Panel Members of the Australian Disasters Conference 2009

Session: Panel Outcome Discussion – The Future of Emergency Management in Australia

This session will recommend strategic measures to enhance mitigation and preparedness activities to build community resilience for the future.

The Conference will inform Australian Government emergency management policy, through submissions to the Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC), chaired by the Secretary, Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, and the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management (MCPEM), chaired by the Australian Government Attorney-General.

The AEMC is the peak body charged with responsibility for managing national strategic emergency management issues and policies. The AEMC has decision making authority and recommending authority to Ministers.

The AEMC members are well placed to participate in this panel discussion and will act as Session Chairs throughout the conference to identify the key issues emerging from the presentations.

Tony Pearce (Australian Government)
Peter Davies (Northern Territory)
Bruce Esplin (Victoria)
Jo Harrison-Ward (Western Australia)
Andrew Lea (Tasmania)
Gregor Manson (Australian Capital Territory)
Jim McGowan (Queensland)
Greg Mullins (New South Wales)
David Place (South Australia)

Additional panel members will also be invited.

Session: The Future Risk Environment

This session involves a hypothetical scenario set in the year 2019, facilitated by Dr Gael Jennings. A panel will explore Australia’s future risk environment and raise issues relevant to the four conference sub-themes.

Panel members to be confirmed

Tony Pearce
Director General, Emergency Management Australia

Tony Pearce commenced his appointment as Director General - Emergency Management Australia in August 2006 after having spent 27 years in the intelligence and emergency management sectors. He spent 9 years in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as an Intelligence Analyst (imagery) before commencing with the emergency services. After leaving the RAAF he spent twelve years with Ambulance Service Victoria in senior operations management positions responsible for emergency management and major incident response planning functions and is a qualified Paramedic. Two and a half years in the position of Deputy Chief Officer of the Victoria State Emergency Service preceded a move to the role of Director Emergency Management and Security in the Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner in Victoria in July 2003. This extensive period of involvement has seen Tony work across the emergency management continuum, commencing as a ‘hands on’ emergency responder and progressing to senior operations management positions before moving into senior government policy development roles.

Tony holds an Associate Diploma of Health Science, a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Emergency Management, a Graduate Diploma in Management and an Executive Master of Public Administration from Melbourne University and the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.

Tony’s emergency management background is extensive and he has for many years been a regular participant in forums dealing with national issues. Between 2004 and 2006 he Chaired the National Catastrophic Disasters Emergency Management Capability Review and in 2005 was also a member of the Prime Ministers Science, Engineering and Innovation Council Tsunami Working Group following the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

He is the President of the Oceania Region of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), a member of the US Board of the IAEM, Editor in Chief of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management and an Advisory Board Member to the Research Network for a Secure Australia.

Peter Davies
Director, Northern Territory Emergency Service

Peter Davies has been Director of the Northern Territory Emergency Service since July 2006. After leaving school at Scotch College in Perth in 1976, he joined the Australian Defence Force graduating from the Royal Military College Duntroon as an Infantry Officer. During his thirty year military career, he pursued two career streams in operations and project management. His operational career involved three postings with 6 RAR and appointments included Chief of Staff of Headquarters 1 Brigade and Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander Headquarters Northern Command. Mr Davies deployed overseas twice as the Chief of Staff of the Australian Joint Taskforce Headquarters in Iraq during Operation CATALYST in 2005 and as a Liaison Officer for the Australian deployment to Rwanda during Operation UNAMIR II in 1994.

As a project manager, Mr Davies specialised in equipment acquisition and organisational transformation. Highlights included managing Project Bluefin which re-equipped the Australian Defence Force's Special Forces for the Sydney Olympics and planning the establishment of Electronic Systems Division of the Defence Materiel Organisation, an 800 strong organisation geographically dispersed throughout Australia.

Mr Davies is a graduate of the Royal Military College Shrivenham (UK), Command and Staff College Queenscliff and the Joint Services Staff College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), a Master of Defence Studies and a Master of Business Administration.He was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Conduct for his contribution as the Chief of Staff of Australia's Joint Taskforce Headquarters in Iraq.

Bruce Esplin
Emergency Services Commissioner, Victoria

Bruce Esplin has an impressive career spanning more than twenty years in the emergency management sector. He was appointed Victoria’s first Emergency Services Commissioner in June 2000. Bruce is an advocate for an inclusive approach to emergency management and encourages continuous dialogue between community, government departments, agencies and organisations to lead the way in sector standards.

As the commissioner, Bruce travels extensively across Victoria, during and after emergencies to ensure that every Victorian has the appropriate opportunity to talk directly with senior representatives from government. The commissioner provides a conjugate for communities to contribute to the planning and policy of the way emergencies are managed.

Bruce has a vision for progressive emergency management arrangements where communities are not passive recipients of services, but active participants in their own safety planning and decision making.

Bruce has played a central role in the whole of government response to many major emergencies in Victoria including bushfires, gas explosions, extreme storms and floods, and critical infrastructure failure. He has conducted a number of independent, highly sensitive inquiries into the activities of government agencies and the appropriateness of the State’s emergency management arrangements. Such as, the ‘Report of the Inquiry into the 2002-2003 Bushfire’ 2003, the ‘Report of Fire Service Delivery in Latrobe City’ August 2005, ‘Report of the Response to a Emergency at Melbourne Airport’ March 24 and currently the ‘Review of the Gippsland Floods’.

Bruce is a passionate and committed spokesperson for the emergency management sector, particularly in Victoria where he is well known and respected as a leader in the future direction of emergency management.

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Jo Harrison-Ward
CEO, Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA), Western Australia

Ms Harrison-Ward's appointment as FESA CEO in 2006 followed three senior management positions in FESA - Executive Director Emergency Management; Manager Policy and Strategic Planning; and Manager Media and Public Affairs.

She has also held the positions of Director at the Department of Local Government and Regional Development (with responsibility for Machinery of Government Implementation) and Executive Director at the WA Police.

Before she joined FESA in 1998, she was a senior advisor on emergency services to successive State Government Ministers. Her academic qualifications include a Graduate Certificate in Management and a Master in Leadership and Management.

Andrew Lea
Director, State Emergency Service, Tasmania

Andrew Lea was appointed the Tasmanian Director, State Emergency Service (SES) in February 2001 after a 21 year career in the Royal Australian Navy. He directs 25 permanent staff and over 570 SES volunteers.

Originally from Nowra, NSW, he completed most of his schooling in Canberra, ACT, prior to joining the Royal Australian Navy in 1980. After specialising as a Seaman Officer and serving in many ships, he sub-specialised in mine warfare and clearance diving. Two seagoing commands and service with the US Navy were the highlights of his career. He concluded his service while Officer-In-Charge of the Navy’s Mine Warfare Faculty in Sydney. He remains a Royal Australian Naval Reservist.

As Director SES, Andrew performs the functions and powers under the Emergency Management Act 2006. This involves the management of the SES and the maintenance of a prepared and motivated volunteer work force. His duties and responsibilities also include Executive Officer of the State Emergency Management Committee, and as such, represents Tasmania on various national emergency management groups or committees, such as the Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC). He chairs the AEMC Tsunami Working Group, the AFAC/ACSES Operations Group and several State-level committees, such as the Nuclear Powered Warship Visits Committee and the combined emergency service Critical Incident Stress Management Committee.

Andrew lives in Hobart and is married with two teenage children.

Gregor_Manson Gregor Manson
Emergency Services Commissioner, ACT Emergency Services Agency

Gregor has 25 years’ experience managing national treasures such as the Great Barrier Reef, national parks within the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area as well as Kosciusko National Park and is a specialist in emergency management.

Since December 2006 Gregor has been appointed to the position of ACT Emergency Services Commissioner. Gregor’s role so far has been to introduce new governance and business management planing systems across the agency, manage a significant overspend of budgets to bring them back into balance as well as the integration of four operational services under a streamlined management system.

As the Executive Director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority from 2000 to 2005, Gregor dealt with two major shipping accidents – the grounding of the Malaysian container ship, the Bunga Teratai Satu and Greek registered bulk carrier, the Doric Chariot off the reef off Cairns.

From 1994 to 1998, as a manager in the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Gregor was an emergency incident controller for the Blue Mountains and Sydney region bushfires.

Gregor was also the Snowy Mountains Regional Director for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service from 1995 to 1998 and responsible for an area including the Kosciusko National Park and extending from Albury to Bombala up to the ACT border. He was part of the response team at the 1997 Thredbo landslide and spearheaded the recovery effort in the wake of the disaster.

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Jim McGowan
Director-General, Department of Emergency Services, Queensland

Jim McGowan was appointed as acting Director-General of the Department of Emergency Services in September 2007 and was formally appointed to the position in January 2008.

Previously Jim was Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney‑General.

Jim has extensive experience in the public sector, including Deputy Director‑General, Department of Industrial Relations, General Manager, Public Sector Industrial and Employee Relations, Department of Industrial Relations. Between 1974 and 1999 Jim had an extensive career in education having taught at a number of State high schools, including the positions of Principal and Deputy Principal.

He is the Queensland Government Champion for Aurukun.

He has a Bachelor of Economics, Diploma of Education and is a Commissioner of Declarations.

Commissioner Greg Mullins, AFSM
New South Wales Fire Brigade

Greg Mullins was appointed as Commissioner of the NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB) in July 2003, and is the first fire officer in the 124 year history of the NSWFB to be appointed as both Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive Officer. He joined the NSWFB in 1978 after serving as a bushfire brigade volunteer from 1972.

Since 2000 when he was appointed Director State Operations, he has been intimately involved in the development of the NSWFB’s capabilities and role in managing the consequences of terrorist attack, including Urban Search and Rescue, and Chemical, Biological, and Radiological attack.

Commissioner Mullins sits on the NSW CEO’s Counter Terrorism Coordinating Group, is a Ministerial adviser on the NSW Cabinet Standing Committee on Counter Terrorism, represents all Australian Fire Services on the National USAR Capability Development Board, has represented Australia at the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (UN), and is a member of the State Rescue Board and Deputy Chair of the State Emergency Management Committee.

During his career he has received awards for courageous action and meritorious service, and holds tertiary qualifications including a Masters Degree in Management. In 2002, he completed the Executive Fire Officer Program at the United States Fire Academy and in 1995 completed a Churchill Fellowship that involved researching fire services in Europe, the UK, USA and Canada.

David Place
Commissioner of Fire and Emergencies, SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM)

David is the current Commissioner of Fire and Emergencies of the SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM). His role is Chair of the SAFECOM Board as well as Chief Executive of SAFECOM, to which the State Emergency Service (SES), Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) and Country Fire Service (CFS) report.

The sector has 1,200 employees and has responsibility for around 20,000 volunteers. The Commissioner is Chairperson of the Emergency Services Leadership Council (ESLC), National Chair of the Remote Indigenous Communities Advisory Committee (RICAC – a committee that is leading policy for remote Indigenous communities in terms of emergency management). David is one of two Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC) members representing South Australia on the national Emergency Management Committee (EMC).

David previously held the dual positions of Chief Executive of SAFECOM and Chief Office of the SES, following his appointment as Chief Officer of the SES in 2004.

Prior to these roles, David was a senior executive for the SA Ambulance Service (SAAS), involved in Regional Operations, Communications and other Corporate Services. David commenced with SAAS in 1984 and spent 10 years as a frontline Ambulance Officer prior to being promoted through the operational ranks. David’s career with SAAS spanned 20 years.

A keen four wheel drive enthusiast and scuba diver, David loves exploring remote Australia with his family and capturing those memories through photography, both above and below the water.