Chris is a consultant working in emergency business continuity and management. Before setting up her practice, B4Crisis, she began her career in emergency management as a Queensland Police Cadet working on response during the 1974 Brisbane Floods. She continued her policing career for nearly 17 years, serving in the Brisbane Traffic Branch for 7 years, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts (1988, The University of Queensland). Soon after she commenced her Master studies, she was transferred to the Commissioner's Office to work on projects including succession planning; stress and trauma research and policy development; Hepatitis B injections program for serving police; and AIDS/HIV education with the Department of Health. Chris resigned to become Queensland's first woman Workplace Health and Safety Inspector. In August 1990, she moved to Canberra working with ACT and the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Departments on community safety and counter terrorism. Following the 2002 Bali bombings, Chris work on 'on shore' emergency recovery including the first anniversary of the first Bali bombings (2003); the Eyre Peninsula bushfires (2005); terrorist bombings in Bali (2005), London (2005 known as 7/7) and the Middle East; and the 2004 Indian Ocean (or Boxing Day) Tsunami. Working for the Department of Social Services, she contributed to whole of Australian Government planning to prepare, respond, and recover from many emergencies including pandemic influenza.
For the past 18 years, Chris has specialized in emergency management for businesses; business continuity management and crisis communications, managing both traditional and social media. Her clients have included governments, private businesses and major not-for-profit organizations ranging in size from 2 to more than 80,000 employees. Chris has worked as a pandemic planner for 3 Australian governments - Commonwealth, ACT and NSW. This has included developing and maintaining health emergency stockpiles and working as part of a team that trained over 500 small businesses Australia-wide in pandemic business continuity for the Australian Government Departments of Health and Industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris worked with clients on simulation exercises, response, and recovery plans.
Chris has received 2 Australian Day Achievement Medallions (for crime prevention, community safety and tsunami recovery) and a Secretary's Certificate (for pandemic business continuity planning). She was shortlisted for the 2017 Australasian Business Continuity Institute (BCI) Continuity and Resilience Public Sector Manager and received the 2018 BCI Australasia Industry Personality of the Year, which resulted in her being a global finalist at the BCI World Conference. On 18 June 2019, it was announced at the Annual IFSEC Conference and Exhibition, 18-20 June 2019, London, England that Chris was judged to be 14th of 20 Security Thought Leadership, IFSEC Global's "Top Influencers in Fire and Security". She helped establish the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) and was one of the inaugural AWSN's Canberra Chapter Co-Leads.
Chris has been Member of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services (MAIES, since 1990 in NSW and the ACT) and has accepted AIES leadership roles as:
She is also Member of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM); a Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (F.ISRM); was the first Australian accredited in Adaptive Business Continuity (cABCF, Orlando, Florida, March 2019) and is an Associate Member of the Business Continuity Institute (AMBCI).
Chris has presented more than 100 conference papers and webinars in Australia and internationally. She champions resilience, emergency, and business continuity management. Chris currently works for the World Bank in the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and the Republic of Timor-Leste on health emergency preparedness and response (HEPR). HEPR is an umbrella program funded by the Australian, Japanese and German Governments. When not travelling on in-country missions for the World Bank, Chris resides with her husband, Mike, on the southern side of Jervis Bay, about 3 hours drive South of Sydney.
Stephen is a Fellow of the Institute and was elected National President in 2015. He stepped down from the role in 2021 after having served two three-year terms, the maximum allowable under the Institute's Constitution. Previously he had held the positions of Vice-president then President of the Queensland Division. Stephen is also the Institute's representative on the Australian Emergency Management Volunteers Forum (AEMVF), a Commonwealth government advisory body, and sub-editor of the National Emergency Response journal.
Stephen has extensive experience in the emergency management having serviced as a police officer in Queensland for almost 35 years prior to his retirement in 2017. During his policing career, Stephen performed a variety of duties, including: general duties; criminal investigations (appointed Detective); officer-in-charge of varying sizes stations and sections including rural, remote and Indigenous communities; District Inspector; Regional and District Duty Officer; and manager of a variety of information and communications technology related programs and projects including implementing a service-wide online incident and disaster management system, and preliminary work that resulted in the development of the Government Wireless Network that now delivers secure digital communications and other capabilities for police and emergency services across southeast Queensland. Stephen also performed specialised forensic crash investigations, search and rescue coordination, and disaster management officer duties.
Presently, Stephen is performing project-related activities with an Australian government department. He is also a local government Councillor, and volunteer fire-fighter and brigade captain with the NSW Rural Fire Service. Stephen has multiple university qualifications, including six Master's degrees (various disciplines including emergency and disaster management), a Bachelor in Social Science (Emergency Management), and two Graduate Diplomas.
Stephen has been awarded numerous awards, citations and medals, including:
Other Letters of Appreciation and Favourable Comments:
Greg is retired. He was a Police Officer for over 38 years and retired as an Inspector with Tasmania Police. He was also a member of the Australian Army Reserve. Since his retirement he has performed duties in both TFS and SES. As a Police Officer he served in diverse roles including Emergency Management Roles such as Officer in Charge Scottsdale, Divisional Inspector Deloraine and Launceston.
He was appointed twice as Deputy Regional Disaster Controller Northern Police District. He was a member of the Launceston Airport Emergency Committee and other similar forums. He served with the Australian Army as a Reservist in various roles both in Tasmania and on the Mainland. He appointments included 2IC of 12/40Bn RTR. Officer Training Wing and Regimental Training Wing. Corps were Intelligence, Transport and Infantry. In 2008 he was the Officer Commanding a deployment of a Company Plus to Butterworth, Malaysia for 3 months (CFTS).
He has served over nine years with the Tasmania Fire Service as a VFF at Perth Station with deployments within the State. As a member of the SES he was deployed to Queensland twice and served in the Launceston Incident Management Unit and in a Northern Midlands SES unit at Campbelltown. Emergency Service wise he has a ten year clasp and State Medal for service with the SES, a National Medal with three clasps, and a 5 year clasp for TFS. He has been a member of the Institute since 1991. He has a citation from Queensland Government (Cyclone) and a commendation from TasPol for service at Port Arthur.
Greg has attended a number of Emergency related courses at Mt Macedon and elsewhere and exercises, and presented on Tasmania Police Emergency Responses in diverse forums.
Rebecca began her time in Emergency Services from the age of 20, and remains an active volunteer. She was with the SES for 13 years and changed to CFS 3 years ago. She has held administrative roles with both, being the Unit Finance Officer for SES and now the Administration Officer for the State Support Operations Brigade for the CFS.
After leaving a role in the SA Government, Rebecca studied a Bachelor of Medical Science, and commenced her career in the Medical Industry. she enjoys a faced paced environment, where her negotiation skills and lateral thinking can be challenged.
Rebecca is an experienced Practice Manager, holding a Diploma of Business and a Diploma of Leadership and Management, as well as recently completing her Diploma in Nursing whilst on Parental Leave. She understands the nature of volunteering within Emergency Services, and particularly for those that balance a professional career with young children.
John Moy is currently the Business Operations Manager at the Queensland Combined Emergency Services Academy (QCESA) within the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES). He previously established the Volunteer Emergency Services Training Command (VESTC), as its inaugural Executive Manager and has worked in QFES and its previous iterations, in volunteer and paid roles for over 30 years.
John commenced his career as a Special Education teacher working with youth who had severe behavioural and learning difficulties. Around the same time John joined the Queensland State Emergency Service (SES) as a volunteer. He served in multiple training, operational, leadership and management roles over his 25-year career with the SES. John also worked for 6 years in the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Community Education division, as a first aid trainer/assessor.
He has a passion for 'life-long learning' and holds numerous formal qualifications including Bachelor of Social Science (Emergency Management), Graduate Certificate of Public Sector Management, Graduate Diploma of Community Service Management, and an MBA. John is currently completing his Professional Doctorate through Charles Sturt University (CSU) researching a national, sustainable volunteer emergency services model. John has presented on leadership and management topics, as well as his ongoing research, at various national conferences. He was recently accepted as a presenter and Chair of the 'Volunteer and Aid in Disaster Contexts' session, for the International Sociological Association (ISA) World Congress in Melbourne, 2023.
John runs his own successful first aid training business and has been a representative on the Australian Resuscitation Council (Qld Chapter) for many years. John has worked for several universities, including Central Queensland University (CQU) where he is an assessor within the Emergency Services and Disaster Management program. John has been a member of the AIES for over 25 years. John continues to hone his passion for training and education, emergency services volunteering and leadership and management, hoping to make some small contribution to making the world a safer, happier place. 'Live every day as if it were your last; as one day it surely shall be'.
Jenny has been with the SES for the past 16 years and is currently in the role of Group Leader for Northern Group within the Brisbane City SES Unit. During this time Jenny has been on a number of deployments throughout the State where she has assisted with disaster recovery in many regional communities. In the Brisbane region, Jenny has been on many activations over the years assisting with storm damage, searches, rescues, forensic searches and community events.
Jenny holds a TAE and spends a lot of weekends during the year training SES members in Ladders, Emergency Lighting, Casualty Handling, Ropes and Knots, Communications, TAMS, Working in an EOC, Land Search, Storm Damage, First Aid, Safety Officer, Height Safety and Chainsaw.
Since 2010, Jenny has received the following awards, citations and medals.
Jenny is current President of the Northern Group Social Club/Supporters Group and has been in this position for the past 7 years. Prior to becoming President, Jenny was the Social Clubs Secretary and had held that position for 4 years.
Jenny joined the AIES Qld/NT Division in April 2010 and was elected to the position of Qld/NT Treasurer which she held for 4 years. In 2014 Jenny was then elected to the position of Qld/NT Secretary/Treasurer and has held that position for the past 8 years.
In 2017 Jenny was appointed as the AIES National Treasurer and currently remains in that position.
In 2016 Jenny joined the Qld SES Volunteers Association and in 2017 was nominated to the position of Merchandise Officer which she currently still holds.
Doug has been involved in human resource management and, for the past 30+ years, emergency management in the Gippsland region of Victoria. He was the Regional Emergency Management Coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Gippsland Region for many years and his experience covers operational, theoretical and training aspects of all dimensions of emergency management practice.
He is a Fellow of the Institute and holds many emergency management qualifications. These include emergency management skills qualifications gained whist undertaking training courses at the Australian Civil Defence School, Australian Counter Disaster College, and at the Australian Emergency Management Institute at Mt Macedon, Victoria. When it was in operation, he was a regular guest lecturer at the Australian Emergency Management Institute at Mount Macedon and was recognized in the Australia Day Honours list in 2010 with the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community of Gippsland through a range of ex-service, sporting and local government organizations.
In parallel to his 'civilian' career Doug has served over 41 years in the Australian Defence Force as a reservist and been awarded the Reserve Force Decoration together with a First and Second Clasp to that award.
In 1990, during his posting as Officer Commanding a Reserve Armoured Corps reconnaissance squadron in Gippsland, he was deployed to command a multi-unit task force to respond to a major flood in the area. Two of his unit's members received bravery awards for perilous rescues and the unit received a Chief of Army Commendation for the work carried out over the deployment period. He officially retired from the Australian Defence Force on 8th December 2015 having attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During this time, he commanded the largest Defence Force Reserve training establishment in Australia for three years.
In 2011 he was awarded the National Emergency Medal for work in the Victorian Bushfires of 2009 and has also been awarded the Defence Medal for his service in the ADF.
Recently he received a Regional Commendation from Victoria Police for his work in training Victoria Police members in various aspects of Emergency Management across the region.
Currently, Doug provides the preparatory training package (and co-facilitates) the delivery of a Level 2 Incident Controller course and co-delivers this course both locally and interstate (mainly to essential industry sector agencies). This course is based on the nationally accredited training package PUAOPE018A (Control a level 2 incident)
He is practiced and experienced in design and delivery of Emergency Management exercises including those required by essential industries pursuant to Part 7a of the Victorian Emergency Management Act 2013.
Doug has presented papers at the Australian & New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management national conference in Queensland and, in 2015, had his paper published in the National Emergency Response magazine (the official publication of the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services). He was admitted as a Fellow in 2019 and also holds membership of the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Along with substantial operational and training experience, he has attained an Advanced Diploma in Public Safety (Emergency Management), and holds Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
Doug was appointed as an Independent IAES Board Director on 29th September 2020.
David started his emergency management career as an SES volunteer at Kogarah Local Headquarters in 1978. He still continues to serve as a volunteer in the Blue Mountains where he has held numerous leadership positions including Unit Controller.
David joined in the AIES in 1982 and has served on NSW Board on a number of occasions.
David served as the District Emergency Management officer for Central West NSW where he received a Ministerial Commendation for his efforts. This was followed by a long posting managing Sydney Water's Emergency Management and Counter Terrorism Programs. In this role he led the Australian Water Industry and served as a member of the Australian Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council for 14 years. David also served on the National Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Preparedness Working Group for many years. After Sydney Water David was an Inspector of Mines regulating the mining industry in NSW for emergency preparedness.
David is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security Studies at Charles Sturt University. David is a founding partner of Response and Recovery Aotearoa New Zealand which provides emergency management leadership training throughout New Zealand on behalf of the National Emergency Management Agency. David's company Crisis Management Australia provides a range of emergency management advice to jurisdictions across Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Europe.
David is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Emergency Services, a Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute, a Fellow of the Emergency Management Academy New York and a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers.
David holds a Masters in Emergency Management, and degrees in Social Science and Education. David has completed an Emergency Management Fellowship with the Emergency Management Academy in New York, the Leadership in Crises Program with the Harvard Kennedy Business School and the Lessons Leaned Staff Officer Course with NATO.
David has a special interest in the application of neuroscience research to emergency management leadership and specialises in promoting evidence based leadership practices in the emergency management context.
Costa's emergency management career started in 1983 as a volunteer with the NSW SES Blue Mountains Unit and has held numerous leadership positions including almost 10 years as Local Controller. Costa was on the AIES NSW Division Board from 1994 to 1997, was the sub-editor of the AIES National Emergency Response journal from 1996 to 2001, and was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute in 2020. He was awarded the Blue Mountains City Citizen of the Year in 2007 for services to Emergency Management.
In his professional life, Costa operates his own consultancy, where he advises on business strategy, risk management and organisational resilience. He is is an experienced company executive and risk management professional who has held domestic and international Executive leadership and company Director positions. With a background in engineering and an MBA, Costa was the previous regional consulting leader for a global risk advisory firm where he was responsible for consulting operations that included forensic accounting, actuarial services, risk engineering, claims management, strategic and people risk. Costa has worked with some of Australia's governments, largest businesses and critical infrastructure providers to understand strategic, operational and project related risk, develop and implement risk programs, assist with mergers and acquisitions, undertake risk and insurance due diligence and improve risk governance. He has been a risk advisor to two Olympic Games and had an ongoing crisis management advisory role with one of Australia's leading sporting codes for over 10 years.