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Bruce Barnes has been a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years and it has certainly taken its toll. The 62-year-old joined the Lavington Rural Fire Brigade when he was 16 and has been its captain since 2004. But he finds himself embroiled in an insurance compensation battle with the NSW government, diagnosed with three forms of cancer within eight years. A decade into his term, Mr Barnes was told he had bowel cancer, which specialists have directly linked to his firefighting efforts due to prolonged exposure to agents carcinogenic. Mr Barnes was later diagnosed with a terminal form of liver and lung cancer called EHE and, to top it off, scans confirmed he had prostate cancer last year. Bowel and prostate cancer fall under the Workmen’s Compensation (Firefighters) Amendment Bill which was passed in 2018 to make Mr Barnes eligible for help. According to Mr Barnes’ lawyer, he is 72 per cent impaired as a result of his cancers and would be entitled to around $630,000 in compensation in most squads, but that figure is only $220,000 for emergency services personnel. A government spokesman said a ‘benefit suite’ was also included in the compensation, but Mr Barnes does not know what that entails. “It always makes me realize how they can sit there and say we’re heroes for leaving in 2019 and they give away medals and cruises and all that, but then you find out you’re not even insured properly.” , did he declare. . “These people are going to risk their lives to protect the community and when something goes wrong like what happened to me, it’s all gone.” IN OTHER NEWS: Mr Barnes admitted it was too late for him, but with his wife Kathy, their five children, Kathy’s two sisters and brother-in-law all in the squad, he feels he their duty to make sure they are taken care of. “It’s going to explode now, which I didn’t want to happen,” he said. “I didn’t want to go public and scare everyone into thinking ‘what do we do in the fire department? We’re not even well insured’.” RFS is hard work. It’s hard to get members and it’s hard to keep them. “I’ve had other issues over the years and I don’t stop until I prove them wrong or I’m wrong.” Ms Barnes said if a member of the public was injured at the station they would receive more compensation than a volunteer firefighter. “If the emergency services did it here, the police, the paramedics, the SES, we would get $220,000 tops. It makes no sense,” she said. Ms Barnes said she had regularly contacted the New South Wales premier, members of the state and federal government and the RFS commissioner for answers. Albury MP Justin Clancy said he had worked with Mr Barnes and pushed for legislation to be changed so that volunteers were paid the same as general workers. He revealed that a bill was before Parliament to align some of the rights. “Different types of workers are paid under different workers’ compensation laws. Therefore, their rights are different,” Clancy said. “Most workers in NSW are paid under the Workers’ Compensation Act 1987. “Paid firefighters, police and paramedics are also covered by the main workers’ compensation legislation, the Workers’ Compensation Act 1987 as “exempt workers”. “Volunteer firefighters like Bruce are covered by the Workers’ Compensation (Fire, Emergency and Rescue Services) Act 1987.” While exempt workers and prescribed volunteers have access to more generous rights As general workers in NSW, unfortunately for Bruce and Kathy, Bruce’s level of permanent disability does not receive the same compensation. “This is of particular concern to me, as I know firsthand Bruce and Kathy’s dedication over many years to the RFS. “I have repeatedly made representations on their behalf. This also included seeking an ex-gratia payment from the RFS to support Bruce. “I have also advocated for the legislation to be changed to allow for better alignment between the compensation rights of volunteer workers and those available under the general workers’ compensation scheme.” NSW RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers said he had contacted the NSW state government insurer. Our reporters work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. Here’s how you can continue to access our trusted content:
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Bruce Barnes has been a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years and it has certainly taken its toll.
The 62-year-old joined the Lavington Rural Fire Brigade when he was 16 and has been its captain since 2004.
But he finds himself embroiled in an insurance compensation battle with the NSW government, after being diagnosed with three forms of cancer in the space of eight years.
A decade into his term, Mr Barnes was told he had bowel cancer, which specialists have directly linked to his firefighting efforts due to prolonged exposure to agents carcinogenic.
Mr Barnes was later diagnosed with a terminal form of liver and lung cancer called EHE and, to top it off, scans confirmed he had prostate cancer last year.
Bowel and prostate cancer fall under the Workmen’s Compensation (Firefighters) Amendment Bill which was passed in 2018 to make Mr Barnes eligible for help.
According to Mr Barnes’ lawyer, he is 72 per cent impaired as a result of his cancers and would be entitled to around $630,000 in compensation in most squads, but that figure is only $220,000 for emergency services personnel.
A government spokesman said a ‘benefit suite’ was also included in the compensation, but Mr Barnes does not know what that entails.
“It always makes me realize how they can sit there and say we’re heroes for leaving in 2019 and they give away medals and cruises and all that, but then you find out you’re not even insured properly.” , did he declare. .
“These people are going to risk their lives to protect the community and when something goes wrong like what happened to me, it’s all gone.”
Mr Barnes admitted it was too late for him, but with his wife Kathy, their five children, Kathy’s two sisters and his brother-in-law all in the brigade, he feels he owes it to them to ensure that let’s take care of them.
“It’s going to explode now, which I didn’t want to happen,” he said.
“I didn’t want to go public and scare everyone into thinking ‘what do we do in the fire department? We’re not even well insured’.
“RFS is hard work. It’s hard to get members and it’s hard to keep them.
“I’ve had other issues over the years and I don’t stop until I prove them wrong or I’m wrong.”
Ms Barnes said if a member of the public was injured at the station they would receive more compensation than a volunteer firefighter.
“If the emergency services did it here, police, paramedics, SES, we would get $220,000 tops. It makes no sense,” she said.
Ms Barnes said she had regularly contacted the New South Wales premier, members of the state and federal government and the RFS commissioner for answers.
NOT IMPRESSED: Lavington Rural Fire Brigade Captain Bruce Barnes won’t stop until ‘I prove them wrong or I’m wrong’ regarding his battle in compensation course. Photo: JAMES WILTSHIRE
Albury MP Justin Clancy said he had worked with Mr Barnes and pushed for legislation to be changed so that volunteers were paid the same as general workers.
He revealed that a bill was before Parliament to align some of the rights.
“Different types of workers are paid under different workers’ compensation laws. Therefore, their rights are different,” Clancy said.
“Most workers in NSW are paid under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1987.
“Paid firefighters, police officers and paramedics are also covered by the main workers’ compensation legislation, the Workers’ Compensation Act 1987, as ‘exempt workers’.
“Volunteer firefighters like Bruce are covered by the Workers’ Compensation (Fire, Emergency and Rescue Services) Act 1987.
“While exempt workers and mandated volunteers have access to more generous rights than general workers in NSW, unfortunately for Bruce and Kathy, Bruce’s level of permanent disability does not receive the same compensation.
“This is of particular concern to me, as I know firsthand Bruce and Kathy’s dedication over many years to the RFS.
“I have repeatedly made representations on their behalf. This has also included requesting an ex gratia payment from the RFS to support Bruce.
“I have also advocated for the legislation to be changed to allow for better alignment between the compensation rights of volunteer workers and those available under the general workers’ compensation scheme.”
NSW RFS commissioner Rob Rogers said he had contacted the NSW state government insurer.
Our reporters work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. Here’s how you can continue to access our trusted content:
