A water operations job can offer a way to build a career while working on Country and serving a local community. But first, people need to know the opportunity exists, and be able to see a clear path into it.
That was the starting point for a First Peoples career pathways pilot in the Shoalhaven, presented at Voices from the Bush 2026 by Lisa Andersons and Wayne Wilson from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, alongside Shoalhaven Water trainees Kieran Brown and David Welsh.
The results are promising: all 10 people who began the two-week program completed it, and eight gained employment with Shoalhaven Water. For the presenters, those numbers also raise a longer-term question about how trainees can be supported to stay and grow in the industry.
Lisa Andersons, Manager of the department’s Workforce Futures Team, said the pilot began with a simple principle: “you can't be what you can't see”.
Local water utilities wanted to employ more Aboriginal people in operations roles, she said, but did not always know how to connect with interested candidates. At the same time, potential applicants could live near water infrastructure without knowing what jobs it supported.
“So we wanted to be that link between the utilities and the Aboriginal communities,” Andersons said.
The team began by sharing videos of Aboriginal water operators talking about their work. It then worked with local partners to create a pathway into actual traineeship opportunities. Andersons said it was equally important to prepare workplaces to support new employees.
“We wanted to make sure there was cultural capability and cultural safety there at that organisation level,” she said.
The intention was to offer more than an introduction to water operations. Participants needed to see where an entry-level role could lead and know that support would continue once they entered the workplace.
Wayne Wilson, a Senior Project Officer in the Workforce Futures Team, said the work began in the community, before the first day of training. He and Aboriginal Affairs NSW colleague Tait Farram spoke with local community about the opportunity and helped them consider whether water operations was right for them.
“Myself and Tait were out on Country connecting with different community members,” Wilson said.
The two-week program combined formal learning, visits to water and wastewater workplaces, conversations with operators and cultural activities. Participants completed four units of competency that count towards a Certificate II in Water Industry Operations.
“People could also see the workplace and speak with operators and get a better understanding of what they would be applying for,” Wilson said.
Completing the program did not guarantee a job, but the value lay in making the next step visible and supporting people through recruitment. That took coordination between the department, Aboriginal Affairs NSW, NSW Water Directorate, Shoalhaven Water, trainers, funding partners and local Aboriginal organisations.
“The partner's role was to make those steps accessible, connected and supported,” Wilson said. “The completion results are important too. Everyone who started stayed through to the end.”
Kieran Brown and David Welsh joined the presentation to describe what that pathway felt like from the participants’ side. Both said entering an unfamiliar industry was daunting.
“Not knowing about the industry beforehand and then going to something really unknown. I reckon for me that was the biggest hurdle, just not knowing,” Welsh said.
Brown agreed. The workplace visits helped turn that uncertainty into a clearer picture of the jobs available. Rather than seeing only one part of water operations, the trainees visited different facilities and teams.
“We pretty much covered everything in those two weeks, and it opened our eyes into the whole industry,” Brown said.
Now employed by Shoalhaven Water, Brown said the traineeship had brought a regular work schedule and steady income after casual employment. It had also given him work he valued.
“I just feel happy with myself. I am working for the local council, doing water operations, working with the community, supplying safe drinking water,” he said.
Welsh also spoke about the stability of the role and the purpose he finds in it.
“I love the stability, and knowing that what I do is genuinely meaningful, it gives me purpose,” he said.
His longer-term goal is to take those skills back to his home community. Brown wants to keep learning across the industry and see where that experience takes him. For now, he said, support from colleagues is helping him settle into the workplace.
The team is now testing a regional version of the program across Kempsey Shire, Port Macquarie-Hastings and MidCoast councils. Wilson said it received more than 50 expressions of interest for 12 places.
“This shows that there are many Aboriginal people keen to work in their local area in the jobs that make a difference in their communities,” he said.
For Andersons, expanding the approach means keeping the elements that mattered in Shoalhaven: trusted local relationships, cultural mentoring, practical exposure and a connection to available work. It also means adapting each program to its community.
“There's no point doing training for training's sake to walk away and say I've got a certificate but we want to make sure there are actual jobs there,” she said.
Recruitment, however, is only the beginning. Andersons said supervisors, onboarding processes and mentoring all have a part to play in helping trainees build lasting careers. Wilson pointed to the time staff spent on the ground during the pilot, including helping participants get to training when transport was a barrier.
The Shoalhaven outcome shows what can happen when community engagement, training and employment are connected. Its next test will be whether those connections continue to support Kieran, David and their fellow trainees as they develop their skills and shape their futures in water.