Community
7 March, 2025
VICSES celebrates 50 years
THE Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) has proudly recognised the incredible efforts of its thousands of dedicated volunteers and members as they celebrated 50 years of service to Victoria this week.
Initially established in 1975 forming from the volunteer-based Civil Defence Organisation at the time, VICSES has built a legacy of dedication, providing critical emergency assistance to thousands of Victorians each year.
The Civil Defence Organisation which formed in 1950 evolved into VICSES on March 5, 1975 and plays a lead and critical role in managing floods, storms and rescues, and supporting other emergency services.
Over the past five decades, VICSES volunteers have stood on the frontline of Victoria’s most challenging emergencies and severe weather events, including major flooding events in 2010-2011 and 2022, severe storms in 2021, the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires, the 2009 Black Saturday fires, the 2019-2020 Victorian Black Summer Bushfires and the 2021 Victorian earthquake.
The unwavering commitment of so many VICSES volunteers has saved lives and safeguarded communities across Victoria.
At the Camperdown SES Unit office on Bowyer Street, volunteer Colin Brian reflected on the changes he has seen throughout his 32 years of membership.
“When they first started out, all they had was a trailer with equipment with it,” he said.
“The police would phone the controller, then they would ring someone else and that person would ring two other people – they would go down and put the trailer on someone’s car and then go out and do what they needed to do.
“They progressed from there to an old ambulance the Camperdown unit purchased with the help of Bill Pollick – the owner of the Leura Hotel at the time – and they decked that out with everything.
“Then they got a paging system, which made everything easier as everyone got the same page at the one time.
“We then went from the old ambulance to an old ex-army 250 tray unit. They converted that and used it for a while – that was when I joined the SES.”
Mr Brian even the equipment used by SES members had changed during his time, ranging from uniforms to the life-saving equipment used when reporting to incidents.
“The equipment over the years has gone from a hammer, a coal chisel and some hacksaws to the jaws of life and all the other things we have today,” he said.
VICSES acting chief officer operations Alistair Drayton said it was a major milestone for VICSES to celebrate, with the organisation responding to over 40,000 requests for assistance in the past year.
“Whilst much has changed since 1975, our core values remain the same – to provide emergency assistance to Victorian communities 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said.
“From managing emergencies, floods, storms and road crash rescues, our volunteers will continue to serve Victorian communities in their times of need, to keep them safe.”
Overall, volunteer numbers are slightly up in each of the past two years however many units are currently actively recruiting.
Mr Brian said it was “quite good” to see VICSES reach 50 years and encouraged residents to put their hands up to volunteer for their local SES unit.
“It’s great to get in the SES – you learn a lot of skills such as proper control of chainsaws and how to get onto roofs properly,” he said.
“We’re always looking for volunteers – male or female.
“If you don’t want to do anything bad, such as road rescues – some people just don’t like doing that sort of thing – there’s other jobs to do.
“There’s admin work – we’re always after people to assist with admin – there’s chainsaws and traffic management.
“We’re open to everyone, and you learn a lot of skills which you can carry on through your work life.”
Mr Brian said the main thing he wanted to see for the SES going forward was more people signing up as volunteers, and he is proud to see how far the organisation has come in 50 years.
“We need volunteers – you can’t have an organisation without volunteers,” he said.
“My experience in Camperdown has been great – I’ve had some really good times, and there have been some times where I wondered whether I should be there.
“The goodness outweighs the bad.
“An organisation like the SES has come ahead in leaps and bounds – when I first started, there were 4000 members and now there’s around 5000 members.
“We started out towing a trailer behind a car that was stored behind the shire offices to a tin shed in Jones Street to our current shed in eight years.”
For those interested in joining VICSES or learning more about becoming a volunteer, visit ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.
Read More: local