Queensland Water Directorate

What Queensland Water Directorate does

Queensland Water Directorate (qldwater) is a non-profit industry advisory and advocacy body established in 2003 as a business unit of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia Queensland (IPWEA-QNT). It operates as the central coordinating body for Queensland's urban water and sewerage service providers, holding 73 full members in 2024-25 — representing 100% coverage of the state's registered urban water service providers, including 52 non-Indigenous councils, 15 Aboriginal Shire Councils, 2 Torres Strait Island Council service providers, and 4 statutory authorities (Unitywater, Urban Utilities, Gladstone Area Water Board, and Mount Isa Water Board).

qldwater's core technology portfolio centers on the SWIM (Statewide Water Information Management) platform, a trademarked regulatory and business reporting and benchmarking tool used by member utilities and councils to satisfy State and Commonwealth reporting obligations, with a SWIMlocal Mapboards Module launched in 2025. Supplementary digital assets include watertraining.com.au, hosting Aqua, Brown, Green, Grey, and Teal Card training courses, and the Queensland Water Careers portal. Non-software programs include QWRAP (Queensland Water Regional Alliances Program) covering 9 regional alliances and 2 emerging regions, the Water Skills Partnership with 50+ subscribing councils, SWEAP (environmental advisory panel), and qCRAC (research consortium on contaminants of emerging concern).

Revenue is generated through two primary streams: recurring membership fees from the 73 full member organizations plus affiliate members, and government contracts and grants, most notably the Industry Skills and Jobs Advisor contract with Queensland's Department of Finance, Trade, Employment and Training (valued at $17M over 3 years). The organization operates with a small staff of 1-10 employees, suggesting revenue is leveraged through partnerships with registered training organizations (Water Training Australia, Simmonds & Bristow, TRILITY) and member councils for program delivery. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, consistent with its non-profit, membership-based model.

Name

Queensland Water Directorate

Legal name

Queensland Water Directorate

Website

https://qldwater.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Queensland Water Directorate (qldwater) is a non-profit industry body coordinating advisory, advocacy, data, and skills programs for Queensland's 73 registered urban water and sewerage service providers, operating as a business unit of IPWEA-QNT since 2003.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Industry Advisory Services

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310)

SIC

Water Supply (4941)

akta.pro primary industry

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD)

Keywords

• Water industry advocacy
• Utility workforce development
• Water sector training
• Regulatory reporting benchmarking
• Urban water services

Headquarters

HQ city

Eagle Farm

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: qldwater generates revenue through membership fees from registered urban water service providers in Queensland, including local government councils, statutory authorities, and affiliate members.
2. Government Contracts and Grants: qldwater receives funding through government contracts including the Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program (QWRAP) partnership with Queensland Government and LGAQ, and operates as an Industry Skills and Jobs Advisor contracted by Queensland Department of Finance, Trade, Employment and Training.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

qldwater is a not-for-profit industry advisory body that coordinates advocacy, data reporting, and skills programs for Queensland's urban water and sewerage service providers. It operates a portfolio of programs including SWIM for statewide regulatory reporting and benchmarking, QWRAP for regional collaboration, the Water Skills Partnership for workforce development, SWEAP for environmental advisory, and qCRAC for contaminants research, delivered alongside an online training platform and member resource library.

Product overview

Queensland Water Directorate (qldwater) is a business unit of IPWEA-QNT serving as the central advisory and advocacy body for Queensland's urban water industry. Rather than a single unified product, qldwater operates a portfolio of interconnected programs addressing industry needs: SWIM provides regulatory reporting infrastructure; QWRAP facilitates regional collaboration; the Water Skills Partnership addresses workforce development with training programs including the Water Industry Worker Program and Operator Certification; SWEAP and qCRAC handle environmental and contaminant research respectively. Supporting platforms include watertraining.com.au for online courses (Aqua, Brown, Green, Grey, Teal Cards), the Queensland Water Careers portal, and the Water Workforce Toolbox providing operational resources. The organization connects Queensland's 73+ water service providers through these coordinated initiatives rather than selling a traditional software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SWIM (Statewide Water Information Management) A regulatory and business reporting and benchmarking tool that simplifies reporting of water and sewerage data from utilities and Councils as required by State and Commonwealth agencies.
• QWRAP (Queensland Water Regional Alliances Program) An industry-led initiative supporting sustainable regional collaboration on water and sewerage services across regional Queensland, currently spanning nine regional groups and two emerging regions.
• Water Skills Partnership An award-winning industry collaboration of more than 50 Councils addressing critical workforce skills needs in the urban water sector through operator mentoring, regional training cohorts, and skills development initiatives.
• SWEAP (Sewerage and Water Environmental Advisory Panel) An expert panel providing advice on environmental management and regulation and fostering collaboration on joint submissions on policy issues affecting urban sewage and water.
• qCRAC (qldwater Consortium for Research and Advocacy on Contaminants) A partnership among Queensland Service Providers focused on research and policy on contaminants of emerging concern.
• Water Training Website (watertraining.com.au) Online training resource hosting the Aqua, Brown, Green, Grey and Teal Card courses developed by the industry for the water sector and contractors that service it.
• Queensland Water Careers A career platform initiative of the Water Skills Partnership promoting career pathways and opportunities in the urban water and sewerage industry in Queensland.
• Operator Certification Program National certification framework for water treatment operators covering Drinking Water, Wastewater and Recycled Water with Registered Professional Operator recognition.
• Water Industry Worker Program A program focused on formal recognition of skills for water industry employees in civil construction and maintenance, offering Certificate II or III in Water Operations.
• Chemical Concoctions An initiative of qCRAC that informs the community about chemicals of emerging concern in homes and provides advice on reducing exposure.

Quantifiable outcome

• 73 full members (100% coverage of registered urban water service providers)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• IPWEA-QNT (Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia Queensland)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2003qldwater is a business unit of IPWEA-QNT. The Directorate was founded by IPWEAQ in 2003 as a discrete industry group dedicated to Queensland urban water industry development and support with a strong technical focus.
• LGAQ (Local Government Association Queensland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLGAQ is a key partner in the Queensland Water Regional Alliance Program (QWRAP), a partnership between Queensland Government, qldwater and LGAQ to support local government in sustainable delivery of water and sewerage services in regional Queensland.
• Queensland GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQueensland Government partners with qldwater and LGAQ through QWRAP and provides funding through the Department of Finance, Trade, Employment and Training for the Industry Skills and Jobs Advisor program.
• WIOA (Water Industry Operations Association of Australia)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWIOA is the certifying body for water industry operator registration and qldwater co-sponsors the Young Operator of the Year and Operator of the Year awards at WIOA Queensland Conference. WIOA also developed the Technical Competency Handbook with qldwater support.
• AWA (Australian Water Association)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAWA hosts National Water Week and qldwater collaborates on Water Literacy and Education initiatives including the 'Ready for Floods' game-based learning adapted from US National Academy of Sciences' Extreme Event game.
• WSAA (Water Services Association of Australia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWSAA is listed as a linked industry association on qldwater's website, representing national water industry connections.
• SeqwaterminorStrategic or Co-development Partnerqldwater works closely with Seqwater through the Queensland Water Skills Partnership to address workforce development needs.
• BuildSkills Australia (Jobs and Skills Council)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuildSkills Australia is the Jobs and Skills Council for construction, property and water industries. qldwater represents Queensland's water issues nationally with BuildSkills and contributes to the Water Sector Workforce Roadmap.
• Urban UtilitiesmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerUrban Utilities, Queensland's largest Water Service Provider, provided expert Occupational Hygiene advice that was instrumental in securing the HPWJ (High-Pressure Water Jetting) exemption for the Queensland water sector until 2030, in collaboration with qldwater, the regulator, and unions.
• VeoliaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerContractor engaged by Urban Utilities that contributed expert Occupational Hygiene advice for the HPWJ exemption research.
• WSP (Engineering Firm)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerContractor engaged by Urban Utilities that contributed expert Occupational Hygiene advice for the HPWJ exemption research.
• Water Training AustraliamajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegistered Training Organisation (RTO) delivering National Water Training Package qualifications including Certificate II-IV Water Operations, with blended online and face-to-face delivery across Queensland.
• Simmonds & BristowmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegistered Training Organisation (RTO) offering face-to-face, correspondence and blended training for National Water Training Package qualifications including Diploma Water Industry Operations.
• TRILITYmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegistered Training Organisation (RTO) delivering National Water Training Package qualifications and chlorine training courses across Queensland.
• Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMRCCC delivers integrated catchment management in collaboration with local councils, operating the Waterwatch citizen science program with 80+ volunteers collecting data across 10 networks for 25+ years.
• Water TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEnvironmental consultancy working with qldwater on water sensitive community transitions and research into planning engagement from household to state level.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Water New Zealand: New Zealand's peak water industry association representing water suppliers and the broader water sector. Comparable to qldwater because both are membership-funded industry associations providing advocacy, training, events, and recognition programs to municipal water service providers, but it serves a different national jurisdiction.
• Water UK: UK industry body representing water and wastewater service companies. Comparable to qldwater because it is a membership association providing industry representation, research, and policy advocacy for water service providers, although it operates in a different regulatory/structural environment (privatised UK utilities vs. public utilities).

Broad incumbents

• Australian Water Association (AWA): Australia's largest water industry association covering the full water sector from utilities to researchers and engineers. Comparable to qldwater because both run events, awards, training content and policy advocacy; AWA's broader national membership and Water Week programming partially overlap with qldwater's Water Connections Week.
• American Water Works Association (AWWA): Large international nonprofit providing standards, education, and advocacy for the drinking water sector. Comparable to qldwater because both deliver advocacy, training content, and technical resources to water utilities, although AWWA is far larger, operates across North America, and offers more developed commercial standards and certification products.
• Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA): Australia's national water utility industry association representing water service providers and product/service providers. Highly comparable to qldwater because both serve as industry advocacy bodies for urban water, but WSAA operates nationally and to larger/utility members rather than state-specific council providers.

Direct peers

• Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ): Qld peak body representing Queensland councils and partner with qldwater on QWRAP. Directly comparable because LGAQ serves many of the same local-government water service providers and jointly delivers advocacy, training, and capacity-building programs to member councils.
• BuildSkills Australia: Jobs and Skills Council for construction, property and water industries that qldwater works with on the Water Sector Workforce Roadmap. Comparable because both shape national water-industry training policy and skills frameworks, although BuildSkills sets national policy while qldwater implements within Queensland.
• Water Industry Operators Association of Australia (WIOA): National certification body for water industry operators that co-hosts the Young Operator and Operator of the Year awards with qldwater and jointly developed the Technical Competency Handbook. Directly comparable because both focus on operator training, certification, and industry recognition in the urban water sector.
• IPWEA Australasia (Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia): National peak body for public works engineering of which IPWEA-QNT is the Queensland division and parent of qldwater. Directly comparable because IPWEA provides technical/operational resources and advocacy to local-government infrastructure and engineering professionals, including water-related infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Water Environment Federation (WEF): International organisation focused on water quality and wastewater professionals. Comparable to qldwater because both run training, certification, and member programs, but WEF is more research- and technical-publication oriented while qldwater is more operational/administrative support for councils.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/qldwater

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Queensland Water Directorate