NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has rejected calls for his members to be compensated for their work in the ongoing bushfire crisis, saying it would undermine the spirit of volunteerism underpinning the RFS.

http://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rfs-boss-rejects-calls-for-firefighters-to-be-compensated-20191224-p53mnz.html

Obtaining such payments goes against the spirit of volunteering and providing assistance to others in a time of help and need. It sends a message that as humans we should be financially compensated for everything done in life when helping others as some are putting their life on the line.

Is it though reasonable as some and some also in politics are now calling for, financially compensation, if ones time to help others is long, time consuming and hits their families as they are left without?

What do you think, Nathan?

Yes they should be compensated on this occasion. But not as a general rule.

Volunteer fire brigades are a community endeavour for good reason.

Volunteering requires a different motivation to seeking a paid job.

Many older and pre-retirement unemployed, need volunteer hours to qualify for the dole.
It is a useful personal contribution to a community, to have the skills gained by them over the years, freely given to this community service.

Dan

A lot of these volunteers are not highly paid people. Not all of their employers continue to pay their wages while they are off fighting fires. Should a highly paid Rural Fire Service commissioner still paid while others actually fight the fires perhaps pull his head in. It is not him who is likely to face any financial hardship for doing anything useful, but the blokes at the fire front.

The army people will be getting paid, the reservists will be getting paid although not any where near as much as a Rural Fire Service commissioner would be getting paid. When the fire fighting goes on for a considerable length of time, of course the volunteers should be compensated.

Every one of them has given up a considerable amount of their time for training nights, & overseeing burn offs to gain the experience they need without compensation, & none is asked for. The least we can do is make sure they are not financially disadvantaged helping protect others.

We should not have to rely on volunteers when those who are causing the problems are so highly paid.
What we need is a National Service to take the load off the volunteers & replace them altogether in time. We should simply just have volunteers in a local sense in small towns. National Service could act as a kind of non-military reservists.

Not one to often agree with Hassy, but I do on this occasion. Any employer who would be that tight not to pay an employee (with appropriate evidence of service supplied) during this this of crises is a low life. In case of out of pocket to the level of hardship, should also be covered.

Indy; "We should not have to rely on volunteers" I don't believe all those volunteers in the RFS are in it for purely the ultrasonic reason of serving the community, most do enjoy the participation. As for your conscript army idea, it can be counter productive if those involved are not motivated to perform the tasks required to the level required.