Natalie MacDonald led the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA) through a period of dramatic change between 2021 and 2024 and in the third of our Summer Series interviews Juliet talked with Natalie prior to her retirement about some of these challenges and the opportunities they present for the CFA.

Prior to the CFA Natalie was Vice-President (Strategy & Development) at La Trobe University for eight years and was involved in developing the University’s strategy and the transformation of its campuses to create economic growth, community value and high-quality research, teaching and student life environments.

At the CFA Natalie led a make-dominated workforce that is spread across Victoria and is largely composed of local volunteers whose first loyalty is to their local crew, rather than a distant head office.

In this conversation Natalie talks about her focus on supporting local crews, building the CFA culture and embedding genuine, sustainable diversity within the workforce at CFA, which has enabled the organisation to come through a difficult time in good shape.

Natalie has served and is serving on a number of Commonwealth and State bodies and not-for-profit, education, superannuation and research Boards. She has a BA, MBA and MComm from The University of Queensland.

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