Rohan Scott AFSM - Chief Officer - ACT Rural Fire Service.
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In this Heart 2 Heart Walk Podcast, Matt talks to Rohan Scott, current Chief Officer of the Australian Capital Territory Rural Fire Service. After seeing some friends heading off to a place he only knew as 'The Shed' on regular occasions, Rohan commenced his firefighting career at the age of 23 as a foundational volunteer at the Molonglo RFS brigade. In these early days, Rohan talks about storing their fire trucks in a nearby farm owned by one of their members while their station was being constructed to provide this essential service, right through to becoming the organisations Chief Officer and senior executive member of the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA).
We cover a lot of issues in this episode, including how even 20 years of from the 2003 Canberra bushfires firefighters still struggle in some ways from the event. Rohan shares his personal story of his involvement in the event and how it affected him, right through to now as the head of the organisation, using his personal experiences to shape his focus on looking after his workforce and their families including targeted programs looking at leadership practices within the organisation both operationally and administratively.
Rohan has also established a range of Female Network meetings and commenced female only training opportunities to encourage and extend diversity within the ACT RFS in what is well known to be a very different volunteer workforce from generations prior.
Rohan talks specifically about his support of the
Heart 2 Heart Walk 2023 and how important it is to have a diverse suite of supports for people in emergency services, to help people deal with the operational demands in a meaningful and suitable manner.
So listen in for a great chat with an emergency services leader who has gone from recruit volunteer to Chief Officer, having dealt with some of the nations most deadly fire events.
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