Who we are
The Inspector-General of Water Compliance (Inspector-General) is an independent statutory role and an identified integrity agency, supported by staff provided by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment & Water (the Department).
Inspector-General’s vision:
Water management and use within the Murray-Darling Basin is lawful, transparent, and accountable, and the Australian public is confident in the integrity of Basin Plan delivery.
Inspector-General’s purpose:
The Inspector-General ensures various government bodies, water managers and users in the Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin) comply with their obligations under the Water Act 2007 (Cth) (Water Act) and the Basin Plan 2012 (Cth) (Basin Plan) and drives governments and water managers to uphold high standards of integrity and performance. The Inspector-General’s role includes oversighting the performance of government agencies in the management of Basin water resources, as well as ensuring compliance with various commitments under legislation. The Inspector-General currently has offices located in Adelaide, Albury, Brisbane, Canberra, Dubbo, Goondiwindi, Melbourne, Mildura and Sydney. The Inspector-General can support regional relocation to one of our Basin communities.
The Oversight Branch
The Oversight Branch, led by the Assistant Inspector General of Oversight, is focused on ensuring a high standard of accountability for all involved in Basin management. The Branch supports the Inspector-General by overseeing Basin government performance of duties, obligations and commitments. The branch also provide advice to the Inspector-General on risks to integrity in the management of water resources within the Basin.
The Oversight Branch is comprised of the following teams:
- Inquiry
- Performance Assurance
- Strategic Relations
The Strategic Relations Team
The Strategic Relations team acts as a focal point and provides strategic insights into key relationships and agreements between regulatory stakeholders in the Murray-Darling Basin (The Basin) that impact on regulatory compliance. The team liaises with the Basin’s key stakeholders and manages those relationships to assist the Inspector-General in facilitating solutions to complex interjurisdictional compliance matters and in undertaking the roles and responsibilities of the Inspector-General.
This includes:
- Providing Ministerial & Parliamentary liaison.
- Providing a central contact point for information sharing and support for the Inspector-General’s engagement with State and Commonwealth stakeholders.
- Operating as a custodian of better practice forums which engage regulatory leaders and practitioners to discuss issues, share better practice, work together on cross-cutting issues and common regulatory problems, and collaborate more effectively.
- Intelligence support including information gathering, mapping, analysing and reporting.
- Supporting the annual Inspector-General work across the Basin, particularly the in-depth Shoulder Period Surveys.
- Providing strategic on-ground engagement, intelligence and insights from key Basin stakeholders to inform the work of the Inspector-General, both in the oversight function and more broadly across the OWC.
- Staff across the team are tasked with establishing and maintaining Basin-wide networks and knowledge and identifying opportunities in line with the Inspector-General’s strategic and work plans to provide insights, information and situational awareness to the Inspector-General.
The job
The Director Strategic Relations is ultimately responsible for the design and delivery of engagement activities for the Inspector-General and the OWC. Ensuring that stakeholder engagement, information gathering, and analysis align with the strategic objectives of the Inspector-General are essential for success. You will provide an elevated level of advice to senior management and Ministers as well as coordinating and assuming responsibility for complex or sensitive projects or work programs that have strategic, political and/or operational significance. You will ultimately be responsible for initiating, establishing, and maintaining robust relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
The key accountabilities of the Director will include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Build, maintain, and utilise key strategic relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, including state and territory government regulatory agencies, Commonwealth government bodies, and other Basin stakeholders as required.
- Manage relationships with government agencies and Basin stakeholders, providing coordination and logistics assistance to the Director of Strategic Relations in various leadership forums.
- Oversee information gathering and analysis activities, providing timely, relevant updates to the Inspector-General, managing the triage of any complaints and allegations.
- Manage the Strategic Relations team, overseeing risk management and day-to-day operations, while being accountable for developing, coaching, and mentoring staff, managing performance, resolving conflicts, and identifying training and development needs.
- Set the strategic direction and forward work program for the team, managing competing priorities and deadlines to deliver outcomes aligned with the objectives of the Inspector-General.
- Ensure the safety of field officers as a non-negotiable priority in compliance with relevant workplace safety obligations.
- Develop and maintain the Inspector-General’s engagement strategy.
- Decision making for the triage and referral of complaints and allegations where the appropriate destination is not clear, or the contents are of a sensitive nature.
- Strengthen processes for engagement information gathering analysis and migration into information or intelligence products.
- Utilise intelligence products to provide detailed and timely situational awareness updates to the Executive to allow contemporary and evidence base operational decisions.
- Manage high-level engagement activities, including the Regulatory Leaders’ Forum and Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council.
- Proactively identify issues requiring higher level delegation or input and escalate to the executive and/or the Inspector-General.
- Provide leadership in implementing and promoting a climate of change and continuous improvement.
Mandatory qualifications
- Have relevant qualifications, or industry experience in areas related to water, environmental or natural resource management, public administration, engagement, information or intelligence analysis.
- Hold and maintain a valid Australian motor vehicle drivers’ licence.
📌 Director Strategic Relations
🏢 Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
📍 Mildura