Dominic Lane announced as new boss of SAFECOM, which oversees emergency services planning

Incoming South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission boss Dominic Lane says he will be “doing a lot of listening” before making any decisions on potential sector reforms.

• Almost one in two CFS staff harassed or bullied

The new South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission boss says he will be “doing a lot of listening” before making any decisions on potential sector reforms.

Dominic Lane has been named as the new chief executive of SAFECOM – which oversees resourcing and emergency management planning for the MFS, CFS and SES, and will begin the role in June.

Mr Lane, who has 35 years experience in the field and has been the head of the ACT Emergency Services Agency for the past six years, will take over from Malcolm Jackman, who resigned at the end of March.

He said it was “an absolute honour” to join SAFECOM.

When asked if Mr Lane would be taking the organisation in a different direction, he said he would be visiting various brigades and speaking to volunteers and staff to understand the current situation.

“At this stage I’ll be doing a lot of listening,” he said.

“It’s not my position at this stage to make any decisions on what the future looks like – that will all come down the track.

“One of the mantras I’ve worked with … is we respect the identify of the individual services but we operate and as a coherent whole and that’s what I’ll be expecting as chief executive of SAFECOM.”

Mr Lane visited the Athelstone CFS brigade with Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard to speak to local volunteers.

Emergency Services Minister Corey Wingard with new SAFECOM boss Dominic Lane.

Mr Wingard said Mr Lane was highly respected in the emergency services sector.

“This is a really exciting time for our emergency services sector in South Australia and I look forward to working with Mr Lane to further strengthen our state’s emergency services, and in particular, to further support our volunteers,” he said.

Mr Lane came under fire in April 2018 after an ACT Fire and Rescue internal staff survey revealed firefighters held a long-standing mistrust in their executive, prompting union claims of a toxic culture within the organisation.

In 2014, the ACT’s fire chief lodged a bullying complaint against Mr Lane before quitting. The allegations were investigated and found to be unsubstantiated.

Also in 2014, WorkSafe ACT found a bullying complaint made by an ACT Ambulance Service paramedic against senior staff was not adequately addressed because it was not investigated.

Mr Lane announced an independent investigation into the matter.