Occupational Profile of the NSW Local Government Water Industry

Earlier this year the Water Directorate contracted the NSW Public Sector Industry Training Advisory Body (ITAB) to undertake a customised survey of our members to collect data on the number of employees in the water occupations defined in the Australian Water Occupations Framework (AWOF).

AWOF defines 28 generic water occupations and will enable organisations to compare roles nationally and establish water-specific occupational codes in future ABS censuses. The water industry is seeking to quantify the number of workers nationally in water industry occupations with the aim of building a case for revision of the misleading ANZSCO codes.

The Water Directorate sponsored survey included questions on employee training and professional development to help inform training needs. Responses were received from 88 of the 104 organisations surveyed (85% response rate) with a completion rate of 70%.

Key findings from the report were presented at the WIOA conference in Orange in March. These included:

• Employment in NSW councils is estimated to be 1,957 in 28 occupations across 102 NSW LWUs including Essential Water and Hawkesbury City Council. This represents 28% of the national workforce, based on data collected by Government Skills Australia.
• Employment in other NSW and national water employers is estimated to be 4,915 excluding Hunter Water, many Qld councils and private contractors.
• The main occupation of water employees in NSW LWUs is in Networks (49%) followed by Water Treatment (39%), Source (4%), Trade Waste (4%) and Other (3%).
  
  
  A full copy of the report and survey findings is now available.