Australian Water Management Review Vol 2 2013 | Page 9

Broic Mulcair 001 and Luke McCormick 002 from Veolia Water

Extract from Newsletter No 1 December 1973 “It is with pleasure and satisfaction that I am able to advise you that an Association of Plant Superintendents & Operators was formed at a Meeting convened for that purpose on 23 October 1973. There has been an overwhelming demand for this for a very long time” - Ray Holloway (inaugural President).

The records during the Association’s formative years indicate that much of the group’s time was consumed in efforts to develop an appropriate training and recognition system for people employed in wastewater treatment roles. In the early days, knowledge was the domain of the “engineer” and the operators merely provided the grunt in the field to get the jobs done. As well as regular newsletters, the group arranged tours of various wastewater plants so that operators could share information and experiences. The Association was also involved in benchmarking job roles and pay rates and there are many reports in meeting minutes stemming directly from industrial wage case hearings.

As an organisation run by volunteers who all had day jobs as well, the output and influence of the Association was often constrained by the time available to the Committee members. Ray Holloway and Vic Jones held the positions of President and Secretary respectively from 1973 until 1984, a wonderful effort. The strength of WIOA has always been the contribution and commitment of volunteers. Individual members, supporters from a variety of organisations, sponsors and CEOs alike, have all pitched in over the years to help out or assist at events. A real turning point in the development and importance of the Association came in 1989 when it was assigned responsibility for organising the Annual Victorian Engineers and Operators Conference. A young and enthusiastic Ron Bergmeier convinced the Committee of the benefits of taking on the management of the conference. The 1989 conference, held in Shepparton, is recognised as the birth of the Trade Exhibition with 19 exhibitors present and around 200 people in total in attendance.

The growth of the Victorian conference and exhibition from this humble beginning is staggering. The expo area containing 180 exhibition sites regularly sells out in just a few days and total attendees exceeding 1400 is now a regular occurrence. In 1990, the Association broadened its vision and added “water treatment” operators to the member base. It also changed its name to the Australian Water & Wastewater Operators Association Inc. (Victorian Branch) – AWWOA. From 1994, AWWOA participated in the Water Industry Education and Training Association of Australia (WIETAA) committee, a group with national representation established to develop a nationally recognised training program and qualification for the water industry. The first ever national training package (UTW 98) was endorsed as a result of the hard work of the WIETAA committee. The involvement in the operator training and competency field has remained a strong focus for the Association and today, WIOA is an active member of Government Skills Australia’s, Water Industry Advisory Committee (WIAC). The mid 1990’s was a particularly difficult period for the Victorian water industry with the process to separate water and wastewater services from local government and the amalgamation of water utilities in full swing. Some 200+ water trusts, sewerage authorities and council based enterprises were amalgamated to form around 20 statutory Water Authorities. As a result of industry reforms, many older AWWOA members took redundancy packages and left the industry. The Association was on a sustainability knife-edge with less than 100 members, low income and very low cash reserves. The Committee of the day set in place a plan to reinvigorate the association by raising its profile with senior managers in the new water Authorities. Part of the plan was to deliberately take a step back from industrial or pay issues, a role considered a more appropriate domain of the trade unions, and to provide more in the way of member
Australian wat e r m a n a g e m e nt r e vie w 3

Bundamba tour continues