| Historical notes: | During 1989, the NSW State Government announced its decision to dissolve the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW. Under the Fire Brigades Act of 1909, the Board took over control of the Fire Brigades on the 1st January 1910. Prior to this, there was no statewide control of the Fire Brigades in NSW. The previous Fire Brigades Board, which was inaugurated on 1st January 1884, had only controlled the Metropolitan Fire Brigades. During this time, shire or municipal councils in the country areas would often organise their own volunteer fire brigade. The establishment of the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW had been a great step forward in the administration of the State’s fire protection. With its dissolution, came a "new era" of Fire Brigade management.
Briefly, the key issues involved the Board being dissolved and replaced by NSW Fire Brigades Advisory Council, which was chaired by the Director-General Mr Peter Rath. Formerly the President of the Board, Mr Rath was placed in this office for the remainder of his term of office as President. This Council was to be responsible for advising the Minister on matters relating to the Brigade. One of the perceived advantages in this new administration was that the Chief Officer’s position was elevated to a full member of the Advisory Council. Previously, under the old system, the Chief Officer was not a member of the Board.
The NSW Fire Brigades was now a Government Department. The justification for this change rested in the fact that the Government concluded that the contributions made towards the operation of the Brigade were a tax, and thus should be dealt with in the same way as any other tax and allocated to the brigade through he State Budget. Therefore, the brigade should be subject to the same ministerial controls as were imposed on other government departments, which were funded from the public purse. The exception would be that taxes received from the contributors would be pledged to the Fire Brigade, and not made available to other government departments.
One of the major innovations, which were brought about under this new management system, was the "regionalisation" of the Fire Brigades, whereby the state was divided into four administrative and operational areas. The aim was to transfer responsibility and functions from Central Administration to the Regional Office, which was headed by a Regional Commander.
Following the retirement of the Director-General, Peter Rath, on 29th April 1994, Chief Officer Stan Hearn became Acting Director-General. On 6th May, the Minister announced that the position of Director-General would henceforth be known as "Commissioner". Thus, on the 13th May, Mr Hearn became Acting Commissioner, (pending the taking up of the position by Vice-Admiral, Ian MacDougall. Mr Hearn remained as Acting Commissioner until his retirement on 10th June 1994.
The passing of the Fire Brigades (Amendment) Act of 1994 saw the office of Commissioner encompass both of the former offices of Director-General and Chief Officer. With the retirement of Mr Hearn approaching, there were no applications received from operational personnel from within the NSW Fire Brigades for the Chief Executive’s position. Thus, came the appointment of a person from outside the Brigade. Vice Admiral, Ian Mac Dougall, aged 56 was the former head of he Royal Australian Navy (RAN). On May 17th, the Governor, His Excellency Rear-Admiral Peter Sinclair approved the appointment following Cabinet’s support. Mr Mac Dougall had an outstanding record of achievement as a senior manager and had demonstrated leadership and the ability to manage a large workforce.
At the age of 15, he joined the Royal Australian Naval College as a Cadet Midshipman in January 1954. During his thirty-year service he commanded submarines, a guided missile destroyer and a fleet tanker. He was directory of Submarine Policy between 1982-84 and Director General of Joint Operations and Plans for the Australian Defence Force in 1986-87, ensuring the successful integration of the three armed forces into a joint, mutually supportive operational capability. From January 1989 to July 1990, he served as Maritime Commander Australia.
Following his appointment to Chief of the Naval Staff (Chief Executive Officer) in March 1991, Admiral Mac Dougall oversaw some 15,000 uniformed personnel and 5,000 departmental civilians.
In 1993 he received the Companion of the Order of Australia for distinguished service and exceptional performance of duty to the RAN.
On 10th June 1994, Ian Mac Dougall took up the position of Commissioner (Chief Executive Officer) of the NSW Fire Brigades.
On 4th July 2003, Commissioner Mac Dougall retired. The Assistant Commissioner Greg Mullins was appointed to the position of Commissioner. |