About our Guest:

In this episode we are talking to Greg Newton – Deputy Commissioner NSW SES. Having initially trained as a History and English high school teacher, Greg has previously worked as an Executive Teacher in ACT schools before being employed at a senior level in the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety. Since the age of 17 he also served as a NSW SES volunteer with the Queanbeyan SES Unit, with five years as a Local Controller. During his 23 years as a volunteer, Greg was involved in most of the major emergency operations the Service responded to, notably the 1999 Sydney Hailstorm, Thredbo Landslide, Canberra Bushfires and the 2007 Hunter Storms. He was also deployed to support Victoria after the 2009 bushfires.

In 2010 Greg joined the staff of NSW SES as an Assistant Commissioner and was appointed Deputy Commissioner in May 2015. As Assistant Commissioner he filled the roles of Director East and Director West, giving him an excellent appreciation of the challenges faced by emergency service volunteers in all areas of the state. This combination of both volunteer and staff experience, as well as education and government experience gives him a well rounded view of the sector.

Key questions for this episode:

• In your opinion, is there really such as thing as the East/West divide for people working in Emergency Services?
• What do you see as the differences for members and trainers working in different areas of the state? Are learners the same? Are needs and issues that different?
• What hurdles have you seen overcome to deliver great training or assessments?
• What is something you would like people to appreciate more about members working in different areas to themselves?

Connect with Greg Newton:

LinkedIn

RECORDING WITHDRAWN – contactus@brioconsulting.com.au for information

About our Guest:

In this episode we are talking to David King – a long-time volunteer of both the NSW SES and NSW RFS with over 40 years experience in the Public Safety sector. Starting out as a 17 year old member at Gosford SES unit, he currently serves as a Deputy Local Controller of Hawkesbury SES, a volunteer with Tennyson RFS and works as a full time Learning and Development Officer for the NSW RFS Remote Area Firefighting and Special Operations Sections.

David was awarded the NESTOC 2012 National Emergency Services Training Award and an Emergency Services Medal as part of the 2015 Queen’s Birthday honours. The award recognised his service in authoring numerous training resources and publications for the state’s vertical rescue, road crash, flood rescue, operational driving and large animal rescue operations. He is still an active General Land Rescue team member.

Those who have worked with Dave are amazed by his never ending energy and enthusiasm for developing the skills of members in the emergency services. He is generous with his time and is always mentoring and developing others. He has said himself, he is either flat out or asleep!

Key questions for this episode:

• What do you do to maintain your passion and enthusiasm for training?
• What hurdles have you overcome to maintain your passion?
• What differences do you see in the learners when a trainer is enthusiastic?
• What/who do you think influences trainers and the way they deliver training the most?

References/resources mentioned in episode:

NSW RFS Fuel Online Learning System (Guest view)

Sage on the Stage, Guide on the Side – Article by Alison King

Connect with David King:

LinkedIn

This is just a quick episode to say hi.

This is my first chance for podcasting, so it’s both exciting and honestly a bit terrifying. But, I strongly believe in lifelong learning and that the best learning happens just outside my comfort zone. Exciting and a little nervous – sounds like I’m in the zone! So I am hoping this will be as of much benefit to me as it is professional development and enjoyment for listeners.

You see… I recently had a bit of an ‘aha’ moment. To really share the knowledge, build the community and help the most number of trainers and assessors in our sector, it’s going to have to be a bit more of a broadcast. I looked online – I couldn’t find much about training and assessing in general, less for Australia, and had no luck for the VET sector and emergency services.

So, here we are! Luckily the people involved in our sector are generous with their time and knowledge. Each episode of this podcast we will talk to someone from the emergency services or a related field. They will share their experiences, insights and tips on how we can make training and development in the emergency services work for us. For every episode there will be show notes with links to anything mentioned so you can follow it up later.

As with all networks, you probably know other inspirational and interesting people that I haven’t heard of yet. So if you have any requests for topics, any suggestions for who could also be included, or hey, if you want to volunteer yourself to have a chat – get in touch! Let’s make it happen! Contact us via social media or http://www.brioconsulting.com.au

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