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United Firefighters Union of Australia
Victorian Branch

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One Year Anniversary of Fire Rescue Victoria Cyber Attack

MEDIA RELEASE
15 December 2023

PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION TO ADDRESS FRV EMERGENCY DISPATCH, REMOTE ACCESS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FAILURES THAT HAVE STILL NOT BEEN FIXED!

On the one-year anniversary of the cyber-attack on Fire Rescue Victoria’s (FRV) information technology systems, which occurred on 15 December 2022, Communications Officers still do not have access to their online emergency dispatch system, remote access systems at the FRV Training Academy remain offline and professional firefighters lack access to essential services such as printing.

United Firefighters Union Victorian Branch Secretary Peter Marshall said that FRV, Minister Symes and the Allan Government have had more than enough time to remedy these failures, and urgent action was now required.

“FRV and Minister Symes have now had a full year to address the emergency communication and information technology failures that resulted from a cyber-attack on 15 December 2022.

“Yet despite FRV and the Allan Government promising to rapidly address emergency
communication and IT issues emerging from that attack, professional firefighters still cannot
access the most basic services, such as online emergency dispatch and printing”

“Fire Service Communications Controllers overseeing dispatch operations at the Emergency
Services Telecommunications Authority have been forced to revert to pen and paper”.

“This severely undermines their efficiency and could result in errors that cost lives and undermine the safety of all Victorians”.

“After a year, there is simply no excuse for why Victoria’s emergency dispatch system continues to remain so crippled and compromised”.

“With the 2023/24 Victorian bushfire season well and truly upon us, FRV, Minister Symes and the Allan Government must fix the emergency dispatch system as a matter of urgency. Mr Marshall also said that remote access systems at the FRV Training Academy also remained offline, and professional firefighters across Victoria were impacted by IT problems that have not been fixed since December 2022.

The UFU acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land, and we pay our respect to their Elders, past and present.

The UFU supports the call of First Nations peoples for a Voice to Parliament to be enshrined in the Constitution.

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