Regional WA at risk of volunteer shortage

Regional communities in Western Australia are at risk of not being prepared for emergencies because of a lack of trained volunteers.

Auditor-General Colin Murphy has found the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) does not know how many volunteers it has or needs, despite relying on them for about a third of emergency events.

In his report tabled in parliament on Thursday, Mr Murphy said DFES had known since 2012 that its membership records were inaccurate.

It is estimated there are actually 20 per cent fewer volunteers than the 29,000 reported.

Meanwhile, numbers continue to dwindle as people move away, get too old, no longer have time to commit or find the role was not what they expected.

"Motivation is losing the battle to population decline," Mr Murphy said.

He said without an understanding of how many volunteers it needed in specific areas, DFES could not predict service gaps across the state.

This was particularly concerning in regional and remote areas that relied heavily on volunteers.

Of WA's 800 volunteer service groups, about 700 are outside the Perth metropolitan area. Four of 28 career fire and rescue stations are in regional areas.

Geographic isolation, limited availability of trainers and inaccurate records also meant regional volunteers may not have the appropriate skills to respond to incidents, the report found.

There is also rising concern about fatigue as it is not unusual for volunteers to respond to an emergency after already having worked a full day of paid employment.

DFES said it was trying out several initiatives to support volunteers.

Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis told parliament that some local governments did an "appalling" job in supporting volunteer firefighters.

"If we find out that they have been neglected through the role of their local government, we will intervene," he said.

Opposition emergency services spokeswoman Margaret Quirk said the report exposed the Barnett government's failure to address significant issues facing volunteers.