Vivien Thomson

Vivien Thomson AFSM (board member since 2023) Vivien is from Australia and holds a Graduate Certificate in Rural Leadership and other qualifications in Horticulture, Agriculture and Emergency Management, Coaching and Governance. Vivien has been involved in Firefighting for over 35 years, she began her career as a Ranger in the Parks Service in Canberra where she worked her way up to being Captain, her roles include working as a Sector Leader, Divisional Commander, and Incident Controller. She ran the training for the ACT Bushfire Service and introduced Competency based Training, worked as a Fire Management Officer, and was President of the ACT Fire Controllers Group during and after the devastating fires in 2003 in the ACT. Vivien’s passion is mental health for firefighters and other personnel involved in firefighting, she has written two books ‘What You Wouldn’t Believe’ (a Collaborative project) and ‘Ashes of The Firefighters’ and presented at numerous conferences and given evidence at Senate Inquiries on firefighter’s mental health. She has been awarded 4 medals for her work and continues to be involved in mentoring and the Senior Leadership Team where she is able to support women through mentoring and education.