Not all heroes wear capes – some volunteer

“One day, I would love to fight fires alongside my cousin, Melissa, who’s also a volunteer for the Country Fire Authority (CFA). But for now, I’m still learning the basics.” Haylee Oates, volunteer, Trafalgar Fire Brigade.

Haylee Oates was introduced to the Trafalgar Fire Brigade by Melissa Horne, who also works for Aussie Broadband.

During the day, Haylee is a technical support specialist. She handles customers’ technical queries and accounts, and also connects with them via social media and live chat.

But away from the desk, Haylee puts on her firefighter helmet and joins her team. She’s seen everything from house fires, car accidents, and bush fires.

Haylee has served with the CFA since August last year and she’s also the Junior Co-ordinator for 11-16 year old’s. Earlier this year, she helped the CFA tackle the Bunyip fire.

“We were tasked with patrolling the area out near Neerim South just in case the fire came that way. The reaction from local people was amazing. You could tell that they felt a lot safer, just knowing we were there,” she said.

It’s physically and mentally demanding, but this doesn’t faze Haylee.

She understands what it means to be a volunteer. Many people in her family are volunteers. She says she likes the idea of being able to give back to the community.

“On Sunday, we were called out to an incident where a car had run over a tyre on the road. We had to clean up the diesel spillage so it didn’t go in the water ways. This was hard work, but it feels good to know you’re doing something worthwhile. But mostly, I love being a volunteer because it gives me an opportunity to work with some incredible people,” Haylee said.

Aussie has a commitment in our new strategy to making our communities better. Part of this is our community service leave policy, which also allows for staff to apply for consideration of flexible working arrangements to meet a community service need. Haylee’s story is a perfect example of this in action.