Stories · Alumni · 2026

Warwick Penrose: the fifth-generation Freemason and A Start in Life alumnus paying it forward

A group of A Start in Life students took their first-ever flight to Brisbane, where alumnus Warwick Penrose showed them the career his early support helped make possible.

For a group of A Start in Life students, the trip to Brisbane began with their first-ever flight. Their destination was EPE Trusted to Protect, which delivers counter-threat solutions and protective capabilities for hazardous environments. Its owner and CEO, Warwick Penrose, is an A Start in Life alumnus and a fifth-generation Freemason.

Warwick welcomed the students and took them into places most people never see, or even know exist. They explored advanced robotics laboratories, examined bomb disposal and protective technologies, and watched demonstrations of equipment designed to keep people safe. Among the machines on show was a Boston Dynamics robotic dog, used to keep people out of dangerous situations by sending technology in their place.

For the students, the visit turned career pathways from a classroom topic into something they could watch in action.

Early support that set the course

Warwick shared his own journey openly. He has walked the pathway these students are starting on, and he credits the people at A Start in Life who believed in him, the mentors who nurtured his potential, and the guidance and practical support that helped him take his first steps.

He also points to the values he learned through Freemasonry, and later through military service, as the foundation of his path in life.

Warwick has walked the pathway these students are starting on.

From bomb disposal to building EPE

In the Defence Force, Warwick specialised in mine warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, high-risk search and CBRNE operations: the coordinated responses to threats or incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive materials.

During a NATO deployment in Bosnia, he established the SEARS Foundation to clear landmine threats from local swimming areas, so children could play there without the risk of being maimed or killed by the remnants of war.

Those roles built the character, discipline and resilience that would later define his leadership. When Warwick transitioned to civilian life, the opportunity arose to purchase and develop EPE. The business began with two people and has grown to a team of more than sixty, delivering and supporting protective solutions for defence forces, police and government agencies across Australia, New Zealand and allied nations.

A workplace built on service

Service shapes how Warwick leads EPE. The company employs veterans and has built a workplace grounded in leadership, integrity and respect.

That commitment has been recognised nationally. EPE was named a finalist in the Prime Minister’s National Veterans’ Employment Awards, and Warwick was a finalist for Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year.

Good character, personal growth, moral discipline, charity and service are values championed by A Start in Life and fostered by the wider Masonic community. In Warwick’s story, the students saw those values at work: in the swimming areas he helped make safe in Bosnia, in a company that grew from two people to more than sixty, and in the time he gave to show a group of young people what their own futures could hold.