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Steven Baxas is the Victorian State Building Surveyor and has more than 33 years of Local Government experience.
Steven was the Municipal Building Surveyor at the City of Melbourne for 7 years and the Municipal Building Surveyor at the City of Port Phillip for 11 years. Prior to that, he spent 15 years at the City of Monash.
He has formal qualifications in Building Surveying and Fire Engineering.
Steven is passionate about building control, and is:
Megan Peacock joined the Department of Transport and Planning in June 2024 as the Executive Director, Building Policy and Reform. A seasoned reform leader with over 25 years of experience in the for-purpose sector, Megan has worked across community development, aged care, and disability reform, driving change to improve lives and systems.
Her career has been defined by a commitment to social impact. Key achievements include delivering new initiatives to address chronic inequality with the most vulnerable members of the community. Megans broad experience has centred on women and children services, NDIS advocacy, age care and family service reform, working alongside State and Commonwealth governments.
Now in her role leading building reform, Megan is focused on rebuilding consumer confidence in the sector and strengthening the systems that support industry to deliver safe, quality homes. Known for her strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement expertise, and cross-sector insight, she continues to deliver impactful reform that balances consumer needs with sustainable industry growth.
Joshua is the Deputy Commissioner Community Safety and Operational Training at Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV), a role he commenced in January 2024. He brings over 19 years of executive leadership and operational experience in fire and emergency management across Victoria and the Northern Territory (NT).
Prior to joining FRV, he spent a decade in the NT living and working between Darwin and Alice Springs for Bushfires NT and the NT Fire and Rescue Service, where he served as Deputy Chief Fire Officer – Strategy and Capability.
Throughout his time at various agencies, Joshua has led significant reforms and responses, including acting as Incident Controller for the Derrimut Chemical Factory Fire on 10 July 2024 – the largest structure fire since FRV’s formation in 2020. As well as leading Bushfires NT through periods of forecasted catastrophic fire danger, and in response to significant and concurrent bushfire emergencies. His leadership has been instrumental in enhancing public safety frameworks and modernising operational capabilities.
During his career, Josh has held multiple senior roles, including Assistant Director Operations at Bushfires NT and various positions within the now Forest Fire Management Victoria, where he started his career.
As FPA Australia’s National Technical Manager, Simon represents and supports the Australian Fire Protection industry and its stakeholders by assisting in developing the Association’s strategic policy in the Technical Area and associated responses. With over 35 years of experience in the fire protection industry, Simon has developed a high level of technical expertise, operational management, and business acumen in this field.
He actively collaborate with stakeholders, such as National Technical Advisory Committees [NTAC], the Technical Advisory Committee [TAC’s], Special Interest Groups [SIG’s] and State Divisional Committee’s.
Representing the Fire Industry with Standards Australia, Australian Building Codes Board, emergency services, International Fire Safety Standards Coalition and a wide range of regulatory authorities, to ensure the association represents the industry with respect to the development of relevant documents, technical matters and industry needs as both the industry and community requires. In addition to this, I will advocate for, promote, support, and bolster fire protection on a national level.
