Volunteer firefighters, NSW

In 1996, the NSW Rural Fire Service Association (RFSA) was established – a charity to be the primary voice of volunteer firefighters and staff on matters which directly impact their ability to fight fires and keep the people of NSW safe.

A strong reputation is critical to the RFSA’s advocacy work, fundraising and member engagement, however, over recent years, the organisation suffered some reputational risk and came under attack externally via media and social media.

H/Advisors APA was engaged to assist with the rebuild and refocus of that reputation.

In partnership, we helped build a campaign approach to advocating on behalf of members – with two prominent success stories:

• The introduction of the presumptive legislation for firefighters, amending the Workers Compensation legislation to take the burden of proof off NSW firefighters who are diagnosed with one of 12 prescribed cancers and meet the applicable minimum employment periods. The legislation was passed by the NSW Parliament in 2018, with the support of RFSA alongside other stakeholders.

• A new ‘slow down to 40km/h rule’, which was adopted by the NSW Government in September 2018 under a 12-month trial, and permanently implemented in September 2019, with some amendments stemming from input from RFSA and other stakeholders.

Other specific campaign support has included opposing the Fire and Emergency Services Levy (FESL) and calls for urgent upgrades to NSW fire trucks.

As well as campaign activity, H/Advisors APA has supported the RFSA in the proactive and reactive traditional media space – looking to amplify core organisational messages and activities such as grant schemes, and react to news and issues that impact upon its membership base – particularly off the back of the recent Black Summer bushfires.

H/Advisors APA has also assisted with profiling around the annual ACNC lodgement, the provision of grants and support packages for local fire brigades and the revision of the fundraising strategy and profile.