Roger Estall

For over 40 years, I have worked in or with a wide range of organisations in the public, private and NFP sectors in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere to help them deal with uncertainty, make decisions and solve problems and so better realise their purpose.

I held senior management and governance roles for over 20 years in a multi-national company. I was appointed by the NZ Government to chair the New Zealand Fire Service Commission and National Rural Fire Authority. My task was to devise and implement wide-ranging reforms to improve efficiency and effectiveness and these led to a significant and rapid reduction in fire deaths annually.

Throughout my career, I have fulfilled numerous technical roles which required me to gain a detailed understanding of the operations and processes of many types of industry in many countries as well as in several parts of the public sector. As the Chief Technical Officer of a national approving authority for all automatic fire protection systems I was responsible for formal engineering determinations. I also undertook numerous forensic investigations, provided expert witness testimony in support of litigation and undertook official inquiries on behalf of governments as an input to policy development.

I have always enjoyed sharing my experience through speaking at conferences, training, presentation of the prestigious annual Hopkins Lecture and participation in organisations with a worthwhile cause. Over 37 years, I was either a member or chair of 25 national and international standards-writing committees dealing with fire engineering, building controls, ambulance & paramedical services, aviation firefighting and 'risk management'. I was the founding Chairman of the NZ Society for Risk Management Inc; and served as President of the New Zealand Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers and vice President of the New Zealand Ski Association.

In 2005 I established my own successful consulting company with clients in several countries and in 2020, with Grant Purdy, formed Sufficient Certainty Pty Ltd (www.sufficientcertainty.com) and published our book "Deciding" – a guide for decision-makers of all types seeking to make even better decisions.