Wow - what a year. We could not have crammed another moment into it and with 480 delegates at the IPWEAQ Annual Conference on the Gold Coast, we believe we can now lay claim to delivering Australia’s premier public works event.

Hard hats, high-vis vests and lab coats may come to mind when you think of what fashion has to do with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). But two veteran figures in the fashion industry say there is a bigger link between fashion and the STEM industries than you might think.

2018 has been an incredible year for us. We continue to go from strength to strength with a vastly improved financial position (pofit$128,000 this past financial year) and continued growth in membership (20%) and almost 50% growth in YIPWEAQ members. This latter statistic is obviously critical as we need a steady stream of confident,capable young professionals to continue to build on those foundations that were laid for our Institute in Rockhampton back in 1970.

This paper will present an outline of the IPWEA’s World Study Tour 2008 and provide useful links for obtaining more detailed information. One commonality discovered during the tour was that although our priorities may alter from City to City, local governments are passionate about driving change through strong leadership and are willing to share this knowledge if asked.

Once a year we get the opportunity to recognise the effots of some of the people in our industry who play a crucial role in keeping our drinking water safe and our wastewater collected and treated efficient. Established in 2010 by qldwater in conjunction with the Water Industry Operators Association of Australia (WIOA), the Operator and Young Operator of the Year Awards recognise the achievements of operational staff employed in the Queensland water industry. The awards aim to encourage outst...