All paid Victorian firefighters will soon be certified by a new union-backed registration scheme despite the state government working on an alternative model to recognise firefighter qualifications.
There are also concerns from some firefighters that the new registration board will give the United Firefighters Union (UFU) control over who can work as a firefighter.
The relationship between the Victorian government and the UFU has been fractured in recent months over changes the state has made to include more workers in a cancer compensation scheme for firefighters.
This week Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) firefighters began to receive registration certificates from board chair Wayne Carlson, a retired senior firefighter.
The UFU has been campaigning for decades for a registration board like those that exist for other trades and industries.
The state government is currently developing a board outlined in legislation.
In the meantime, the UFU and FRV have set up an interim board called the Victorian Professional Career Firefighters Registration Board (VPCFRB).
Interim board already set up, with a national view
The union has grand plans for a national registration scheme that will make it easier for firefighters to work in different states.
UFU secretary Peter Marshall said its registration scheme was similar to models used for nurses and meant that the four years of a firefighter's training was recognised.
"This is the first time we're going from an informal process to a registration process," he said.
It will cost $180 every year for each firefighter, who will not be able to work without registration. The FRV said fees had not yet been applied.
"The role of the VPCFRB is to maintain, protect and promote the profession of registered professional career firefighters, and in doing so, to support the safety of our communities and our staff,'' a FRV spokesman said in a statement.
The state government said it was still working on establishing a permanent board.
Board's union links under the microscope
Labor overhauled the state's fire services in 2020, merging the Metropolitan Fire Brigade with the paid firefighters in the Country Fire Authority (CFA) into the new FRV. The CFA is now a volunteer-only organisation.
Under FRV's legislation the government is required to set up a firefighters' registration board made up of four people.
It is meant to include a chair appointed by the minister, a representative of the union, a retired firefighter elected by firefighters and a training expert.
But some firefighters fear the interim registration board hands the union too much power, with two UFU representatives and two FRV appointees.
The interim board's job is to assess whether career firefighters employed by FRV have the requisite skills, qualifications, and experience in order to be eligible for registration.
The new board's chair, Mr Carlson said he expected other states would follow Victoria's lead.
"The board is independent of the FRV and UFU,'' he said.
"It is important that firefighters are recognised for the training and skills they have to perform their duties."
"It takes four years to become a qualified firefighter."
Shadow Emergency Services Minister Brad Battin said the government should not have allowed the board to be set up with so much union control.
"Even firefighters are concerned that Peter Marshall can decide who will and won't be a Victorian firefighter here in this state," he said.
"For Daniel Andrews to allow a board to come into place, which effectively is controlled by the United Firefighters Union management, has created shockwaves through many firefighters throughout this state."
A company called Victorian Professional Career Firefighters Registration Board Ltd has also been established, but Mr Marshall said it was not for the interim board.
ASIC records show the directors of the Victorian Professional Career Firefighters Registration Board Ltd are Mr Carlson and two senior members of the UFU, including president David Hamilton.
Tension between state government and UFU growing
Mr Marshall has been the secretary of the UFU for decades, but there is a group within the union pushing for change.
The relationship between Mr Marshall and the state government has been controversial since the Premier intervened in 2016 in an industrial dispute, backing the union over the CFA.
Then-minister Jane Garrett was forced to resign, and the CFA board was sacked.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) has been investigating the period and the UFU's behaviour.
There is some disquiet in union ranks about the performance of Mr Marshall and the UFU executive, and there is some concern among some firefighters about the establishment of the registration board.
The union recently publicly attacked the government for expanding a cancer compensation scheme for firefighters to include mechanics that work for the fire services.
The UFU is threatening to campaign against Labor at the state election.
