FRV firefighters recognised in 2025 Australia Day Honours

The service and dedication of three Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) firefighters has been recognised with Australian Fire Service Medals in today’s 2025 Australia Day Honours List.

The recipients include Assistant Chief Fire Officer Mark Gunning and Senior Station Officers Benjamin Schmidt and Murray Talbot.

The Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) is the highest award for a member of an Australian fire service and is awarded to a select group of outstanding members each year.

The awards honour their commitment over the decades and illustrate the various ways in which our firefighters create positive and long-lasting impacts on the Victorian communities they serve.

“On behalf of everyone at FRV, I extend my congratulations to Mark, Ben and Murray on this distinguished award that recognises their dedication over many decades,” said Fire Rescue Commissioner Gavin Freeman AFSM.

“Their unique contributions also demonstrate that there are many ways in which our people make positive and long-lasting impacts on the Victorian communities we serve.”

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Mark Gunning

Mark has more than 40 years' experience in firefighting and emergency management. He started as a volunteer firefighter in western Victoria and has gone on to make significant contributions to the safety, wellbeing and recovery of communities across the state as an operational leader with both the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and FRV.

Mark has provided incident leadership during some of Victoria's largest emergencies, including the 1983, 2009 and 2019-20 bushfires, the 2011 and 2022 floods and the Victorian COVID-19 response, as well as assisting fire operations in NSW, South Australia and Queensland.

He has also been an inspirational and innovative leader in emergency management planning across Victoria, equipping communities to be better prepared for fires and other emergencies.

This includes developing tailored responses for groups who may be more vulnerable in emergencies, including newly arrived and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Senior Station Officer Benjamin Schmidt

Throughout his 19 years as a firefighter with the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service, CFA and FRV, Ben has demonstrated a passion for education and wellbeing, serving as a recruit instructor and co-founder of CFA's career peer program.

In addition to being a Senior Station Officer at FRV, Ben is a senior logistics and operations member of the Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT). During the early stages of Australia’s COVID-19 response, Ben was deployed to Melbourne's aged care response, Fremantle, Darwin, Fiji and Kiribati to support the logistics and operations of various facilities and health systems in preparing for, or responding to, COVID-19 outbreaks.

Ben's contribution during the pandemic no doubt saved thousands of lives, demonstrating an admirable commitment to the welfare of others by placing himself in harm's way when little was known about the virus.

Senior Station Officer Murray Talbot

Murray has spent more than half of his 40-year career as the coordinator of FRV's Firelighting Consequence Awareness Program (FireCAP), an educational initiative for children and young people who engage in fire risk behaviour.

FireCAP is highly regarded nationally and Murray's contributions have led to strong collaborations with other agencies and requests from other states and territories to share his expertise.

His experience as an operational firefighter and his remarkable skill in developing tailored risk and intervention strategies that address the unique requirements of each case enables him to deliver valuable insights into his education and community safety work.

Many of FireCAP's participants come from vulnerable backgrounds, and Murray's unwavering dedication and deep empathy have been instrumental in changing the trajectory of dozens of young lives and preventing future tragedies.