Speakers

About Dharmen Dhaliah

Dharmen Dhaliah is an infrastructure asset management leader, advisor, and author with over two decades of experience in infrastructure and asset-intensive organizations across municipal, utility, and private sector environments. He serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the PEMAC Asset Management Association of Canada and is a Certified Asset Management Assessor (CAMA), contributing to the advancement of asset management practices in Canada and internationally.

Dharmen is the author of Physical Asset Management – An Organizational Challenge and Organization-Wide Physical Asset Management - A Systems Approach, which introduce frameworks for integrating organizational leadership, systems thinking, and lifecycle decision-making across asset-intensive organizations.

From Strategy to Value: Organizational and Systems Approaches to Operationalizing Asset Management

International frameworks such as the ISO 55000 Asset Management Standard, the GFMAM Asset Management Landscape, and the IAM Anatomy of Asset Management have significantly strengthened the strategic foundations of asset management. However, many organizations continue to face a persistent challenge: translating asset management strategies, policies, and plans into operational decisions that deliver measurable outcomes and organizational value. This presentation explores a progressive approach to addressing this challenge through three complementary perspectives.

The first perspective focuses on the organizational foundations of asset management, emphasizing the critical role of leadership, governance, culture, and cross-functional alignment in enabling effective asset management practices. Building on this foundation, the second perspective introduces a systems approach, positioning asset management as an integrated organization-wide system that connects strategy, lifecycle planning, risk management, financial decision-making, and operational activities across the enterprise.

About Lace Daniel

Lace Daniel is the Manager Operations at Hepburn Shire Council, leading the delivery of works, parks and engineering services across a diverse rural municipality. With over 15 years' experience in local government and a strong interest in asset and maintenance management, Lace focuses on using practical data and systems to support better, long-term decision making and strengthening how Councils plan for the future.

From Community Plan to Asset Plan: Turning Deliberation into Practical Decisions

How does a small rural Council make confident, long-term decisions with limited data, constrained budgets and diverse community expectations? This presentation shares the journey of Hepburn Shire Council in strengthening its approach to asset management by connecting community priorities to practical, financially informed decisions. As a small rural Council without access to complex systems and datasets, Hepburn has focussed on getting the fundamentals right. Rather than treating strategic asset management as a compliance exercise, the organisation has worked to position it as a practical tool to support clearer, more transparent decision making. A key part of this journey has been linking community engagement to asset and financial planning through simple, whole-of-portfolio scenario modelling. Using fit for purpose and cost-effective tools, Council has been able to explore real-life trade-offs between service levels, risk and affordability.

These scenarios have been used both internally and with the community to support more informed conversations. Instead of presenting fixed options, throughout the engagement, Council were able to work through different funding and service choices to better understand the impact over time. This helped shift the discussion from broad aspirations to more grounded and testable decisions. Importantly, this approach is still evolving. It has not removed all the challenges around data, systems or consistency, but it has provided a clearer line of sight between community expectations, asset performance and long-term financial sustainability. The presentation will step through the engagement process, demonstrate how scenario modelling has been applied in practice, and outline how this is shaping Council's path forward. This includes a focus on service level review, asset rationalisation, improved data and systems and more integrated long-term planning.

Rudolf Espada

The speaker is a Spatial Analyst within the Powerlink Queensland's Delivery and Technical Services - Digital Engineering Department, specialising in geospatial analytics, environmental modelling, and data-driven decision support. Prior to joining Powerlink, the speaker held multiple spatial roles across agricultural consulting and local government, including work with city council.

A Digital Twin and Big Data Analytics Framework for Integrated Multi-Hazard Risk Modelling using Machine Learning & Monte Carlo Simulation for Transmission Reinforcement Project in Central Queensland

The Calvale–Calliope River (C2C) Reinforcement Project is subject to interacting climate hazards—including wind, flooding, ground wetness, heatwaves, bushfires, and cyclones—that directly influence access, safety, productivity, and construction sequencing across geographically distributed transmission assets. Conventional planning methods rely on generic weather allowances and do not adequately represent asset-specific exposure, temporal variability, or cumulative multi-hazard effects.

This study presents a Digital Twin and Big Data Analytics framework to quantify multi-hazard operational disruption at the asset level over a 35-year historical period (1990–2024). A unified daily asset digital twin was developed using a scalable GeoParquet architecture, representing each asset-day as a virtual exposure to historical climate conditions. Hazard-specific feature engineering integrates long-term climate data, terrain attributes, physics-informed models, and machine learning techniques to estimate probabilistic Work / Derate / Outage (W/D/O) states for individual towers and spans.

About Adela Parnell

Adela Parnell is an engineer with a varied career, with experience both in consulting and working at TasWater, the statewide water and sewerage authority in Tasmania. Whilst her time at TasWater has seen her achieve nearly as many job titles as years of service, she has primarily been working within the sphere of asset management. In 2026 she took a leap into TasWater Operations as part of a secondment opportunity to be an Operation Essentials Change Lead, valuing the chance to work within a different part of the business. Her volunteer shadow career has led her to hold various office-bearer positions at both Engineers Australia and IPWEA.

Capability and workforce development. - Sustainable and resilient asset management. - Case Studies: Lessons from the Field

This presentation is a case study of the Operations Essentials program at TasWater, and how upskilling staff with formal change management training has led to positive asset management outcomes within the utility. TasWater, the state-wide water and sewerage authority for Tasmania, maintains and operates 59 water treatment plants and 110 sewage treatments plants in a state with the population of nearly 576 thousand people (approx. 10% of the population of Melbourne). It is an organisation born from a legacy of reform, bringing with it both challenges and opportunities. The Operations Essentials program is one of TasWater’s Top 5 organisational priorities. Its focus is about working smarter, improving consistency, and achieving better outcomes for staff, the bottom line, and customers.

About John Yovanches

Over 30 years experience in the field of Asset, Finance and People Management, 26 of those years within local Government, providing professional business management to match asset management solutions with the requirements and outcomes. Currently Strategic Asset Manager at City of Monash, focusing on the development of sound asset management across Council’s asset and property portfolio through the development of Council’s Asset Management Framework including policy, strategy and plans.

ARIC, Elected Members and Community: Governance Matters in Strategic Asset Management

The City of Monash provides a practical example of how governance, policy and strategic planning can be aligned to improve infrastructure decision-making across a complex municipal asset portfolio. Like many councils, Monash faced challenges with siloed asset planning, limiting visibility of trade-offs across asset classes and reducing transparency in long-term decision-making. Through a structured review of its Asset Management Policy and supporting frameworks, Monash strengthened governance clarity, aligned policy commitments with ISO 55001 principles, and improved organisational accountability. This includes an enhanced Audit and Risk Committee (ARIC) lens, providing greater oversight and assurance that asset decisions are structured, transparent, and aligned to organisational risk and performance objectives. A key outcome has been the shift toward whole-of-portfolio, scenario-based planning. This enables councillors and executives to clearly understand the trade-offs between investment decisions, service levels and risk across the entire asset base. It also enables internal deliberation to be grounded in service levels, supporting more consistent and defensible decision-making and preparing the organisation for its next Asset Plan engagement in 2028.

The approach also supports stronger integration between engineering and financial planning, improving confidence in long-term financial sustainability and alignment with accounting requirements, including fair value considerations. This presentation will show how councils can shift from compliance-driven asset management to a governance-led, strategic approach that improves long-term outcomes for both the organisation and the community.

About Derek Huynh

Derek leads ADP Consulting’s Digital Innovation team, helping Councils use existing data to reduce costs and accelerate decision‑making. With a background in architecture, he combines design thinking, engineering, and technology to deliver faster, clearer, and more cost‑effective asset outcomes.

Technology, AI & Asset Intelligence, Digital Transformation & Data-Driven Decisions and Lessons from the Field

Local governments hold far more useful data than they often realise. This presentation shares four Council case studies that demonstrate the significant time and cost savings being achieved across portfolios, buildings, and infrastructure. We intends to co-present with the relevant Councils - subject to our ongoing conversations confirming each of their availabilities to attend.

This presentation highlights how Councils are using the data they already hold to achieve practical, achievable wins across asset planning and decision‑making.

About Eden Shirley

Eden Shirley is a globally recognised voice in fleet AI, having spoken at AFMA, Fleet Europe Days, and Fleet APAC summits on the future of intelligent vehicle operations.

As Founder and Managing Director of FleetGuru.ai, Eden is leading the shift from reactive fleet management to AI-driven asset intelligence. FleetGuru's platform processes over half a billion dollars in authorised repairs annually, and is evolving into a predictive maintenance engine that tells operators what's going wrong before it does, optimises asset lifecycles, and turns fleet data into decisions. As President of the Australian Fleet Management Association, Eden is helping define the frameworks and standards that will govern how AI reshapes fleet operations worldwide.

Asset managers are time-poor and data-rich. AI is the bridge between those two realities.

The Asset Manager and the AI Co-Worker A live, on-stage conversation between Eden and AI. What does it actually look like to work alongside AI in asset management? In this highly original, no-slides keynote, Eden Shirley (Founder of FleetGuru.ai and President of AFMA) takes the stage with “Mic”, an intelligent AI co-worker purpose-built for fleet and asset maintenance operations. Rather than presenting theory or delivering a traditional product demonstration, this session centres on a live, unscripted conversation between Eden and Mic. Together, they explore real-world asset management challenges from maintenance decision-making and cost optimisation to operational coordination and workflow execution.

This keynote offers a tangible, forward-looking view of how AI will reshape asset management, not as a distant concept, but as an embedded co-worker within everyday operations. This is not a presentation about AI. It is a live experience of the future of work.

About Meroeh Shaker

Meroeh Suesser-Shaker FIEAust CPEng NER is Manager Transport at Armidale Regional Council, responsible for the strategic planning and operational delivery of transport maintenance and capital works. Her remit includes roads, bridges, and stormwater networks that enable safe movement of people and goods across the region. (Council’s transport and stormwater portfolio includes 650 km sealed roads, 1,060 km unsealed roads, 141 bridges, and 119 km of stormwater pipes and pits, among other asset classes.)

Meroeh is a Chartered Professional Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Australia, with over two decades leading and supporting multi-disciplinary infrastructure programs across public and private sectors. Her background includes senior leadership in local government engineering and project delivery functions, including oversight of large capital works programs and governance-driven service delivery improvements. She holds a four-year Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (2004) and a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (2025).

Building Asset Management Maturity to Restore Sustainable Service Levels

This presentation draws on the real-world transformation of Armidale Regional Council (NSW, Australia), responsible for a AUD $1.2 billion transport portfolio. A comprehensive Gap Analysis and Risk Assessment revealed systemic/operational weaknesses across governance, finance, workforce capability, maintenance practice, capital works planning and delivery, and long-term sustainability. Maintenance and renewal ratios were well below accepted benchmarks, backlog levels were elevated, condition data lacked consistency, and capital programs were insufficiently aligned to lifecycle need.

About Nandini Mehta

Nandini Mehta manages the AUS-SPEC the national technical specifications for local government at NATSPEC, the national building specification organisation. Nandini is a civil structural engineer with over 25 years of experience in the construction industry in Australia and overseas. She has developed various technical documentation for various infrastructure assets including roads, buildings, parks, public utilities and has expertise in the construction and maintenance of built environment. She actively participates at the IPWEA International and State Conferences, various industry forums and review of National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) Best Practice Guides, Standards, Austroads publications, IPWEA Practice Notes and IIMM. She is a Board member of the Streets Opening and Coordination Council, Presenter for Managing sealed and unsealed workshops conducted by IPWEA NSW & ACT, ex-Secretary of Metro North Regional Chapter and member of the IPWEA NSW Women in Public Works Panel.

Managing sustainable local government infrastructure assets

Infrastructure asset management involves a comprehensive approach to ensure the longevity, efficiency and sustainability of built infrastructure and services. It requires a systematic and coordinated set of activities to deliver cost effective outcomes for the life cycle management of assets.

Australia has experienced catastrophic infrastructure failures due to natural disasters, aging assets and underinvestment in maintenance. These failures have a widespread impact on essential services and highlight the need for resilient infrastructure. Climate resilience needs to be incorporated into long term asset management and financial plans.

This presentation will highlight how AUS-SPEC national local government specification documentation can assist in the following: Life cycle management; The selection of appropriate construction practices and implementing sustainable practices, procurement strategies to achieve sustainability targets in the infrastructure asset life cycle.

About Peter McQueen

Peter McQueen is the Manager Asset Strategy at Shoalhaven City Council, with over a decade of experience across asset management, geospatial systems, and enterprise data platforms within local government. His work focuses on improving the quality, governance, and usability of asset data to support evidence‑based decision‑making, long‑term financial planning, and effective infrastructure management.

With a background spanning engineering, spatial information systems, and leadership, Peter brings a practical and collaborative approach to bridging the gap between technical systems and business outcomes. He is a strong advocate for capability uplift, mentoring teams, and embedding sustainable data and process improvements within organisations.

Leveraging existing data to fill stormwater network knowledge, through to embarking on proactive CCTV inspection program

Accurate knowledge of stormwater assets underpins sound valuation, risk management and investment planning. In preparing for our most recent stormwater revaluation, Council identified significant gaps in the documented extent and condition of the network. This presentation outlines how we uncovered hidden assets, improved data confidence, and fundamentally lifted organisational understanding of our stormwater system. Through a structured review process, Council identified approximately 20km of previously unrecorded stormwater pipes. Additionally, we identified that around 20% of the network not being valued in existing asset registers.

Addressing this required more than field discovery alone. A key innovation was a large‑scale subdivision development review of more than 700 historical development areas since around 1995. Leveraging NSW Government's historical cadastre to identify the development areas, we established a link to our corporate document management system where drawings were already held but not systematically utilised. This targeted desktop investigation allowed missing assets to be identified, spatially validated and prioritised for verification, significantly reducing reliance on ad‑hoc discovery.

About Simon Harris

Simon Harris has 20 years leadership experience in infrastructure asset management. Working at Bass Coast Shire Council in Victoria, he manages a small Asset Management Planning team with shrinking funds to innovatively deal with climate changes and a growing community's needs. Their goal is to provide safe, sustainable community infrastructure for the fast-growing Bass Coast region. They have done this through using state of the art technology and predictive models to economically plan for infrastructure maintenance and funding to best use the resources available. They've pioneered integrated asset management systems that address climate change risks.

Bass Coast's Structures Asset Management Journey

Bass Coast Shire Council manages 1,300 structures, including over 300 transport bridges & major culverts and 31 pedestrian structures serving an extensive rail trail, tracks and pathway network. Two structures are iconic heritage listed timber trestle bridges, and several have 100+ year old components. Due to the significant deterioration of many structures, Council have embarked on a fast-tracked replacement and rehabilitation program to correct the historical pattern of reactively load-limiting and closing compromised structures.

Addressing this required more than field discovery alone. A key innovation was a large‑scale subdivision development review of more than 700 historical development areas since around 1995. Leveraging NSW Government's historical cadastre to identify the development areas, we established a link to our corporate document management system where drawings were already held but not systematically utilised. This targeted desktop investigation allowed missing assets to be identified, spatially validated and prioritised for verification, significantly reducing reliance on ad‑hoc discovery.

To achieve this aim, the team at Bass Coast are implementing several strategies involving:

• Strategic Asset Planning using Data collection to inform decision making,
• Expert advice to guide optioneering,
• Managing resources to keep momentum and create efficiencies,
• Clear communication to ensure stakeholders are informed of the risks and can inform the plan, and
• Innovative use of contractors and repair treatments.

About Stephen Hegedus

Stephen Hegedus is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer and Partner at SHEPHERD, with extensive leadership experience in local government, including roles as Director of Engineering Services and Chief Executive Officer. He is a recognised industry leader in strategic and practical asset management and is a member of the IPWEA Asset Management Committee. Stephen works with Councils to improve infrastructure performance, strengthen financial sustainability, and deliver practical asset management outcomes for communities.

Advancing Asset Management: People, Places, Processes and the Technology that Connects Them

Advancing asset management is not just about better systems or more data. It is about turning practice into performance by connecting people, place-based decisions, and repeatable processes through practical technology. Drawing on real-world experience with Australian councils, this presentation will show how asset management maturity is built when capability, local context, governance, and digital tools work together.

Local governments and asset owners are under growing pressure to deliver safe, reliable, and sustainable services with constrained budgets, ageing infrastructure, and increasing climate risk. In this environment, lasting results come from strengthening the relationship between the people who make decisions, the places they serve, and the processes that guide investment, maintenance, and renewal.

From a people perspective, the presentation will explore how capability frameworks, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration help engineers, finance teams, field crews, and executives interpret data consistently and act with confidence.From a places perspective, it will examine how regional and remote councils can use fit-for-purpose tools such as GIS-based asset registers, mobile inspection systems, imagery, and sensors to respond to local service levels, environmental conditions, and resilience challenges. From a processes perspective, it will highlight the importance of practical data governance, lifecycle planning, risk-based prioritisation, and integrated workflows that turn raw data into decision-ready programs.

About Robert Scott

Rob Scott is a senior infrastructure leader in NSW local government, specialising in civil engineering, water utilities, and asset management. He’s currently the Director of Infrastructure & Engineering Services at MidCoast Council, responsible for delivering essential services across transport, water, sewer and more. Known for his direct, collaborative approach, he’s passionate about sharing knowledge to improve outcomes for communities

Breaking the Crisis Cycle in Local Roads Asset Management

Regional councils across Australia face a common challenge: managing extensive, ageing infrastructure networks with limited financial capacity while community expectations continue to rise. For MidCoast Council on the NSW Mid-North Coast, this challenge is amplified by one of the largest local road networks in the state — more than 3,600 km of roads serving 195 towns and villages across a 10,000 km² region. Following council amalgamation, growing community dissatisfaction and increasing infrastructure pressures, it became clear that traditional asset management planning alone was not enough to reset expectations or drive meaningful change. A new approach was needed to connect technical asset data, financial reality and community understanding.

This presentation shares the development of the MidCoast Road Strategy, an evidence-based framework designed to break the long-standing cycle of crisis, reaction and apathy that often characterises road infrastructure management. The strategy combined multiple sources of information, including detailed condition data collection, lifecycle deterioration modelling, analysis of customer service requests, community satisfaction data and extensive engagement with Councillors and staff.

About Anna Gurnhill

Anna is a cultural geographer. Through her work she seeks to create meaningful connections between people and places. She's passionate about human and planetary health, and is a strong advocate for active living, sustainability and spending time in nature. Anna has a background in active transport, bicycle tourism and cultural geography. She has worked at all levels of government and in the private sector.

Healthy Active by Design - Walkshop

The Heart Foundation’s Healthy Active by Design program embeds public health into built environment outcomes.

The digital toolkit translates evidence into practical guidance. It can help position asset management within the context of liveable local neighbourhoods, to align with other organisational objectives including:

• Community health and wellbeing
• Cultural safety and inclusivity
• Play spaces and green spaces
• Social connection and community building
• Heat mitigation and cooling strategies
• Air quality and pollution reduction
• Urban sustainability and resilience
• Green and blue infrastructure
• Healthy active ageing

This interactive Walkshop is an opportunity to observe and discuss streetscape walkability through practical observation and user perspective. Participants will be able to apply learnings with community, colleagues and decision makers. The Walkshop will identify the cross-sector approach needed to design and deliver healthy built environments and to manage assets in ways that contribute to liveability. It will explore ways to break silos and achieve shared measures of success. The Walkshop will commence at the conference venue. An overview will be provided, including introduction to Healthy Active by Design. These principles will guide the Walkshop content. A 3-3.5km route will showcase a range of walkability features.