Female-focused volunteer network strengthens inter-agency bonds

12/08/2025, 12:17 PM
VICSES Hastings Unit volunteers hosted the second iteration of the Mornington Peninsula Female First Responders event, which saw around 50 women from a range of emergency service providers come together to network and bolster inter-agency relationships.

Volunteers from across Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula are more prepared than ever to support their fellow first responders, following a female-led networking initiative developed and implemented by Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) Hastings Unit.

Held in late-July, the afternoon tea built on the success of last year’s inaugural event, which saw female volunteers representing VICSES Hastings, Sorrento and Frankston units, Country Fire Authority, Volunteer Marine Rescue and Search and Rescue Dogs Australia (SARDA) join forces to strengthen inter-agency relationships.

An estimated 50 women from emergency management, state and local government and local media united at the most recent event to learn more about the capabilities and operational approach of local first responders, while celebrating and championing the role of female volunteers.

With a host of inaugural attendees returning, the event was bolstered by the addition of representatives from Australian Volunteer Coast Guard flotillas at Western Port and Safety Beach, as well as Mornington Surf Life Saving Club volunteers, who each shared their own unique insights into the region’s volunteering landscape.

For the first time, a keynote presentation by VICSES Swan Hill Unit volunteer and Peer Support Officer Wendy Hayes prompted positive discussions around the wealth of wellbeing supports available in the emergency services sector and initiated important knowledge sharing among attendees.

The event also served as an opportunity for VICSES volunteers to explore the potential for further collaborations, with a series of multi-agency training events with local SARDA volunteers already in the planning stages, in addition to the ongoing annual networking opportunities already established.

With VICSES Frankston, Sorrento and Hastings units each among the state’s busiest in the last 12 months, the inter-agency relationships first forged at last year’s event have proved valuable, with local volunteers having been called to provide emergency support to other agencies more than 150 times during this period.

Volunteers from VICSES Hastings, Sorrento and Frankston units joined women from CFA, Coast Guard, Volunteer Marine Rescue, Search and Rescue Dogs Australia and representatives from government and local media at the event.

This support has been reciprocated by local first responders at many of the more than 2,600 requests for assistance (RFAs) attended by Mornington Peninsula VICSES volunteers in that same period, highlighting the ‘We Work As One’ approach adopted by Victoria’s emergency service providers.

To learn more about volunteering with VICSES, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.

Quotes attributable to Silvana Hobley, VICSES Hastings Unit volunteer:

“It was so fantastic to see so many female volunteers connecting and discussing their shared passion for serving their communities in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

“I feel exceptionally proud to belong to a community of volunteers which is so willing to share knowledge, break down barriers and give back to their community.”