Northern Territory Police,
Fire and Emergency Services

Mr Kelvin Currie took up the position of Director of Legal Services for Police Fire and Emergency Services in December 2009.

Mr Currie was admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW in 1987 and was in private practice in that state until coming to the Territory in 2003. In 2004 he took up his first position in the public sector in the then Department of Health and Community Services as Director of Legal Services.

In 2008 he went to the private bar for a break before taking up the position with PFES.

Ms Katie Fowden is Director of Media and Corporate Communications for NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services.

The role covers all facets of internal/external marketing and communication for the Tri-service.

Ms Fowden joined the agency in November 2007 as the Manager of the Media Unit, taking over as Director in June 2008. Her career has spanned a variety of areas from training emergency telephonists in the UK, a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Yorkshire University squadron, Campaign Director for tobacco control, Senior Policy Advisor with the Northern Territory Department of Health, Marketing Manager and Acting Media Manager for the Department of Justice through to joining the tri-service.

Ms Fowden has a BA Honours Degree in Social Policy and Criminology.

Ms Hallett joined NTPFES in 1995 as Senior Budget Analyst and was appointed Director, Finance in 2004. The Finance Branch provides client support services to the organisation in the areas of budget management, financial management and reporting and tax management. 

Ms Hallett has extensive experience in all aspects of public sector financial administration in a career that spans more than 30 years in the Northern Territory. Prior to commencing with NTPFES she held several positions in the finance and procurement areas of the Department of Health including budget management and contract administration.

A current and ongoing priority is the management and co-ordination of changing financial management practices across the agency stemming from national and local reforms.

A career highlight was winning the national CFO Awards Public Sector Finance Manager of the Year in 2008.

Mr Kelly commenced in the Northern Territory Government in 1997, where he has worked with the Departments of Transport and Works, Housing, Treasury and Police, Fire and Emergency Services.

Mr Kelly is responsible for effective leadership and strategic policy and operational management for the NTPFES Building, Fleet and Procurement Sections to enable frontline entities of the agency to achieve service delivery outcomes. Paul represents the agency on a range of high level steering committees and working groups on whole of government initiatives. A career highlight has been the development of the NTPFES Closing the Gap initiatives as a result of the Northern Territory Emergency Response and the financial systems to record expenditure of police effort for Commonwealth reimbursement.

Paul has a Bachelor of Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Public Sector Management.

Ms Ko had 10 years private enterprise experience in Hong Kong before joining the Northern Territory Government in 1979, where she has worked with the Departments of Transport and Works, Health and Community Services, Chief Minister, Education and Police, Fire and Emergency Services.

Ms Ko is responsible for strategic corporate leadership in administrative, logistical and specialist support to enable frontline entities of the agency to achieve service delivery outcomes. The support functions include Human Resource Management, business information, information technology and telecommunications, fleet management, facilities management, finance and procurement.

She represents the agency on a range of high level steering committees and working groups on whole of government initiatives and has the unique function of coordinating the NT Police's involvement in CrimTrac, a national law enforcement initiative.

Audrey has a Bachelor of Business with double majors in management and computing and a Master of Business Administration. Ms Ko was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2005.

The Chief Information Officer is a newly established position within the triservice executive to provide strategic leadership for ICT Branch and a number of functions within the corporate service.

Mr Rowlands joins PFES following a 21 year career with the Australian Regular Army and most recently as a Lieutenant Colonel at Headquarters Northern Command, where he was the Senior Planning Officer. He has also served as the Chief of Staff for the Australian Joint Task Force Headquarters in Afghanistan in 2010.

Prior to arriving in Darwin in 2007 he was a combat tactics instructor at the US Army Infantry School in Fort Benning, USA. He has also served on active duty in the former Yugoslavia, East Timor and Solomon Islands.

Mr Rowlands is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Australian Defence College. He has a Master of Management (Defence Studies), a Bachelor of Professional Studies and an Associate Diploma in Personnel Administration. His awards include a Chief of Defence Force Commendation for leadership, a US Army Meritorious Service Medal and the Order of Saint Maurice.

Andy Telfer was appointed to the position of Director, Forensic Science Branch in July 2008 after serving nearly 40 years as a police officer with South Australia Police.

He had 18 years experience as a crime scene investigator before being promoted to commissioned rank and then returning to management positions in the Forensic Services Branch. After 6 years as the Officer in Charge of this Branch, at the rank of Superintendent, Mr Telfer was involved in several corporate projects leading up to his return to forensic science in the Northern Territory.

His career highlights include overseas study tours relating to bomb scene examination and disaster victim identification (DVI) respectively, which took him to a range of countries including the USA, England, Northern Ireland, Israel and The Netherlands. He was also privileged to be involved in DVI operations in Bali in 2002 and in Phuket, Thailand following the tsunami and was honoured to receive the Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to DVI work.

Mr Telfer holds a Graduate Certificate in Applied Management and an Associate Diploma in Business Administration and has interests in family, music, cycling, the Uniting Church and international development.

Ms Katherine Van Gurp commenced with NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services (NTPFES) as Executive Director for the Business Improvement and Planning Branch in August 2011.

The Business Improvement and Planning Branch (previously known as the Strategic Planning Command) encompasses strategic planning, risk management, performance management and internal audit for the agency. 

Ms Van Gurp has an extensive background working in the law enforcement and justice arena.  Prior to commencing with the NTPFES she worked with the Australia Federal Police (AFP) for seven years, most recently as the Coordinator of the AFP’s Strategic and Emerging Issues Branch. Some specific areas of focus during this time included strategic planning, environmental scanning, policy advice, new funding proposals and risk management.

Ms Van Gurp has also worked with the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Office, NSW Department of Juvenile Justice and the former WA Anti-Corruption Commission, with a focus on policy, planning and professional standards with these agencies.

Ms Van Gurp holds a Bachelor of Business (Management) and has undertaken Bachelor of Laws studies. She has also completed a Certificate in Workplace Training and Assessment and a Certificate in Corporate Investigations.

John Weippert is Director of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) with the Northern Territory Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Services (NTPFES).

An experienced professional with 23 years in the ICT sector, he has held various senior roles across the NT Government's IT environment, responsible for driving several key systems projects. He has responsibility for many of the key business systems in use by the NTPFES, radar and breath analysis devices, the digital radio network, and IT operations.

He has a high level of involvement at a national level with CrimTrac and other jurisdictions in the exchange of policing information. Prior to joining the NTPFES, he was Director of Information Services of the Department of Justice (DOJ), where he managed business applications, web management, infrastructure and external service provider delivery functions.

John has extensive experience in contract management and was previously responsible for managing the Whole of NT Government Mainframe Applications and Non-Mainframe application development panel contracts. From an initial mainframe applications development background, his career has progressed through a mixture of project and business management positions, along the way developing strong business analysis and project management skills.

As past NT Branch Chair of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and Director ACS Council, John has had extensive involvement in the NT ICT sector and has represented the Territory's interests and concerns to the national ACS. Mr Weippert is married with three young daughters and holds a Bachelor of Business Computing Degree and Computer Science Graduate Diploma from the Charles Darwin University, along with a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from Flinders University. He has also completed the ACS's masters level Certification Program and the Australian Company Directors Course.