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Code Red LIFTED – FRNSW Seeks to Shut Down ComSafe – No Chargeable Codes on AFAs

June 19, 2024

CODE RED LIFTED – FRNSW Seeks to Shut Down ComSafe
No Chargeable Codes on AFAs

For the past four months, the FBEU has been fighting to keep ComSafe open, alongside our 7 Permanent Firefighter comrades and the casual Retained pool. The Government directed the Department to shut ComSafe down in February, and never offered the FBEU or the staff at ComSafe the opportunity to be involved in discussions about why it was proposed to be shut down, and what could be done to resolve any issues that the Government or Department believed could be used to justify it being shut down.

Today in the Industrial Relations Commission, the Department claimed that this Code Red has cost the Government over $8million to date. To put this into context – the Department claims that over the past 5 years, ComSafe has been losing on average $1.5million per year. We listed in the IRC to bring the Departmernt back to the table to consult on the proposal.

The FBEU put to the Department today that ComSafe should stay open for a further six-week period, to allow for weekly formal discussions and meetings to allow the Department to provide a full and detailed accounting of why ComSafe is proposed to be closed, and to allow staff to work through alternate models for ComSafe or possibly a new commercial division which delivers vital fire safety training to the community and other Government agencies.

This has been agreed to.

In light of this IRC-negotiated agreement for the Department to finally consult in good faith, we have decided to lift this Code Red. More to follow in the next six weeks.

In Unity

Leighton Drury
State Secretary

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