ACT volunteer firefighters will get financial support on equivalent terms to those recently announced for those in NSW.

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison has agreed to a request to from the ACT government to provide Volunteer Firefighters’ Financial Support Program payments to volunteers of the ACT Rural Fire Service and SES.

The Prime Minister has today agreed to our request to access payments for ACT volunteer firefighters, on equivalent terms as those offered to NSW.

“The ACT Rural Fire Service and SES volunteers have been providing support to their NSW and QLD counterparts since September, as well as recently containing the Hospital Hill fire in the ACT this week,” says Chief Minister Andrew Barr.

Under the program, grants of up to $6000 (with a $300 daily cap) will be made available to ACT volunteer firefighters who are self-employed or employed by a small or medium business who have lost income as a result of volunteering to fight the fires.

The payment is only applicable to those who have volunteered for more than 10 days over the financial year.

“The ACT government is working with the Commonwealth on the delivery of payments, with guidelines in place to ensure they go to all eligible volunteers. These payments will cover the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020. All ACT volunteers involved in fighting fires during this period will potentially be eligible and payments will be accessible from next month,” said Mr Barr.