Lindsay Walsh from MidCoast Water has been elected as the Chairperson of the WIOA NSW Advisory Committee, congratulations Lindsay.

The WIOA New South Wales Advisory Committee will  assist WIOA to undertake a range of functions such as:

• Identifying the types, range and scope of services and events considered appropriate for New South Wales water industry operational staff
• Assisting with the organisation, promotion and staging of events
• Providing New South Wales based information for inclusion in WIOA publications
• Encourage participation and knowledge sharing with water industry related personnel employed in the private sector
• Inform WIOA of training issues specific to New South Wales operational staff

NSW Awards

Colin Haynes from UnityWater has been elected as the Chairperson of the WIOA Queensland Advisory Committee.

Colin succeeds Marcus Boyd from the Toowoomba Regional Council who did a terrific job in instigating a number of Queensland based events.

WIOA  invites Membership from any persons responsible for carrying out the whole, or part operation and maintenance of any facet of the Water Industry. Members may be derived from the Private or Public Sector.

Previous Queensland Chairpersons
Colin Haynes – Unity Water
Marcus Boyd – Toowoomba Regional Council
Jason Krzciuk – Origin Energy

Queensland Awards

Robran Cock from Trility has been elected as the Chairperson of the WIOA South Australian Advisory Committee.

WIOA has established a South Australian Advisory Committee that will assist WIOA to be more active and better serve our South Australian members. The South Australian Advisory Committee was formed in July 2015.

The South Australian Advisory Committee chairperson is also member of the WIOA general committee, and performs an important role on behalf of the association. Having representation from various states across Australia ensures WIOA’s activities are best suited to our members needs.

WIOA South Australian Chairpersons

2017 – Robran Cock, Trility
2015 – 2016 Neil Crossing, AllWater

South Australian Awards

Mark Abela from TASWater has been elected as the Chairperson of the WIOA Tasmanian Advisory Committee.

Formation of the Tasmanian Advisory Committee

Although a few operational people from Tasmania were members of the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia (WIOA) prior the formation of Ben Lomond, Southern and Cradle Mountain Water, there were not enough members for WIOA to have a strong presence in Tasmania and the Association’s activities were confined to the mainland.

Not long after the formation of the three businesses, WIOA’s CEO, George Wall met with the Executive Operations Managers of each of the three businesses and they all agreed to support their own staff being involved in a Tasmanian based WIOA network. The aim is to work with WIOA to provide tailored services, events and opportunities for development of operational staff at each Tasmanian water business.

To kick things off, each water business nominated three staff members to be on the WIOA Tasmanian Advisory Committee and the inaugural meeting was held in Hobart in July 2010. The Committee meets three times each year to discuss operational issues and determine areas where all three businesses can collaborate and share knowledge, procedures and resources. We also discuss things like our training needs and plan events and seminars to fill skills gaps, and we map out opportunities to allow operational people to meet, inspect other plants and share their knowledge on operational issues.

The Committee has been very active and has organised three Distribution System seminars – two in Launceston and one in Hobart. We have also held a site tour and inspection at the St Helens wastewater plant and others are planned for this later year with more details below. We have also encouraged and supported a number of operational people to supply articles and information to various WIOA publications giving them a Tassie flavour.

As part of the commitment to the network, each business agreed to take up the “Utility Corporate Membership” option with WIOA and paid the membership fees for any operational staff wanting to join up. This is still the case, so if you haven’t completed a form yet, contact one of the Committee people and join up. There are a number of benefits attached to this membership including receiving regular publications such as the WaterWorks Journal, the Operator newsletters and a monthly e-news.

If you have any ideas on how you think WIOA and its network can be of assistance to anyone in the Tasmanian water industry, please let any of the Committee Members know and they’ll discuss these ideas at future meetings.

WIOA Tasmanian Advisory Committee 

• Mark Abela – Chairperson
• Shane Lee
• Mark Woods
• Phil Tuck
• Gary Lanham
• Larry Smith
• Pat Greene
• Darren Lord
• Tony Hourigan
• George Wall

WIOA Tasmanian Advisory Committee Chairpersons

2017 Mark Abela
2014 Darren Lord
2010 Damien Lavelle

Tasmania Awards

Anthony Evans from Wannon Water has been elected as the Chairperson of the WIOA Victorian Advisory Committee.

Being part of the advisory committee is a great way for members to have a real say in the events that WIOA will conduct into the future.

In Victoria events include Water Industry Interest Days, Charity events and the Conference and Exhibition held annually in Bendigo.

Victorian Awards