Simon Lund was a firefighter who spent 25 years as a CFA senior technical field officer on some of the biggest fire emergencies in Victoria, and an advocate who spent much of his final year leading the campaign to have CFA professional, technical and administrative staff covered by the presumptive illness compensation rules.
Simon, who received a terminal diagnosis of oesophageal cancer a year ago, died on Monday 12 May. Even in his illness Simon continued to advocate for changes, last week urging his union the ASU to continue the fight.
Simon’s doctors attributed his stage 4 oesophageal cancer diagnosis to exposure to carcinogenic materials. In his technical role with the CFA, Simon worked on major fires across the state, including the fatal Black Saturday and Black Summer bushfires.
His job was to set up all the gear required at district headquarters and command centres on fire sites, including at the toxic Hazelwood Mine fire in 2014, where incident control staff were provided with standard PS2 masks and PPE gear, while firefighters who went down into the mine were issued with breathing apparatus.
The Firefighters' Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 ensures Victorian firefighters who are diagnosed with certain cancers are entitled to compensation on the basis that the exposure is presumed to be work-related.
Whilst Simon’s treating oncologist found there was a "sufficient probability" that Simon's exposure to smoke, fumes, ash and dust from fires, including chemical fires and significant coal mine fires, had "at least partly contributed to his risk of developing gastro-oesophageal adenocarcinoma" as he was employed by the CFA in an IT role, under the existing legislation he was not eligible for those presumptive rights. This meant that he had to deal with the administrative burden of having to prove that he had physically attended fires and been exposed to carcinogenic risk in order to secure a WorkCover compensation claim. The traumatic and exhausting process cost Simon and his family a lot of his precious remaining time. The challenges encountered in proving his claim motivated the Lund family to campaign for presumptive legislation to be expanded to include professional, technical, and administrative CFA employees.
"I don't want anyone to go through that when they should be spending time with their family and their friends and their colleagues and trying to enjoy the last of whatever timeframe they've got," Simon said.
Last month, Simon was presented with a National Service Medal from the Governor-General for his service with the CFA. During his time at the CFA Simon established the ASU sub-group for CFA members. Simon also served for a time as vice-president and acting president of the Gippsland Trades and Labour Council. On May Day this year, Simon was awarded life membership of the ASU by branch secretary Tash Wark, at a small ceremony at his home with family and friends and Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Services Sheena Watt MP.
The entire ASU, VTHC and wider union family mourn the loss of Simon, and our thoughts go out to his family and colleagues.
Read more: Vale ASU member and long-term CFA employee Simon Lund - ASU VicTas
Firefighter dies of cancer amid push to change presumptive compensation rules - ABC News
