As an organisation we are committed to continuous improvement. With any change we implement, broad consultation is an essential pillar for our success.

Our Technical Governance Review has been a catalyst for defining the areas of change that will move us towards a more strategic, open and engaged future.

cameron. ralph. khoury recently released their Technical Governance Review Report followed by our Response to the Final Report. We were pleased to host consultation workshops in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne last week to help refine the ideas presented in our Response and collect additional feedback.

I want to thank everyone that has been involved. I appreciate the recognition from contributors that significant improvements have been made in the last few years. Equally, there are many other areas that do need to change to ensure that we deliver on community expectations. This is where our focus now lies.

If you were unable to attend one of our sessions last week, I encourage you to submit your feedback to tgr@standards.org.au by 15 May. All responses will help shape our priorities and stages for implementation, which will be shared with you in a Roadmap and Implementation plan.

Your involvement will be just as important as we move into this next phase.

—Dr Bronwyn Evans, CEO

In June 2016, Standards Australia commenced an arbitration against SAI Global in relation to SAI Global’s obligation under the Publishing Licence Agreement (PLA) to obtain Standards Australia’s consent before amending, modifying or revising Australian Standards or other licensed material.

The arbitral proceeding was heard before Mr Michael McHugh AC QC on a final basis in late 2017. Read the full statement with Mr McHugh’s orders.

Colin Sheldon

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Colin Sheldon is an Asset Management Specialist at Bluefield AMS, consulting to major mining companies within Australia and abroad. A chartered professional engineer, Colin has delivered projects for new and existing mining operations across the surface, underground and fixed processing plant environments. Prior to his current role, Colin worked for Anglo American as a mechanical engineer in QLD & NSW. He is a current member of technical committees ME-018, Mining Equipment and ME-063, Earthmoving Equipment.

Standards Australia: As a recent graduate of our 2017-2018 Young Leaders Program, what was your key takeaway?
Colin Sheldon: A significant part of my working career has revolved around applying and ensuring compliance to various Australian Standards relevant to mining industry legislation and regulation. For this reason, the biggest professional learning I took from the program related to the concept of claiming conformity to a standard.

From the very start of the program, e-learning modules and face-to-face workshops helped me to understand how the terms used in a standard determine which elements are considered mandatory. I gained a real appreciation for the attention to detail required when writing such standards. The program structure also meant I was able to engage with the expert committee members developing those standards, which was extremely valuable in being able to understand the technical reasons behind the content.

SA: How will the Young Leaders Program impact your current role?
CS: The program provided the training necessary for me to make a positive and meaningful contribution to the Standards Australia committees that I was interested in. The training ranged from technical writing classes to professional networking workshops to stakeholder engagement webinars. I was able to immediately apply all of these skills in my own professional role; my verbal and written communication improved, I produced better projects through proper stakeholder identification and consideration, and my confidence in engaging with clients and senior management increased.  

The program also provided an example of how powerful a mentor relationship can be in your professional development and highlighted how I could improve my current industry mentorships.

SA: How will you be involved with Standards Australia moving forward?
CS: I am privileged to already be a part of two great technical committees. In the short term I will actively contribute to both, equipped with this newfound knowledge. In the long term, I hope to make a greater contribution by taking on new roles as a drafting leader on a new project, an international delegate on an ISO committee, and eventually lead a committee as a chairperson.

I am also looking forward to being involved with the Young Leaders Program Alumni and maintaining that network of young professionals and Standards Australia staff who made the experience so worthwhile.

SA: What does the future of standards look like?
CS: With the rapid pace of innovation, technological advancement and global connectivity, standards will play an increasingly important role in keeping our communities safe and secure and, in the context of mining, provide for improved efficiencies and best practice adoption at our Australian operations. To keep up with this pace, I see standards development taking advantage of collaborative digital platforms.

I also think there is huge potential for ‘smart’ machines to process real time updates of standards and ensure their compliance to the standards for their own design or operation.

Whatever it holds, I am excited for what is to come and to be a part of Standards Australia’s future.

Jenny Gannon

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Jenny Gannon is the Manager of Generation and Customer Standards at Energy Queensland. In this role she is responsible for the standards for connecting devices to Ergon Energy and Energex’s networks. Her passion lies in contributing to a sustainable energy future for customers through her work as an engineer and leader in the power industry.  With a degree in electrical engineering and a master degree in power generation Jenny has worked as an engineer with Ergon Energy since 2003.

Standards Australia: As a recent graduate of our 2017-2018 Young Leaders Program, what was your key takeaway?
Jenny Gannon: The program provided me with knowledge and skills for standards writing. Through the different components it gave me a comprehensive and invaluable understanding of the standards development process. It demystified any of my preconceived ideas of standards development and provided me with the tools and support to be actively involved and contributing to Australian Standards development.

SA: How will the Young Leaders Program impact your current role?
JG: Being involved in the program gave me confidence to seek and secure a leadership role in generation and customer standards within my company. My Young Leaders training will help enable both my staff and myself to deliver customer standards with improved quality and useability that encourages innovation whilst ensuring the distribution network security.

SA: How will you be involved with Standards Australia moving forward?
JG: I am working with my colleagues to identify opportunities for succession planning to move into a future committee role.  Through my role I leverage my relationship with Standards Australia to feed standards development or change opportunities through as we see product innovation which requires revision or new standards to enable standardised testing to confirm safe network connections.

SA: What does the future of standards look like?
JG: It has been exciting to see the new developments over the last year as Standards Australia leverages technology to deliver innovative ways to view and search standards. Future standards in the energy industry will focus on ensuring safety whilst leveraging digital and communications technology to enable the internet of things, smart grids, micro grids, distributed energy resources in the sharing economy and artificial intelligence.

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Congratulations to our 2017/18 Standards Australia Young Leaders for their recent completion of the program. We look forward to seeing these new contributors in action at committee meetings and other standards events in the future.

Do you know any emerging leaders in your industry? We are now accepting applications for the 2018/19 Young Leaders Program. The program provides in-depth training on developing standards and includes the opportunity to observe committees in action. It’s the perfect way to launch a standards career. Applications will close on 30 June 2018. For further details and program dates please see our website.

Andrew Harper has recently re-joined Standards Australia and leads our Stakeholder Engagement & Policy Team reporting to CEO Bronwyn Evans.

Andrew’s experience in government is varied and included time spent as a senior staffer with a number of Ministers and a NSW Premier. He also headed a public affairs consultancy for a major law firm and his own consultancy across a diverse range of sectors such as health, recruitment, environment, telecommunications and manufacturing.

Andrew is no stranger to Standards Australia. In 2008, he played a significant role in establishing the stakeholder engagement function with Standards Australia during a time of great change for the organisation. Andrew’s focus was and remains on contributing to the larger Standards Australia team and developing a sustainable operating model by working collaboratively with our stakeholders, large and small.

More recently Andrew has worked for the manufacturing sector where his focus has been on key stakeholder relationships, strategic issues and environmental transparency.

Australian healthcare standards have been enhanced with the publication of a new Australian Standard, AS 5182, Vendor credentialing for healthcare facilities.

‍“This standard will provide guidance to both companies, who need their staff to access certain areas of healthcare facilities in the most efficient way possible, as well as healthcare providers, who manage vendors accessing restricted areas of facilities,” said CEO of Standards Australia, Dr Bronwyn Evans.

‍Read more.

The design of around 600 road signs used right across Australia have been updated, and some redesigned, to improve safety on Australian roads.

The publication of AS 1743:2018, Road signs – specifications, helps guide manufacturers and enhance the safety of road users.

Read more.

Comments are being sought on DR Amendment 1 to AS 5113:2016, Classification of external walls of buildings based on reaction to fire performance.

‍Read more.

Standards Australia is excited to kick off the “Contributor Dashboard” initiative. This is the first stage to a broader program of work collectively known as the “Contributor Portal”.

The initiative is an important initial step to consolidate our current systems into one platform. It will form the foundation for a fit-for-purpose Contributor Portal and ultimately replace the current Standards HUB portal.

There will be opportunities to share your views and suggestions through webinars, surveys and feedback forms. We encourage you to participate to ensure we deliver a solution that addresses the concerns of all contributors.

The Standards Australia Academy engages and supports our committee members by providing online learning programs. All committee members can access and use the Academy at any time.

New Learning Program for International Participation
Are you involved on a national mirror committee? Need more information about the international standards processes? The Understanding participation in International Standards development program includes videos, a tutorial and quick reference guides to get you started. Preview the course on YouTube.

Upcoming Webinar for New Committee Members
Are you new to standards committees? The upcoming webinar on Tuesday 15 May 2018 is your chance to ask important questions and delve into the key concepts for developing standards. Remember to register your attendance (using the link above) to receive the Skype meeting invite, and complete the online induction program prior to attending.

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Standards Australia represents Australia on the two major international standards development bodies, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Our activities are reported on our International Updates page.

Highlights from April (PDF):

• A New Field of Technical Activity – Musical Instruments
• Don’t miss the chance to be part of Australia’s trade future
• Establishment of Project Committee ISO/PC 317 – Consumer protection: Privacy by design for consumer goods and services
• How safe is your car from hackers?

Read about the latest standards development news in your industry sector on our Sector Updates.

The public comment process provides an opportunity for stakeholders and members of the public to make valuable contributions. View draft standards open for comment.