United Fire-fighters Union of South Australia

30/10/2026

Join us at Reclaim the Night to call for action to eliminate gendered violence, end victim-blaming, and build safe communities 📢

Held simultaneously all over the world, Reclaim the Night is about taking over public space, being loud, proud, fabulous, and fun, and breaking the silence that perpetuates violence.

Everyone is welcome – women, gender diverse people, First Nations people, CALD people, and people with disability to the front!

📆 Friday 30th October at 7:00pm
📍 Parliament House, North Tce

Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/events/parliament-house-adelaide/reclaim-the-night-2026/1655297479284354/

17/08/2026

Firefighters being provided with the equipment necessary to allow them to do their jobs is not a luxury, it's a minimum.

26 year old suits being put back into circulation, broken zips, months long laundering delays, and absurd attempts at "repairs". It's all just not good enough.

We've already seen trucks offline as a result of the failing personal protective equipment system. If the South Australian Government doesn't get serious about fixing the problem our community faces very real risk.

The United Firefighters Union has lodged a dispute with South Australia's independent workplace tribunal, arguing the SA Metropolitan Fire Serivce is not providing sufficient personal protective equipment.

22/07/2026

UFUSA members employed in SAMFS will this week enjoy the second of the pay rises contained within the 2025 Enterprise Agreement, with the skills recognition increase to base salary now come into effect, Firefighters will receive in excess of an additional $4200.00 per year in recognition of the increased advance rescue skills required to be maintained to perform their roles.

In addition, the new Station Officer and Commander Level 3 increments have commenced, with members who meet the service requirements progressing immediately.

Workers always do better when we stand together through our union. You deserve this pay rise for everything you do for your community, and for your strength and unity during our bargaining campaign.

Enjoy!

16/07/2026

Injured workers to benefit as UFUSA beats South Australian Government in the Court of Appeal!

The United Firefighters Union of South Australia has achieved a significant victory for injured emergency services workers today, after the SA Court of Appeal upheld the UFUSA’s appeal in UFUSA v CE, AGD [2026] 79 finding that Firefighters who suffer work injuries captured by the ‘additional workers compensation’ provisions contained in industrial awards are entitled to receive the pay rises that they would have received under their Enterprise Agreement from their date of injury. The Court of Appeal rejected the South Australian Government’s argument that those workers were only entitled to pay rises from the date that it chose to accept a claim, often many years after the actual injury, an approach that permanently imposed cruel ‘pay freezes’ on some of South Australia’s most injured emergency services workers.

Argued under the Firefighters Award, the decision sets a precent for every other Award additional compensation scheme which apply to much of the South Australian public service. The additional compensation regimes were created after unions campaigned against the ‘hard cap’ approach to weekly payments brought in with the introduction of the Return to Work Act by the Weatherill Government, arguing that the cap would mean that many first responders injured during the course of their duties are forced to live without any compensation for income despite often being unable to ever work again.

Quotes attributable to United Firefighters Union of South Australia Peter Russell:

“The UFUSA is proud today to have won a significant victory for injured workers. The precedent set by this case will improve the situation for many of the State’s most severely injured Firefighters and other emergency services workers who put themselves at risk through service to the community.

Although we are grateful for the Court’s findings, we are also extremely disappointed that the matter got this far. The South Australian Government trying its hardest to not pass on Enterprise Agreement bargained pay rises to Firefighters who have been badly injured in the course of their duty, and having to be dragged kicking and screaming into Court orders requiring it to do the right thing lacked basic human decency and empathy. Significant amounts of public monies have been wasted on lawyers to defend an approach that ever should have been taken to begin with.

As a State we can, and must, do much better to take care of Firefighters and all emergency services workers when the work that they do keeping the public safe leads to them getting hurt. We shouldn’t have to be told that by a Court. How do we ask these workers to put themselves at risk to protect us when the Government as an employer is not prepared to do even the most basic and common sense things to look after them if something goes wrong?

The Government’s election commitment to review the State’s workers compensation is an opportunity to do better. We hope they’ll approach it with that mindset, rather than presenting again the same cruel system with minor tweaks. This just isn’t good enough.”

30/06/2026

Congratulations to each and every member of Drill Squad 66, welcome to the SAMFS and to our union family! We look forward to getting to know you all and working with you to serve the South Australian Community.

We are especially proud that this drill squad was the first in memory to receive a living wage, another win from the UFUSA negotiated Enterprise Agreement. For a long time the wages paid to recruits had been disgraceful, and limited who could afford to undertake a process. It created hardship unnecessarily.

The UFUSA members who bargained our recent agreement and voted it up knew that they personally would never have to do a drill squad again. They wouldn't benefit from making this a bargaining claim. They could have ignored the difficulty caused. They did not. They took action to fix the problem.

The result: a 32.7 increase to the wages for recruit firefighters effective this January, nearly 49 percent increase across the life of the agreement. Massive.

UFUSA members did not do this for themselves: they did it because it would benefit the people that followed in their footsteps and because fighting injustice to some makes us all stronger. That is what Firefighters do, that is union. And we have no doubt that our newest members have that same mindset.

Photo credited to the SA Metropolitan Fire service

25/06/2026

The United Firefighters Union of South Australia Inc's statement in relation to the passage of presumptive cancer laws in South Australia is below.

_________________

26 June 2026

For immediate release

United Firefighters Union of SA Inc welcomes passage of presumptive cancer laws

The United Firefighters Union of South Australia Inc welcomes the passage of the Return to Work (Presumptive Firefighters Injuries) Amendment Bill 2026 through the Parliament today.

The bill adds to the existing list of cancers which are presumptively covered by workers compensation legislation to include primary site pancreatic cancers, primary site skin cancers, primary site lung cancers and asbestos related diseases for Firefighters who meet particular lengths of service. It adds to legislation passed late last year that increased the list of presumptively covered cancers by seven, bringing the total to 23.

For Firefighters who receive a diagnosis of one of these insidious diseases the laws represent certainty and guarantees of medical and other supports. They mean Firefighters suffering these cancers will not be dragged through an inhumane adversarial legal system.

These laws are the result of significant campaigning and lobbying efforts by Firefighters and their families and supporters, and also a significant body of work developing the medical science that leaves without any doubt that firefighting causes cancer contributed to by many both within Australia and internationally.

We acknowledge all that have played a part, and particularly acknowledge on this occasion retired Firefighters Jim Shannon who suffers from lung cancer and Gary Smith who suffers from pancreatic cancer who were prepared to take the uncomfortable step of publicly telling their stories in the media in 2024 to try to achieve these reforms for all Firefighters at a time when they were very entitled to simply focus on their own battles. We would also like to acknowledge Adrienne Clarke, South Australia’s first female Firefighter who last year passed away from work-related pancreatic cancer, and her preparedness to have her story made public to advocate for these reforms, and the support of her family for these reforms. To an already peerless legacy we add Adrienne’s efforts to make sure that the situation will be better for Firefighters who suffer the same disease.

UFUSA recognises that the Malinauskas Government has honoured its election commitment to pass this legislation within 100 days of its re-election. We thank the Deputy Premier Kyam Maher and Emergency Services Minister Rhiannon Pearce for introducing the legislation, and their work seeing it through.

We also recognise that the legislation enjoyed broad political support, and that the Greens, Liberal Party, and Sarah Game MLC all spoke in support of this bill in the Parliament. We thank them for their support. We also acknowledge that the Legislative Council passed amendments to a bill to provide presumptive coverage to these cancers in 2024 and acknowledge the previous members of that chamber who voted in support of Firefighters then including Tammy Franks and Connie Bonaros. We especially recognise the role that Frank Pangallo played in moving those amendments, and that the Liberal opposition supported them.

Quotes attributable to United Firefighters Union of SA Inc Acting Secretary Peter Russell:

“Firefighters welcome the laws passed by the South Australian Parliament, and thank the Malinauskas Government for honouring its election commitment.

This is a significant win for the Firefighters and their families and supporters who have campaigned and fought hard to achieve this reform. They have won dignity for our Firefighters who suffer from work-related cancers. It has been a long, and at times difficult and frustrating campaign. It is a proud day for our union.

Firefighters know there are great risks involved in the work they do and that some of those risks can be reduced but are not currently capable of being eliminated. They know they are substantially more likely to contract cancers than the general population. They adopt that risk because they are extraordinary people who believe deeply in honouring their service and commitment to their communities to help in the worst moments.

Presumptive Cancer laws are at their heart about the South Australian community saying that we in return honour and value that commitment and sacrifice, and are not prepared to have any doubt about whether we will support Firefighters and their families when the worst happens.

We fully believe that these laws reflect the true values of the South Australian community, and their expectations.

Laws like these are never going to be capable of being a finished product. We know that Firefighters and first responders are substantially more likely suffer psychiatric injury like post-traumatic stress disorder, and we know that science will continue to discover links between further conditions and the chemicals encountered whilst firefighting.

We only hope that when further decisions have to be made about the support to be provided to our Firefighters who are suffering the expectations and values of the South Australian community are remembered and Firefighters are not made to fight for dignity then.”

25/06/2026

Today the South Australian Parliament passed laws adding to the existing list of cancers which are presumptively covered by workers compensation legislation to include primary site pancreatic cancers, primary site skin cancers, primary site lung cancers and asbestos related diseases for Firefighters who meet particular lengths of service.

The bill adds to the laws that passed late last year, and expand the list of cancers presumptively covered under South Australian workers compensation legislation to 23.

The UFUSA will publish further comments in the near future, however wants to take the opportunity to acknowledge that these laws do not pass parliament without the significant efforts of Firefighters, our members current and past, and their families and supporters.

Doing every single thing in our power to ensure that as few firefighters join the list of those suffering these awful diseases as possible remains our union's deepest commitment and drives us every day.

11/06/2026

We were grateful today to have the Minister for Emergency Services Rhiannon Pearce MP accept the invitation of the UFUSA State Council to attend its June meeting, and for her generosity in time in hearing directly from serving Firefighters and Officers issues currently affecting them.

State Council members spoke at length with great passion about subjects impacting our members including (but by no means limited to) difficulties in processing pays, allowances and leave entitlements within the MFS, the provision of suitable personal protective equipment, difficulties meeting increased Firefighting demands within expanding communities, the state of our stations, regional firefighting and difficulties with the current budget settings for emergency services.

Of course no one meeting can solve every issue, however we do value the Minister's preparedness to give a not small part of her day to talking to our union's elected representative body, and her commitment to engage in ongoing direct dialogue to attempt to work through matters raised.

No one could ever doubt that our Firefighters love their job and the communities they serve, and their commitment to providing the best service possible. It is in that spirit we are always prepared to meet, and cooperate, with Government to improve that service.

04/06/2026

4 June 2026

For immediate release

South Australian budget neglects Fire Services

The United Firefighters Union of South Australia Inc expresses its concern at the continued neglect of Fire and Emergency Services contained within the Malinauskas Government’s latest South Australian State Budget.

The Metropolitan Fire Service is already stretched to its breaking point. The budget papers reveal a Government target that areas staffed by a full time MFS crew should see a MFS arrival within seven minutes of call out ninety percent of the time. In the last year that target was met only 75% of the time.

In the regions, the situation is even worse with a response time target of 11 minutes being met only 63 percent of the time, short of the target by 27 percent.

This occurred notwithstanding Firefighters achieving an average ‘out the door’ time after receiving a call of 106 seconds, well within the target of 120. The resourcing of the MFS, including station numbers and locations, mean that the time for travel to incidents from stations simply cannot be conducted within the targets.

Despite these troubling figures, there is no meaningful increase to the funding of the Metropolitan Fire Service and the budget papers reveal the Government’s intention to cut the full time equivalent staffing within the Metropolitan Fire Service.

Much of the budget focus from Government has been on building new houses and opening up land in areas previously undeveloped. With any consideration it must become quickly apparent that to properly provide fire and emergency services to an expanding population across a broader geography more resourcing must be required. Inevitably this must include more Stations and more Firefighters. No plans to meet this demand or provide this resourcing exists. Instead, South Australia will remain significantly behind the Australian national average in per capita funding and hold unchallenged the dubious title as the worst funded Fire Services in Australia.

Quotes attributable to United Firefighters Union of South Australia Acting Secretary Peter Russell:

“The South Australian Government is taking the worst funded Fire Service in Australia and making its situation worse.”

“It beggars belief that the Government could approach a MFS which is not meeting their targets for response times despite the exceptional efforts of its Firefighters, and which has been plagued by administrative dysfunction resulting from a shoe string budget including large scale underpayments of wages and failures to provide training and decide that the solution is to further cut the existing staff.”

“As the Government carries out a policy agenda of opening up new land for development, and building new houses across a greater geographical area, we face a very real risk that those new home buyers will not receive responses from emergency services in time when they need it unless the Government accepts that it needs to fund its Fire Services.”

04/06/2026

Acting Secretary Peter Russell spoke to media following today's release of the South Australian budget.

The UFUSA is extremely concerned that the budget represents a continuation of the ongoing neglect of our Fire and Emergency services.

Increases to the funding level of the MFS are nominal at best and unlikely to meet increasing costs, and despite having already run a razor gang through the organisation the budget papers reveal that the Governments plans are to further reduce the current number of full-time equivalent employees in the metropolitan fire service. Further cuts from a service that is already unable to handle administrative functions like paying its employees their entitlements correctly and on time.

Much of the budget focusses on the Government's plans for building new houses, including in previously undeveloped areas of the greater metropolitan area. No additional funding has been allocated to ensuring that our Fire Services can properly protect these communities. There are no new stations, there are no more Firefighters. More must be done with less.

South Australian first time homeowners deserve to know that they are protected by a first class properly funded Fire and Emergency Service. What is the Government's plan?

South Australians deserve better.