NSW Rural Fire Service Long Service Medal

History

The NSW Rural Fire Service counts its strength in volunteers, tens of thousands of them across the state's brigades, and its Long Service Medal counts their years: awarded for ten years of long service, it was instituted on 4 May 2009, replacing the long service badges that had marked RFS careers before it. Each subsequent ten year period brings further recognition, an impeller and clasp added to the medal, so the fireground veterans of thirty and forty years wear their decades in a single group.

The medal sits within a wider RFS suite that runs from the Commissioner's Award for Valour, for conspicuous courage under great peril, through commendations for bravery and service. It is the service's own award, worn apart from the national honours, and often beside the National Medal that fifteen years of RFS service can also earn within the Australian system.

Design & ribbon

The medal

The medal carries the Crown at its apex, linked to the suspender bar, with the recipient's name inscribed on the reverse.

The ribbon

Red, green and blue verticals from the RFS crest.

The ribbon is watermarked and consists of five vertical stripes in red, green and blue, the colours taken from the crest of the NSW Rural Fire Service.

Clasps

Continued volunteer service is recognised at each further decade.

Eligibility

The medal is awarded for ten years of long service with the NSW Rural Fire Service.

• An impeller and clasp are awarded for each subsequent ten year period of service;
• The medal was instituted on 4 May 2009 and replaced the former long service badges;
• The medal sits outside the national honours system and carries no post-nominal.

Order of wear

Agency and state emergency service awards do not form part of the Australian honours system. They are worn separately from the national honours in accordance with the issuing agency's dress policy, and on civilian racks they are mounted as a distinct group apart from the official awards.

Frequently asked questions