ABSTRACT In the latter part of 2019 and into 2020, Australia experienced an unprecedented bushfire season, with major bushfires burning more than 18 million hectares. The scale of the fires served to highlight Australia’s heavy reliance on rural volunteer firefighters, bringing into sharp focus the long-term issues that many volunteer bushfire brigades have faced with recruitment and retention. Against the backdrop of long-term government dis-investment into the provision of essential services in rural communities, and with rural volunteer participation at saturation, a deeper understanding of the factors that influence involvement in volunteer bushfire brigades is vital. This review paper examined the factors that have contributed to rural volunteer shortages, particularly in the Australian context. The research revealed that increased time and financial demands on volunteers hampered attraction and retention efforts. The time and financial costs for individuals to volunteer had risen as a result of increased centralised regulation of volunteer provided services. Given the reliance of Australia’s broader population, environment and economy on the work of volunteer firefighters, there is a critical need for new empirical research to investigate how organisational cultures, changes in attitudes to different forms of volunteering and changes in employment practices will impact rural volunteer bushfire services.

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共同的风险：澳大利亚农村丛林消防队的志愿者短缺

摘要 在 2019 年下半年和 2020 年，澳大利亚经历了前所未有的丛林大火季节，主要丛林大火燃烧超过 1800 万公顷。火灾的规模凸显了澳大利亚对农村志愿消防员的严重依赖，突出了许多志愿丛林消防队在招募和保留方面面临的长期问题。在政府长期减少对农村社区基本服务提供的投资以及农村志愿者参与度达到饱和的背景下，深入了解影响参与志愿丛林消防队的因素至关重要。这篇评论文章研究了导致农村志愿者短缺的因素，特别是在澳大利亚的背景下。研究表明，对志愿者的时间和财务需求的增加阻碍了吸引和留住员工的努力。由于对志愿者提供的服务的集中监管增加，个人志愿服务的时间和财务成本增加了。鉴于澳大利亚更广泛的人口、环境和经济对志愿消防员工作的依赖，迫切需要新的实证研究来调查组织文化、对不同形式志愿服务的态度变化以及就业实践的变化将如何影响农村志愿者丛林大火服务。