Voluntary Rescuers Call For More Funds
The voluntary marine rescue organisations of NSW are calling for more equitable funding from the state government, saying they receive recurrent government funds representing an average of 764per volunteer for training, operations and capital equipmenThe Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol (RVCP) said that, by comparison, the SES received more than $2700 per volunteer.
"We are all perilously under-funded by the state government and we are unanimous in the opinion that if the level of funding does not increase substantially we will all have to seriously consider limiting our emergency services to life-threatening incidents only," a RVCP spokesperson said.
"This is not a situation that any of us would willingly consider if it was not for the fact that volunteer marine rescue services have now reached the point that, while our organisations are saving the government tens of millions of dollars a year, we are all struggling to meet our commitments."
Volunteer marine rescue organisations are responsible for an average of 63 per cent of all marine rescues in NSW, up to 88 per cent in some Water Police Marine Area Command regions, and as much as 100 per cent in some parts of those regions where there is no water police presence.
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