Emergency Services Levy Collections and Allocations

DFES charges for services rendered on a partial cost recovery basis. Pursuant to Section 36G(3) of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1998 the current list of fees and charges were published in the Government Gazette on 15 June 2021 and payable from 1 July 2021. Details are available in Table 2 below.

In 2020-21, the Emergency Services Levy (ESL) raised $345 million from ratepayers, $4 million from local government owned properties and $23 million from the State Government and non-trading State enterprises.

The amount of ESL raised was significantly less than last year as a result of COVID 19 relief measures introduced by the State Government to reduce household fees and charges. The reduction in ESL revenue was offset by $40 million of direct funding provided by the State Government. As a result, activities that were previously fully funded through the ESL, were funded by a mix of ESL and State Government appropriations in 2020-21.

Our major services and activities

In 2020-21, ESL was used to fund the major services and activities:

$122 million

Career Fire and Rescue Service

Employed personnel in fire stations across Perth, Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie who are response ready for a variety of emergency situations, 24/7.

$15 million

Volunteer Fire and Rescue/ Fire and Emergency Services

The committed volunteers in towns and built-up areas who provide an emergency response when it is needed most.

$31 million

Bush Fire Service

The dedicated volunteers who protect us from bushfires through fire suppression, prevention and risk management services and fire safety education in rural and pastoral areas.

$9 million

State Emergency Services

The steadfast volunteers in orange who provide help to the community in a variety of situations such as severe weather and search and rescue operations.

$9 million

Marine Rescue Western Australia

The devoted volunteers along our coastline who protect and save lives at sea.

$14 million

Rural Fire Division

Improving rural fire management through increased investment in mitigation, strengthening relationships with volunteers, and greater collaboration between agencies.

$28 million

Emergency Services Training

Providing professional development for volunteers and career personnel to enhance their operational and organisational skills.

$14 million

Aerial Firefighting and Aviation Services

Operation and coordination of the aerial fleet that is deployed rapidly to emergency incidents, protecting lives and property during the bushfire season.

$66 million

Asset Construction and Maintenance

Includes construction of fire stations and other facilities as well as maintenance, improvement and replacement of facilities, response vehicles and equipment.

$2 million

Volunteer Engagement

Working with communities and local governments to strengthen relationships with our volunteers.

$8 million

Emergency Management, Strategy and Planning

Research and planning activities to improve our services and inform decisions on how we allocate our resources.

$3 million

Health and Wellness

Enhancing psychological and physical wellbeing for emergency services employees, volunteers and their families.

$4 million

Investigation and Compliance

Determining the cause of fires and ensuring compliance with relevant standards to reduce the frequency and impact of emergency incidents.

$10 million

Emergency Response Coordination

Includes the running of emergency operations centres and the ‘000’ communications centre to dispatch and coordinate emergency responses.

$24 million

Technology and Communications

Improving and maintaining the technology and communications infrastructure behind all our emergency services.

$4 million

Special Operations

Upskilling personnel and maintaining specialist equipment to enhance our emergency response across a range of events such as hazardous material spills and building collapse.

$14 million

Community Awareness and Education

Providing information and programs to communities to increase awareness and build a more resilient and safer State.

The table above shows only the ESL allocated to each service and excludes expenditure funded from other sources. The total ESL expended in 2020-21 was $6 million more than the amount raised, primarily due to the capital works projects funded from ESL collected in prior years. Figures have been rounded to the nearest million and include an allocation of indirect expenditure of $19 million on a weighted average basis.

Table 2: 2020-21 ESL Raised by Local Government Area

ESL Collected

The table below shows the ESL raised within each local government area. Please note that it does not include ESL raised in relation to property owned by the State Government and non-trading State enterprises.

Local Government Area	ESL Raised ($'000s)
Albany	3,567
Armadale	9,524
Ashburton	403
Augusta-Margaret River	999
Bassendean	2,380
Bayswater	9,697
Belmont	8,463
Beverley	124
Boddington	105
Boyup Brook	115
Bridgetown-Greenbushes	293
Brookton	62
Broome	1,108
Broomehill-Tambellup	69
Bruce Rock	66
Bunbury	4,709
Busselton	2,587
Cambridge	5,569
Canning	17,639
Capel	1,061
Carnamah	46
Carnarvon	280
Chapman Valley	76
Chittering	239
Claremont	2,773
Cockburn	17,565
Collie	421
Coolgardie	250
Coorow	101
Corrigin	77
Cottesloe	1,746
Cranbrook	74
Cuballing	58
Cue	37
Cunderdin	86
Dalwallinu	90
Dandaragan	335
Dardanup	682
Denmark	376
Derby-West Kimberley	237
Donnybrook-Balingup	306
Dowerin	50
Dumbleyung	48
Dundas	82
East Fremantle	1,377
East Pilbara	410
Esperance	804
Exmouth	231
Fremantle	8,049
Gingin	481
Gnowangerup	79
Goomalling	63
Gosnells	13,655
Greater Geraldton	3,453
Halls Creek	80
Harvey	1,249
Irwin	245
Jerramungup	104
Joondalup	22,549
Kalamunda	6,412
Kalgoorlie-Boulder	3,488
Karratha	1,531
Katanning	212
Kellerberrin	78
Kent	40
Kojonup	108
Kondinin	63
Koorda	36
Kulin	53
Kwinana	5,438
Lake Grace	94
Laverton	52
Leonora	148
Mandurah	8,180
Manjimup	540
Meekatharra	78
Melville	16,742
Menzies	53
Merredin	197
Mingenew	32
Moora	138
Morawa	51
Mosman Park	1,520
Mount Marshall	46
Mt Magnet	48
Mukinbudin	39
Mundaring	3,399
Murchison	5
Murray	851
Nannup	100
Narembeen	52
Narrogin	274
Nedlands	4,289
Ngaanyatjarraku	2
Northam	609
Northampton	284
Nungarin	19
Peppermint Grove	411
Perenjori	39
Perth	24,472
Pingelly	76
Plantagenet	308
Port Hedland	1,112
Quairading	73
Ravensthorpe	154
Rockingham	12,282
Sandstone	15
Serpentine-Jarrahdale	1,584
Shark Bay	66
South Perth	7,354
Stirling	35,573
Subiaco	4,538
Swan	19,785
Tammin	30
Three Springs	39
Toodyay	272
Trayning	33
Upper Gascoyne	9
Victoria Park	6,799
Victoria Plains	49
Vincent	6,975
Wagin	119
Wandering	35
Wanneroo	23,265
Waroona	253
West Arthur	54
Westonia	19
Wickepin	48
Williams	61
Wiluna	32
Wongan-Ballidu	91
Woodanilling	32
Wyalkatchem	44
Wyndham-East Kimberley	355
Yalgoo	21
Yilgarn	110
York	244
Total	349,536