Skills eFlash #148

Skills eFlash #148 New

Date: 27-Oct-2026

Next WSP Meeting

The next Water Skills Partnership Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 12 November. Please email Sarah if you would like to include anything on the agenda.

Essentials for Wastewater Course

Our water and wastewater operators hold an enormous amount of practical knowledge. They understand how treatment processes behave, how systems respond to changing conditions and the operational challenges that aren’t always obvious from a design drawing or technical report.

Engineers, chemists and scientists bring equally valuable technical and scientific expertise. But how effectively do we connect these two worlds? As we forecast the future training and workforce capability needs of the water sector, one area of focus is ensuring that technical professionals entering our industry develop a sound understanding of the treatment processes and operational environments in which their expertise will be applied.

We're currently developing a new training initiative aimed at strengthening this foundational understanding, connecting technical knowledge with the practical realities of wastewater treatment. Once developed, this program will join our growing suite of sector-driven training programs, designed to respond to identified industry needs and support the ongoing development of a skilled and capable water workforce.

We're also exploring how participation in the program can contribute to participants continuing professional development (CPD) hours, recognising the importance of ongoing learning and professional growth. It’s not about turning engineers into operators. It’s about helping technical professionals better understand the environments in which operators work, the challenges they manage and the value of bringing both perspectives together.

We'd be interested to hear from those working across the sector: where do you see the greatest opportunities to strengthen the connection between technical expertise and operational experience? Contact Sarah to share your thoughts.

Entry Level Pathways for Water Discussion Paper

To better understand how organisations are creating opportunities for new entrants, the Water Industry Skills and Jobs Advisor (ISJA) Lee-Anne Willis recently surveyed Queensland water service providers about their entry-level pathways, including traineeships, graduate programs, work experience and other workforce development initiatives.

This discussion paper explores these findings in more detail and identifies opportunities for greater collaboration between water service providers, education providers and workforce support organisations.

Download the discussion paper here.

Brisbane 2032 Workforce Legacy: We need your input

How will the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games impact Queensland's urban water workforce?

On 14 October, Lee-Anne attended the first ISJA 2032 Workforce Legacy Workshop, bringing together Industry Skills and Jobs Advisors from across Queensland. Facilitated by Active Queenslanders Industry Alliance with support from the Department of Trade, Employment and Training (DTET), the workshop explored the workforce implications of the Games and the opportunities to create a lasting skills legacy.

Discussion focused on:

Jobs and occupations likely to be created, changed, scaled up or reduced
Critical skills and specialist capabilities required
Current and future workforce gaps and risks
Workforce development, attraction and mobilisation actions needed
Long-term workforce impacts and legacy opportunities beyond 2032

Have your say

As the Industry Skills and Jobs Advisor for the water sector, Lee-Anne is seeking input from utilities, councils and industry partners on how Brisbane 2032 may affect workforce demand across water and wastewater services.

What jobs and skills will be needed? Where do you see potential workforce pressures or opportunities? What legacy could the Games leave for our sector?

Share your thoughts by emailing enquiry@qldwater.com.au. Your feedback will help ensure the water industry's workforce needs are represented in planning for Brisbane 2032 and beyond.

WISE Course EOIs

Following the success of the first delivery of the Water Industry Supervisor Essentials (WISE) course in Cairns, we are now working with QWRAP regions to line up regional cohorts.

WISE has been designed specifically for water sector supervisors, particularly those in regional and remote councils who are often balancing safety, compliance, contractor management, and team leadership without formal training. Delivered over two days, the program aims to build confidence, consistency, and capability through practical, sector-specific learning.

Contact Sarah for more information and future deliveries.

HPWJ Asbestos Exemption – implementation update

Work is continuing with participating organisations to support the implementation of the HPWJ asbestos exemption. Please note that the exemption requires Water Service Providers to implement appropriate safety training and adopt a Safe Work Method in line with the regulator’s approval. While providers must tailor their SWMS to local conditions and equipment, the core safety principles outlined in the sample SWMS must be followed.

We are currently reviewing how the supporting SWMS and safety requirements are being applied across different organisations, with a focus on ensuring the controls are practical for operators and consistently understood across the sector. This work is also helping identify opportunities to strengthen the existing guidance, share lessons between participating organisations and ensure we continue to meet the requirements of the exemption.

This week Sarah will be attending the Ausjet 2026 Conference in Sydney with Ethan Leeds from Trainright who will be presenting on drain cleaning safety when jetting asbestos pipes.

If any of your staff need HPWJ training, please contact Sarah.

Safe Work Australia WHS Review

Safe Work Australia has released its Best Practice Review of the model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws, making 21 recommendations to strengthen Australia's WHS framework and improve consistency across jurisdictions.

Released amid growing concern about workplace fatalities, the review highlights the need for stronger national coordination to prevent work-related deaths and better mechanisms to ensure coronial findings are shared and acted upon consistently. It also reinforces the importance of nationally harmonised WHS laws and their consistent application and enforcement across Australia.

The review identifies artificial intelligence, climate change, and harmful workplace behaviours, including violence and harassment, as key emerging challenges. It recommends coordinated national strategies to help ensure Australia's WHS framework remains effective in a changing workplace environment.

Buildskills Australia’s Workforce Plan 2026-27

BuildSkills Australia has released its Workforce Plan 2026-2027, providing a national view of labour supply and demand across the building and construction, property and water industries.

The plan brings together workforce projections, industry data and training indicators to show where demand is growing, where supply pressures are emerging, and how workforce trends vary across industries, occupations, regions and training pathways.

It also includes industry snapshots, state and territory profiles, and interactive data to support informed workforce planning and decision-making. Let’s discuss it at our next meeting!

Read the Workforce Plan here.

Workforce Snapshot 2026: The Countdown is On

Surveys for the next Urban Water Industry Workforce Composition Snapshot Report is coming in early 2027, and now is the perfect time to revisit the trends shaping Queensland's water workforce.

Published every two years by qldwater through the Queensland Water Skills Partnership, the Snapshot Reports provide valuable insights into the people who keep Queensland's urban water services running. The reports track workforce trends, skills shortages, attraction and retention challenges, competition from other industries, succession planning risks, and emerging workforce needs across the sector.

As we count down to the next report, take a look back at previous findings and see how workforce challenges and opportunities have evolved over time. The data helps utilities, councils and industry partners make informed decisions about workforce planning and future skills needs.

Find previous reports here.

Unlocking Water Projects

On 22 October the Queensland Government released a statement that they had found 132,000 ML of water that could be released.

This was based on three Unlocking Water Project studies that have been completed for Cape York, the Burdekin Basin and Pioneer Valley. Recommendations include:

potentially releasing 130,000 ML in the Belyando–Suttor sub-catchment;
potentially unlocking 2,000 ML around Lakeland, plus smaller releases across seven Cape York catchments;
facilitating trading and more productive use of existing allocations in the Pioneer Valley; and
streamlining rules for water access, overland flow and trading.

Ten of Queensland’s 23 water-plan areas have now been examined. Importantly, these are recommendations: the announcement does not itself release the water.

New agricultural and industrial development may create consequential demand for council roads, housing, drinking-water, wastewater and workforce capacity. Benefits for remote and Indigenous communities will depend on whether affordable infrastructure and access arrangements accompany the allocations.

We urge Water Skills Partners to:

Ask the department for implementation schedules and the regulatory steps still required.
Seek council involvement before releases generate unplanned municipal infrastructure demand.
Test whether water-access reform includes small-community and Indigenous access - not only large commercial allocations.
Ask who will fund additional treatment, wastewater and operator capability arising from regional growth.

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