General News
20 June, 2025
Local farmers hit the hardest by controversial emergency services fund
Central Goldfields Shire residents will pay almost $900,000 more under the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) with more than half the bill picked up by local farmers.
The Central Goldfields Shire has released a more refined estimate of how the ESVF will impact the local community.
The controversial new tax, which replaces the existing Fire Services Property Levy (FSPL) on July 1, was expected to cost farmers 150 percent more than what they paid under the original legislation.
Under the FSPL, this financial year, the Central Goldfields Shire was required to collect $1,882,604.
Compared to the upcoming financial year, the shire estimates their collection requirement based on the proposed rates was $2,773,588, an increase of $890,984 due to the ESVF.
However, at the end of last month the State Government extended drought relief to farmers across the state capping their contribution to what they paid under the FSPL for 12 months.
Considering this pause the council estimates their collection requirement is $2,373,761, an increase of $432,409 instead.
They’re numbers that show local farmers, already struggling with cost of living and drought conditions, are disproportionally impacted by the new legislation once the drought relief is lifted.
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) welcomed the pause, and the State Government’s drought assistance package, while VFF president Brett Hosking said the decision was a glimmer of hope.
“Pausing the [ESVF] increases for 12 months is the right call, but it doesn’t change the underlying problem: this levy is an unfair cost shift onto farmers,” he said.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but plenty more remains to be done.”
While Central Goldfields Shire mayor Grace La Vella recognises the need for better funding for frontline services, she believes it shouldn’t be coming from farmers.
“It feels as though rural Victorians are being unfairly targeted and seen as the lowest common denominator in a desperate effort to claw back from the state’s over-spending,” she said.
According to State Government, the ESVF is intended to fund more of the state’s emergency and disaster response services.
The FSPL currently funds 87.5 per cent of Fire Rescue Victoria’s (FRV) and 77.5 per cent of the Country Fire Authority’s (CFA) annual budget.
According to State Government, not only would the ESVF fund 90 per cent of FRV’s budget and 95 per cent of CFA’s and VICSES’s budgets but also seven other emergency and disaster response services.
“These changes will give emergency services the funding and equipment they need as they face natural disasters which are happening more often and becoming more destructive,” State Premier Jacinta Allan said.
However, by looking at previous grant funding, ACM analysis early this month found FRV will take up 70 percent of the ESVF’s funding each year.
In 2023-24, CFA, FRV, and VICSES received $1.5 billion in grant funding with FRV making up more than 70 percent.
The analysis outlines ESVF is expected to collect $1.62 billion in 2025-26 and $1.8 billion in each of the next three years with these three agencies, specifically FRV, soaking up most of the funds.
In the meantime many other agencies have been promised 95 percent of their budgets will be covered by the fund.
The State Government told ACM there was “sufficient forecast revenue” to cover their promised funding.
For Cr La Vella the message is clear, the ESVF as it currently exists has to change.
“Many in rural Victoria are already on the brink, facing extreme financial pressure due to ongoing drought and varying climatic conditions that show no sign of easing. Adding yet another financial burden risks pushing people over the edge,” she said.
“We’ve seen what happens when communities are pushed too far —there is a real danger here, and it cannot be ignored.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by CFA Goldfields Group Officer Peter Higgins last month, who continues to be concerned about the impact the ESVF will have on local wellbeing.
“I’m devastated in the sense that some of my best mates are hurting, brigade volunteers, and some of these people may not survive,” he said.
“The emotional outcome of this will be huge.”
Mr Higgins comments came after half the local fire brigades went offline in protest, joining hundreds across the state, in a shared sentiment of frustration and betrayal.
Speaking to The Maryborough District Advertiser soon after the legislation passed, Carisbrook Fire Brigade Captain Ian Boucher believes there will be an “immense” impact on farmers’ mental health.
“It’s only just starting to brew at the moment but the mental aspect ... out of all this will just be horrific,” he said.
It’s an impact he believes will be felt by brigades, despite State Government’s rebate for volunteers, with many made up entirely of volunteers from the farming industry.
“[The government] just ripped the heart out of the CFA,” he said.
While all the local brigades have come online since their frustration with the ESVF remains, shown through Goldfield Group’s ongoing advocacy on behalf of the community.
“That’s why we join CFA, to protect the community,” Mr Higgins said.
“That’s what we’re here for.”
While the 12 month pause offers an opportunity for stakeholders to collaborate with State Government, Mr Hosking emphasised they need long-term and sustained support for farmers — not seasonal fixes when “pressure becomes political”.
“The government needs to start listening earlier, not months down the track when frustration boils over,” he said.
“We’ll use this extra time to continue making the case that it needs to be scrapped altogether, not simply paused.”
Cr La Vella said the Central Goldfields Shire Council, through advocacy initiatives and sector wide resistance, will oppose the ESVF.
“Let’s open the conversation and look for innovative, community-driven answers that support both our emergency services and our farmers. Collaboration, not division, will get us through this,” she said.
“Our farmers deserve respect and relief—not more hardship.”