Six highly regarded CFA members have been named as this year’s Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) recipients, in recognition of their outstanding service to CFA and their communities.
The AFSM is the highest award for a member of an Australian fire service and as part of the Australia Day honours list, is awarded yearly to a select group of dedicated fire service members.
The six members have been recognised for their exceptional bravery, expertise, and leadership, leading their regions through major fire and flood emergencies such as Black Saturday, the 2019/20 bushfire season, and more recently the 2024 Grampians bushfire, all while imparting modern and innovative knowledge towards CFA’s fleet, training and equipment to enhance capabilities.
The 2025 CFA Australian Fire Service Medal recipients are:
Known for her proactive, solutions-focused approach, Diana Billingsley is willing to roll her sleeves up to help drive positive change and support volunteer training and development. Over her 20 years as a firefighter with Boolarra Fire Brigade, Diana has attended more than 200 incidents and was a crew leader during the 2009 Black Saturday and 2019/20 bushfires. She is now the Deputy Group Officer and Group Training Officer for the Merton Group.
Fiona Burns has served CFA for more than 21 years at Launching Place and Hillcrest brigades and is currently the Group Officer of Yarra Valley Group. Fiona has distinguished herself as an extremely capable and highly sought after member of incident management teams as a planning officer during large and prolonged, multi-agency campaign fires in 2013, 2019-20 and again in 2024 in Gippsland and the Grampians.
For more than 30 years, Mark King has exemplified the spirit of CFA with Yallourn North Fire Brigade. Mark currently serves as the brigade’s secretary, a role he took on after stepping down as Captain in June 2023 following nearly 17 years in leadership. Mark has held several additional critical leadership roles, including strike team leader, sector commander, divisional commander and health team leader.
As a valued member of the firefighting community, Tim Smith has dedicated more than 42 years of volunteer service to Hurstbridge Fire Brigade, holding various leadership positions including Lieutenant and Captain during his tenure. As CFA’s Manager Fleet Operations, Tim has been instrumental in modernising and maintaining the CFA fleet, with his innovative approach and expertise significantly enhancing operational capability, safety and performance.
Lisa Hicks has been a highly respected, dedicated member of CFA for more than 49 years, with 30 of those supporting incident control centres as a crew leader and public information officer. Lisa has served in a range of brigade roles for Narre Warren North, Pakenham Upper and the Cardinia group. From operational firefighter, to secretary, community safety coordinator, general firefighter assessor and full time Brigade Administrative Support Officer at District 8.
Mark Gunning’s more than four decades of remarkable service to CFA, Fire Rescue Victoria and the broader fire and emergency services spans frontline response, incident management, fire operations, flood response and crisis leadership – all of which have had a lasting impact on the safety, wellbeing and recovery of communities across the state. His guidance has been pivotal during Black Saturday, the Black Summer bushfires, 2011 and 2022 Victorian Floods, the Victorian COVID-19 Response and most recently the 2024 Grampians bushfires.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan congratulated the six highly respected CFA AFSM recipients for their invaluable service during their many decades of service.
“CFA is incredibly proud of its volunteers and staff, and it is great to see our members recognised with the highest fire service medal in the country,” Jason said.
“We are fortunate as an organisation to have so many incredible people who devote a large part of their life to the protection of lives and property in their communities, and I thank them for their dedication.”
CFA would also like to recognise AFSM recipient and Fire Rescue Victoria Senior Station Officer Benjamin Schmidt, who has also contributed significantly to CFA and Victoria’s fire services.
Another three former and current CFA members were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), Gwendoline Blandthorn, Neville Seymour and John Wheal.