Andrew served a distinguished 40-year career with Victoria Police where he held a number of senior executive positions, finishing in the role of Deputy Commissioner Regional Operations. In 2018, Andrew was appointed as Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner, a position he held for five years. In these roles Andrew provided strong leadership and was a calm, familiar face for Victorians during some of the most significant emergencies the state has faced including the 2019- 20 bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic response. In both his police and emergency services roles, Andrew is regarded as someone with sound judgement who builds effective teams that deliver positive outcomes for the Victorian community. It is important to Andrew that all voices are listened to, and that inclusion and diversity are front of mind when it comes to organisational culture and service delivery. Andrew is well known as a champion for multicultural and faith communities and firmly believes he is a better person and leader through those relationships.

Des Hosie is a career firefighter and 40-year veteran of the NZ Fire Service and Fire and Emergency New Zealand. Currently the National Operations Advisor for Safety, Continuous Improvement and Lessons Management based in Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s National Headquarters - Des has extensive operational firefighting and rescue experience. Through the AFAC partnership, Des has contributed as a lessons management practitioner on a number of major reviews in both New Zealand and Australia. He leads a Lessons Management Community of Practice in New Zealand called LessoNZ. Its function is to share lessons from incidents and exercises across the All of Government, Emergency Services, Defence, and key infrastructure sectors.

Stephen Smith AFSM is the Commissioner of Queensland Fire Department, an organisation of approximately 34,000 staff & volunteers. Stephen started his firefighting career in Queensland in 1994 and has served in regional and state roles in a variety of specialist areas before taking on the role of Commissioner in October 2023. He has extensive knowledge, skills and experience in emergency and crisis management, both domestically and internationally, with a particular interest in leadership and capability development including organisational level change, leadership influence, and the human factors that influence organisational behaviour. In 2011 Stephen was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for distinguished service and success in technical rescue with outstanding commitment and drive in improving the profile and capability of the Queensland Urban Search and Rescue Taskforce.

Grant Stevens APM LEM, Commissioner of Police since 2015, leads South Australia Police, the government agency responsible for the safety and security of 1.8 million South Australians, across an area of over one million square kilometres. Commissioner Stevens is committed to technological transformation across all aspects of police service delivery, supports legislative reform to improve public safety; and has well established credentials in state and national leadership roles addressing organised crime, terrorism, cybercrime, family and domestic violence, sexual crime (including child exploitation), and road safety. He is a member of national policing boards and is the Chair of the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency.