A number of roles are available for volunteer members to help create awareness of emergencies and emergency preparedness in their local communities. Once you have completed the VICSES induction, you might be interested in undertaking the following roles:

• Community Education Facilitator

• Media Liaison Officer 

• Social Media Officer

Community engagement is an important function at VICSES. A community that is well prepared for flood, storms and other emergency situations can reduce the impacts and lessen the consequences of an emergency, saving lives and property. Our Community Education Facilitators (CEFs) focus on building awareness of emergencies and the actions communities can take to better prepare for emergency events. They do this through a range of activities, including campaigns, demonstrations, presentations, workshops, school visits and conducting community meetings. They can also coordinate door-knocks in their local communities and participate in regular community events.

In addition to the focus on community preparedness before an emergency occurs, CEFs may also support operations during  and after emergencies.

Key tasks:

• Planning and conducting community engagement activities and programs.
• Providing leadership in the unit for community engagement activities.
• Identifying local key stakeholders and building strong local relationships.

What you will love about this role:

• Helping your community to prepare for emergencies and reduce the impacts and consequences of an emergency event.
• Being involved in your community and making a difference.
• Getting to know more people in your community.

Media Liaison Officers (MLOs) represent and promote their VICSES unit, act as a spokesperson and point of contact for local media, and engage with the local community before, during and after an incident or emergency event.

The MLO ensures that their VICSES unit has strong, established contacts with local media, which supports all communication and promotional activities undertaken by the unit.

All MLO media activities are pre-approved by the Unit Controller or State Media Duty Officer (SMDO). This role also helps to assist units by ensuring that all unit members adhere to the correct media policies and procedures at a local level.

Many of our MLOs in smaller units also take on the Social Media Officer role, and/or work closely with our Community Education Facilitators (CEFs).

Key tasks:

• Maintaining local media contacts.
• Drafting media releases for local activities.
• Providing leadership at a local level in support of the VICSES media policy and guidelines.

What you will love about this role:

• Making strong connections with your local media.
• Learning new media skills, including on-camera training.
• Creating community awareness and support for your unit and the work that your unit achieves.

Working closely with the Medial Liaison Officer (MLO), the Social Media Officer supports the MLO to develop content for the unit’s Facebook page and other social media accounts, such as Twitter and Instagram. In smaller units the role of the MLO and Social Media Officer is often combined.

This role ensures that communities are well informed about the local activities of their unit, as well as contributing to a wider awareness and recognition of VICSES and the hard work that our volunteers achieve to keep their communities safe.

Key tasks:

• Develop, share and maintain content for unit social media pages and accounts.
• Support the work of the MLO.

What you will love about this role:

• Helping your unit gain local awareness and recognition for their work within the community.
• Engaging with the community members through social media.
• Using creative skills to create eye-catching and engaging content for social media.

Community Engagement Facilitator

Advised fitness Level: 1 out of 5

This role may include both office and in the field work. For work in the field a reasonable level of fitness is required.  

Units requiring this capability:

All units require this role.

Media Liaison Officer

Advised fitness Level: 1 out of 5

This role may include office work and work in the field. For work in the field, a reasonable level of fitness is required.  

Unit requiring this capability:

All units require this role.

Social Media Officer

Advised fitness Level: 0 out of 5

This role may include office work and work in the field. For work in the field, a reasonable level of fitness is required.  

Unit requiring this capability:

All units require this role.

Read more about our Minimum Physical Fitness for Role Program here.

For more information about becoming a volunteer, exploring a wide range of opportunities available to you in developing new skills, forming new friendships, accepting high levels of responsibility and enjoying the team spirit of VICSES:

Explore the wide range of opportunities available to you in developing new skills, forming new friendships, accepting high levels of responsibility and enjoying the team spirit of VICSES.