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WaterSouth Australia
Several Tonkin team members attended this year's OzWater Conference - Australia's premier water exhibition and conference - held in Adelaide.
2025's theme, Looking Back, Moving Forward, invites us to reflect on the past whilst embracing the future. The event encourages us to harness the invaluable historical and contemporary knowledge of the passionate and diverse professionals in our community.
Water is where Tonkin made our name more than 70 years ago, and still remains as one of our key market sectors - attending OzWater each year is a key event on our team member's calendars!
This year, Catherine Brock, Elsie Mann, and Carmen Wentrock, among many other team members, represented Tonkin at the three-day event.
2025's theme, Looking Back, Moving Forward, invites us to reflect on the past whilst embracing the future. The event encourages us to harness the invaluable historical and contemporary knowledge of the passionate and diverse professionals in our community.
Water is where Tonkin made our name more than 70 years ago, and still remains as one of our key market sectors - attending OzWater each year is a key event on our team member's calendars!
This year, Catherine Brock, Elsie Mann, and Carmen Wentrock, among many other team members, represented Tonkin at the three-day event.
Elsie Mann's insights
This year, I had the opportunity to host a workshop with Water Sensitive SA - my favourite part of OzWater25. A lot of thought went into the planning of this workshop, and I was relieved to see so many in the room - policy makers, planners, designers and asset managers - each keen to ensure the communities we build will be liveable and resilient, both now and in the future.
Our panel speakers reflected on where we have come from and the challenges that still remain, with a healthy dose of urgency and optimism thrown in. For the workshop component, our audience rated the following questions most important to discuss:
Our panel speakers reflected on where we have come from and the challenges that still remain, with a healthy dose of urgency and optimism thrown in. For the workshop component, our audience rated the following questions most important to discuss:
- How do we make water sensitive urban design and integrated water management a priority, and how do we link these initiatives with community need?
- How do we overcome the perception that cost of implementation is a barrier, when cost of living is a key focus?
- How can we identify influencers and inform policy amidst political pressures?
There were some consistent themes I heard from the workshop, in particular:
- The importance of engaging in the planning process as early as possible to ensure space for blue and green assets at all scales
- The need to keep sharing the vision and communicating the benefits of where we want to be. We all have a role to play increasing literacy and creating demand for investment in Water Sensitive developments, communities and cities.
Linked to this second theme, I'm convinced that engaging with future generations is key to increasing community engagement with the goals we are trying to achieve as an industry.
Another highlight for me was being able to support Fulton Hogan's Education Program at Ozwater - sharing the role designers play in the project lifecycle, and assisting as students work through a design problem centred around a water supply system for a new township. I was happy to be able to support this important and valuable initiative and really impressed with the questions the students were asking – appreciating the bigger picture including environmental impacts and the pressures that influence our investment decisions. It's so important for us to invest in these initiatives which have flow on benefits, not only for attracting students to consider careers in STEM, but also for the way we can influence community literacy about water challenges and opportunities.
Another highlight for me was being able to support Fulton Hogan's Education Program at Ozwater - sharing the role designers play in the project lifecycle, and assisting as students work through a design problem centred around a water supply system for a new township. I was happy to be able to support this important and valuable initiative and really impressed with the questions the students were asking – appreciating the bigger picture including environmental impacts and the pressures that influence our investment decisions. It's so important for us to invest in these initiatives which have flow on benefits, not only for attracting students to consider careers in STEM, but also for the way we can influence community literacy about water challenges and opportunities.
Catherine Brock's insights
It was great to see OzWater hosted in Adelaide this year - as the industry's largest conference, it was a fantastic opportunity for so many of our SA team members to attend the conference itself and the industry events.
It was a privilege and a timely opportunity to engage with industry professionals about the evolving landscape of our industry. The integration of proactive strategies, traditional knowledge, and innovative tech, along with the knowledge of thousands of water professionals, is essential to shaping a resilient future for water management.
OzWater is the perfect event to celebrate the achievements and share the learnings of the water industry. I look forward to integrating some of these learnings with my team, and continue to innovate how we move forward with our projects.
It was a privilege and a timely opportunity to engage with industry professionals about the evolving landscape of our industry. The integration of proactive strategies, traditional knowledge, and innovative tech, along with the knowledge of thousands of water professionals, is essential to shaping a resilient future for water management.
OzWater is the perfect event to celebrate the achievements and share the learnings of the water industry. I look forward to integrating some of these learnings with my team, and continue to innovate how we move forward with our projects.
Carmen Wentrock's insights
OzWater 2025 was an exciting opportunity for Adelaide to host!
Each year, there is a lot of anticipation in the build up to OzWater, and 2025 was no different! The venue and exhibition hall were bustling with energy, and it was so good to reconnect with interstate friends.
Each year, there is a lot of anticipation in the build up to OzWater, and 2025 was no different! The venue and exhibition hall were bustling with energy, and it was so good to reconnect with interstate friends.
The Water Leaders Forum was engaging and challenging, with discussion on the topics of reconciliation and AI in the water industry. The highly anticipated Gala Dinner was a wonderful evening to celebrate the successes in our industry. It was particularly inspiring to see the quality of our Young Water Professionals and Water Professional award finalists, including Tonkin's very own, Jeff Tyler.
It is with optimism and excitement that I look around the room, recognising how far we have already come, and acknowledging the depth of talent and solutions that are possible in our industry's future.
It is with optimism and excitement that I look around the room, recognising how far we have already come, and acknowledging the depth of talent and solutions that are possible in our industry's future.
