and made sure any threat has been contained. And the coming week will no doubt challenge us again.

I want to take a short detour from the business of the day to wish you all the best for the festive season and the coming New Year.

I've only been here a few months and I'm yet to see out my first summer, but I do feel like I'm beginning to understand what makes CFA tick. The veterans among you are probably tired of hearing that CFA is all about the people. I'm sure for many of you it's a well-worn cliché.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you since my last post. It's been a busy time for all of us but I still want to make sure my blog is regularly updated, especially given the feedback you've provided and the questions you've been asking.

Having the technology to deliver regular online updates is one thing, but it's the quality of the interaction that will determine whether this blog is a success. So far, I've seen a wealth of considered opinions, well thought out comments and probing questions in response to my posts. So I'd say you're certainly keeping up your end of the bargain, and I'll continue doing my best to keep up mine.

Thank you for your feedback on my last blog entry about CFA's changing boundaries and improved command and control arrangements. It's encouraging to me that so many of you are passionate about ensuring we do the best thing for CFA as well as the community, so I wanted to give you an update on progress since I last blogged.

Victoria today is different in many ways from what it was when CFA was formed six and a half decades ago. The social, economic and environmental landscapes have changed: Victorians are highly mobile and have greater access to information through rapidly evolving technology.

Traditional boundaries are continually challenged by increasing population, community needs and expectations, and learning to live with a changing climate. CFA is operating in a new era and, as it has in the past, will ready itself to meet the future needs of Victorians.

As I enter my sixth week on the job as CEO, I feel it's been both a privilege and a challenge to have dived in to the deep end of the business of CFA.

You've been incredibly welcoming. No-one has yet run away when they've seen me coming; everyone I've met has been willing to spend time bringing me up to speed, answering all my questions and letting me know where we can improve. I'm already learning that CFA people are passionate about what they do.