Louise Kingston heads to Margaret River to raise profile of volunteer PTSD petition

Independent MP Louise Kingston will be attending this weekend’s Margaret River and Districts Agriculture Show with a serious message.

The South West MLC, who split with the WA Nationals earlier this year, is touring regional ag shows with a petition calling on the State Government to do the right thing by volunteers.

Ms Kingston is among Opposition MPs who have criticised Labor’s refusal to extend crucial post-traumatic stress disorder protections to volunteer emergency service workers such as regional firefighters.

Speaking with the Times, Ms Kingston said volunteer fireys and others attended many of the same harrowing incidents as their full-time paid counterparts, and deserved the same care.

“Volunteer workers save the State an enormous amount of money and we owe it to them to ensure they have the same protection as their career counterparts and people are able to continue to volunteer,” she said.

The stall at this weekend’s ag show would aim to raise awareness of the issue and add pressure from voters for Labor to reconsider previous decisions, she said.

Shire of Augusta-Margaret River president Julia Meldrum made the same demands after last year noting the region’s dual-use brigades attended the same difficult scenes as first responders.

Ms Meldrum said she was “extremely disappointed” the State Government had not extended the same protections to volunteers.

“These volunteers are our local heroes and protecting their health and well-being should be paramount,” she told the Times in December.

Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson’s office said the “safety and mental well-being of WA’s emergency services volunteers is a high priority for the Cook Government”.

Although vollies did not receive the same extension as police and firefighters, the amended level for cover for PTSD under the 1998 Fire and Emergency Services Act was similar to the 1981 Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 which covered volunteers.

Further, Mr Dawson was working with the Insurance Commission of WA to explore what future changes were needed “to make it easier for emergency services volunteers to access workers compensation support when they need it the most”.

“Any emergency service volunteer who needs support for mental health-related matters should contact one of the providers in DFES’s Psychological Support Service for assistance,” the spokesperson said.

The petition, which is available on the WA Parliament website, notes the “significant” effects of trauma on emergency personnel and says volunteers should receive those same protections.