The Queensland Water Directorate (qldwater) invites you to join us for our Annual Forum on the Gold Coast in September 2022. 

The qldwater Annual Forum is being held on the 7th & 8th of September with an additional ‘Research and Innovation Showcase’ themed workshop being held on the 6th September.

This year’s forum is being graciously hosted by the City of Gold Coast with most events based at HOTA - Home of the Arts and a day tour around the Gold Coast.

A copy of the draft programs for the three days is available under the Agenda tab.

If you have not been to one of our forums or one of our themed workshops before, it is not something you will want to miss! A chance to network with 100-150 water industry professionals, typically including 30 plus councils/utilities.

This event is not your typical conference. There is no call for papers, the sessions are sourced based on the work of our Strategic Priorities Group and the issues that group has identified as being of strategic importance for our industry. We work hard to develop a program which engages both our industry and key regulatory agencies to proactively address our challenges.

This year we are focused on trying to get as many people to attend in person as possible. It will be great opportunity to network with likeminded people, as such there will be no virtual registrations for this forum.

Research & Innovation Showcase - 6 September

For the last few years, the first day of the qldwater Annual Forum has focussed on a technical topic of broad interest to members with 2021 looking at automated metering. 2022 is a bit of everything, kindly supported by members of the SEQ Research and Innovation Group and Water Services Association of Australia. 

Join us to hear about the kinds of technologies water and sewerage service providers should be considering in the coming decade, short presentations from water service providers on a number of water and sewerage examples available now, approaches to help develop business cases and opportunities for joint investment in initiatives – getting better bang for buck from a whole industry approach. Our themes for the event ensure it will be as inclusive as possible:

  • Fit for purpose/ place
  • Utility led, not vendors
  • Whole of life cycle cost considerations
  • Engaging for a broad audience including regional and remote providers
  • Doesn’t have to be a “whole thing” – can include process enhancements, tweaks and simple things to deliver value

Gold Coast Tour Day - 7 September

We have site tours lined up for the Tugun desalination plant with thanks to Seqwater, and Merrimac recycled water projects with thanks to City of Gold Coast, where there has been a major investment and a range of new completed construction and cool stuff to check out.

The rest of the day will include lunch in the park by the beach at Australia’s tourism capital (under marquees just in case), the Best of the Best Queensland Water Taste Test, some presentations from City of Gold Coast on local issues and challenges and the annual vendor pitches – which support scholarships for qldwater members to attend industry events.


Annual Forum Dinner - 7 September

A great opportunity to network with industry representatives from across the state, with entertainment supplied via “A beer and a chat with the Elder Water Professionals.”

Annual Forum Day - 8 September

We are still finalising our guest invitations but this is our chance each year to work through broader industry strategy (the qldwater “Roadmap”) to consider how we incorporate the significant disruptions over the last couple of years and adapting water businesses to the “new normal.”  

The focus issues will largely be determined by you, but many members are dealing with increasing pressures around supply chain, increasing regulation, extreme events and betterment, population growth, sourcing skills including operations and different ways staff work.

Always highly interactive and thought-provoking, the strategy day is critical in shaping qldwater’s advocacy on your behalf.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available across the three days. If you are interested in sponsoring any of the days, please contact Naomi Carragher on 07 3632 6850 or ncarragher@qldwater.com.au