The SES is a volunteer organisation which serves the community in times of emergency and at public events.
The organisation is open to members from age 16 up. There are many tasks that the SES is involved in and there are roles for many members of the community. Membership is split almost 50% between men and women and is spread right across the age spectrum.
Our group - Western Group - Brisbane, is located within Toowong and services the area from Milton to the Centennary suburbs and beyond.
New members' induction training generally takes place in February, July and September. This training is compulsory and provides the basic skills and knowledge required to become a Community Member of the Queensland SES. The recruit training weekend brings new members from all Brisbane groups together, so it will be an opportunity to meet new members from other groups, as well as the experienced members that will be providing the instruction.
Western Group is currently at capacity and is therefore not taking on any new members at the moment.
If you live in the area of another group and you are interested in joining (but stumbled upon this website) please contact the Brisbane Unit SES headquarters through the Brisbane City Council call centre on 3403 8888. Your details will be taken and you will go onto the waiting list. If your application is successful then you will start training at the next intake -- Brisbane does not have continuous intakes.
To find out what group area you are in, refer to Brisbane City Council's 'My Neighbourhood Map', and turn on the 'SES Groups' layer. This provides an overlay over the street map which indicates the group that covers your area.
To be eligible for membership you must be prepared to have a police check and be prepared to commit to training. Western Group trains every Monday night. There are training courses available to members throughout the year, these are usually on weekends - see the training calendar on this site for the types of training available. You are free to specialise in the areas that interest you.
Members are subject to a probation period of three months. After joining, all members must attend a foundation skills weekend training course and then undergo further foundation skills training at group for a couple of months. There are some restrictions on the activities that probationary members can perform (mainly higher risk ones) but there is still plenty to be involved in once the core training is complete.
