NSW SES Unit volunteer Gregory Cormack has today received an Emergency Services Medal in the Queen's Birthday 2019 Honours List.
Mr Cormack is an operational expert in flood rescues, particularly in the Georges River area.
He has been a member of the NSW SES for 27 years, commencing his service with the NSW SES Hurstville Unit in 1991.
During this time he has been involved in a range of major operational responses, particularly as an Incident Controller.
He was employed as the Sydney Southern Region Learning and Development Officer in 2005, and was instrumental in developing a range of training programs, including the first eLearning Training Package.
He has also provided operational capability support to assist NSW SES volunteers in the development of a flood rescue capability within the Sydney Southern Region.
Working closely with other Region based staff, his responsibilities were significant in terms of the flood rescue risk around the Georges River for a region with a large number of volunteers.
His achievements laid the foundation for further work to ensure the safety of communities in the Georges River and in other flash flood identified areas.
More recently he became a key member of the Incident Management Project, establishing products on which the NSW SES could develop a robust Incident Management Capability at all levels from Level 1 to Level 3 Incident Control and related AIIMS functional area training.
He has consistently demonstrated his ability to establish and maintain professional networks across a range of emergency response agencies which have resulted in improved incident management capabilities through cross-organisation training opportunities.
Mr Cormack is highly respected by his peers and is considered a subject matter expert in the fields of training and incident management and he is dedicated to the ongoing safety and preparedness of the community of New South Wales.
Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said Mr Cormack has been a key contributor to the Incident Management Project, which develops emergency services plans and training.
"Day after day, these 23 brave men and women put a uniform on and go to work protecting the community from harm. These medals are some of the highest honours available to members and are proof of the first-class service provided to NSW by the best police force and emergency services agencies in the world," Mr Elliott said.
"They don't go to work or volunteer for awards and accolades, but it is important we recognise the enormous contribution they make towards community safety."