Victorian water sector seeking directors

Up to 130 appointments will be made to Victorian boards and authorities, with the guarantee that at least 50% of those roles will be filled by women.

The Victorian government is calling for applications for director positions on the boards of Victoria’s water corporations and catchment management authorities, with young women and Aboriginal Victorians particularly encouraged to apply.

Applicants who are successful will be responsible for guiding Victoria’s water organisations through challenges such as climate change, a shifting and growing population, bushfire response and recovery as well as COVID-19 response.

Minister for Water Lisa Neville encouraged interested applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.

“In the last few years, female representation has risen to 53 per cent for water corporations and 62 per cent for CMAs, while we also now have 11 Aboriginal Victorians on boards compared to none in 2015,” she said.

“Water corporations and catchment management authorities play an important role in our communities across the state, and I’d encourage people to see if they can support this by taking on leadership positions on their boards.

“To be able to meet the challenges of the future — like climate change and a growing population — Victorian water boards need to reflect the diversity of the communities they represent.”

The state is also conducting an expressions of interest process to fill the board of Greater Western Water, a new body which will be created in July due to the integration of City West Water and Western Water.

Expressions of interest for the water corporation and catchment management positions close on Monday 8 March 2021.

The process

The duties of a board member include strategy, governance, risk management and compliance.

A potential public entity director must be confident they have the time and commitment to serve actively and conscientiously on a board, can maintain a degree of separation from any representative group with which they are associated, and can act as an independent director of the board and have no conflict of interest or duty.

The selection process will be led by an independent panel including Sonia Petering, Joan Liley, Christine Forster, Peter Tuohey, Kay Spierings, Tony Nippard and Sally Farrier. It will be chaired by former CEO of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority Ben Hubbard.

The selection process will be led by an independent panel, including Sally Farrier, Sonia Petering, Peter Tuohey, Joan Liley, Kay Spierings, Christine Forster and Tony Nippard. It will be chaired by former CEO of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority Ben Hubbard.

Water corporations provide a range of services to customers including water supply, sewage and trade waste disposal and treatment, water delivery for irrigation and domestic and stock purposes, drainage, and salinity mitigation services.

Catchment management authorities are responsible for the integrated planning and coordination of land, water and biodiversity management in each catchment and land protection regions.

More information on the vacancies and application process can be found at getonboard.vic.gov.au.