ESA commissioner Georgeina Whelan to resign after damning executive management review

Ms Whelan's departure follows a damning review of executive management within the agency she has led since May 2019.

Ms Whelan told staff her last day in the job would be on Friday and assistant commissioner Jason Jones would become acting commissioner from Monday.

"After six very busy, challenging but always professionally rewarding years I have decided to leave the ACT public service," Ms Whelan wrote in an email seen by The Canberra Times.

Ms Whelan wrote leading the "passionate, determined and committed" organisation had been a career highlight.

Justice and Community Safety Directorate director-general Richard Glenn thanked Ms Whelan in an all-staff email.

"In addition to responding to significant emergencies, the ESA under George's leadership has pursued an ambitious program of innovation and modernisation. From workforce planning to mental health and wellbeing to environmental sustainability, George leaves a lasting legacy of positive and impactful change," Mr Glenn wrote.

Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman thanked Ms Whelan for her outstanding service and unwavering community commitment.

"I would like to thank Commissioner for being there for our community during our toughest times," Mr Gentleman said.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said: "Every Canberran will remember Commissioner Whelan for the role that she played in our lives during the 2019-20 bushfires. We were all grateful to have her as a reassuring voice throughout a difficult time for the city."

The executive management review found examples of agency executives bullying, blaming, withholding information and undermining decisions, and said a "cultural shift" was needed.

No findings were made against individual executives in the review.

Ms Whelan told Emergency Services Agency staff after the review was released publicly the executive team acknowledged their responsibility to improve workplace culture.

"As the commissioner I take my leadership responsibilities seriously, and along with the senior executive leadership team, we acknowledge the areas where change and improvement is needed," Ms Whelan wrote.

A senior ACT public servant last week said agency executives should not be proud of the findings.

Justice and Community Safety Directorate deputy director-general Ray Johnson said at the time on ABC radio the agency's executive team all wanted to be part of the process to improve the agency.

Mr Glenn had accepted all the recommendations of the management review, which was led by former Ambulance Victoria chief executive Tony Walker.

Mr Gentleman on Tuesday told a budget estimates hearing he had directed Mr Glenn to provide updates on the implementation of the recommendations so he could brief cabinet on the progress.

Ms Whelan also appeared before the budget estimates hearing on Tuesday, facing a series of questions about the purchase of a hybrid electric fire truck the Auditor-General found breached procurement rules.

Since the findings of the management review, Mr Gentleman has stopped short of expressing his confidence the Emergency Services Agency's executive team despite declaring his support while the review was under way.

Ms Whelan has faced sustained pressure from unions, who have criticised her handling of the agency and, in the case of the paramedics' union, passed a no confidence vote in her leadership.

The Transport Workers' Union, which represents ambulance officers, last week called for all Emergency Services Agency executives, which includes Ms Whelan, to be stood aside.

The union said it was "obviously a recipe for failure" if senior executives were not stood aside to allow the review recommendations to be implemented.

Ms Whelan was in May 2019 appointed acting commissioner of the Emergency Services Agency to replace Dominic Lane, before her permanent appointment was confirmed in August that year.

After more than 30 years in the Army, Ms Whelan was appointed as the first full-time female chief officer of the territory's State Emergency Service in October 2017.

Ms Whelan led the agency during the 2019-20 bushfire season, in which a fire sparked by a Defence helicopter in the Orroral Valley burned through about 80 per cent of the Namadgi National Park.

Ms Whelan last month told a coronial inquiry into the fire the 45-minute period Defence took to notify the agency of the fire was unlikely to have made a difference to the response; the ESA had identified the fire within nine minutes, she said.

The inquiry continues.

MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:

The bushfire season, which placed the ACT in the greatest risk since 2003, revealed significant tensions between volunteer rural firefighters and the paid staff of the Emergency Services Agency.

In January 2021, Ms Whelan declared in a letter she had lost confidence in the advice from the ACT's Bushfire Council, which exposed a rift between the Emergency Services Agency commissioner and the body tasked with providing advice on how to respond to bushfires.

The United Firefighters Union, which represents urban firefighters, in May described the agency as "lead in the saddlebags" of firefighters.

The agency had failed through a combination of "mismanagement and incompetence" to keep enough fire trucks on the road was a "hindrance" to the firefighting service, the union's ACT branch secretary, Greg McConville, said.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.