IPWEAQ

It was my privilege to be declared the 26th President of IPWEAQ at the Annual General Meeting held 13 October in Cairns after serving as Vice President (2019-2021) and SWQ Branch President (2017-2019).

I look forward to working with our CEO and other members of the IPWEAQ Board including our Vice President, Andrew Johnson (SWQ Branch President, 2017-2019) and:

Re-elected Board members

• NQ Branch President: Glenda Kirk, Director Infrastructure Services, Mareeba Shire Council
• Sarah Hausler, Partner, McCullough Robertson

Newly elected Board members:

• SWQ Branch President: Dereck Sanderson, District Director (Darling Downs District) | Southern Queensland Region Program Delivery and Operations | Infrastructure Management & Delivery, TMR
• CQ Branch President: Adam Doherty, Director, Dileigh Consulting Engineers
• SEQ Branch President: Jo O’Brien, Qld Program Manager, Tonkin
• Sean Rice, Managing Director, Proterra Group

I’d also like to thank retiring Board members for their contributions: Raad Jarjees (2017-2021), Celisa Faulkner (2017-2021), Trevor Dean (2019-2021) and Craig Murrell (2015-2021).

Congratulations to all the projects and people nominated for awards at the 2021 IPWEAQ Excellence Awards. It was a great night celebrating our sector with a record 100 nominations. On behalf of GHD – Toowoomba Office, I was delighted to accept the inaugural award for Employer of the Year (Private Sector) from a field of high-quality finalists. Congratulations also to TMR, inaugural winner of the Employer of the Year (Public Sector).

And congratulations also to IPWEAQ, a shortlisted finalist for the Association of the Year awards.

For my two-year term as President, we have established a fund for Strengthening Rural Communities, an initiative of the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR). I look forward to initiating our fundraising activities at the President’s Breakfast, 4 February 2022 when we will hear from Engineer of the Year, Ross Ulmann and from Brisbane City Council engineers who delivered the Project of the Year, the Kingsford Smith Upgrade. Our Partners and sponsors play a critical role in our successes and I look forward to acknowledging and celebrating them at the President’s Breakfast.

It has been another big year at IPWEAQ with many more ‘firsts’ including our first Asset Management Symposium in May, the launch of the Every Community Needs an Engineer calendar and campaign, establishment of the NT Branch, four new excellence awards including employer awards, 16 career cards for the sector and the Track My CPD portal to help engineers better manage their compliance. And this month, the launch of the Temporary Traffic Management Toolkit, an invaluable tool to save councils and organisations considerable time and costs preparing a Traffic Management Plan (TMP) for every roadworks project regardless of the duration of those works. See more in Craig Moss' Report. 

Also just launched in November, the Women in Public Works Leadership Program. Applications closed 30 November with successful candidates to be announced this month. I look forward to participating as a presenter and joining the WPWLP Alumni. 

Next year at IPWEAQ is already building to be another successful year with a few more ‘firsts’, the Bridge Management Symposium in Brisbane, 22-23 February 2022, the inaugural NT Branch conference in Palmerston, 26-27 May and digital badges coming in March. And currently under development, a certification program in project management. New asset management specific topics will be introduced that align the new Certificate IV in Civil Infrastructure Asset Management and asset management specific units for the Diploma of Civil Construction Management. While IPWEAQ is not an RTO, we will be working closely with a partner organisation to deliver nationally accredited units for our sector.

And now we find ourselves at Christmas. Please have a wonderful, safe time with family and friends and we welcome home Queenslanders who’ve been stranded on the other side of the border. I look forward to getting started on a new year with the President’s Breakfast, 4 February. Please join us in person or via satellite to celebrate the past year and to look forward into the new.