Gender equality in the water sector

Read the wrap-up article from the last Water Security Series: New strategies lift women’s role in solving water challenges.

View the video of Water Security Series: Gender equality in the water sector held on Wednesday 11 March 2020.

Topic: What are the opportunities and barriers to gender equality in the water sector and why is it important?

Gender diversity in the water sector remains an issue both nationally and internationally to the detriment of the sector. In Australia this inequality is particularly stark at leadership levels where women’s participation remains low, tracking below the national average for all sectors. Internationally a recent World Bank review of water utilities across 28 economies found that women make up, on average, just 18 percent of the workforce. Yet, the evidence shows that increased participation by women in the sector leads to improved outcomes across a diverse range of factors including innovation, governance, operational efficiency and improved decision making.

Speakers

Dr Marian Neal

The Australian Water Partnership

Marian is the Partnerships and Knowledge Manager of the Australian Water Partnership. In this role Marian leads AWP’s national and international partnerships and manages knowledge sharing and outreach. The AWP is an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs international cooperation initiative with a focus on enhancing sustainable water management in the Indo-Pacific region.

Marian has 20 years of water resources management experience and possesses a PhD in water justice and governance. Marian has developing country experience working at multi-ministerial and intergovernmental levels on transboundary water management issues in Europe, MENA, Sub-Sahara Africa and SE Asia. Her previous role was as Program Manager of the International Centre for Water Cooperation (under the auspices of UNESCO) hosted at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Sweden.

Marian has a BSc in Botany and Geography from Rhodes University, South Africa; an MSc in wetland ecology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a PhD from the Edith Cowan University, Western Australia and completed a Post-doc at Australian National University (ANU). She has formal training in water conflict management and water diplomacy; and she is currently undertaking an MBA in Leadership and Innovation.

Pat McCafferty

Managing Director, Yarra Valley Water

In a career spanning over 30 years in the water industry, Pat has played a lead role in addressing critical challenges such as climate change and rapid population growth. He has experience working in the USA water sector and advising the Australian Government as part of the National Water Initiative.

Pat is Chair of the Water Services Association of Australia (Australia’s peak body for major urban water utilities) and the Thriving Communities Partnership (a cross-sector collaboration); and is a member of the Leadership Oversight Committee for the Women in Water Leadership Program (a Water for Victoria initiative).

Bridget Thakrar

General Manager People and Safety, South East Water

Bridget leads the People and Safety group, which is responsible for overseeing South East Water’s key people functions of human resources, payroll, diversity and inclusion, employee experience, and safety and wellbeing. She brings a wealth of experience in the people field, gained across various industries including construction and manufacturing at Grocon and Fonterra respectively.

Bridget currently sits on the board of Dress for Success South East Melbourne and is an Activator as part of the SheEO movement. She joined South East Water in 2012.

Sara Harbidge

Executive Director: Suburban Development, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions

Sara Harbidge is the Executive Director of the Office for Suburban Development in the Precincts and Suburbs Group at the Victorian State Government’s Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Working across government, Sara drives and delivers complex, high profile policy initiatives, strategies, investment programs and large-scale reform to positively change Victoria’s future. Sara has an honours degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of New South Wales. Sara worked in engineering consulting firms before joining the Victorian government in 2001. Sara has worked on a number of water reform initiatives, the most recent being the award winning Water for Victoria.

Today, Sara’s team at the Office for Suburban Development is focussed on bringing the voice of the community into government decision-making, to ensure that Melbourne is an equitable, liveable, sustainable and prosperous city for its residents.

Professor Mike Stewardson

The University of Melbourne

Over the last 25 years, Michael’s research has focused on interactions between hydrology, geomorphology and ecology in rivers. This has included physical habitat modelling, flow-ecology science, and innovation in environmental water practice. Over this same periods, environmental water management has grown to a multi-billion dollar sector in Australia. Michael has participated in this evolution through many advisory roles at all levels of government. More recently, his research has focused on the physical, chemical and biological processes in streambed sediments and their close interactions in regulating stream ecosystem services. He leads the Environmental Hydrology and Water Resources Group in the Melbourne School of Engineering. He is also lead academic for the Water Environment and Agriculture Program in MSE, and Director of the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre.

Chair, Dr Sharon Davis

The University of Melbourne

Sharon is a Senior Enterprise Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the public sector, at both the state and federal levels, leading water and natural resource management policy, technical and R&D programs.

Throughout her career she has focussed on bridging science and policy to inform decision making. In 2011 Sharon was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard University to work with the Harvard Water Security Initiative. She is one of 80 women from around the world selected as part of the 2020 Homeward Bound women in STEMM leadership program. She has a PhD in Catchment Hydrology and is a Director of Water Practice Consulting.

  • Video of Water Security Event