August 11 and 12, 2006
Melbourne Convention Centre (MCC), Australia

The International Fire Chiefs' Association of Asia (IFCAA) held its 24th general conference on August 11 (Fri.) and 12 (Sat.) in the Melbourne Convention Centre (MCC), Australia. The two-day conference was given along with the 13th annual conference of the Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) and the third annual conference of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

On August 10 (Thurs.), just the day before the General Conference, the IFCAA Directors' Meeting was held at 4:30 p.m. in the Bellarine 4&5 on the MCC’s Level 4. The meeting, attended by the 12 IFCAA officials from ten countries and one area out of Japan, deliberated on the proposals for the General Conference. At 6:00 p.m., the AFAC 2006 Trade Exhibition was kicked off by IFCAA President Kazushige Sekiguchi and AFAC President Peter Akers in the You Yangs Hall on the MCC Level 3.

On August 11 (Fri.), the opening ceremony for the IFCAA, AFAC and CRC conferences took place at 8:00 a.m. in the John Batman Theatre on the MCC Level 3. Greetings were then given by AFAC President Akers, IFCAA President Sekiguchi and CRC Chairman Ian MacDougall. They were followed by The Honourable Timothy Holding MP (Minister for Police and Emergency Services & Corrections), who declared the three conferences open.

At 9:10 a.m., the IFCAA Regular Session started in the Latrobe Theatre on the MCC Level 2 for the deliberation on the following eight proposals:

1. Achievement in the 23rd Fiscal Year (2004 & 2005)
2. Accounts in the 23rd Fiscal Year (2004 & 2005)
3. Operations Plan in the 24th Fiscal Year (2006 & 2007)
4. Revenue and Expenditure in the 24th Fiscal Year (2006 & 2007)
5. Development of Information Exchange for Mutual Support
6. Development of Emergency Response Capabilities
7. Reelection of Officers8. The 25th IFCAA General Conference

Following the Session, the IFCAA PresentationⅠwas given at 11:10 a.m. in the same place with the two IFCAA speakers from the Philippines and Brunei.

On August 12 (Sat.), the KEYNOTE was delivered by Mr. Roy Bishop (Deputy Commissioner, London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority) in the John Batman Theatre on the MCC Level 3 at 8:30 a.m. Following the speech, the IFCAA Presentation Ⅱtook place at 11:00 a.m. in the Latrobe Theatre on the MCC Level 2 with the two IFCAA speakers from Singapore and Hong Kong. There, at 1:30 p.m. the IFCAA Presentation Ⅲ started with the two speakers from Malaysia and Japan.

At 3:00 p.m., the CLOSING KEYNOTE was delivered by Mr. Mick Keelty (Commissioner, Australian Federal Police) in the John Batman Theatre on the MCC Level 3. At the Closing Ceremony from 4:15 p.m., there were AFAC President Akers’ greetings, the 24th IFCAA Conference Declaration by Hong Kong Fire Services Director KWOK Jing-keung, IFCAA President Sekiguchi’s greetings, *the AFAC-to-IFCAA conference plate handover, the greetings by Mr. John Gledhill (the expected chairman for the next AFAC conference), CRC Chairmen Ian MacDougall’s greetings, AFAC 2006 Conference Chairman Neil Bibby’s greetings and AFAC President Akers’ conclusion. Overall, the two-day joint function did come off WELL!

*AFAC-to-IFCAA conference plate handover
The IFCAA conference host plate was handed over from Chairman Neil Bibby to Chief Sekiguchi. (This host-to-host ceremony was started in the 23rd IFCAA General Conference in Taipei, Taiwan in 2004.)

○ Participation (Reported by the local secretariat
1. 1,311 people
2. From 22 countries and two areas
(1) With IFCAA Membership (13 countries & 2 areas)
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan (2) Others (9 countries)
Belgium, Canada, Fiji, Russia, the Solomon Islands, Switzerland, Tonga, the U.K. and the U.S.A.