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Inquiry into emergency services agencies

  11 July 2017

Inquiry into emergency services agencies – July 2017 (PDF version)

Dear member,

As you are aware, the NSW Parliament has convened an Inquiry for the following emergency services agencies:

• New South Wales Rural Fire Service

• Fire and Rescue New South Wales

• New South Wales Police Force

• Ambulance Service of New South Wales

• New South Wales State Emergency Service

There appears to be no clear definition of what an “emergency service” is in NSW. For the purpose of this survey, the ɫ������has included members in the National Parks & Wildlife Service, Corrective Services and Juvenile Justice. These agencies all have emergency service functions included in their role and are considered as emergency services in other jurisdictions.

The Inquiry by the Legislative Council’s Portfolio Committee No.4 – Legal Affairs will focus on the problems of bullying, harassment and discrimination. The scope of the Inquiry includes the effectiveness of the employer’s protocols and procedures to prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination and resolve reports of bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Other issues to be examined include staff care for workers exposed to trauma, and staff care for workers reporting bullying, harassment and discrimination.

The full terms of reference for the Inquiry are .

Participating in the Inquiry

The ɫ������will be making a submission to the Inquiry on behalf of members. The ɫ������also encourages you to contribute to the Inquiry by:

• completing this confidential ɫ������survey

• making a submission to the Inquiry. This can be done in confidence – more information

• contacting the PSA’s Work Health Safety Unit at to raise issues that you would like included in the ɫ������submission.

More information on how to make a submission is here, or you can get in touch with the contact officer for the Inquiry at parliament Merrin Thompson (9230 2895 or ).

ɫ������survey

The purpose of the survey is to give members an opportunity to contribute in a confidential manner to the Inquiry. Information collected will be de-identified and used to give the Inquiry a better understanding for what is actually happening in workplaces.

Please answer the survey only to the extent that you are comfortable. There is only one compulsory question to answer in the survey: What agency do you work for?

The ɫ������will report the de-identified results of the survey in its submission to the Inquiry, in a bulletin to members, and with the employer at joint consultative council meetings.

Please contact the PSA’s Work Health Safety Unit at if you would like the ɫ������to include a particular experience, opinion or idea in its submission. The ɫ������can request that your contribution is not publically available but made available only to the parliamentary committee. The ɫ������can also request on your behalf that you speak in-confidence with the Inquiry committee.

The survey is and will close at midnight on Thursday 20 July.

Members are reminded that they are protected by parliamentary privilege when giving evidence to the Inquiry. Evidence can be given freely and honestly without fear or threat of legal action for defamation. More information on this protection is .