After his beginnings as a junior volunteer for the Rheola Fire Brigade, Greg Leach has taken on a new role closer to home.
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Mr Leach will move back from Queensland to take on the role of chief executive for Victorian State Emergency Service (VICSES).
He will bring "considerable emergency management expertise" to the role, with a career spanning more than three decades working across multiple emergency services agencies.
"I've always enjoyed working for volunteer organisations," he said.
"It's about helping people in their time of greatest need, and I hope I can continue to do this in the new role."
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Mr Leach has worked extensively in emergency services throughout Victoria with a career that began in 1986 at the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in Bendigo.
"My dad was the captain of the Rheola Rural Fire Brigade, so I joined as a junior volunteer at 13 and became a senior one at 16," he said.
His commitment to community safety led him to several senior operational roles during his time at CFA, before serving in executive positions with Ambulance Victoria for eight years.
Mr Leach served as the commissioner of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES), where he championed emergency services reform and provided exceptional leadership across Queensland's State Emergency Service (SES), Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) and Rural Fire Service (RFS).
He led the QFES through significant operational challenges, including two severe bushfire seasons, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and severe flooding in February and March 2022.
"These are complex challenges we're dealing with," he said.
"Look at the situation in Gippsland at the moment, one day it's fire and the next it's floods.
"It's about making sure that as emergency services, we're continuing to make sure that our staff and our volunteers are as well trained as they can be.
"They need to be as well equipped as they can be and ready to do whatever they need to do to help their local communities."
Mr Leach will take over the role on December 4.
He will succeed Stephen Griffin who has served as VICSES CEO since 2014, overseeing some of the largest changes and emergencies in VICSES' history.
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Alex Gretgrix
Journalist based in Bendigo, Victoria, covering health and a few local shires at the Bendigo Advertiser. Contact via alex.gretgrix@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Journalist based in Bendigo, Victoria, covering health and a few local shires at the Bendigo Advertiser. Contact via alex.gretgrix@austcommunitymedia.com.au
