SPEAKERS
Session 1
FNQROC’s Regional Water Capability Plan
Amanda Hancock
FNQ Regional Organisation of Councils
Amanda Hancock is the Regional Strategic Coordinator for the Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils (FNQROC). Originally from the UK, Amanda enjoyed a lengthy career in the UK insurance industry before moving to Australia in 2012 and embarking on her career in the public sector with FNQROC as their Regional Procurement Coordinator, establishing several regional procurement arrangements including the Regional Sewer Relining program and the facilitation of the Regional Bitumen Reseal. In her current role as Regional Strategic Infrastructure Coordinator, she is responsible for the identification and implementation of strategic projects relating to infrastructure across the Far North including coordination of the FNQ Regional Road & Transport Group, FNQ Water Alliance and the FNQ Regional Waste Management Committee. Amanda is passionate about the benefits of regional collaboration and resource sharing.
Ben Steel
Stantec
As National Practice Leader for Strategic Advisory (Water) at Stantec, Ben leverages his 10+ years of experience and expertise in water strategy, service delivery, transformation, and leadership to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions for clients across the Australian Water sector – collaborating with clients to provide strategic advice and guidance on best practices and solutions to address business challenges and opportunities.
Prior to joining Stantec in June 2023, Ben held various client-side leadership roles across the Water Utility and Local Government sectors – having successfully facilitated structural and business reform and innovative outcomes to improve day-to-day service delivery of critical services to communities.Sustainable engineering solutions for natural disaster rehabilitation, recovery and resilience
Amir Shahkolahi
Global Synthetics
Amir has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering. He is a fellow member of Engineers Australia. As a designer, project manager, and researcher, he has been involved in the Civil and Geosynthetic industry over the last 20 years and has more than 70 publications and technical presentations. He is the Technical Manager at Global Synthetics. Amir is elected national vice-chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS), elected Council member of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) for 2023-2027, member of the International Geosynthetics Society Technical Committees for reinforcement (TC-R) and Stabilisation (TC-S), Board member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)-Australian Section, member of the ASTM Technical Committee D35 on Geosynthetics and Committee E60 on Sustainability, Industry Board member of the Australian Pavement Research Hub, representative of Engineers Australia in the Standard Australia Technical Committee for Geosynthetics (CE-020), and member of the Standards Australia Technical Committee CE/032-Reinforced fill structures working group.
Fraser Coast Water Grid - Integrating Learnings for a Wider Queensland Proposal
Josh Lawrence
Stantec
Josh is a promising civil engineer with experience in both the public and private sectors across two continents. Graduating with an MEng in Civil Engineering in 2020, he is a hard-working engineer with an eye for detail and strength in technical writing. Initially working for the Environment Agency in the UK, Josh moved into a private consultancy firm within the field of detailed infrastructure engineering. Pursuing a life-long ambition to live and work in Australia, he has since moved to Australia to work for Stantec, working in projects of significant scope such as the Fraser Coast Water Grid. Outside of work, Josh is a keen sportsman, primarily playing hockey and cricket but recently giving a go at AFL! He is also a keen writer, currently writing a blog during his time in Australia.
Session 2
LGFP Guidance Paper - Accounting for Infrastructure Damaged by Significant Weather Events
Anthony Archie
FNQ Regional Organisation of Councils
Anthony
is a valued finance and governance expert in Queensland's local government,
with 18 years of diverse experience in finance, procurement, regulatory
services, town planning, native title, and more. Holding a Bachelor of Commerce
and an MBA, he's recognised for his work and thesis on local government
financial sustainability. As CEO of FNQROC, he is all about fostering regional
collaboration and advocating for Far North Queensland. Outside the office, he
insists that mountain biking is almost as important as a balanced budget!
Dealing with defects
Alex Power
McCullough Robertson
Alex is a Special Counsel in McCullough Robertson’s Construction & Infrastructure team. He has been guiding construction and infrastructure clients in the areas of litigation and dispute resolution for over 14 years. He is known for his attention to detail, technical ability and advocacy which deliver strong outcomes in contentious matters.
Clients seek Alex’s guidance in relation to disputes under construction contracts, during contract administration or if court proceedings or adjudication applications are commenced. When disputes escalate, Alex provides advice on the relevant dispute resolution mechanisms, default and the right to terminate under the construction contract.
Alex’s experience extends across disputes on projects of a building, civil, mechanical, and mining nature. Alex acts for developers and bodies corporate in relation to large commercial and residential projects, and for principals and contractors in relation to infrastructure and mining projects.
Jesper Jensen
IPWEA-QNT
Jesper is a civil/structural engineer with 30 years’ experience in local government, consulting, technical management and building/concrete products manufacturing.
In addition to his stakeholder engagement and business development responsibilities, Jesper is also IPWEA-QNT’s technical lead and is the Project Manager of many of our Working Groups and Committees.
Session 3
Revolutionising Asset Management Through AI
Brenden Quabba
The APP Group
Brenden has been involved in the road and transport sector for over 30 years, starting in the construction sector before commencing in local government as a senior executive spanning 20 years leading numerous major projects and infrastructure related departments in North Queensland. he returned to the private sector providing project management and advisory services to Governments and private sector clients.
James O'Kane
Arrayen
Transforming knowledge into shared treasure
Frances Nelligan
Stantec
As a country kid who grew up on a farm alongside a thousand sheep, Frances has a strong affinity with our regional Queensland communities and dedicates herself to understanding the challenges and opportunities that they face. She is a proud advocate for living and working in regional Australia.
Local Buy's two new civil construction Arrangements for (1) Roads and General Civil and (2) Water, Sewerage & Stormwater Infrastructure
Pat McCormack
Local Buy
Pat is Local Buy's Category Manager for Engineering, Roads and Infrastructure and has been with Local Buy since 2013. He has been involved in technical roles since 1983 when he commenced as a cadet draftsman with the Qld Electricity Generating Board, and progressed through roles including design draftsman, estimator, technician and project manager (building fitout).
What he most enjoys about his current role is the opportunity to use his experience to assist Councils, particularly smaller regional Councils, through the procurement process so they can get their projects up and running.
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