Murchison SES unit at risk of closure

By Kate Walters

Jan 3, 2025

Murchison SES members Margaret Foord and Barb Gilberd-Roberts greet drivers at a Driver Reviver site in 2019. Photo by Ray Sizer

Murchison is in desperate need of volunteers to keep the local SES unit going.

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Without more people signing up in the next couple of months, the unit could be closed in mid-March.

Right now, Murchison only has one operational member, according to Victoria State Emergency Service community resilience co-ordinator for the Goulburn River catchment Liz Frazer.

“We’re looking for nine more — a total of 10 people — to volunteer,” Ms Frazer said.

“Without that, Murchison doesn’t have an emergency response for floods and storms.”

Ms Frazer said the only remaining local volunteer was relatively new to the role so an experienced volunteer from Seymour, Christine Welsh, had been brought in to help with recruitment and training efforts in Murchison.

This isn’t the first time the town has faced the need to recruit more volunteers to help with local emergency response.

But the unit hasn’t faced closure in the past.

Now, Ms Frazer said, if the local unit folded, community members in Murchison could face floods and storms alone.

“Without a local unit, the community is reliant on themselves or surrounding units in a flood,” Ms Frazer said.

Those resources may be delayed or may not come at all, depending on what surrounding communities are facing, she said.

Local SES units don’t function in a vacuum, they receive help and support from a broad network of roughly 5000 volunteers across Victoria.

However, Ms Frazer said local members were important because they hold necessary community knowledge and run command if other emergency services need to come in.

“What we want in the future are strong local leaders in the unit who know what the flood risk is like,” Ms Frazer said.

She said those who volunteered would not just be filling a gap; there were benefits, including learning leadership skills, incident management and other employment skills.

There are also a range of roles people can take on.

Ms Frazer said training usually took roughly three to six months, with volunteers deciding the frequency.

The Murchison unit responded to roughly 10 to 30 calls per year, with the busiest period occurring during floods and storms, she said.

Ms Frazer said whether the SES unit continued past March was up to the local community.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can apply online at ses.vic.gov.au/joinus, or call temporary unit commander Christine Welsh on 0411 496 854.