Conference Program
To view additional information about a speaker or session, click on the session title.
Tuesday 5 May 2026
Day 0 (Pre-conference)
Official Opening
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Registration Open
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Tradeshow Hall Open
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Tradeshow Hall
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Day 1
7:30 am – 5:00 pm
Registration Open
7:30 am – 5:00 pm
Tradeshow Hall Open
Plenary Sessions
Room
8:30 am – 8:35 am
Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC
8:35 am – 8:40 am
Ben Parkhill, President, FPA Australia
8:40 am – 9:00 am
Standards to Solutions: Advancing Fire Protection Together
Presenter:
Trevor Gauld, Deputy Commissioner, Jobs and Skills Australia
Moderator:
Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC
9:00 am – 9:30 am
Roadmap for reforms to the regulation of ESM maintenance
Presenter:
Bronwyn Weir, Director, Weir Legal and Consulting
Moderator:
Brett de Hoedt, Fire Australia MC
9:30 am – 10:30 am
Panellists :
Steven Baxas, Victorian State Building Surveyor, Building and Plumbing Commission
Megan Peacock, Executive Director, Building Policy and Reform, Department of Transport and Planning
Joshua Fischer, Deputy Commissioner, Fire Rescue Victoria
Moderator:
Simon Rickard, Fire Australia, National Technical Manager
10:30 am – 10:55 am
Morning Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Breakout Sessions
Stream:
Room:
11:00 am – 11:40 am
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Double session:
11:00am – 12:25pm
Smoke Control – The Great Black Art
Vance Rowe, Life Safety Products Manager, Price Holyoake
Ivan Steed, Senior Fire Safety Assessor, Grosvenor Engineering Group
Pat McManus, Managing Director, Stokes Safety
David Isaac, Director, Fire and Safety Technologies
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Narrowing the Gap – Smaller Aisles and Flue Spaces Under Taller Ceilings
Phil Friday, P.E., FSFPE, Vice President, Product Technology, The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co. Inc.
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Navigating Regional Compliance and Fire Safety
Brendan Sweet, Regional Fire Safety Coordinator, Northern Victoria, Fire Rescue Victoria
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Secrets Behind a Successful Fire Safety Study – Insights from BESS and Data Centre Case Studies
Alam Hossain, Senior Risk Engineer, Fire Rescue Victoria
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Natural Hazards Research Australia – Overview of new projects
Brendon McAtee, Natural Hazards Research Australia
11:15am – 11:40am
A compound event – fires and a tropical cyclone – Tropical Cyclone Alby, April 1978
Geoff Boughton, Senior Research Engineer, Cyclone Testing Station
Stream:
Room:
11:45 am – 12:25 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Session continued:
Smoke Control – The Great Black Art
Vance Rowe, Life Safety Products Manager, Price Holyoake
Ivan Steed, Senior Fire Safety Assessor, Grosvenor Engineering Group
Pat McManus, Managing Director, Stokes Safety
David Isaac, Director, Fire and Safety Technologies
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Building to purpose and purpose to build
Pelle Zetterström, National Lead, Fire Safety Engineering, KBR
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Low-Pressure Water Mist in Protection of Aircraft Hangers
Jesse Comino, Associate Director | Principal Fire Protection Engineer, DMA Engineers
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Dr. Humaid Al Ali, Deputy Director of Fire Affairs, General Command of Civil Defense, Ministry Of Interior, United Arab Emirates
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Bushfire Risk at the Rural-Urban Interface
Prof. David Bowman, University of Tasmania
12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
Lunch
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
1:25 pm – 2:05 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
The Hidden Requirements of AS 1851-2012: Routine Activities That Matter
Antonio Serianni, Flamestop
Mathew Kenn, General Manager, ARA Fire
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Passive fire design considerations for modular construction
Charles Boyce, Building Regulations Manager, Passive Fire, Jensen Hughes
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Practical AI for Fire Protection Leaders & Teams
Thamasha “Tham” Galahena, Founder, Enble AI
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Signed, sealed……accountable. Managing Liability, Ethics & Risk in Fire Safety Practice
Nat Andrews, Director, Certifiers 2U
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Developing an understanding of the impacts of Lithium-Ion battery fires
Assoc. Prof. David Lange, University of Queensland
Stream:
Room:
2:10 pm – 2:55 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Identifying and Remediating Defects in Wet Fire Protection Systems
Will Porteous, General Manager, Firewize
Anthony Lada, State Manager, Wormald
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Panellists:
Dan O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer, Cladding Safety Victoria
Sarnia Rusbridge, Principal, Holmes Australia
Kjetil Pedersen, Director, STRATEG Consulting
Moderator:
Bronwyn Weir, Director, Weir Legal & Consulting
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Stacey Fein, National Accreditation Manager, FPA Australia
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
The challenges and potential solutions for Fire Suppression of Lithium-Ion Battery Fires
Craig Nixon, Senior Business Development Manager, FirePro Systems
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Insights from the L.A. January 2025 fires for Perth, Western Australia
Anna Durkin, PhD Candidate, RMIT University
Stream:
Room:
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Firestopping in High-Density Building Facades: Challenges, Compliance and Good Practice
Dr Martin Stirling, Codes & Approval (Passive Firestop) / Work Health & Safety Manager, Hilti
John Henry, Commercial Technical Director, Trafalgar Fire
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
When Does a BESS Become a Special Hazard?
Matt Booth, ACT Manager, Fire Safety Engineering, Jensen Hughes
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
The Future of Fire, New Technology and Implementation Challenges
Nathan Brown, Director, Fire Safety / Protection Engineer, BCA Engineers
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Warden Effective Response Solutions
Ian Collins, Fire & Emergency Consultant
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Fire Engineering & BCA Part G5
Sarnia Rusbridge, Principal, Holmes Australia
3:35 pm – 4:15 pm
Afternoon Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
4:20 pm – 5:00 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Beyond Charging: Powerbank Safety in Homes, High-Rises, and Travel
Alex Hoyle, Executive Director, Guardian Mechanical and Building Services
Gary Rowe, Managing Director, Rowe Management
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Earthquake design of fire safety systems
Jordan Bartlett, Resilience Planner, Proactive Design
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Barriers to innovation in life Safety
Mark Burgess, Director, KBR Research
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Sheran Khan, Senior Fire Safety Consultant, Strateg Consulting
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Nayan Das, Engagement Manager (Building & Construction), Standards Australia
7:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Conference and Awards Gala Dinner
The Palladium at Crown Melbourne
Thursday 7 May 2026
Day 2
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Registration Open
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tradeshow Hall Open
Room
Plenary Room – Eureka 1 & 2
Plenary Sessions
8:45 am – 9:15 am
Breakout Sessions
Stream:
Room:
9:15 am – 9:55 am
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Double session:
9:15am – 10:30am
David Isaac, Director, Fire and Safety Technologies
Carmelo Scaffidi, EH & Product Compliance Leader, Kidde Global Solutions
Nat Andrews, Director, Certifiers 2U
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Dave Boyack, Marketing Manager Oceania, Securiton AG
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Fire-Fighting Water Demand for Emerging Hazards on Renewable Energy Projects in Australia
Jack Tetley, Fire Safety Engineer, Lote Consulting
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
When Compartmentation Fails: Real-World Consequences from Grenfell
Shahid Malimar, National Sales Manager, Firefly
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Bushfire Risk to Buildings at the Bushland-Urban Interface from Garden Vegetation
Assoc. Prof. Anthony Ariyanayagam, Structural Engineering, Queensland University of Technology
Stream:
Room:
10:00 am – 10:30 am
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Session continued:
David Isaac, Director, Fire and Safety Technologies
Carmelo Scaffidi, EH & Product Compliance Leader, Kidde Global Solutions
Nat Andrews, Director, Certifiers 2U
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Design vs Construction – The disconnect
Michael Slatter, Executive Director, erbas
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Dr. Mahmood Khan, National Training Manager, Firefly
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Understanding the legal obligations for fire servicing and maintenance
Aggie Vlahos, Elit Lawyers
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Behaviour and design of steel cladding systems under combined wind and bushfire conditions
Prof. Mahen Mahendran, Structural Engineering, Queensland University of Technology
10:35 am – 10:55 am
Morning Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Breakout Sessions
Stream:
Room:
11:00 am – 11:40 am
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Double session:
11:00am – 12:25pm
From Members to Outcomes: The Role of TACs and NTAC in Fire Safety
Simon Rickard, National Technical Manager, FPA Australia
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Reducing the Risk of Fires in New and Existing Carparks?
Adam Glew, Senior Fire Safety Engineer, Arup
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Smoke Alarm Legislation
Kaleigh Gothie, Student Researcher, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Erin Henaghen, Student Researcher, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Ryan Magner, Student Researcher, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Kaitlin Neesen, Student Researcher, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Inside the BESS Fire Safety Revolution
Mishaal SyedNaveed, Product Manager, Wärtsilä Energy Storage
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Use of charred timber cladding in bushfire-prone areas
Fang Lin, Fire Safety Officer, Fire Rescue Victoria
Stream:
Room:
11:45 am – 12:25 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Session continued:
From Members to Outcomes: The Role of TACs and NTAC in Fire Safety
Simon Rickard, National Technical Manager, FPA Australia
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
The Untapped Potential of the Fire Engineering Report
Emily Wearne, Graduate Fire Engineer, Arup
Chris MacDonald, Associate, Arup
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
11:45am – 12:05pm
Nicholas Best, Executive Officer, Fire Protection Industry (ODS & SGG) Board
12:05pm – 12:25pm
Shaping the Future of Fire Protection: National EPA Transition, Industry Data and Training Needs
Henry Coles, Senior Project Officer, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
Luke Bickett, Senior Project Officer, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
The Value of Collaboration at All levels
Paul Horton, Commander, Building Inspection & Compliance, Fire Rescue Victoria
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Is Flammability Index of 5 or less enough?
Dr. Mahmood Khan, National Training Manager, Firefly
12:30 pm – 1:20 pm
Lunch
Tradeshow Hall
Stream:
Room:
1:25 pm – 2:05 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
The Future of Firefighting Foams: Moving from AFFF to Fluorine-free Solutions
Carlo Tribbia, Director, Trizen Corp
James Perriss, Director of Product Management – Global Suppressants, Solberg – Perimeter Solutions
Brett Staines, Special Hazards Consultant
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Con Nicolas, Managing Director, Nicolas Building Surveyors
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
NFPA 855 2026 – The latest in BESS Fire Safety Requirements
Nicholas Bartlett, Senior Fire Protection Engineer, Atar Fire
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Oliver Hare, Principal Fire Safety Engineer, DDEG
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
What households living with bushfire risk need to know
Max Garner, Secretary, Bushfire Resilience
Stream:
Room:
2:10 pm – 2:55 pm
The Technical Edge
Eureka 1 & 2
Where Standards Meet Reality: Debated Issues with Portable Fire Equipment
Ben Parkhill, General Manager, Flamestop
Ray Mergard, Fire Suppression & Fire Equipment Consultant, Multi Torque
Rob Lind, Safety and Quality Manager, Fire Equipment Services (FES)
Engineering and Design
Eureka 3
Fire Engineering and Electric Vehicles / Devices
Sarnia Rusbridge, National Chair, Society of Fire Safety (SFS)
Industry – Contractors in Fire Protection
Courtyard Room
Application of NFPA 855 and Large Scale Fire Testing to Fire Safety Studies for Grid Scale BESS
Christopher Koch, Senior Fire Engineer, Lote Consulting
Industry – Protecting people, property and business
Meeting Room 109
Enhancing Fire Safety in Industrial Operations – Innovations and Best Practices
Jignesh Patel, Sales Engineer, ProDetec
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
What households living with bushfire risk need to know – Panel session
Panelists:
Max Garner, Secretary, Bushfire Resilience
Malcolm Hackett OAM, Chairman, Bushfire Resilience
Justin Leonard, Retired CSIRO Bushfire Researcher
Dr. Raphaele Blanchi, Research Group Leader, CSIRO Environment Research Unit
Moderator:
Jason McFadyen, Bushfire Technical Officer, FPA Australia
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Afternoon Tea
Tradeshow Hall
Room:
3:35 pm – 4:15 pm
Plenary Session
Plenary Room
Eureka 1 & 2
Connections matter: Building systems integration
Breakout Session
National Hazards Research Australia and Bushfire
Meeting Room 110
Bushfire smoke resilience, tenability, and the unspoken gap in Specification 43
Ben Gill, CEO, Plasma Shield Ltd
4:15 pm – 4:55 pm
Plenary Sessions
