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qldwater Awards

qldwater Young Operator of the Year and Operator of the Year – Civil/All-Rounder 

qldwater in conjunction with the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia (WIOA), is proud to once again sponsor the Young Operator of the Year and Operator of the Year (Civil) awards to recognise the outstanding operational performance of Queensland water industry employees. The 2021 winners were announced at the Queensland WIOA Annual Conference Awards Dinner on Thursday 3 June in Toowoomba.

2021 Young Operator of the Year

The Queensland Young Operator of the Year for 2021 is Shannon Thomas from Unitywater.

Shannon is an Assistant Treatment Plant Operator and has been in this role for almost two years after moving over from Urban Utilities where she completed her traineeship with a Certificate III in Water Industry Treatment (Wastewater).

Colleagues describe Shannon as a confident individual who is passionate about learning and innovating. She is always looking for opportunities to improve herself and her capabilities and is currently completing a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management. She leads the monthly team bbq’s and toolbox meetings for the Maroochydore Cell group and provides a great example of living the organisation’s values of customer service and one team.

Shannon is a member of WIOA’s Diversity and Inclusion Group and has written several papers and delivered presentations on what it means to be a female operator and works hard to foster a more inclusive team and workforce.

Nominees for the Young Operator of the Year should be employed by a qldwater full member or Water Skills Partnership member organisation and be responsible for operating community water and wastewater treatment plants or industrial water or wastewater plants, operation and maintenance or construction of water and wastewater reticulation networks etc. Nominees must be under the age of 35 years and have been employed in their role for four years or less. Previous winners of this award have received a paid trip to participate in the WIOA Utilities Tour of New Zealand, but due to ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions, an alternative tour within Australia is currently being negotiated for 2021 winners. Prizes from previous years that would have typically involved travel/conferences have been preserved to be taken up when it’s easier to do such things. WIOA is currently looking into opportunities for past winners to attend events like Ozwater in Adelaide this year.

2021 Operator of the Year (Civil/All-Rounder)

The qldwater Operator of the Year (Civil/All-Rounder) is Shane Bambrick from Urban Utilities.

Shane has more than 40 years in the Plumbing and Water Industry, with the last ten of those years at Urban Utilities. Shane is currently the Field Technical Lead and is used as a trainer and mentor for new staff due to his extensive knowledge and is often the “go to” Water Industry Worker for repairs.

Shane goes above and beyond to educate the wider Urban Utilities organisation in understanding what goes on in the field and has created a number of short videos about leak detection and basic repairs that he shoots with his personal drone and completes with music and video editing and shares with staff via Yammer. 

Shane is a well-respected leader who demonstrates an ongoing commitment to safety – he gets involved in the introduction of new valve turners (and has developed a video for that too).

Nominees for the Operator of the Year (Civil/All-Rounder) should be employed by a qldwater full member or Water Skills Partnership member organisation and be responsible for the operation and maintenance or construction of water and wastewater reticulation networks. The Operator of the Year receives a trophy and $1500 to put towards professional development.

Judging was conducted by senior staff of qldwater and the Chair of the Technical Reference Group (TRG) and in consultation with the CEO of WIOA. 

For more information contact qldwater on 3632 6854 or enquiry@qldwater.com.au.

qldwater TRG Industry Contribution Awards 

Up to two awards will be presented at the 2020 qldwater Annual Forum to recognise outstanding contributions to the Queensland Urban Water and Sewerage industry.  Typically recipients will have gone above and beyond the requirements of their day job to champion an important issue impacting the sector, or support qldwater activities.

There is no specific nomination process for these awards, which will be nominated and selected by our Technical Reference Group.

Other Industry Awards

A number of other organisations offer awards that celebrate the achievements of the Queensland urban water industry and qldwater encourages members to submit nominations. qldwater is happy to provide assistance with your nomination(s), please contact Dave Cameron on dcameron@qldwater.com.au or 3632 6850.

Australian Water Association Awards

The AWA offers awards at both state and national levels that recognise outstanding achievements in a range of industry and individual categories. Awards are open to AWA members only. 

Details and conditions of entry for the 2020 Queensland Water Awards is available online at: http://www.awa.asn.au/AWA_MBRR/About_AWA/Awards/State_Awards/QLD.aspx. Winners are announced at the Queensland Water Awards Gala Dinner and go on to compete in the National Awards which are announced each year at the Ozwater Gala Dinner.

Award Categories include:

Individual Awards
  • Water Professional of the Year
  • Young Water Professional of the Year Award
  • Student Water Prize
  • Regional Service Award (State based award only & nominated by the QLD Committee)
  • Distinguished Service Award (State based award only & nominated by the QLD Committee)
  • QLD Operator of the Year for 2020 will be announced at the WIOA Conference in June
Organisational Awards
  • Infrastructure Project Innovation Award
  • Infrastructure Project Innovation Award (Servicing under 250,000 end users)
  • Infrastructure Project Innovation Award (Servicing over 250,000 end users)
  • Program Innovation Award
  • Program Innovation Award (Servicing under 250,000 end users)
  • Program Innovation Award (Servicing over 250,000 end users)
  • Research Innovation Award

For more information visit the AWA website.

IPWEAQ Excellence Awards

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia Queensland (IPWEAQ) annual awards program places a spotlight on the projects and people who deliver exceptional outcomes for Queensland communities.

Nominations open in February and close in July 2020. More information is available at https://www.ipweaq.com/awards. Winners are announced at the Gala Awards Ceremony and Dinner to be held in Cairns on Wednesday, 11 November 2020. 

Award Categories include:

Project Awards
  • Innovation
  • Projects under $1 million
  • Projects under $2 million
  • Projects $2 million to $5 million
  • Projects $5 million to $10 million
  • Projects over $10 million
  • Asset Management
  • Environment and Sustainability 
  • Innovation & Sustainability in Water - projects under $5 million
  • Innovation & Sustainability in Water - projects over $5 million
People Awards
  • Engineer of the Year
  • Woman in Engineering
  • Young Engineer of the Year
  • Team Member of the Year (non-engineers and includes Supervisors, Works Officers and other support staff)
  • President’s Award – chosen by President
  • Futures Challenge – chosen by delegates

For more information visit the IPWEAQ website.