Our commitment to the future of the energy and electrotechnology sector at both a national and international level is a key driver for our work with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Together with our stakeholders we strive to innovate and deliver outcomes for the sector as a core part of our work as the national standards body.

This was on display at the IEC General Meeting (GM) in Shanghai, China. Now in its 83rd year, Australia was well represented both by Standards Australia staff but also by over 30 delegates from industry who contributed to governance and technical meetings, and a number of workshops. The IEC GM also provided an opportunity for Standards Australia to connect with many of our international counterparts. Building our connections and understanding challenges and initiatives in other countries helps us to ensure we share and learn how to make standards development more efficient and expedient.

The theme for this year’s IEC GM was ‘better quality, better life – reliability, safety, efficiency’, meaning there was plenty of discussion around innovation, diversity and inclusivity and the challenges of adapting in our rapidly evolving world. Another big focus of this year’s meeting was the next generation of standards developers. The IEC held several workshops attended by Australian delegates, including two Australians participating in the IEC Young Professionals program. Standards Australia staff were also part of a panel on attracting and training new experts in which we highlighted our work on NEXTgen, our stakeholder engagement approach and the training of committee members and staff.

I’m pleased to announce that Kareen Riley-Takos, General Manager Operations was elected to the IEC Standardization Management Board (SMB). The SMB is a key decision-making body for the IEC with responsibility for approving standards development projects, technical committees and appointing chairs, and liaising and maintaining relationships with other international organisations. In her appointment, Kareen will be supported by Beer Opatswan, who currently works for Energy Queensland and is a former IEC Young Professional. This is a great result for Australia and the IEC and is a testament to the instrumental work of our organisation and people at an international level.

While the year is drawing to a close, the work of Standards Australia continues with the 2019 Annual General Meeting being held in late November. This will give us the opportunity to present the year in full, hear from our councillors and members and discuss the future of our Distribution and Licensing Policy Framework. We look forward to updating our stakeholders and the public on the outcomes of the meeting and sharing next steps as we move into a new year and a new decade.

‍—Adrian O'Connell, Chief Executive Officer

A gap in safety guidance for the battery storage sector has been filled with the publication of AS/NZS 5139:2019, Electrical installations – Safety of battery systems for use with power conversion equipment.

In recognition of the need for an installation standard for battery storage devices in Australia, Standards Australia worked with industry, government and the broader community, to develop a standard to support the home battery storage industry and safety of the consumer.

Given there has never been an Australian standard for this new technology, developing this guidance has been a huge task and is a testament to the dedication of those involved.

‍Read more in our media release.

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts, they can automate and authenticate processes where it is important for the participants in a process to be able to rely on and trust steps or conditions in a supply chain or exchange. These innovative legal and digital instruments, are the focus of a recent Technical Report published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Australia played an instrumental leadership role in developing the report, initially proposing the area of work internationally and managing the secretariat of the ISO Technical Committee responsible for the report.

‍Read more in our media release.

World Standards Day recognises the instrumental work of standards around the world, including the large number of experts and organisations that contribute to their development. On October 14 Standards Australia celebrated the day, alongside standards organisations across the globe.

The theme for this year was ‘video standards create a global stage’. To recognise the work of standards within this space we developed a short video – we hope you enjoy. You can learn more about the day, theme and history on the ISO website.

To ensure our content continues to serve the Australian public, we are currently seeking feedback on a number of aged standards (documents over ten years old), for which no existing active committee is available to provide input.

You can view the aged standards open for review on our Aged Standards Review page If you find standards still used by your industry or community please let us know by Friday 20 December 2019.

Rachelle Doyle joined Woodside Energy in 2016 and is currently managing Woodside’s Energy Transformation Technology Program.  In addition to this busy professional life, Rachelle is also the chair of Standards Australia’s ME-093 Hydrogen Technologies committee.

Rachelle has a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Curtin University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers. With more than 20 years’ experience working across multiple industries she has held a variety of roles in areas including engineering, operations, project management and commissioning. Rachelle also has experience in technology development and implementation and strategic improvement projects for process safety.

‍Standards Australia (SA): How long have you been involved in standards development?

‍Rachelle Doyle (RD): I’ve been engaged with standards and regulation development through provision of subject matter input over the past 15 years. Participation in ME-093 Hydrogen Technologies is my first formal involvement in standards adoption and development. It’s a privilege to work with the ME-093 committee and working group members on a topic that will help with the creation of a hydrogen domestic and export industry in Australia

‍SA: What is an unexpected use of hydrogen?

‍RD: There are so many emerging uses for hydrogen. You can purchase hydrogen powered drones which have an onboard storage capacity and fuel cell which enables longer flight time. There are ferries and trains operating already and even a small aeroplane model. We will continue to see new uses of hydrogen as people continue to discover innovative ways it can be utilised.

‍SA: How can standards assist as the use of hydrogen grows more popular?

‍RD: Standards are critical to ensure safe adoption of hydrogen in new market and end use segments. While hydrogen is not new, outside the industrial setting generation and end use application is changing and standards need to be updated or developed to cover these new areas, such as hydrogen refuelling stations. Timely delivery of the standards will be essential for Australia’s hydrogen economy.

‍SA: What do you think the future of standardisation looks like?

‍RD: The full value of standardisation is realised when global harmonisation is achieved where practical, as it provides an environment where suppliers can provide best value and end users have confidence in the safety of the products. The rate of change in technology is faster than ever before and effective standardisation will require a nimble approach to development and updates so that we can make use of the innovations in a shorter time frame.

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 October (PDF):

• Proposal to establish an ISO Technical Committee on surfaces with biocidal and antimicrobial properties
• Getting the packaging right: International Guide just updated
• WTO members engage in exploratory talks on market access for environmental services

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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. View draft standards currently open for comment.

The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) is seeking nominations for people to join RISSB development groups. Those nominated will be tasked with developing two new infrastructure products.

• Asset management systems utilised for condition monitoring of rail infrastructure
• Reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) for the Australian rail industry

You can read more about the development groups, infrastructure products and how to contribute on the RISSB website. Closing date for nominations are Friday, 1 November 2019