12 June 2026 – In a welcome move for the local government sector, the NSW Government has announced that from 1 July 2027, it will take over ownership and responsibility of the Rural Fire Service’s mobile assets – commonly referred to as the “Red Fleet”.
Mayor Darcy Byrne, President of Local Government NSW said the move would come as a great relief to local councils across NSW.
“For the last 30 years, legislation has said that these assets are owned by councils. Yet councils had no say in the acquisition, usage and disposal of these assets; these were all decisions of the Rural Fire Service” said Mayor Byrne.
Despite this, councils have been required to record these assets in their financial statements and absorb the depreciation expense for these assets, as well as the costs of inspecting and recording these assets in their accounts. Today’s announcement means that once the transfer takes place next year, councils will no longer carry this impost.
“Today’s reform will be particularly felt in smaller rural and regional areas where the vesting of Red Fleet assets has had a huge impact as these communities often have a proportionally larger RFS presence. These councils were carrying a heavy financial burden by being forced to record them on their books.”
“This is a major win for local government and comes after years of persistent advocacy by LGNSW and from our individual councils”.
Most recently, LGNSW made strong representations to an inquiry conducted by the NSW Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee whose final report recommended that legal ownership of the fleet should be transferred to the RFS as a state agency.
“We thank the members of that Committee for recognising this urgent need and we are pleased that the State Government has acted so decisively on this key recommendation to transfer ownership.”
“Councils strongly support the work of the RFS and recognise that it is a world leading firefighting service. We look forward to working with the State Government over the next 12 months to ensure a successful transition, including appropriate consideration of maintenance contracts.”
