Presentations

Angus Dorney is the co-CEO of Kablamo, the data management and digital product development specialist. After the devastating Australian bushfire season of 2019-2020, Angus and his team committed to exploring how technology could support fire services and reduce the destruction caused by fires. As a result, Angus gained a granular knowledge of the technological state of Australian firefighting and learned how Cloud, AI, data and geo-spatial technology may be harnessed for the future of firefighting. Learn more at www.kablamo.com.au

Nearing 20 years industry experience, Kingsley provides an extensive knowledge of Building Regulations and challenges we face in the built-environment today. An engaging speaker, Kingsley distils complicated regulations to provide practical insights that allow built-form stakeholders to develop safe & sustainable infrastructure. Passionate about building & fire safety, whilst also satisfying commercial & performance requirements, Kingsley places a focus on the ‘shared role’ of building health.

Nearing 20 years industry experience, Kingsley provides an extensive knowledge of Building Regulations and challenges we face in the built-environment today. An engaging speaker, Kingsley distils complicated regulations to provide practical insights that allow built-form stakeholders to develop safe & sustainable infrastructure. Passionate about building & fire safety, whilst also satisfying commercial & performance requirements, Kingsley places a focus on the ‘shared role’ of building health.

Greg Campbell is a qualified building surveyor and lawyer and has advised extensively on building control issues for the last 30 years.  Greg worked as a building inspector and building surveyor for various local governments from the mid 70 to the mid 80s.  After completing an honours degree in Law in 1988 he commenced practice as a lawyer.

Over the past 32 years, Greg has specialised in construction and infrastructure law and has a particular speciality in building regulation and building control.  Greg was a partner at Maddocks in Melbourne for 25 years and is currently a partner in international law firm, Pinsent Masons, having moved there in 2015.

While at Maddocks, Greg advised the State building regulator, fire authorities, architecture and building practitioner disciplinary boards, Councils, as well as developers and contractors.  More recently while at Pinsent Masons he has been advising infrastructure owners and investors, builders, contractors and building practitioners.

Bill’s experience in the fire industry extends over 30 years. During this time he has established and operated several fire industry businesses. He is involved in several working groups to advance the fire protection industry educationally.

Trent joined the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) in Melbourne as a recruit firefighter in 1999 having previously been a fire communications dispatcher. Working as a firefighter and an officer at several stations across metropolitan Melbourne, he spent most of his time working at MFB’s No. 1 Station in East Melbourne.

In 2010, he undertook the role of Manager Strategic Analysis and Reporting where he oversaw MFB’s business intelligence and spatial analysis functions. During this time, he worked to improve fire station strategic location planning, community risk profiling and operational response performance outcomes.

Following promotion to the rank of Commander in 2013, Trent moved into the community development portfolio where he led the development of emergency risk management systems to assist emergency services and municipalities in assessing risks in the built environment. He then worked as a staff officer to the MFB Chief Officer and led the Office of the Chief Officer.

More recently as MFB’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Operational Learning and Development, Trent played a lead role in improving interoperability in Victoria by delivering the first combined recruit firefighter courses for both MFB and the Country Fire Authority whilst managing the Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre. He was also responsible for MFB’s regulatory responsibilities in the built environment and for engagement with key regulators and industry bodies during his appointment as the Assistant Chief Fire Officer of Fire Safety. A key focus in this role was to improve firefighter and community safety around the non-compliant use of building materials, high-risk dangerous goods and high-risk waste and recycling sites. He then held a key sector reform leadership role in MFB’s transition to the newly formed Fire Rescue Victoria.

Most recently, Trent has taken up the role of Assistant Commissioner Community Safety with Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW).  In this role, he has responsibility for FRNSW’s Community Safety portfolio covering a diverse range of functions including community education, fire safety, compliance, infrastructure and special hazards, fire investigation and research, community fire units, and FRNSW’s commercial training business ComSafe.

Trent has extensive operational experience at the Incident and Strategic level and has led responses to several major emergencies in both the built and natural environments. He has held leadership roles at a variety of major fires including large waste and recycling plant fires, bushfires, a high-rise building fire involving combustible cladding and numerous large industrial fires

Dr David Lange is a Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering at the University of Queensland. His research interests lie in structural fire engineering, risk and reliability based design; and the resilience infrastructure to natural hazards. He is an associate editor of the Springer journal Fire Technology, a member of the editorial board of Fire Safety Journal; as well as a contributing editor to Fire Safety News, the twice-yearly newsletter of the International Association of Fire Safety Science. He was also one of the lead researchers on the recently completed Warren Centre Project Professionalising Fire Safety Engineering.

Lizzie is an Associate at Arup, with over 14 years’ experience as a fire safety engineer. She is a Chartered Engineer (CPEng, NER) and Registered Building Practitioner (EF) in Victoria. Lizzie has worked on a diverse range of projects during her career from residential, commercial and retail buildings through to transport infrastructure and industrial facilities. Her experience includes undertaking reviews of fire safety strategies, active and passive fire safety systems. This has involved: onsite visual inspections and desktop reviews, reviewing the physical condition of systems, determining the accuracy of the documentation compared to the as-built condition, identification of defects in new and existing systems, and categorisation of non-compliances and ranking them to prioritise rectification.

Dr Maria Kornakova is a Bushfire Services Coordinator at FPA Australia. Architect and Fulbright Scholar, Maria successfully completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Melbourne and Massey University, NZ. The key focus of her research and now her professional interest is ‘bushfire risk reduction practices through building, planning and architecture’. In 2018 Maria joined FPA Australia allowing her to now practically assist industry by applying the skills and knowledge she gained over the years of her academic career.

Matt Press is the Director of the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner and responsible for leading the delivery of Construct NSW – a transformation program that seeks to restore pride and confidence in the NSW building and construction industry. Matt is passionate about driving change to produce customer-centric outcomes and previously held roles in building regulation, strategy consulting and corporate affairs.  He has worked locally and internationally for organisations such as PwC, Ofcom, Bupa Health and Optus.

Michael is currently the Administrator of the National Health Funding Pool, appointed by the Commonwealth and all States and Territories to oversight the funding of all public hospitals in Australia.

Between 1979 and 1997 he was a senior executive in the NSW Treasury, occupying positions such as Chief Economist, Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Secretary responsible for the preparation of the State Budget and culminating in being the Secretary of the NSW Treasury.

From 1997 to 2015 he was a senior investment banker advising governments both in Australia and overseas. In 2011 he returned to act as head of the NSW Treasury for a transitional period under the incoming O’Farrell Government and undertook an audit of State finances.

Michael has also been a member of a number of Boards of Government owned businesses, including Energy Australia, State Superannuation and an Area Health Board as well as various not for profit bodies, including the NSW Cancer Council.

He has undertaken a number of major reviews on behalf of the NSW Government related to the building sector , namely:

• Review of building regulation in NSW, producing a comprehensive report in 2015
• Review of swimming pool regulation resulting in a report to the NSW Government, also in 2015
• More recently he chaired a working party that developed the Practice Standard for Registered Building Certifiers (September 2020).
• Currently he is chairing, on behalf of the NSW Building Commissioner, a Steering composed of representatives of government and the building industry which is focussed on seeking to ensure best practice regulation and practice in fire safety in the building sector.

After 17 years working as a journalist, news anchor and communications professional in the region, Kevin Anderson was chosen by more than 4,500 members of the general public in Australia’s first and most successful community preselection to contest the 2011 State Election as The Nationals candidate.

Ever since winning Tamworth back for The Nationals from an incumbent independent, Kevin has been an extremely hard working and dedicated local member with excellent results that speak for themselves.

When first elected to State Parliament Kevin quickly set to work on delivering a number of commitments made by previous governments but had never materialised. During his first term, Kevin also obtained state funding for a series of projects including the Split Rock-Barraba pipeline, the Chaffey Dam upgrade, Gunnedah rail overpass and the long-overdue Tamworth Base Hospital redevelopment. He also worked tirelessly to see legislation introduced to legalise medicinal marijuana.

In his first term of Parliament, Kevin was the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Community Services and spent time as the Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics, Member of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and as a Member of the Committee on the Ombudsman, the Police Integrity Commission and the Crime Commission. He has also previously held the position of Chair of the Legislative Assembly Council on Investment, Industry and Regional Development.

Kevin has served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier and for Regional Roads and Rail, and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Roads and Transport in 2017.  In 2019, Kevin became Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation.

Outside of politics, Kevin spent 11 years as a journalist with Prime News in Tamworth which allowed him to speak to families across the region about the issues which affected their lives and businesses before working with the Hunter New England Area Health Service as their communications and business development manager. He has also taken on a large amount of volunteer work for local charities and community groups such as the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, the Salvation Army and the St Nicholas School Board. In 2008 he was part of the committee that built the Tamworth Ronald McDonald House in two and a half days.

Kevin lives in Tamworth with his wife Anna and three children, Will, Ella and Sam. Kevin plays rhythm guitar and sings with his mates in their popular local band, Splashpool in his spare time.

Angus Abadee is the Director of Building and Construction Policy at the NSW Department of Customer Service where he is responsible for the design and implementation of the NSW Government’s reform agenda across the building industry.

Before taking up this role in July 2020, Angus has served as the Director, Safer Communities at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Director of Policy & Legislation at Liquor & Gaming NSW, as well as roles at the NSW Department of Justice, advising on criminal law policy, and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, advising on Indigenous and constitutional law policy.

George has over 20 years experience in civil, commercial / industrial construction industry. His experience ranges from Project Engineer / Manager with Engineering Design Management, working on rail, highways and infrastructure projects, to Business Development Manager charged with the responsibility of seeking out new business and client opportunities.

Technical Engineer with extensive experience liaising with architects, engineers and other specifiers, to provide value added design guidance and product solutions in commercial / industrial and domestic projects.

Business Development Manager with proven track record of developing new business opportunities. Team management experience working closely with engineers, architects, builders and developers as well as manufacturing sales, marketing and R&D departments. Lead developer managing innovative new products and design solutions that offer sustainable and construction efficiencies.

Michael Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in engineering (structural) and worked initially in consulting structural engineering. He has worked at various roles within CSR for over 20 years, and his experience includes providing technical support, writing technical manuals, developing new systems, and maintaining compliance documents.

Michael has worked with many of the fire testing companies in the region, including CSIRO, Warringtonfire, BRANZ, Ignis Labs, and AWTA for system and material testing, and has performed many AS1530.4 based tests in CSR’s pilot furnace.

Mr Stuart Ellis AM, is Chief Executive Officer of the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC). AFAC is the national council for fire and emergency services across Australia and New Zealand, and is the facilitator and custodian of contemporary knowledge and practice, for the benefit of our members and through them, the community. There are 288,000 volunteers and career staff engaged across AFAC agencies providing fire and emergency services. Through a collaborative approach AFAC assists the emergency services sector to identify and achieve strategic and operational priorities.

Mr Ellis is an experienced leader in the emergency management industry. Following a distinguished 22 year career in the Australian Army, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer/Chief Officer of the South Australian Country Fire Service for five years. In 2002, Mr Ellis established a consultancy company and has been involved in over 20 operational reviews, including the Canberra Bushfires, the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission and the Christchurch Earthquake. In 2012 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Australasian Fire & Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC), the national council for Fire and Emergency Services in Australasia.

He is passionate about improving the professional standing of fire and emergency personnel and has a focus on progressing an industry wide, integrated approach to emergency management.

Nathan is Team Leader for CSIRO Fire Engineering. He is a Senior Fire Safety Engineer with 20+ years experience in fire safety consulting and experimental research. Nathan has practical expertise in a broad range of fire safety areas including material flammability and fire behaviour, fire testing including large scale heat release rate measurement, façade fire safety, passenger rail fire safety, buildings in bushfire protection and fire safety design for buildings. Nathan has set fire to trains, houses, fire trucks and numerous building products.

Nathan has assisted the Victorian state-wide cladding audit and has extensive experience in combustible cladding inspection, testing, risk assessments and rectification solutions. He has authored several publications including the book “Fire Hazards of Exterior Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components” published by the NFPA Fire Protection Research foundation.

Alex is Group Leader of the Victoria team which provides a wide ranges of consulting and testing services to the Infrastructure and construction sector from acoustics to durability. Fire safety is his passion with over 24 years experience in the fire safety industry working in a range of areas. He has a wealth of qualifications and technical skills in flammability of materials, facade fire safety, fire testing, rail safety, bushfire protection , fire dynamics, egress human behaviour in fire.

He is a Registered Building Practitioner (EF) in Victoria, C10 Accredited Certifier, Fire Safety Engineering in NSW, a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) and Fire Safety Engineer in Malaysia. Alex has lead fire engineering design and implementation across a diverse range of building and infrastructure projects: high rise, commercial, residential, retail, multi – purpose complexes, airports, passenger trains, underground rail transport systems, rail and road tunnels.

Specialties:

• Fire engineering and general fire safety
• Materials flammability and full scale fire testing
• Hot smoke testing
• Means of escape analysis
• Structural fire protection analysis
• Design of buildings for bushfire resilience
• Risk assessment
• Research and development in the field of fire safety science

Alex is a guest lecturer on flammability and fire testing for “Graduate Certificate/Diploma in Building Fire Safety and Risk Engineering Management” course at Victoria University of Technology, Werribee. 2011- Present.

CSIRO representative on the Australian Standards Committee since 2009
Committee FP18 – Fire Safety
Committee FP23 – Tunnel Fire Safety

Alex has attend ISO Technical Committee 92 Fire Safety as the Australian delegate since 2017 in both fire testing and fire engineering. He was Victorian Cladding taskforce expert panel and is currently involved in the building audit program. Co-author of the CSIRO “Fire Safety Guideline for external cladding, 2016”.

Brett Fairweather has represented local engineering practices for over 20 years and now runs a mechanical services consultancy, supporting other practitioners in their roles throughout the industry. A core area of his work is assisting other designers to navigate and understand the objectives, requirements and application of HVAC Codes and Standards in their own projects.

Brett has previously delivered training sessions for FPAA on a range of HVAC matters, including fire and smoke dampers, stair pressurisation, mechanical air handling systems and confirming operational performance of mechanical services. He also supports other industry bodies in the development and delivery of other training sessions and participates in a range of industry technical committees and advisory groups.

The opportunity to be involved in Fire Australia 2021 will be a great way to share insights from his own experiences and answer some common industry queries along the way.

Hank is a Principal at LCI with over 35 years of experience in the building construction and regulatory compliance industry in Australia. Having been involved in a diverse range of projects, he has specialised in regulatory compliance, maintenance services contracts, and in undertaking audits of the building, works and contractors works to ensure compliance meets the contract conditions and, statutory requirements.

Hank was one of the first independent building experts to be appointed for both the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Victorian Government Authority to undertake investigations of buildings with respect to compliance with the Contract, Building Code of Australia, Australian Standards and building practitioners. He has also been a municipal and private building surveyor as legislated under the Building Act. He has vast experience in building investigation and in preparing reports on building defects and has appeared as an independent expert before the Magistrates, County and Supreme Courts.

David Isaac is the business Principal and Director of Fire and Safety Technologies Pty. Ltd.

David is an industry veteran of 50 years in electrical systems design installation and commissioning for building services, heavy industrial installations and essential services systems including fire detection, warning and smoke control systems.

David is an Accredited Practitioner Fire Safety F011196D ‘Detection & Alarm Systems’ – Advanced Level 3 under the FPA Australia Fire Systems Design Accreditation Scheme for NSW and Victoria.

David holds post trade electrical engineering certificates (diploma level) in Building Services and Heavy Industrial installations.
David is an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Registered cabler and holds electrical licenses in NSW and Queensland.

In 2016 the Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) awarded David with the AV Viscogliosi award which recognises “Excellence for outstanding service to fire protection”.

In 2019, David was elected to the Board of Directors of the Fire Protection Association of Australia.
David is a participating member of:

• Australian Standards Committee FP002 – ‘Fire Detection, Warning, Control & Intercom Systems’ which writes the suite of
• Australian Standards on fire detection and alarm systems.
• Australian Standards Sub-Committee ME-062 advising the committee on the electrical performance and compliance for AS 1668.1 ‘The use of ventilation and air-conditioning in buildings Part 1: Fire and smoke control in buildings’.
• Australian Standard Committee FP-004 – Automatic Fire Sprinkler Installations – Electrical liaison position between committees FP-002 and FP-004.
• Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) Technical Advisory Committee TAC/2.
• A former FPAA representative to Australian Communications Industry Forum Cabling Advisory Group (ACIF/CAG) telecommunications industry cabling Standards.

David served as a volunteer in the NSW Rural Fire Service from 1978 to 1989.

In the last 30 years David has worked in private consulting, advising corporations on building fire safety measures (safety services) and held senior management roles for major international fire detection system manufacturers.

In the last 20 years David has been an active participant in Fire Industry Associations and the Standards writing processes in Australia.
David is a consumer advocate and has published several articles on the imperative of uniformity and Code compliance of fire safety measures. David is well known for his technical expertise and has had several engagements as an expert witness.

David is a major stake holder for regulatory reform for residential smoke alarm installations and has appeared in several Television and ABC radio programs since 2006.

In his current role as Operation’s Chief Engineer, Michael is responsible for the technical quality of the loss prevention engineering services provided to client locations throughout Australia and New Zealand. This includes development of pragmatic risk mitigation measures and implementation of corporate initiatives focused on loss prevention engineering. Michael is also involved in a number of external organisations including the Insurance Council of Australia, Fire Protection Association of Australia and Standards Australia. Michael is the current Chairman of Australian Standards committee FP-004: Automatic Fire Sprinkler Installations.

Since joining FM Global in 2001 Michael has also worked as a consultant engineer and as Group Manager. Michael’s prior experience includes 10 years working as an electrical engineer in both the coal mining and water/wastewater industries where he gained skills in design engineering, project management, maintenance and operations.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Newcastle and a Masters of Commerce (Finance) from the University of NSW.

Justin Morris is the Technical Director of Wormald Australia; responsible for the engineering practices and introduction of new fire protection systems and technologies nationally. Justin has over 18 years of experience in the design, installation and commissioning of fixed fire suppression systems and ‘Special Hazard’ fire safety systems including sprinklers, hydrants, gaseous agent systems, water spray, water mist and foam systems.

His experience covers a range of market sectors including commercial, residential, industrial, defence in applications such as data centres, switch rooms, power stations, large commercial developments, hangars, marine and offshore facilities.  Prior to his current role, Justin led Wormald’s Engineering Support Group in Asia, where he supported the installation and servicing businesses in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Korea, India and the UAE in land and marine based applications.

Nearing 20 years industry experience, Kingsley provides an extensive knowledge of Building Regulations and challenges we face in the built-environment today. An engaging speaker, Kingsley distils complicated regulations to provide practical insights that allow built-form stakeholders to develop safe & sustainable infrastructure. Passionate about building & fire safety, whilst also satisfying commercial & performance requirements, Kingsley places a focus on the ‘shared role’ of building health.

Mr Justin Leonard has dedicated the last 22 of his 26 year research career to the understanding of how bushfire risk to life and infrastructure can be managed. His work has built on the learning of an already established research area within CSIRO in which he was initially mentored and then inherited. The research area combines learnings from bushfire exposure experiments with post bushfire survey investigations and computer modelling of bushfire interactions with buildings.

Recent activities include the development and delivery of accreditations course on bushfire risk assessment with Melbourne University, providing technical support for the Victorian Community Bushfire Community Refuge Program, developing the bushfire planning risk maps for Queensland, development of a comprehensive life/house loss database for Australia, developing innovative ways to perform post bushfire surveys and assisting various individuals and industry groups develop novel building design solutions and related standards.

Challenging outdated opinions and practices within the construction industry, Peter uses his position as a founder, educator and keynote speaker to encourage change for the better within the passive fire niche and wider construction industry.

Backed by years of experience providing a wealth of knowledge, he is driven to waken the broader industry to the importance of getting passive fire right the first time every time, through collaboration, early planning and easy access to knowledge.

As Technical Director of Plus Systems he oversights a team that provides a systemised approach to preventing passive fire defects, developing solutions to technical challenges ensuring compliance standards are developed and maintained.

Julie enjoys all aspects of architectural practice and has a strong focus on successful project delivery. She works on a range of residential, commercial, government and community projects, combining her interest in sustainable design principles with practical design solutions. Julie also brings to the practice specialist heritage planning and conservation knowledge.

Kathryn Kinnear is a Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) accredited Level 2 Bushfire Practitioner. Kathryn is a member of the FPAA WA Bushfire Working group and the DPLH Bushfire Policy Review Technical Working Group which she regularly provides advice and support to the respective groups. Kathryn delivers training programs for Local Government Agencies for bushfire planning and low fuel/Asset Protection Zone standards, has co-authored an article with Julie de Jong on Project BAL Build – designing dwellings in bushfire-prone  areas (Kinnear & de Jong, 2020).  Kathryn undertakes bushfire planning site assessments (BAL assessments) and prepares bushfire management plans for various developments (size and scale) for private/government agencies (including review of proposed landscaping plans to APZ standards Schedule 1) and gives advice to Department of Planning Lands and Heritage Policy Branch.

Kathryn has been working in the environmental management and bushfire planning field for 26 years from her experience in Department of Parks and Wildlife (DBCA 1994-2005) and as a consultant.  Her combined experience and knowledge in the environmental and bushfire discipline has formed a mission in her work area of combining bushfire safety and sound environmental management practic es. Her role has led to state based and national advice on bushfire and environmental advice to protect life, property and biodiversity. In 2018 Kathryn was the recipient of the FPAA Ron Coffey award for excellence in bushfire protection.

Nate Lobel is a Chartered Fire Safety Engineer with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Fire Protection Engineering. Since moving to Australia nearly seven years ago he has worked on a variety of buildings across Australia whilst delivering a range of services from high level strategies to detailed modelling analysis. His projects often focus on developing fire strategies for special hazards such as his work on a 60m tall internal green wall, a 200-vehicle automated vehicle parking system, and a grid-scale battery energy storage system at a solar and wind farm.

In addition to developing fire strategies and undertaking analysis for building projects, Nate has been involved in several industry initiatives with a focus on the future of the fire industry. This has included work investigating the Australian Fire Safety Verification Methods, working with the Society of Fire Safety to propose new Fire Safety Performance Requirement’s for the Building Code of Australia, contributing to the Warren Centre’s latest project focussing on professionalizing fire safety engineering, and assessing the ABCB’s latest proposal for quantified risk metrics. When not undertaking project work, Nate focuses much of his time on how to improve industry practice and outcomes in fire safety and the competence of engineers which are topics he is quite passionate about.

Sarnia has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Fire Engineering from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Sarnia has been involved in assembly, commercial, industrial, storage, health care, residential, utilities and services, retail, and heritage projects, providing fire engineering alternative solutions, BCA assessments and, fire safety upgrades to provide innovative and cost effective solutions for fire safety.

Sarnia has significant experience in the use of zone and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) fire models as well as with egress assessment methods and models and is able to use these fire engineering tools to investigate fire and occupant behaviour.

Sarnia is a Fellow of the institution of Engineers Australia, she is also a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), a Registered Engineer on the National Professional Engineers Register (NER) in Fire Safety, and is registered by Engineers Australia as an APEC Engineer in Australia. Additionally Sarnia is the deputy chair of the Society of Fire’s National Committee and is a member of the NSW committee, she is a Registered Professional Engineer (Fire Engineering) of Queensland (RPEQ) and a Registered Building Practitioner (Engineer / Fire Safety) with the Building Practitioners Board of Victoria.

Shae started in fire protection as a sprinkler fitting apprentice in 2002, employed by a fire company servicing a wide variety of sites including many high-risk and high profile businesses. With exposure to a diverse range of wet systems equipment, Shae began specializing on routine service with a focus on flow testing. In 2009 Shae commenced teaching the sprinkler fitting apprenticeship at RMIT and eventually moved on to run his own business contracting flow testing services to industry. Shae was employed by FPA Australia in 2017 as a wet systems subject matter expert where he is currently employed, and he proudly sits on the Sprinkler and Hydrant Australian Standards committees.

David Isaac is the business Principal and Director of Fire and Safety Technologies Pty. Ltd.

David is an industry veteran of 50 years in electrical systems design installation and commissioning for building services, heavy industrial installations and essential services systems including fire detection, warning and smoke control systems.

David is an Accredited Practitioner Fire Safety F011196D ‘Detection & Alarm Systems’ – Advanced Level 3 under the FPA Australia Fire Systems Design Accreditation Scheme for NSW and Victoria.

David holds post trade electrical engineering certificates (diploma level) in Building Services and Heavy Industrial installations.
David is an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Registered cabler and holds electrical licenses in NSW and Queensland.

In 2016 the Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) awarded David with the AV Viscogliosi award which recognises “Excellence for outstanding service to fire protection”.

In 2019, David was elected to the Board of Directors of the Fire Protection Association of Australia.
David is a participating member of:

• Australian Standards Committee FP002 – ‘Fire Detection, Warning, Control & Intercom Systems’ which writes the suite of
• Australian Standards on fire detection and alarm systems.
• Australian Standards Sub-Committee ME-062 advising the committee on the electrical performance and compliance for AS 1668.1 ‘The use of ventilation and air-conditioning in buildings Part 1: Fire and smoke control in buildings’.
• Australian Standard Committee FP-004 – Automatic Fire Sprinkler Installations – Electrical liaison position between committees FP-002 and FP-004.
• Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) Technical Advisory Committee TAC/2.
• A former FPAA representative to Australian Communications Industry Forum Cabling Advisory Group (ACIF/CAG) telecommunications industry cabling Standards.

David served as a volunteer in the NSW Rural Fire Service from 1978 to 1989.

In the last 30 years David has worked in private consulting, advising corporations on building fire safety measures (safety services) and held senior management roles for major international fire detection system manufacturers.

In the last 20 years David has been an active participant in Fire Industry Associations and the Standards writing processes in Australia.
David is a consumer advocate and has published several articles on the imperative of uniformity and Code compliance of fire safety measures. David is well known for his technical expertise and has had several engagements as an expert witness.

David is a major stake holder for regulatory reform for residential smoke alarm installations and has appeared in several Television and ABC radio programs since 2006.

As the Director of Eclipse Fire and with 20 plus years in the fire protection industry, Mark’s experience has included significant terms working with multi-discipline building services firms, fire engineering firms and design roles for fire protection installation contractors. This has provided a unique oversight into both theoretical and practical application of fire protection systems in today’s built environment.

Active involvement on both FP-004 and FP-009 has seen Mark provide significant technical input into both fire sprinkler and fire hydrant system standards as well as understanding some of the limitations of technical development and implementation due to ‘regulatory process’. Additional industry involvement includes participation on the FPA Australia Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) 4/8/9 (wet fire protection) and representation of the Fire Industry (Designers) on the ‘Aged Care Implementation Committee’ providing technical expertise to the NSW Department of Planning & Environment during the roll out of ‘Aged Care Sprinklers’ to all existing non-sprinklered facilities

Mark has been involved with the FRNSW Sprinkler Research Project from the implementation of the research project including planning for the full scale fire testing and assistance with the subsequent content development of the two recently published residential sprinkler standards FPAA101H and FPAA101D. This involved a supporting fire system technical role to both FRNSW and FPA Australia for development of these two design standards for implementation of sprinklers in all residential buildings from 4 storeys up to 25m in effective height.

His passion for the fire protection industry, combined with a self-confessed lack of tolerance for regulatory ‘red tape’ sees him pull no punches when discussing the merits, or lack of, in today’s implementation of fire protection systems. Attendees can expect honest and direct answers to their technical queries during one of Mark’s presentations.

Peter Johnson is a Principal and Fellow at the global consulting firm of Arup. He has had an international career over 40 years in fire safety engineering and design of buildings and transport infrastructure, as well as fire research, education and standards writing. Recently, he was one of the research leaders for the Warren Centre fire safety engineering project.
He is also a Fellow of the Engineers Australia and the US based Society of Fire Protection Engineers, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), and an Honorary Life Member of the Fire Protection Association, Australia.

Bronwyn is the co-author of the Building Confidence Report. Her appointment with Professor Shergold to undertake this work reflects her reputation as a legal advisor on building regulations for more than 20 years.  Bronwyn is part of the Expert Advisory Group appointed to advise the ABCB on its work to develop a national framework for the implementation of the report. Other related work includes advising the NSW Building Commissioner,  the VBA the Qld Government and the Department of Defence in relation to building regulatory issues.

www.weirlegalconsulting.com

Kristy Walters joined the NSW Police Force in 1992 and performed various policing duties across northern and metropolitan Sydney and the Central Coast. She has held roles as a General Duties Constable, Education and Development Officer, Weapons Trainer, Crime Stoppers Coordinator, Police Area Command Duty Officer and most recently the Operations Manager within the NSW Police Force PoliceLink Command.

In July 2020, Kristy resigned from her role as Operations Manager to accept an unsworn position within the NSW Police Force as the Director, PoliceLink Command. Under her Command, Kristy has responsibility for:

• Triple Zero (000)
• Police Assistance Line (131444)
• Community Portal – Online reporting
• NSW Crime Stoppers
• InfoLink – information requests under GIPA, Chapter 16A and Working with Children Checks.
• Firearms Call Centre
• NSWPF Injury Management Hotline
• NSWPF Switchboard
• Customer Assistance Unit
• Operational Information Access After Hours Work
• Direct Access Service for Armed Hold-up and Duress Alarms, and
• NSWPF Child Well Being Unit

Kristy represents NSWPF on several boards and working parties including the NSW Crime Stoppers Board and the National Emergency Communications Working Group- Australia and New Zealand (NECWG-A/NZ). This role allows Kristy to continue to build on the success of her predecessors in delivering enhanced capabilities and services through the NSW Police Force Digital Strategy and Next Generation Triple Zero (000) deliverables.

Kristy attributes her rewarding and successful career to the many people who have mentored and advocated her policing journey and acknowledges the important role that she and other leaders play in developing future leaders within emergency service organisations.
Kristy has been married for 25 years and has three children aged 24, 21 and 20. Her husband is also a Police Officer, working on the Central Coast.

Elissa has a long history in the industry, predominantly in the fire engineering sector. She has significant experience in risk management, property operations and legislative compliance. She is a representative for Engineers Australia on the BCC and is one of the Directors of FPA Australia.

Bronnie Mackintosh is a Station Officer with Fire and Rescue NSW and has been a firefighter for 16 years. Her career has encompassed many roles, spanning general firefighting, rescue, operational communications, community safety, and education and training.

Bronnie is a Winston Churchill Fellowship recipient. She travelled the world to research how international fire agencies are changing their workforces to be more reflective of the diverse communities they protect.

She found that girls fire camps in the US were proving an excellent way to introduce, and recruit, young women to the firefighting and emergency services.

When Bronnie returned home to Australia, she founded Girls on Fire.

With a team of volunteers from across the emergency services, she runs girls fire camps and the girls fire academy in NSW.

Before becoming a firefighter, Bronnie was a passionate rugby union player, competing around the globe and in 15 test matches for the Australian Women’s team, the Wallaroos.

Bronnie has a Bachelor in Sport Science from the University of Technology and is currently studying for her MBA at Newcastle University.

Kristy Walters joined the NSW Police Force in 1992 and performed various policing duties across northern and metropolitan Sydney and the Central Coast. She has held roles as a General Duties Constable, Education and Development Officer, Weapons Trainer, Crime Stoppers Coordinator, Police Area Command Duty Officer and most recently the Operations Manager within the NSW Police Force PoliceLink Command.

In July 2020, Kristy resigned from her role as Operations Manager to accept an unsworn position within the NSW Police Force as the Director, PoliceLink Command. Under her Command, Kristy has responsibility for:

• Triple Zero (000)
• Police Assistance Line (131444)
• Community Portal – Online reporting
• NSW Crime Stoppers
• InfoLink – information requests under GIPA, Chapter 16A and Working with Children Checks.
• Firearms Call Centre
• NSWPF Injury Management Hotline
• NSWPF Switchboard
• Customer Assistance Unit
• Operational Information Access After Hours Work
• Direct Access Service for Armed Hold-up and Duress Alarms, and
• NSWPF Child Well Being Unit

Kristy represents NSWPF on several boards and working parties including the NSW Crime Stoppers Board and the National Emergency Communications Working Group- Australia and New Zealand (NECWG-A/NZ). This role allows Kristy to continue to build on the success of her predecessors in delivering enhanced capabilities and services through the NSW Police Force Digital Strategy and Next Generation Triple Zero (000) deliverables.

Kristy attributes her rewarding and successful career to the many people who have mentored and advocated her policing journey and acknowledges the important role that she and other leaders play in developing future leaders within emergency service organisations.
Kristy has been married for 25 years and has three children aged 24, 21 and 20. Her husband is also a Police Officer, working on the Central Coast.

Matthew Wright is UL’s Business Development Manager for Australasia, Built Environment – a position created by UL to spearhead development of UL service offerings tailored to Australia and New Zealand.

With a passion for delivering safety in the built environment, Matthew has held roles implementing and developing requirements and good practice guidance across all building types.  This has included collaborating with national and international stakeholders to build relationships and improve outcomes.

As an influential industry advocate, Matthew has achieved meaningful change in legislation, codes and Standards, including strategic generational change to the fire safety strategies of the National Construction Code, as well as frameworks for practitioner competency.  He has worked in local government and private industry building surveying, as well as roles with the fire brigade and Australia’s peak fire protection association. Matthew’s current role is focused on championing product safety and certification solutions and providing a conduit to contemporary research responding to emerging trends and hazards, building on UL’s global reputation of integrity, safety science and thought leadership.

Matthew holds a Bachelors Degree in Building Surveying, a Graduate Certificate in Performance Based Building and Fire Codes and a Graduate Diploma in Fire Safety and Risk Engineering.  By ministerial appointment Matthew also served two terms as a member on Victoria’s Building Appeals Board and was Fire Protection Association Australia’s inaugural Building Codes Committee representative for the Australian Building Codes Board.  Matthew was appointed as one of 5 members of an international jury for the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s “Fire and Risk Engineering Award” and presents regularly at industry events.

Matt has 25 years experience in the construction industry. He is a qualified building surveyor, builder, and has spent much of his career with the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) researching and developing building regulation in areas ranging from fire safety to energy efficiency. Matt is currently leading the delivery of the ABCB’s response to the Shergold and Weir – Building Confidence Report (BCR), on behalf of Building Ministers. He quotes ‘the BCR presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to delve deep into the building regulatory systems that underpins the construction of buildings, through a nationally coordinated review and response. If done right, there are significant benefits on offer to governments, industry and the community’.

Greg Campbell is a qualified building surveyor and lawyer and has advised extensively on building control issues for the last 30 years.  Greg worked as a building inspector and building surveyor for various local governments from the mid 70 to the mid 80s.  After completing an honours degree in Law in 1988 he commenced practice as a lawyer.

Over the past 32 years, Greg has specialised in construction and infrastructure law and has a particular speciality in building regulation and building control.  Greg was a partner at Maddocks in Melbourne for 25 years and is currently a partner in international law firm, Pinsent Masons, having moved there in 2015.

While at Maddocks, Greg advised the State building regulator, fire authorities, architecture and building practitioner disciplinary boards, Councils, as well as developers and contractors.  More recently while at Pinsent Masons he has been advising infrastructure owners and investors, builders, contractors and building practitioners.

Leah joined the South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) in August 2012 as an Information Support Officer to the Building Fire Safety Unit (BFSU); followed by the role of Bushfire Safety Officer (Residential), performing development assessments for dwellings, tourist accommodation and other habitable buildings located in areas mapped as Bushfire Prone across the state of South Australia.

Leah represents SA CFS on the Bushfire Planning subgroup of the Built Environment and Planning Technical Group (BEPTG) facilitated by The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC) providing comment on bushfire building and planning matters. As well as providing comments on strategic planning directions for Bushfire Prone Areas in South Australia in the form of Development Plan Amendments and more recently the Planning and Design Code reform currently being untaken by the state of South Australia.

Her commitment to professional development saw Leah achieving Certificate III Public Safety (Firefighting Operations) with a view to complete further training in Incident Management and Bushfire Protection for developments in Bushfire Prone Areas. She is also currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Bushfire Protection at the University of Western Sydney.

Assistant Commissioner Whybro joined the NSW Fire Brigades in 1981 and has 40 years’ experience in emergency and risk management. In 2011, Mark assumed responsibility for FRNSW’s prevention and community education programs, regulatory and advisory functions in the built environment, fire investigation, fire and human behaviour research. Mark chaired the AFAC Built Environment Technical Group from 2013 to 2020 and has represented FRNSW on numerous Taskforces and Committees.

Since its relaunch in 2019, Assistant Commissioner Whybro has co-chaired the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, established as the national independent source of information to the community, industry and Governments about the life-saving value of residential sprinklers.

Bronwyn is the co-author of the Building Confidence Report. Her appointment with Professor Shergold to undertake this work reflects her reputation as a legal advisor on building regulations for more than 20 years.  Bronwyn is part of the Expert Advisory Group appointed to advise the ABCB on its work to develop a national framework for the implementation of the report. Other related work includes advising the NSW Building Commissioner,  the VBA the Qld Government and the Department of Defence in relation to building regulatory issues.

www.weirlegalconsulting.com

From 1997 until 2012, Ivan was General Manager, ABCB and Chair of the Board’s Building Codes Committee. He was closely involved in the implementation of the performance-based code, efforts to achieve national solutions to issues of risk and on-going efforts to ensure that industry and building practitioners had a voice in the challenges faced by Australia’s ever-changing building regulation regime.

Since retirement from the ABCB. Ivan has been an independent consultant on the building and construction industry, particularly in the area of building regulation reform. From 2013, he chaired the NSW Industry/Government Committee oversighting implementation of a $200 million program to mandate and retrofit fire sprinklers in NSW nursing homes following an earlier tragic arson and murder case in Sydney.

Amanda Hogarth is the new National Manager, Accreditation at FPA Australia.

Amanda Hogarth comes to us from the NBN, where she was the Training Provider Engagement Lead, and before that held senior roles in the Victorian Department of Education and Training and the Norther Territory Department of Business.

Amanda’s long-term experience in managing government expectations and dealing with training needs makes her an ideal person to run FPA Australia’s accreditation activities.

Since she began in early November, Amanda has thrown herself into the role and is currently focusing on the rollout of the FPAS Qualified Pathway, which will begin in the new financial year.

Graeme Douglas Thom AFSM is a retired fire commander having served in the Queensland Fire & Emergency Service department for over 40 years. During his time in the service, he had acted in various positions and been appointed to many others, these include Assistant Commissioner – Northern Region, Assistant Commissioner – Community Safety & Risk Management, Director of Operational Performance Improvement, Area Director – Qld Fire & Rescue Public Safety, Executive Manager – State Community Safety and Brisbane City Fire (Zone) Commander. He has chaired National Fire Safety Committees for over 10 years, represented fire services both nationally and internationally and received various awards and citations including in the Australian honours with the awarding of the AFSM (Australian Fire Service Medal) for Leadership, and the Australian Centenary Medal for services to the Australian community. Graeme has fought or commanded forces to fight many types of fires and other emergency incidents including significant bushfires both in Queensland and interstate. His qualifications cover many in-house and external qualifications including the Bachelor of Government and International Relations (Griffith University).

Mr de Hults is engaged in the European Fire Information Exchange Platform and the European Fire Safety Alliance. He has more than 10 years of experience in energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings with the whole value chain, and 5 years of experience in related EU standards and policies as expert and public affairs professional for BASF.
He holds a master degree in mechanical engineering from the Louvain School of Engineering in Belgium.
see: https://www.modernbuildingalliance.eu/about-us/

Actively involved in special hazard fire protection since 1994 , and am a committe member and major contributor to the new AS4587 (and BS8458, BS8489 when I lived in the UK). I have a keen interest in progressing the fire industries ability to address the ever changing landscape of special hazards with effective fire protection solutions. I have been involved with development of new fire protection products and writing fire testing protocols then real fire testing the products to prove their effectiveness. I’m a family man enjoying a new life in Melbourne having moved here 3 years ago from London.

Ian Collins is a Fire Safety Assessor, Emergency Plan Consultant and Trainer who believes in protecting life and property through implementation of an Emergency Plan.

Qualifications: Mechanical Engineering, Training and Assessment, Fire Safety Assessor and Advisor.

With over 40 years’ experience in Emergency Plan development, Training, Fire Safety Audits and Special Hazards Fire Systems design.

Positions: Fire Safety Coordinator for American Express Australia/New Zealand, First 5 Minutes, consultancy roles with Fire Awareness Technology, Noel Arnold & Associates, Baseline training, Eagle Fire and the Insurance Council of Australia serving on Australian Standard FP12 together Wormald/Fire Control Special Hazards divisions.

MC Hui is a Technical Director of RED Fire Engineers Pty Ltd. He has over 40 years of experience in the fire safety and fire protection industry.

He has a Bachelor degree in mechanical engineering from University of Hong Kong and a Master degree in Building Fire Safety and Risk Engineering from Victoria University.

MC is a Fire Safety Engineer on the National Engineering Register and a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineers Australia, an accredited certifier – Fire Safety in New South Wales, a Registered Building Practitioner (Fire Safety) in Victoria, and an RPEQ in Queensland.

He is a guest lecturer at Victoria University on their postgraduate fire engineering course.

Dale Spurway-Humphries is a fire safety and fire services consultant with a unique combination of fire system trade experience as well as academic credentials in fire safety engineering and building surveying. Since commencing in the fire industry in 2007 he has undertaken roles as designer / draftsman, Electrician specialising in the installation and maintenance of fire protection systems, fire services and safety engineering consultant specialising in the remediation of existing buildings, and most recently leading the South Australian Fire Project Management division at Lucid Consulting Australia. These varying roles and experiences have provided him with vast insight into industry he so highly regards.

Keith R Thomas is a Consultant Building Surveyor, Building Certifier, Structural and Fire Engineer and is the Director of Thomas Management Design Pty Limited T/A Thomas Independent Certification.

Keith Thomas has been involved in the building and construction industry for over 40 years having worked in Local Government, Private Sector, in advisory roles for Department of Local Government and lecturing for University and Tafe courses in building. He has qualifications in building surveying and structural and fire engineering.

Some of the areas Keith has been involved in are as follows;

• Building Surveyor and Structural Engineer with North Sydney Council
• Building Surveyor with Gold Coast City Council
• Private Building Certifier responsible for assessment, approval and inspection of building projects including houses, unit developments, Department of Defence buildings, commercial, industrial and convention centres
• Fire Engineering Performance Solutions for various projects