News
3 November, 2024
New financial system “clunky and time-consuming” say local group officer
LOCAL rural fire brigades are advocating for the swift return of control over their community-raised funds following changes under the new Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) structure.
By Sonia Isaacs
LOCAL rural fire brigades are advocating for the swift return of control over their community-raised funds following changes under the new Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) structure.
The July transition to this new system has introduced hurdles for brigades, including those in the Caloundra Group, who report difficulties accessing funds, notably losing the ability to make direct electronic fund payments (EFT) to local suppliers.
Under the new model, brigades must coordinate all EFT payments through the RFSQ area office, a process Caloundra Group Officer Craig Young described as “clunky and timeconsuming.” “We can no longer do that ourselves,” Mr Young explained.
“Our autonomy has been taken away, basically to handle our own community-raised money.” Local brigades now face a $5,000 cap on credit card transactions, complicating larger purchases.
The changes stem from a decision by RFSQ to ask councils to deposit rural fire levy funds into a central RFSQ account before establishing brigade specific accounts and credit cards.
Changes to brigade finance arrangements follow recent reform and legislative changes to the Fire Services Act. Mr Young criticized the rollout, saying, “It was the cart before the horse.” “They should have had all the sub-accounts set up and all the credit cards distributed so that people could start accessing funds immediately,” he said.
“The process was not well thought out, causing frustration among local brigades.” Previously, community funds and levies collected by the council were deposited directly into Rural Fire Brigade group accounts, where they could be distributed locally.
Mr Young described the prior system as “very simple.” “Now it’s two-tiered, and complicated” he said. “The money goes to the group account, and then we have to go through the area office and instruct them on how we want it distributed.
“It then moves to the finance department in Kedron, and they handle the transactions – it’s just all very clunky.” Further complicating matters, the new EFT process requires local suppliers to go through an assessment and approval to join a state-level creditor register.
“We want to be able to use our local suppliers to keep money in our community and pay them promptly,” Mr Young said. “But now we have to go through the state government’s preferred supplier process.” Last Monday (October 28), Mr Young and other Sunshine Coast brigade representatives met with RFSQ officials, who acknowledged the challenges and committed to finding a solution.
The brigades hope RFSQ will soon restore their ability to manage funds locally. They caution, however, that if a major fire season hits before the changes are made, their operations could be severely impacted. “Fortunately, most of our brigades are financially stable, but we could quickly deplete our reserves if we faced a bad fire season,” Mr Young warned.
A Queensland Fire Department (QFD) spokesperson said The Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) remains committed to making brigade finance management as simple and efficient as possible, exploring options such as electronic fund transfers.
“We will continue refining systems and processes over time, working closely with volunteer members, including the Brigade Treasurers Working Group.
