In July, Standards Australia had the pleasure of hosting Ulrika Francke - President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Ulrika travelled to Sydney at the invitation of the Australian government to speak at the Sydney Energy Forum.

The Forum was a heavyweight invitation only event, attracting political, business and scientific leaders from around the world.

Ulrika delivered an important message on how standards can help deliver a well-functioning, clean energy market.

Ulrika detailed ISO's work in advancing several key energy initiatives, including hydrogen technologies and net zero principles. With conflict threatening energy security globally, it was a timely message. Ulrika also noted the importance of collaboration - between ISO, the UN and other organisations.

While she was in Australia, Ulrika joined Standards Australia in meeting with the Hon. Jenny McAllister, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy. This valuable meeting addressed the importance of international standards system in the context of the world trade in hydrogen.

Both the Sydney Energy Forum and subsequent meetings were a prime example of the crucial role that standards, and indeed Standards Australia, play in important initiatives that build nations and economies.

Standards Australia currently has several important projects underway in this area:

• Using hydrogen for energy could add up to $26 billion a year to Australia’s GDP and more than 16,000 jobs by 2050. As part of our Hydrogen Strategy, we are developing standards and other resources to support the emergence and growth of this important sector
• Our Critical Emerging Technologies (CET) initiative will address the speed-to-market challenge for energy (and other sectors) by ensuring guidance keeps pace with technological development
• We are developing Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) guides so organisations can more easily achieve their goals in this important area, such as greener energy

Ulrika's visit was an opportunity for us to reaffirm our organisations’ mutual commitment - as the Australian member of ISO, Standards Australia supports a strong and well-functioning global organisation.

This is a commitment and task that could not be realised without the efforts and contributions from our many Members, stakeholders and staff.

The efforts of many people ensure our voice is heard in decision-making at a global level, and we will continue to work with ISO to provide solutions, maintain relevance and advance our important work.

Standards Australia has considerable, and exciting, work in the fields of energy and international standardisation on the way.

— Adrian O'Connell, Chief Executive

More than seven million Australian women will be empowered to avoid potentially life-threatening illness due to the revision of the standard for sanitary items.

The revised standard (AS 2869:2022, Tampons - Menstrual) specifies manufacturers should provide specific information about the connection between prolonged use and Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) and its risk factors, precautions, when to seek medical attention and where to go for further information. TSS is a rare but serious disease that may cause death, and the revised standard has been prompted by the latest healthcare practice associated with the disease.

Find out more here.

Standards Australia is proactively working with its members and contributors to identify how standards development can be best utilised to support all who work with, and benefit, from AgTech and Smart Farming.  

Earlier this year, Standards Australia held its Smart Farming and AgTech Forum. This brought together key experts across industry and gave them to an opportunity to shape international standards development on Smart Farming.  

Standards Australia has also been invited to nominate representatives to work with ISO’s Strategic Advisory Group on Smart Farming (SAG-SF).  

Find out more here.

In recent years Australian consumers have been faced with lead leaching from brass taps and fittings. The Perth Children’s Hospital was found at the time to have lead leaching issues, but when the water samples were being tested, differing results were produced due to different methodologies being used. This led to some confusion in the community.  

To guide appropriate methodologies for situations such as the above, Standards Australia’s Technical Committee EV-008, Methods for Examination of Waters, has published AS 5667.5:2022, Water quality — Sampling, Part 5.

‍Find out more here.

Standards Australia Committee ME-001 recently published the fifth edition of AS 1796 Pressure equipment — Qualification of welders, welding supervisors and welding inspectors. This is a revision of the 2001 edition and recognises the importance of this document to not just the pressure equipment industry, but to the welding industry in general.  

Find out more here.

Over the last 100 years, individuals from technical, business, academic, government and community backgrounds have contributed their expertise to developing standards. Helping make Australia a safer and more efficient country.

This month, we’re celebrating our historic Standards Awards heroes.

Read more about our standards heroes here, and our centenary here.

Standards Australia is undergoing a significant change to the way that we onboard and build capacity of our contributors.  Over the coming year, you will see some big changes to the Standards Academy as we work to enhance our learning offerings and simplify and customise the experience you have when using the Academy site.

This project has already commenced and has some new sessions that you can register for, including:  

• Workshop - Introduction to the World of Standards  
• Workshop - Introduction to Committees +

Click on the workshop links below to register for upcoming sessions or visit the Standards Academy homepage: https://standardsaustralia.litmos.com.au/ or contact academy@standards.org.au if you have further questions.

Steven Delides serves on the Standards Australia Technical Committee EV-008.Steve has 20 years of industry experience, having developed, implemented and executed sampling programs for partners in the Mining, Healthcare and Facilities Management sectors.

Steven currently acts as Group Lead / Project Director at Ecosafe, an independent risk management consultancy, specialising in water, environment and health.

‍When and why did you become involved with standards development?

‍Ecosafe was invited to join the working group in 2019 as a representative of a company that provides specialist drinking water quality sampling / monitoring / consulting services. I jumped at the opportunity as I was keen to share our drinking water monitoring experience across the Mining / Resources and Healthcare, sectors as the then current standard was more focused on formal water utilities rather than privately managed drinking water systems where improvement is needed the most (such as mine sites that source, treat and supply their own drinking water and in complex distribution systems such as hospitals).

‍How do standards impact and interact with your industry?

‍Standards are essential in providing a consistent and appropriate approach to water sampling, ensuring the results of the sampling are meaningful and provide actionable intelligence to ultimately reduce human health risks from instances of adverse water quality. Without standards, water can be sampled in different ways sometimes resulting in either over/under reactions (i.e. waste of resources or insufficient action to mitigate a risk).

‍Why is access to standards important?

‍I see Standards as a beacon of our society’s collective wisdom and experience. We all benefit from capitalising on the experience and lessons learnt from industry as a whole.

‍What is the future of standardisation in your area of work?

‍Standardisation can help facilitate the benchmarking of water quality management across different sectors. Benchmarking is a powerful tool to facilitate the allocation of resources to the areas that need it the most.

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.

Click here to view our highlights from July (PDF)

• International contributors survey results
• Opportunity to review ISO 20700 Guidelines for management consultancy services  
• Member commenting now available on the OSD platform

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Access the latest standards development news in your industry sector via our Sectors page.

The public comment process provides an opportunity for stakeholders and members of the public to make valuable contributions. With the launch of our new public comment platform, draft standards currently open for comment are now available via Connect.