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Queensland SES report remains secret despite losing 70% of members

Anger over the organisation’s management has reached a boiling point two weeks it was revealed red tape and bureaucracy had slashed its member numbers.

A report into the operations of the State Emergency Service will remain secret despite the struggling organisation losing 70 per cent of its members.

Anger over the volunteer organisation’s management has reached a boiling point two weeks after The Courier-Mail revealed red tape and bureaucracy had slashed its member numbers.

Now, calls are growing for the state government to finally release its widespread review into the SES more than a year after it was completed.

The State Emergency Service has lost thousands of members Picture: David Nielsen / The Queensland Times
The State Emergency Service has lost thousands of members Picture: David Nielsen / The Queensland Times

Queensland SES Volunteer Association vice-president Deni Keeshan said the report should not be left on a shelf.

“Release the report, act upon the recommendations and fully fund the Queensland SES now and into the future,” she said.

Since 2004, the first time official membership figures were reported, the number of SES volunteers has fallen from 17,000 to just 5200.

“Volunteer numbers are now at the lowest point in the agency’s history, a disheartening and unsustainable trend,” Ms Keeshan said.

“We have already seen and experienced the impact of these losses both on the agency and the community. We need strong strategies from the Premier and government and we need them now before further and significant emergencies place the community at risk.”

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan. Picture: Tertius Pickard
Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said the report was being considered, but did not provide detail on when it might be released.

“At the appropriate time there will be more to say about these matters, but … the government will always support the dedicated and selfless volunteers who make the SES so incredibly valuable to the community,” he said.

Mr Ryan said “hundreds of people” had applied to become members in recent months, prompting Queensland Fire and Emergency Services personnel to deploy additional resources to process volunteer applications.

A QFES spokesman previously said the change in membership numbers “has not affected the SES’s ability to respond effectively during times of emergency and disaster in Queensland”.

Ms Keeshan said 2 per cent of QFES’s $750m operating budget went to the SES – about $15m each year – but it needed “at least $70m”.

Originally published as Queensland SES report remains secret despite losing 70% of members

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-ses-report-remains-secret-despite-losing-70-of-members/news-story/ea6cc633eda5bb38eadf7ff78c1a5e6d