Fire services wages bill has risen under Andrews government

The wages bill for Victorian firefighters has skyrocketed under the Andrews government. It comes after a pay dispute plagued fire services for years.

The wages bill for Victoria’s fire services has skyrocketed by 62 per cent since the Andrews government came to power and is now almost $1bn.

But the number of volunteer firefighters on the books with the Country Fire Authority has fallen from 38,048 in 2014 to 32,679 last year.

The alarming figures are contained in a new Productivity Commission report on government services, to be released on Friday.

It shows that in 2019/20, Victoria spent $968.7m on salaries and allowances for firefighters, compared to $786.8m in New South Wales.

The state government’s total spend on fire services was the equivalent of $311 per person, compared to a national average of $223 per person and more than double Queensland’s spend on $154 per person.

Pay and conditions for firefighters were at the centre of a bitter industrial dispute that consumed Victoria’s fire services for years and forced the departure of dozens of senior leaders.

Pay disputes have plagued Victoria’s fire services for years. Picture: Woodend CFA

CFA firefighters battled a fast-moving grass fire on the Calder Freeway at Kyneton on January 18. Picture: Woodend CFA.

The long-running battle has also been probed by Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog, including the Andrews government’s role after it intervened in support of the United Firefighters Union, resulting in the resignation of emergency services minister Jane Garrett.

Last year, all career firefighters across the state moved into the new Fire Rescue Victoria agency, with the CFA transitioning to be a volunteer-only service.

The commission’s report showed the fire services wages bill increased by almost $150m over the last two years.

Over that time, the CFA lost 2246 volunteer firefighters, while the number of full-time paid firefighters leapt from 4181 to 5395.

The state spending surge came as Victoria maintained its nation-leading response times to structure fires.

According to the report, crews arrived at 90 per cent of structure fires within 10.8 minutes, compared to 12.5 minutes in Queensland and 14.5 minutes in New South Wales.

Victorian firefighters reached half of the 5217 structure fires in 2019/20 within 6.9 minutes, which was down from 6.6 minutes the year before, but still a better result than the fire services in any other state.