President’s Report Tammy Chu FIEAust Tasmania Division President 2015

Tasmania Division Report2014–2015

General Manager’s Report Dr Vicki Gardiner CompIEAust Tasmania Division General Manager 2015

2014/15 has been another successful year for the Tasmania Division. We have continued to engineer a better Tasmania.

Our engagement with government has been heightened by our inaugural Engineering Meets Parliament event, which raised lively debate on the topic of the built environment hosted by

the Hon Rene Hidding, Minister for Infrastructure. This was highly successful, which raised the profile of engineers as being recognised as a credible voice. We also made submissions to government policy, in particular, the Tasmania Energy Strategy and the planning and building related legislation changes.

We have also focused on increasing engagement with our members, which has been aided by our re-established regional committees, which now cover north, northwest and southern Tasmania. These regional committees provide more support for members and engagement of local issues.

We also had a record number of entries for the highly successful Tasmanian Excellence Awards, attended by over 200 people representing members, industry and government.

We raised our profile with the media, with many published media releases that encompass state and regional issues and promote the importance of engineering as a profession.

The state of Tasmania is undergoing a period of change and the Tasmania Division is well placed to influence the aspects of this that affect our profession.

The Tasmania Division has increased its voice in the community, especially when it comes to government policy. This year has

seen the profile of the Division increase to the point that it is now seen as a key stakeholder by many government areas.

The skills of Tasmanian engineers have been high on the agenda this year. We have strengthened our relationship with key education stakeholders. A new approach to professional development has been rolled out this year, offering opportunities to members at all career stages. This has been well received with many members and non-members taking advantage of this more relevant program.

The Division continues to grow in numbers and we are always looking for opportunities to have the competence and ethics of engineers recognised. It is also important to recognise the contributions of our volunteers who work as office bearers, advisors and promoters of the profession. Thank you to everyone who has helped to achieve our strategic objectives.

Our Key Achievements 2014-2015

1. Professional Home for Life

• Review and implementation of the Division’s professional development program in order to deliver opportunities for all members.

• Highly successful Tasmanian Excellence Awards with a record number of entries, culminating ina gala awards night attended by over 200 people, including many representatives from all political parties and Tasmanian Houses of Parliament.

• Establishment of three new regional group committees reflective of the membership profile and to increase engagement within those regions.

• Increased membership by 3%, driven by significant growth in the graduate and student membership groups.

• Continued to work toward a strategic agenda at the State level that is about to be translated to the grass root level with the regional groups.

• The Division Committee received a Commendation as part of the 2014 President’s Awards for its strategic approach to increasing engagement, especially with government and industry.

2. Connectivity and Partnerships

• Greater engagement with tertiary education providers and our industry-based Professional Development Partners to become the partner of choice for developing graduate engineers.

3. Trusted voice of the profession

• Record number of media hits including three high-impact opinion editorials on diversity, infrastructure and energy.

• Submission to government policy and legislation, in particular, the Tasmania Energy Strategy and the planning and building related legislation changes.

• Highly successful inaugural Engineering Meets Parliament on the topic of the built environment hosted by the Hon Rene Hidding, Minister for Infrastructure.

4. Professional credentials and currency

• Establishment of a Chartered Support Program to assist candidates through the pathway. Over 30 per cent of those enrolled are taking advantage of this group mentor program.

Engineers Australia is the trusted voice of the profession. We are the global home for engineering professionals renowned as leaders in shaping a sustainable world.

In 2014/15 the Tasmania Division has continued to focus on increasing engagement with our members, the community, industry and government, and to raise the profile of the profession, the engineer and the Division. The Division has also played a leading role as a change agent within the organisation.