Women have increasingly shown themselves to be vital members helping to fight fires in the North East, but CFA is looking for more.
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Female inclusion has grown in the last 12 months with the introduction of the District 24 Women’s Reference Group, which raised issues about suitable equipment for women and inclusion in decision making.
The CFA wants to increase the number of female members, working in both frontline and behind the scenes roles, starting with an event to demonstrate those opportunities on Sunday.
Reference group chairperson Marelle Whitaker said women had shown interest in finding out more about training and different roles, including how to get truck licences.
“A lot of people were aware of the frontline firefighting on the fireground, but there are so many other roles within CFA, whether you’re working in incident management or whether you’re working in administrative support,” she said.
“I feel really lucky in my experience as a CFA member, I’ve come up as a firefighter and then I’ve taken on various roles as time’s gone past … your own needs change as your life changes.”
District 24 operations manager Paul King said change had already begun.
Some women had avoided drinking water to stay hydrated on the fireground on hot days because the uniform did not easily allow them to go to the toilet – the CFA now provides a portable toilet.
“Involvement of women in any organisation is scientifically proven to improve that organisation – there’s no agenda to it, it’s just the right thing to do,” Mr King said.
The event will feature Australian Defence Force leader, Lieutenant Colonel Ruth Perry, who speak about her successful career path and join a panel of guest speakers aiming to encourage women to seek out opportunities.
It will be held on Sunday at District 24 headquarters at 55 Moorefield Park Drive, Wodonga from 9.30am to 2.30pm and also includes training sessions in the afternoon. Anyone who wants to attend is asked to RSVP to d24wrg@gmail.com or (02) 6043 4400.
