Matthew Mavity has been appointed the new Chief Officer of ACT Fire and Rescue – the first homegrown Chief Officer since the Canberra Fire Service began in 1913. Mr Mavity joined the service as a recruit almost 25 years ago, and has acted as fire chief since April.

“I’m really excited about what’s possible,” Mr Mavity said. “We are a growing fire service, and we are a changing fire service. To me, that is exciting, and a little bit scary, but it has a lot of opportunity.”

Community service motivates Mr Mavity, he said. He served in the ADF and worked in private enterprise before joining the fire service a quarter century ago.

He has moved through the ranks as a fire management specialist within the ACT Emergency Service Agency (ACTESA), said Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Police and Emergency Services.

“It is great that the next ACTF&R Chief Officer will be a local firefighter who has served and protected our community, and will now lead the next generation of firefighters to do the same,” Mr Gentleman said.

Mr Mavity was senior incident controller during the 2019/20 bushfires, then, as part of an 18-month Executive Development Program, acted as Chief Fire Officer since April.

Coming through the service, Mr Mavity said, gives him “an intimate knowledge” of the organisation, the people in it, and of what Canberra needs.

“It is a unique city; it’s a growing city. We need to tailor our services to that city and changes in technology. We need to understand our constituency in order to best serve them.”

Mr Mavity said his first priority was to stabilize the organisation, “to make sure that we have the best trained, most responsive, and most committed to community, safety and care firefighters that we can possibly muster”.

Many firies were retiring, while the fire service was growing.

“The challenge is meeting the exit rate, quite frankly, and trying to meet the growth rate,” Mr Mavity said. “We’ve got pressure at both ends.”

But the Fire and Rescue service is exceeding the minimum number of people the Enterprise Agreement commits them to recruit. Since the EA came into effect last July, Mr Mavity said, 38 recruit firefighters have graduated, 40 have been recruited, and 19 more are in training. Next year, Mr Mavity hopes to recruit another 40.

Bushfire season began at the start of November; Mr Mavity considers hazardous materials a risk this summer. Approximately 1,800 industrial chemicals are invented every week, he said, and he is determined the fire service’s technology will keep pace.

Electric fire pumps and other appliances are “a step-change” in technology – “the most effective, the most cost-effective, the quickest, and the most sustainable in terms of water and energy usage”.

“[This is] a challenging but fantastically optimistic time for Fire and Rescue,” Mr Mavity said.

Union: Leadership needed to overcome challenges

The ACT United Firefighters Union’s Secretary, Greg McConville, welcomed Mr Mavity’s appointment, and hoped he would “demonstrate the leadership required to overcome the many challenges facing ACT Fire and Rescue”.

Mr McConville said a substantial list of outstanding tasks remained unaddressed, despite government commitments to action made several years ago.

The construction of Acton Fire Station runs two years behind schedule. The renovations of Ainslie Fire Station have not begun, almost three years after a dispute was settled.

A comprehensive plan to remedy PFAS-contaminated soil and several fire stations must be developed.

The new Aerial Pumper was not yet operational, having taken “a staggering five years from concept to deployment”, Mr McConville said.

Crewing increases due last December had not been delivered, and further crewing increases due this December did not appear to be on track, either.

New firefighters’ protective clothing were yet to be provided, five years since trials were conducted.

The Enterprise Agreement committed 16 months ago to create new positions for ESA Communications Officers, but their terms and conditions will remain unresolved for at least a year.

“Some of these officers have been underpaid in every pay since they were employed,” Mr McConville said. “The employment was the centrepiece of the expensive ESA Strategic Reform Agenda, yet the most fundamental item – the terms and conditions of staff – is yet to be resolved.”

“Finally, a program of mandatory skills refreshers for firefighters, as required by the enterprise agreement, is yet to be developed.”

Mr McConville said that, for the benefit of ACT Fire and Rescue firefighters and for the protection of the community, it was vital that action commence on these overdue priorities as a matter of urgency.