NSW President’s Update
by Clarissa Phillips
It has been a very busy few months for the NSW branch Committee. I would like to thank all our members for their support.
Our regional NSW conference was held in Albury this year with the theme Water: unlocking a regional sustainable future. The conference commenced with a picturesque site tour to the Hume Dam, followed by two full days of presentations, workshops and networking.
The conference was the perfect opportunity to expand our reach and discuss some of the issues faced in regional NSW. We had an interactive panel on attracting, training and retaining staff in the water industry, facilitated by Lisa Andersons. The panel highlighted how critical it is for our sector to attract and retain diverse skills into the industry. We now have good insights into the current issues we are facing and meaningful pathways for us to move forward with.
I would like to congratulate our best paper winner Melissa Katon, Sydney Water, who presented on the topic “Empowering Neurodiversity and Disability in the Water Industry”. This was a standout presentation and Melissa’s win was well deserved.
Thank you everyone who attended and supported our regional conference and a huge thank you to the organising committee for their hard work. View all the photos from the event here.
We are proud to announce that the NSW Water Professional of the Year, proud Gomeroi man Professor Leslie (Phil) Duncan, also won the 2024 Water Professional of the Year award at Ozwater’24 in Melbourne. Congratulations to Phil for this outstanding achievement.
We continue our commitment to increase the visibility and impact of the AWA. We had our first roundtable discussion with NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson, where we had key representatives from the AWA and regional water utilities to engage in an open, solutions-focused discussion covering water security and quality in regional NSW, as well as skills and training in the water sector. The roundtable was very successful, and we have some actions and recommendations for the minister to consider.
The Newcastle sub-committee held Projects in the Pub, where five guest speakers shared a highlighted version of their Ozwater’24 presentations and experience for those that were unable to attend the conference this year.
And the YWP cocktail event did not disappoint, once again! The night was a huge success with the theme of Retro Disco, I was very impressed with the amount of effort that went into the costumes. Well done to the organising committee, everyone enjoyed the cocktails, games and networking. View all the photos from the night here.
