Junior volunteers

6 min read

The Junior Volunteer Development Program (JVDP) introduces young people aged 11–15 to the CFA through hands-on learning, teamwork, and community engagement. Running in over 160 brigades across Victoria, the program helps young people build confidence, develop leadership skills, and become fire-safe, responsible citizens while having fun and making new friends.

Summary

The Junior Volunteer Development Program (JVDP) introduces 11–15-year-olds to CFA through engaging, educational, and community-focused activities.
The program builds confidence, teamwork, leadership, decision-making, and fire safety awareness in young people.
Juniors do not attend emergencies but participate in station-based sessions, excursions, camps, and competitions.
Each junior brigade is led by trained adult leaders with valid Working with Children Checks, ensuring safe supervision.
Young people can find and apply to local Junior Brigades via the CFA website or by contacting nearby brigades directly.

Junior Volunteer Development Program (JVDP)

The Junior Volunteer Development Program (JVDP), also known as Juniors/Junior Brigade, runs in over 160 brigades across Victoria and aims to introduce young people 11-15 years to CFA by providing them with the opportunity to become good fire safe citizens while engaging them in activities that:

build their self-esteem and self-confidence
develop their ability to manage personal and social relationships
create learning opportunities and to develop new skills
encourage positive group dynamics
build the capacity of young people to consider risk, make reasoned decisions and take control
develop a world view which widens horizons and nurtures social commitment

JVDP Activities

Junior members DO NOT respond to emergencies. JVDP activities are usually conducted at the local fire station, but may also involve excursions, camps and championship activities. Whilst each local JVDP program looks different and reflects the needs and interest of the local brigade and community, all programs work to build the skills of junior members in 5 key areas:

Knowledge of CFA history and competition
Understanding volunteering and community service
Emergency response skills
Teamwork and leadership skills
Familiarisation with all hazard types

Each junior brigade is delivered by a team of junior leaders. These are members of the brigade who are 18+ years, and who have taken on the responsibility for leading the juniors.

All junior leaders hold a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC) and all junior brigade activities have a minimum of two registered junior leaders facilitating activities.

What nights does my local Brigade run Juniors and how do I join the CFA Juniors?

The best way to find answers to these questions is to check your local programs and submit an application, as recommended below:

Go to the CFA application page
Select "Junior" as the membership type
Type in your address. This will list the closest Brigades to your home that are recruiting Junior Members.
You can then either ring or email those brigades to find out more about their programs. You can find the brigades' details on the CFA contact page.
Once you find a brigade that works for you and your schedule, apply using the link below.

Apply to become a Junior CFA volunteer

The new Junior Member website

The Juniors Website is a new home for current Junior Members at CFA. If you are not a CFA member yet, please follow the steps above.

The website can be accessed by current CFA members by logging in using your CFA credentials. If you are a new CFA Brigade member, you may have to activate your CFA account before accessing the website.

For a step-by-step guide on how the new website works, how to login, and other handy tips read through our Junior Website - Junior & Parent Guide (PDF 3.8MB).

The website can be accessed at juniors.cfa.vic.gov.au or by clicking the button below.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to access the website to learn more about the program. They are able to log in using their Junior Member's login details.