Thank you for another amazing year! We hope you all manage to get a break over the holidays and spend some much deserved time with your family, whānau and friends. The UFBA office will be closed from 4pm Friday 19 December 2025 and we will re-open at 8.30am on Monday 12 January 2026.
On Friday last week, during the union’s strike action, the UFBA were contacted by our volunteer members, reporting to us highly unacceptable behaviour towards them by union members.
The final report has been received from the Workforce and Education Select Committee regarding Katherine Lamont's petition to get equal ACC coverage for volunteer firefighters.
3 December 2025 - Reminder Consultation Closes Wed 10 DecKia ora members, just a reminder that consultation on the FENZ restructure closes next week on Wednesday 10 December. We encourage members to consider what is important to you in the new structure, what will you need to continue to effect
We have received a number of queries from members about what is – and what is not - happening while the NZPFU members strike for one hour tomorrow (Friday 17 October) from 12pm-1pm.
We know many of you have been following the ongoing industrial action between the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) and Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
The UFBA and Fire and Emergency are currently reviewing our services to make sure that what we provide is useful and relevant to our members and delivers good value for money for Fire and Emergency’s investment.
At the UFBA National Drivers Challenge in August we announced that Jeff Manson was appointed by UFBA CE as the newest member of the UFBA Challenge Panel.
We also announced Ces Pacey was reappointed as Challenge Panel Leader.
In June, we released the first of our videos providing you with key updates about the Volunteer Engagement Model Project.
This video gave an overview of the project and introduction to the Seeking Your Insights phase. If you haven’t seen the first video, you can watch it here.
Some of the early feedback you provided to the project team suggested that written updates aren’t always right for everyone. You wanted to hear from us in a range of ways, which would allow you to engage with the project in a way that best suits you.
The current state of the economy is being reflected in many aspects, particularly a significant increase in the price of gold, which is having an impact on the manufacturing costs of UFBA service honours.
We regrettably advise that the National Firefighter Challenge is cancelled due to extreme weather around the country causing significant travel disruptions. We have been monitoring weather patterns hourly over the past few days and have intel that the weather will not ease for another 48 hours,
In March, Inland Revenue (IRD) consulted on potential changes to the way charities and tangata whenua, community and voluntary organisations and groups are taxed in New Zealand. The potential changes include introducing tax for 'unrelated' charity businesses.
The ACC petition gained some massive traction in its first two weeks with over 25,000 signatures - Petition of Katherine Lamont: Give volunteer firefighters the same ACC coverage as paid firefighters
Affected members should be aware that existing incorporated societies (incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908) wishing to remain as such must submit a new application to the registrar of Incorporated Societies, complete with a revised constitution, by April 2026.
Kia ora members, The UFBA office will be closed from midday Friday 20 December and re-open at 8.30am Monday 13 January. However, some services are still available for members over the holidays.
2024 has been an incredible year A massive thanks to all our members, Board, President, Vice President, brigade leaders, competitors, participants, representatives, supporters, officials, provincials, sub-associations, and networks - we really couldn't have done it without you. The team a
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Happy International Volunteer Day Today, we celebrate our volunteer members, and all volunteers worldwide who give so much to serve and protect their communities, 24/7, 365 days a year.Volunteer firefighters make up 86% of Fire and Emergency's frontline workforce and Aotearoa New Zealand is al
