Seven priority fire stations will be upgraded to provide fit-for-purpose amenities under the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government\u2019s $50 million investment aimed at supporting female firefighters.
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Treasurer Matt Kean, Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke and Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Commissioner Paul Baxter visited Merrylands today to announce the first upgrades for fire stations at Coledale, Cooma, Merewether, Merrylands, Singleton, The Entrance and Thredbo.
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Mr Kean said work will focus on new toilets, showers and change rooms to break down barriers that stop women becoming firefighters.
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\u201cNo matter where a woman works, they should have access to appropriate facilities and this investment will ensure our fire stations offer that. Modernising our stations is\u00a0a vital part of attracting more women to firefighting and strengthening our frontline emergency services,\u201d Mr Kean said.
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Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said\u00a0the $50 million\u00a02022-23\u00a0Budget investment is being progressively rolled out over 10 years.
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\u201cWe want to make sure everyone feels comfortable in the workplace. With more women joining the firefighting ranks, access to appropriate amenities at fire stations is essential. These upgrades will see more women feeling welcomed, respected and comfortable at work and a valued part of the local team,\u201d Mrs Taylor said.
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Ms Cooke said many fire stations across NSW were constructed decades ago and are not appropriate for a modern and diverse workforce.
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\u201cEvery graduation it\u2019s pleasing to see dozens more women joining the firefighting ranks, and as the State\u2019s first female Emergency Services Minister, I\u2019m immensely proud to be delivering a program that will make it easier for women of the future to follow their lead,\u201d Ms Cooke said.
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Ten per cent of FRNSW\u2019s permanent firefighters and 13 per cent of on-call firefighters are women.
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Commissioner Baxter said FRNSW\u00a0is committed to the safety and wellbeing of firefighters and providing\u00a0a more inclusive work environment.
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\u201cThis investment will help improve workplace conditions for all firefighters by providing men and women with private, separate facilities to ensure our people feel comfortable at work,\u201d Commissioner Baxter said.
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Design work for the Merrylands Fire Station upgrade has been completed and construction will commence in May.
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An additional 12 fire stations are expected to be upgraded in the 2023-24 financial year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seven priority fire stations will be upgraded to provide fit-for-purpose amenities under the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government\u2019s $50 million investment aimed at supporting female firefighters.\u00a0Treasurer Matt Kean, Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience Steph Cooke and Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) Commissioner Paul Baxter visited Merrylands today to announce the first upgrades for fire … Continue reading “Station upgrades to support firefighting women”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19775,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19774\/revisions\/19775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}