SES Fitness for Role | AFAC23 Launch

State Emergency Service (SES) members from across Australia’s states and territories have worked together to develop a single approach to ensure SES staff and volunteers have the physical fitness to operate as first responders.

The Fitness for Role project is a joint initiative between the Australia Council of SES, AFAC (The National Council for fire and emergency services), Natural Hazards Research Australia, Human Performance Science, the National SES Volunteer Association and SES agencies in every state and territory.

The national SES Fitness for Role program includes nine activities that assess physical fitness for land-based and water-based SES operations and training. These activities mimic the relevant operational tasks that SES members undertake, the level of effort required to meet these minimum physical fitness levels, and the environments that SES members operate in.

The Fitness for Role program is backed up by more than a decade of research to measure the minimum physical fitness that SES members require to do their job safely and effectively.

The Fitness for Role project benefits the safety and wellbeing of individual SES members. It also ensures that when SES members are deployed to support other jurisdictions during major emergency events, they are physically fit enough to assist.

Ultimately, the project contributes to the health and wellbeing of SES members across Australia, reduces the risk of injury while performing required tasks, and contributes to building a culture of wellbeing.