Craig Lapsley is a former senior public servant in Australia who provided active service to the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

Country Fire Authority The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 2 ...

, the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Fire Brigades A fire department (American English) or fire brigade ( Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression ...

, the Victoria State Emergency Service, and

Emergency Management Victoria Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) is a Government of Victoria (Australia), state government statutory authority responsible for leading emergency management in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia by working with communities, government, ag ...

. Lapsley served as the inaugural Emergency Management Commissioner of Emergency Management Victoria between July 2014 until August 2018, with overall responsibility for coordination before, during and after major emergencies including management of consequences of an emergency.

Career

Lapsley served approximately 30-years in Australian emergency management, mostly with the Victorian

(CFA) including service as a volunteer firefighter. Lapsley finished his employment with CFA in August 2007, ranked as Deputy Chief Officer. During his service with the CFA, in 1996 Lapsley was seconded to

NSW Fire Brigades Fire and Rescue New South Wales (previously known as New South Wales Fire Brigades), an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for firefighting, rescue and HazMat services in the major cities, metropolitan areas ...

in the position of Manager State Operations for two years. He was also seconded to Victoria State Emergency Service (SES) in 2005 to transform the SES from a government department to a newly formed statutory authority. In 2007, he was appointed Director Emergency Management,

Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

and was responsible for the health sector emergency response to major incidents including mass casualty, pre-hospital (ambulance) and hospital surge capability. This extended to the state coordination and management of recovery arrangements for all emergencies, including recovery efforts after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. In 2010, Lapsley was appointed as Victoria's first and only Fire Services Commissioner. As Victoria’s first Emergency Management Commissioner, appointed under the ''Emergency Management Act 2013'', Lapsley worked on the shift to an “all communities, all emergencies” approach to emergency management will ensure a systematic and coordinated approach before, during and after major emergencies. He was also focussed on opportunities for the alignment of strategy, planning and investment across multiple agencies, to champion unified information systems, a culture of information sharing, and a sharp and deliberate focus on better decision making with the community as a central partner in emergency management. In 2018, Lapsley stepped down as Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner. He was succeeded by Andrew Crisp, from Victoria Police.

Patronage and other activities

* Chief Patron of Road Rescue Association Victoria * Committee member of National Emergency Services Advisory Committee of the

Australian Red Cross The Australian Red Cross, formally the Australian Red Cross Society, is a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Australia. Tracing its history back to 1923 and being incorporated by royal charter in 1941, the Australian Red Cros ...

* Director with the Victorian Emergency Services Foundation * Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC, Craig Lapsley
/ref> * Patron of SARDA (Search and Rescue Dog Association), the Bendigo Football Netball League and the Central Victorian Fire Preservation Society

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapsley, Craig Commissioners of Victoria Emergency management in Australia Living people Year of birth missing (living people)