Hon. Steve Martin questions the Minister for Emergency Services regarding the application of paragraph 8(c) of the Fire and Emergency Services Worker (Restrictions on Access) Direction (No 2) concerning unvaccinated volunteer firefighters. The Minister confirms familiarity and provides a general response.

AnsweredQoN 1021Legislative Council
Asked
18 November 2021
Portfolio
Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

CORONAVIRUS — MANDATORY VACCINATIONS —FIRE
AND EMERGENCY SERVICE VOLUNTEERS
1021. Hon STEVE MARTIN to the Leader of the House representing the
Minister for Emergency Services:
I
refer to question without notice 981 asked on 16 November 2021 and the minister's
response to my question asking whether unvaccinated volunteer firefighters will
be able to attend a fire, to which the minister responded, ''No.''
(1) Is the
minister familiar with paragraph 8(c) of the Fire and Emergency Services Worker
(Restrictions on Access) Direction (No 2), which permits unvaccinated fire and
emergency services workers to respond to emergencies when vaccinated persons
are not available?
(2) Was the minister's
response to question without notice 981 correct?
(3) How would paragraph 8(c) be practically applied in an
emergency response by volunteers?
(4) Will the
Department of Fire and Emergency Services issue guidance to assist volunteer
brigades, groups and units to comply with paragraph 8(c)?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The minister
is familiar with paragraph 8(c) of the Fire and Emergency Services Worker
(Restrictions on Access) Direction (No 2).
(2) Yes.
(3) There are a multitude
of potential emergencies that volunteers could respond to and it is impossible
to outline a response to every individual conceivable emergency scenario.
(4) DFES is
currently in the process of developing frequently asked questions and support
information for volunteers, which will be uploaded on the DFES, Western Australian
Local Government Association and local government websites and shared with
volunteers and volunteer associations via email.

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