Volunteering and Employment
DFES (Department of Fire and Emergency Services) in Western Australia works with career firefighters, volunteer bushfire brigades, State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers and other emergency services. Understand the distinction between career (paid) and volunteer roles, and that volunteers receive training, equipment and support but are not paid a wage (some reimbursements apply). Know the rank and command structure - operational command, incident management teams, and the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS) with its functions: control, planning, operations, logistics and finance.
Employment concepts: fit for duty, fatigue management, Work Health and Safety (WHS) obligations, and the requirement to follow lawful directions. Recruitment involves aptitude testing, fitness assessment, medical and background checks. Values include integrity, respect, safety and teamwork. Community engagement and diversity are priorities.
Traps: questions often test whether a volunteer can self-deploy - never; always deploy through the organisation. Another trap confuses AIIMS functions (operations does the work; planning looks ahead; logistics supplies). Do not assume rank equals incident command - command sits with the incident controller.
Rule of thumb: Never self-deploy; follow the chain of command and report through your supervisor.
Worked example: A volunteer hears of a fire and wants to help. The correct action is to contact their brigade and await tasking - not to drive to the incident, which can block access and create safety risks.