Fire Protection Association Australia (FPA Australia)
Chris joined FPA Australia in 2011 as a senior technical officer with responsibility for bushfire. He was appointed Engagement and Education Manager in 2014 and more recently was appointed to the role of General Manager Education and Bushfire Services.
Chris has responsibility for managing the Association’s activities related to training and education for all facets of fire protection as well as developing and implementing the Association’s bushfire initiatives. These include the delivery of bushfire training courses, supporting government and key stakeholders with the development of legislation, policies and guidelines and providing an accreditation program for bushfire professionals.
Chris has extensive experience in a range of bushfire related fields ranging from building and planning, community education, fire fighting and fire behaviour training. Prior to joining FPA, Chris was employed in various roles with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in Victoria. These roles included managing a team responsible for developing and implementing bushfire safety programs including building and planning approval for development in bushfire prone areas.
During the catastrophic Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria in 2009, Chris was heavily involved in the emergency response including firefighting, incident management and recovery operations. Following the fires, Chris was responsible for implementing and guiding numerous community safety programs including contributing to the Royal Commission and the development of AS3959. Chris has post-graduate qualifications in bushfire protection and fire engineering and has 25 years’ experience as a fire-fighter.