Julia Waddington-Powell is the Chief Executive of the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM)—the first female to hold such a position in the State’s emergency services sector’s history.

Julia brings 30 years of experience in the SA Public Sector and significant leadership expertise in the State’s health, emergency management, fire safety, and public safety sectors.

Before joining SAFECOM, Julia held senior leadership positions at the SA Ambulance Service, where she coordinated and delivered the organisation’s Rural Health Workforce Plan to ensure the delivery of high-quality and accessible services for the State’s regional and remote communities.

Later, Julia was appointed Executive Director of Operations for the SA Ambulance Service’s Country, Rescue Retrieval, and Aviation Service, MedSTAR. MedSTAR provides South Australia’s only state-of-the-art emergency medical retrieval service for critical care neonatal, paediatric, and adult medical operations.

Julia is a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has been awarded a Graduate Diploma of Project Management, a Masters in International Public Health and a Masters in Health Management from the University of New South Wales.