WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY, 2026
Hobsons Bay SES volunteers (L-R) Guy Mazille, Michael Casha, Rachel Brown and unit controller Mel Smith outside the headquarters which they claim are outdated and too small. (Damjan Janevski) 553377_04
HQ won’t do: SES By Cade Lucas Volunteers from the Hobsons Bay State Emergency Service (SES) unit are pleading with the state government to fund the construction of a new facility ahead of this year’s state election, arguing the unit’s existing headquarters are too old and small. The unit, one of just two located in the inner-west, has been based next to Hobsons Bay council’s works depot on the corner of Civic Parade and Sugar Gum Drive in Altona for 40 years. But with Hobsons Bay SES now responding to more than 300 emergencies a year and having added extra capability to meet this demand, volunteers claim the facility is now so cramped that the unit’s primary rescue truck has to be parked elsewhere. “Our primary rescue truck is effectively in exile,” VICSES Hobsons Bay unit controller Mel Smith said of the vehicle – essential for storm and flood responses –
that is now stored in a secondary shed 200 metres away from the main facility. “Because it doesn’t fit in our main building, our crews have to run across an industrial depot in the dark or rain just to turn a key.” Th is 200m journey from facility to storage shed has become so notorious that it’s been dubbed “the obstacle course”, with SES personnel having to navigate their way through potentially hazardous machinery in the council depot every time they are called out to an emergency. Even once they reach the storage shed, the lack of space still presents a problem, with the truck packed in so tightly that there are only centimetres of clearance, making it impossible to walk in front or behind the vehicle once the roller is down. Ms Smith said that having such a logistical bottleneck at an SES facility wasn’t acceptable. “In a life-threatening emergency, this forced eight-minute delay is a physical barrier we can no longer ignore,” she said.
A volunteer with nearly 20 years of experience with the Hobsons Bay unit, Michael Casha, agreed. “Hobsons Bay residents deserve the fastest possible response when they call for help,” Mr Casha said. Along with delays caused by a lack of space, volunteers claim the outdated facility presents a number of other issues, including a lack of dedicated “dirty zones,” such as laundry facilities and decontamination showers for personnel who may have been exposed to hazardous materials. Currently, volunteers must change clothes in a crowded shed surrounded by vehicles, which increases the risk of them carrying contaminants home on their clothing. There are also concerns that the facility does not meet disability access standards, with its training rooms only accessible via a steep staircase, preventing those with mobility issues from volunteering. In last year’s state budget, the Footscray
SES unit received $14 million for a new headquarters in Maidstone, with construction currently underway. Mr Casha said that the Hobsons Bay unit needed something similar, adding that the whole community would benefit. “We have the people and the expertise; we just need a facility that doesn’t work against us,” he said. “A new building isn’t just an upgrade for volunteers - it’s an investment in the safety and resilience of every household in our area.” While it’s understood that some improvements are currently being made to the Hobsons Bay facility, a spokesperson for the state government said decisions about which units are built and upgraded were driven by VICSES operational priorities. “VICSES units support thousands of Victorians every year when they need it most, and we thank our volunteers for their outstanding service,” the spokesperson said.
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