Emergency Services Funding Doubles, but is it enough?

The announcement of doubling the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP) should have been welcome news to many in our regional emergency services.

Grants of up to $250,000, an increase of $100,000 on previous rounds, are now available to support the essential equipment and facility upgrades our CFA brigades, SES units, and volunteer services desperately need.

But let’s be honest: it’s ugly.

This funding comes via the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF), the levy that has sparked widespread anger across rural Victoria. Farmers and volunteers are being asked to pay significantly more through property-based charges, with some seeing bills jump by thousands. It’s no surprise that many feel betrayed. This is a sector that gives its time freely, puts its lives on the line during fire seasons and floods, and now finds itself being told to pay more for the privilege of volunteering.

There’s a bitter irony here. These grants are badly needed, tankers, generators, basic safety upgrades. But they’re also a product of a system many consider broken. Accepting the funds can feel like accepting the terms of a deeply unfair deal.

And yet, here we are.

The truth is: if your brigade doesn’t apply, someone else’s will. Every dollar in VESEP will be spent. Someone will get the new equipment, the vehicle upgrades, the modernised station. With applications closing 28 July 2025, it’s a tight window, and an uncomfortable choice.

This isn’t about promoting our services. It’s about standing in solidarity with regional communities who are rightly angry, but who also need to keep their volunteers safe. Boycotting VESEP might send a political message, but it won’t replace your 20-year-old truck.

We get it. This feels like crumbs after a slap in the face. But these crumbs can still build something. And our communities deserve every bit of help they can get.

So here’s the deal:

• If you’re eligible, apply.
• If you’re unsure, reach out for advice (not as a client, but as a colleague).
• And if you’re angry, you’re not alone.

We’ll keep tracking the fund and calling out the double standards where we see them. Keep fighting the system, but let’s not let politics rob volunteers of the support they so clearly deserve.