eFlash #529
Date: 30-Mar-2022
In this edition: Livingstone Regional Conference - Wrap| Central Queensland Trade Waste Interest Group (CQTWIG) Wrap| qldwater Careers Website Launched| qldwater Position Available – Project Coordinator| Next Fundamentals Webinar
NEW / HOT TOPICS
1. Livingstone Regional Conference - Wrap
A big shout out to Livingstone Regional Council who were fantastic hosts for our Regional Conference in Yeppoon last week.
The qldwater Regional Conference kicked off with a lovely dinner at the new Rocks restaurant overlooking the Yeppoon Lagoon.
Friday’s agenda included some interesting case studies and projects from the host council and 3D Modelling undertaken at Emerald to aid in design for a treatment plant upgrade.
Presentations covered the whole region from operational challenges in managing the water and sewerage assets at Isaac Regional Council, the maintenance management framework for Gladstone Regional Council, emerging contaminants and university/ service provider partnerships and Rockhampton Regional Council’s excellent presentation on pump efficiency, energy efficiency and whole of life cycle costs.
A big thanks to all our sponsors and to everyone who attended – it was great to connect again in person and to get your help in finding the perfect slogan to attract people to our industry. The winning slogan was “How would you like to be knee deep in your career?” What a classic. Next stop, Port Douglas!
2. Central Queensland Trade Waste Interest Group (CQTWIG) - Wrap
Our thanks to Michael Dalton who continues to champion this group and managed to attract some excellent speakers for the Central Queensland Trade Waste Interest Group meeting on Thursday.
Mark Sherson’s keynote address provided an overview of Urban Utilities’ responses to trade waste challenges before Michael Willey’s update on the Queensland Plumbing & Wastewater Code 2019 and Andrew Kirkwood’s update on the WSAA Sewage Quality Management Guidelines.
Even COVID couldn’t stop Louise Reeves from soldiering on, delivering her presentation on collaboration on contaminants of concern from home. Ariane Leyden talked about non-conventional trade waste discharges at Rockhampton Regional Council while Jane Doran discussed the future of trade waste from a Gladstone Regional Council perspective.
The presentations were interspersed with some interesting vendor pitches from Royce Water Technologies, Halgan Environmental and Amtac Professional Services as well as some lively group discussions. We even managed to squeeze in a quick tour of the LSC Disaster Management Centre.
3. qldwater Careers Website Launched
On behalf of the Water Skills Partnership, qldwater have launched a dedicated careers website www.qldwatercareers.com.au to promote the variety of job opportunities in the water sector.
The site contains some great video testimonials and career stories and a PowerPoint presentation describing career opportunities and training pathways which was developed for an industry event hosted by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training and presented to High School Principals and Career Advisors by Carlie Sargent and Kathryn Turner from Urban Utilities. Read more and view photos here.
The website also lists some of the benefits of working in the sector like working with rapidly advancing technology and innovative systems and being part of a workforce where you can find jobs anywhere in the world – not to mention the things we often take for granted like contributing to the health of our communities and protecting the environment.
We are keen to hear your feedback about the site and if you have any suggestions for additional content that would be useful. We are particularly interested in job descriptions and career pathways for a variety of job roles. Please send your feedback to skills@qldwater.com.au.
We will continue adding more useful resources to the site over time and encourage you to review and share it!
4. qldwater Position Available – Project Coordinator
A rare opportunity to work with the overachieving and good looking qldwater team.
We are looking for an experienced Project Coordinator to help drive a number of our initiatives and collaborative programs. The largest of these is the Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program (QWRAP), and the projects typically involve water and sewerage utilities within multiple Queensland councils working together in a region to deliver efficiencies and savings for their communities. Other potential key stakeholders include a group of large utilities managing a Design and Construction Code, and the broader qldwater membership.
The Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program is a partnership among the Local Government Association of Queensland, Queensland Government (through the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water) and qldwater. It has been operating for approximately a decade and recently has received a long-term Queensland Government funding commitment, to go with the investment made by collaborating councils to deliver activities of mutual benefit.
Check out the ad on Seek and contact Dave Cameron or Rob Fearon if you want to enquire about the role.
To be successful in this role you will:
- Like working with multiple stakeholders – be confident to present to and help facilitate groups to achieve results;
- Be able to manage project milestones, analyse and synthesize information;
- Write clearly and concisely;
- Operate contemporary project management, database, spreadsheet, basic GIS and statistical software;
- Work within a diverse team, dealing with a changing environment and significant industry challenges;
- Be able to travel within regional Queensland – to be negotiated but typically 10-15 days per year.
There are no minimum specified qualifications, but you are likely to have qualifications in science, engineering, data management, asset management and/ or have strong equivalent practical experience.
Typical duties could include:
- Providing support to the QWRAP Program Manager, Steering Committee and other key staff including coordination of specific regional alliances, meeting attendances and presentations;
- Effectively managing stakeholder networks and managing program communications;
- Facilitating technical meetings for groups including the SEQ D&C Code;
- Support strategic planning workshops;
- Managing collaborative projects – milestones, performance review, reporting;
- Researching, analysing, making recommendations;
- Contributing to submissions including funding applications, as well as supporting regional alliances in their applications;
- Representing qldwater professionally and supporting the Directorate’s other activities.
To apply, please provide a cover letter that outlines how you meet the requirements above along with your resume to dcameron@qldwater.com.au.
Applications may remain open as we anticipate another role being available in the near future.
5. Next Fundamentals Webinar
Register now for our next Fundamentals Webinar on Thursday, 21st April, 10am-11am, AEST with the topic ‘Lagoon Management’, presented by Kathryn Turner, Urban Utilities.
More sessions will be hosted in 2022, keep an eye on our Upcoming Events page for details.
Recordings of all previous webinars are available to download on the qldwater website. Please contact webinar@qldwater.com.au with any queries about previous or future webinars or to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
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