Our previous blog posts have highlighted the vision, challenges, and key initiatives outlined in the Stormwater 2030 2025 Annual Report. Today, we turn our attention to the driving force behind our success: strategic partnerships and collaborations.
Stormwater 2030’s progress is deeply rooted in strong relationships across government, industry, NGOs, and academia. These collaborations are pivotal in aligning priorities, shaping reform conversations, and unlocking shared knowledge to achieve our ambitious goals. As Colan Chin, Executive Director, states, “Stormwater 2030 works by uniting stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and community to identify barriers, test ideas, and co-design solutions”.
We need to build key strategic partners to include:
- IPWEA (Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia): We are working together to address knowledge gaps in Stormwater Quality Improvement Devices (SQIDs) and green infrastructure, supporting sector education and collaboration.
- UDIA (Urban Development Institute of Australia): Joint discussions have underscored the critical need for clearer funding models and streamlined approvals within urban development.
- ICA (Insurance Council of Australia): Engagement with the ICA has highlighted policy disconnects and the growing impacts of flood-related insurance costs, setting the stage for ongoing collaboration to build resilience.
- LGNSW (Local Government NSW): Collaboration with local government is essential to address inconsistencies in council standards and support more unified, effective local stormwater management approaches.
In addition to these partnerships, our specialized Working Groups and Panels provide crucial expert input and foster sector-specific engagement:
- The Stormwater Academic Panel bridges academic insight with practical management, fostering collaboration between researchers, government, and industry to inform policy, innovation, and implementation.
- The Stormwater Development Panel brings together leaders to offer practical, cost-effective solutions for streamlined planning, standardised guidelines, and approval reform, particularly in flood-prone areas.
- The Stormwater Insurance Panel facilitates strategic dialogue between the stormwater and insurance sectors to address shared challenges like risk exposure and integrate policy with infrastructure planning frameworks.
A powerful example of multi-stakeholder collaboration is the Wianamatta South Creek Water Catchment Alliance (EOI). This initiative aims to bring together councils, government agencies, developers, academia, and community groups to co-design an integrated catchment management model that moves beyond traditional council-only approaches, fostering coordinated planning and improved outcomes.
These diverse partnerships and expert collaborations are instrumental in driving our objectives forward, ensuring that our approach is comprehensive, inclusive, and effective. We believe that by working together, we can truly achieve world-class stormwater management for NSW.
Learn more about our collaborative network and the impact of our partnerships in the full Stormwater 2030 2025 Annual Report: https://stormwater2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Stormwater-2030-Final-2025-Annual-Report.pdf
