Phoebe – Belmont RFB
Phoebe – Belmont RFB
My name is Phoebe, and I am volunteer with the Belmont Rural Fire Brigade. I join the RFS a couple of months before turning 17, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I am the first of my family to join the RFS. For me, the motivation to be a volunteer is seeing the positive impact it has on my community. It has had a massive positive influence on myself and who I have grown to be, and I know it will continue to positively benefit who I will become. I was given the opportunity to temporarily step into a Business Support Officer role in my local Rural Fire Service Queensland Area Office. Through this role I have gained skills and knowledge that I will continue to use throughout my time as a volunteer. Through both my role as a staff member and volunteer with the service, I have been able to meet so many amazing people, some that I am lucky enough to call my family. I will continue to encourage as many people as I can to become a volunteer!
Geoff – Chambers Flat RFB
Geoff – Chambers Flat RFB
I joined the Chambers Flat Brigade in 2020 after taking a few years off from volunteering (NSW SES) due to work commitments. Becoming a volunteer again was a chance to reconnect with my community, meet some new like-minded people, and contribute to something meaningful. It reminded me how rewarding it is to be part of a team that works tirelessly to protect others in times of need. Fast-forward three years, and the opportunity to take on more responsibility came, which led me to become the Brigade training officer in January 2023 and then later that year being chosen to be a brigade officer. In 2023, my area office team organised a volunteer to career information day, and a few of us went along to listen to guest QFD speakers talk about joining QFD / RSFQ as a staff member. The day provided many key takeaways, but the ones I found very useful were writing a resume and building a statement of suitability. In January 2024, I saw a job advert for a Program Officer at SFEST in the RFSQ Volunteer Training and Delivery Team. The role description ticked all the boxes of something I wanted to be a part of, so I applied. As the months went by, I progressed through the different stages, and by June 2024, I started as a Program Officer in the Training & Delivery Team. The opportunities have continued and at the start of 2025 I have transitioned into an operational role as a Training Resource Officer. It is a perfect match, being a volunteer and working in a great team, that build, develop, and deliver training for volunteers and staff. My personal training skills development is ongoing by delivering Bushfire Tactics to a new group of QFD recruits every 3 weeks. I can honestly say I enjoy driving to work every day; the team, the leaders, and the culture, knowing you're helping make a difference makes it a great place to work.
Janice – Bonogin Valley RFB
Janice – Bonogin Valley RFB
I joined Bonogin Valley RFB in 2004 when there were devasting bushfires on the Gold Coast. I have held several roles in the brigade such as Social Coordinator, Treasurer, Secretary, First, Second and Third Officer. I wanted to support my local community and meet some new people as I had just moved into Bonogin Valley as a new mum. I have been incredibly lucky to go on several deployments throughout QLD and NSW and to learn some great skills. Being part of a Rural Fire Brigade is like having another family, I am grateful for the friendships and connections I have made not only in the brigade but with other RFSQ members. I am currently working in the Volunteer Training Development Unit at the School Fire Emergency Services Training in the Port of Brisbane. I have held the roles of Brigade Training Support Officer in 2013, Program Support Officer in the Training Development Unit in 2023 and now the Training Resource Officer. I enjoy training and was looking for a change of pace after owing my own business of 10 years. The opportunity came up on the departments intranet and I applied for the Program Support Officer role which I was successful in. Since then, I have had opportunities to step into other roles in the training team which I have applied for and been successful. I highly recommend anyone wanting to go from volunteer to staff member to apply. Being a volunteer has allowed me in my current role to understand what is needed at brigade level and how being in a staff role can assist and support volunteers.
Mark – Coomera Valley RFB
Mark – Coomera Valley RFB
I joined Narangba RFB in 2014 and remained with that Brigade for over 5 years before relocating to the Gold Coast and joining Coomera Valley RFB in 2019. The Rural Fire Service and in particular Coomera Valley RFB feels like a part of the family, and nothing beats the feeling of catching up with ‘family’ and serving your community at the same time. Like most volunteers I possess a drive to serve the community and give back. The RFS allows me to engage with the community and provide a valuable service. I set out and used my networking skills to reach out to as many RFSQ staff as I could to get a better understanding of the organisation before applying for a paid role. I made numerous attempts but kept on falling short until I discovered the right way to write government applications. This was well before the Volunteer to Career initiative! After four attempts I was successful in the statewide R02 process and was stationed in the State Operations Centre in the Incident Management Capability Development (IMCD)Team. After spending three years in IMCD I was fortunate enough to be selected to be deployed to Canada in 2023 and was the Planning Lead for the Pembina Complex. This was a large fire to the West of Edmonton in Alberta. I was there for 5 weeks with 12 other QFD personnel. The experience and exposure I gained was massive! In January 2024 I was successful in obtaining the Staff Officer, Office of the Commissioner position where I worked very closely with the QFD Commissioner, Chief of Staff, and the Executive Leadership Team. What an amazing experience learning about how the organisation ran and the interaction with the political system. Following the Staff Officer position I was successful in the RFSQ Inspector process and was awarded the position of Manager – Operational Training South-East Coast. This is my current position where I lead a team of personnel across the district providing essential training to volunteers to ensure they are competent to deal with every changing landscape of Natural disasters.