Talk:State Emergency Service

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The first paragraph infers that the SES is only for volunters. This is not so, there is a large number of paid personnel within the ranks of the State Emergency Service of NSW. The volunteers are the back-bone of the service.

DERF

My understand is that there is not one SES, rather there are the various State-based SESs. For this reason I have slightly modified the intro line. --Daveb 12:17, 4 January 2006 (UTC)


To answer the two above comments:

SES - volunteers or professionals?

The SES is effectively a completely volunteer-run organisation. In Queensland, there are two paid positions that deal with the Queensland State Emergency Service, and they are employed by the Queensland Department of Emergency Services, not seperately by the SES. Their roles are, in addition to their DES roles, to manage the SES and help guide it into the future.

So, yes, there are some professional positions that keep the SES running, but in comparison to the number of volunteers that make the SES what it is, it is considered a volunteer organisation.

Note that while Queensland has the structure that I have described above, other states may have a different structure where there are dedicated paid positions within the SES.


Different SES groups

There are seperate State Emergency Services for each state and territory, but they are referred to collectively as "The State Emergency Service". As the article points out, the SES originated as the Civil Defence, which was created within federal legislation, requiring all states to set something up in that regard. So, while each state has its own SES, it is referred to collectively because they originate from federal legislation.

Also, highly qualified SES members are in high demand in major emergencies (Cyclone Larry, the Thredbo Landslide, et cetera) and resources from other states are called in as needed. A number of members from my unit assisted in both aforementioned events.

Anarchist309 10:13, 18 May 2007 (UTC)