Labor promises to expand cancer compensation for fire staff if re-elected

Labor has promised to expand legislation that guarantees access to compensation for all fire staff who develop cancer.

Presumptive rights legislation covers Victorian firefighters who are diagnosed with certain cancers to ensure compensation, but is limited to particular job titles.

Premier Ben Carroll says the scheme would be expanded to cover all administrative and technical fire staff who are exposed to toxins through their work.

Labor is promising to expand coverage to all staff within the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) to ensure access to compensation if it is re-elected later this month.

Premier Ben Carroll said the changes would ensure all administrative and technical staff at the CFA and FRV received the same access to compensation if they were diagnosed with cancer as a result of their work.

"This is the right thing to do by our emergency service workers, to get them the support they need in their fight with cancer," Mr Carroll said.

Victorian firefighters are covered by presumptive rights legislation which ensures they are entitled to compensation if diagnosed with certain types of cancer.

But the current scheme only applies to firefighters who have developed one of a list of cancers, who have undertaken particular types of work.

Labor's promise does not include any expansion of approved cancers.

Last week, the Coalition promised to change the legislation to expand the list of approved cancers to include five new cancers, including skin, thyroid and lung cancer.

That pledge does not include a promise to expand the job titles which qualify for access to the scheme.

For Labor's Morwell candidate, Tracie Lund, the announcement is personal.

Her late husband, Simon Lund, worked as a senior technical field officer with the CFA for more than 25 years.

During that time, he attended some of the state's biggest emergencies, including the fatal Black Saturday and Black Summer bushfires, and the toxic Hazelwood mine fire.

But despite his exposure, he was unable to access presumptive rights legislation when he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in 2024, as his role was not covered under the legislation.

This meant he spent his final days campaigning for the law to be changed.

He told the ABC a week before he died in 2025 that he did not want any other member to have to spend their final moments fighting for compensation.

Ms Lund said today's announcement ensures coverage for more personnel and their families.

"[Simon] wasn't a firefighter — he had the right cancer, the right exposure time for the legislation, but he had the wrong job title," she said.

"So what we are talking about here is ensuring that we are covering the gaps in the legislation."

Without being able to access the scheme, Mr and Ms Lund had to mount a legal challenge to establish his claim through WorkCover.

"I can remember Simon in his palliative care bed, putting together documents and photos to prove where he was when he was there and to prove the length of exposure to work through WorkSafe," Ms Lund said.

"We didn't want to see the next worker and the next family have to go through what we had to."

The Austalian Services Union (ASU) has campaigned for changes to the law and welcomed today's announcement.

ASU Victoria and Tasmania branch secretary Tash Wark said the expansion of compensation coverage to a broader range of workers in Victoria's fire services reflects the realities of modern firefighting.

"They are not fighting a fire, but they are doing the logistics on a fireground, or they are handling materials or equipment that is contaminated and they are experiencing that kind of exposure," Ms Wark said.

"This is a really positive move for workers and families going through that really difficult time."

The ASU did not have a position about whether Labor should match the Coalition pledge to expand the list of approved cancers.