CFA and VICSES volunteer levy exemption: “a pittance” at just $6m a year

The Allan Government has allocated just $6 million to cover the cost of exempting CFA and VICSES volunteers from the new levy.

Volunteers, like those fighting this week’s Grampians fire, say they are being offered a pittance by the Allan Government to offset the cost of its $1.6 billion ESV Fund.

The Allan Government has only set aside $6 million to cover the cost of exempting 55,126 CFA and VICSES volunteers from paying its rebadged fire services property levy, equating to an average $109 each.

The $6m cost of providing the volunteer exemption sits in stark contrast to the $1.033 billion the government will collect in FSPL this financial year, which will rise to $1.649bn under its new Emergency Services Volunteer Fund in 2025-26 and $1.8bn in 2026-27.

The budget update, tabled in parliament, twice mentions the exemption on paying the new Emergency Services Volunteer Fund charge would also be delayed until July 1, 2026, five months out from the next state election.

The December 13 Budget update twice states the volunteer exemption will not come into effect until July 1, 2026.

But when asked about the delay, the office of newly minted Treasurer Jaclyn Symes stated it was “an error in the published material”.

Treasury has also scrambled to amend its website in recent days to state the levy exemption for volunteers would come into effect on July 1 next year, not in 2026-27 as originally published.

Victorian farmers, many of whom are volunteers, have already condemned the government’s decision to crank up the levy by $616m and rebadge it the ESVF, given just $50m of the extra revenue would go towards the CFA and VICSES each year.

Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria chief executive Adam Barnett said the phrase being bandied around by members was: “They pat us with one hand and poke us in the eye with the other”.

Ms Symes has told volunteers the exemption recognised they gave “our state so much” and would provide “even more incentive for Victorians to consider volunteering in our emergency services”.

But many farmers, who are also CFA volunteers, have already dismissed the levy exemption as a drop in the ocean, given they could only claim it on their home block.

Many derided the exemption as no more than tokenism that would do nothing to retain or recruit a dwindling pool of volunteers, which in the case of the CFA has gone from about 38,188 operational members when Labor came to power in 2024 to 28,906 today.

Traynors Lagoon CFA captain Jason Barratt said “we’re a reduced resource that’s being hit from every direction by this government”.

“It’s a pittance (the $6m) that’s not going to make a major difference in recruiting volunteers,” Mr Barratt said.

Traynors Lagoon CFA captain Jason Barratt says volunteers are being hit from all directions by the Allan Government.

Gre Gre Village CFA captain and St Arnaud deputy group officer Peter Knights, who is helping fight this week’s Grampian fires, said the exemption was a “hollow concession”.

“Given what most volunteers are likely to pay, it’s tokenism – trinkets and beads,” Mr Knights said.

The government is yet to detail how the exemption will be applied, but italready has systems in place to identify and grant pensioners and veterans $50 concessions on the current FSPL at a cost to government of $30m this financial year, rising to $31m in 2025-26.

The budget update states the cost of all exemptions will rise to $37m in 2026-27, to cover CFA and VICSES volunteers (an additional $6m).

The December 13 Budget Update, showing the current pensioner and vetereans concession rises to $7m in 2026-27 to accommodate the volunteer exemption.

Mr Barnett said “it can’t be that hard to provide $6m to volunteers”.

He said the CFA could easily provide volunteers with a certificate of eligibility each year, which they could send in with their rates bill to claim the exemption.

“We don’t expect it would be that hard and could be done in three to four months,” Mr Barnett said.

Originally published as CFA and VICSES volunteer levy exemption: “a pittance” at just $6m a year