Volunteers are the backbone of South Australia’s emergency services sector with more 15,000 dedicated volunteers across SAFECOM, SA Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS), SA Country Fire Service (CFS), SA State Emergency Service (SES) and the Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) plus around 1500 paid staff across the services.

To support their mental health and wellbeing, the State Government is investing $1.9 million over four years to recruit staff to deliver mental health programs and initiatives to emergency services volunteers, staff and their families.

Emergency services personnel are usually the first responders to incidents and, due to the nature of their work, are often repeatedly exposed to trauma and stress.

Statistics show that first responders are two times more likely to have suicidal ideation, are at higher risk of developing complex mental health conditions, and are exposed to challenging and stressful environments, such as natural disasters, rescue operations and road crashes.

SAFECOM Chief Executive, Julia Waddington-Powell said a key focus of the funding was reducing the mental health stigma that is a barrier to seeking help.

“The additional funding will be invaluable in bolstering the support available to our emergency services personnel,” Ms Waddington-Powell said.

“Expanding our programs to be more accessible, inclusive of family networks and targeting the destigmatisation of mental health are all positive steps to opening up the conversation and normalising seeking help.”

The funding will provide resources for proactive engagement and the development of targeted programs for the Emergency Services Sector and their families to achieve positive outcomes.

A recruitment process will commence immediately for an additional three roles to lead the work.