“You will have noticed that this is the first time I’ve formally addressed the convention’s business session. The Board wanted an APIA update at the Convention and I guess this is the start of a trend!
A summary of what we do at the secretariat is contained in the Strategic Plan. There are ten overall objectives and all are equally important. There are specific tasks – 68 to be exact. The point is: we are here to work for the members.
APIA means different things to different members; some are involved in a range of activities, others are focused on their speciality. The 68 tasks fall loosely into three categories:
- Importantly, we exist to provide a range of services to our members;
- As part of the service to members and the industry we need to represent the industry in various forums; and,
- We must raise awareness of the industry amongst policymakers and the general public.
There are quite a few committees and working groups. For example, the Research and Standards Committee (RSC) has close links with international research organisations and has recently been successful in establishing an Energy Pipelines Co-operative Research Centre (EPCRC). This is a major achievement for the whole industry – it really puts us on the map.
The contractors meet at the Convention. We must remember that the contractors are the Association’s long-term backbone and their foresight, more than a decade ago, to embrace other sectors of the pipeline industry has helped to secure the Association’s future.
On regulatory matters, the National Gas Law is in place but the debate continues on the Short Term Trading Market; the Gas Statement of Opportunities; and, the convergence of gas and electricity policies, to name just a few. We are also very involved in discussion and debate about climate change policies.
The Safety Committee has been active on guidelines and reviews and the driver training days have been very popular. The library committee finished its work and we now have a librarian loading to the website all the papers and information from many years of Pipeliners’ work.
The Owners Committee is for our Sponsoring Members – the major pipeline owners. When they come to Canberra to meet Ministers and other policymakers, it helps to support the arguments we make in submissions. The CO2 transportation committee assists with submissions and we are on the Government’s Carbon Storage Taskforce.
The Young Pipeliners Forum started in May 2006 and is now an established part of APIA, conducting networking events and visits to members’ facilities. I must compliment the members on their support for these visits. Also, this year we provided scholarships for young people to attend an international research conference in Milan, followed by a tour of gas and pipeline facilities in Europe. The visit was supported by funding assistance from the Australian Gas Industry Trust and Orrcon.
The WA Chapter is very important to us. They put in quite a bit of time and effort organising speakers for their functions, including an annual full-day seminar. Given that Western Australia is so far away from the secretariat – we couldn’t manage without the work of the Western Australian committee.
We organise about 20 functions annually; the number and popularity of the events is growing. And of course there’s the Annual Convention, which has also grown. In 2003 there were 347 participants; last year there were 562 – this year, at last count we had 547 people registered. The lunches and dinners are very popular. In the past five years, there has been a more than 60 per cent increase in total attendance at lunches and dinners, and attendance at Christmas functions has more than doubled.
The overall number of members has steadily increased, even though the number of employee members has fallen. It’s quite possible that not every employee of a full member knows they can join APIA in their own right – at low cost – to receive some, but not all, of the benefits. Certainly the number of full members has increased – that’s Sponsoring, Lead and Corporate – and total membership is well over 400.
Representing the industry and lobbying government is difficult to quantify, but if we ignore policymakers we can be lumped with some pretty ordinary laws and regulations.
Raising awareness of the industry is a real challenge: we have underground infrastructure that is well managed. Our product is out of sight and out of mind. Something that has worked well is the APIA Gas Report. People in this industry will know most of the facts in it, but it’s the only document that collates basic information that makes sense to people outside the industry. It’s one example of why APIA is often quoted on natural gas or climate change matters.
We are also proud to have a professionally produced magazine, The Australian Pipeliner.
Great Southern Press is a major force in the specialist magazine industry.
APIA members should be reassured by the professionalism of the Board and the financial stability of the organisation. We have rigorous governance processes in place; the Board members are committed to the Association and the industry. However, this doesn’t mean members should relax and simply forget about it. Members must be vigilant and maintain their interest in their Board and ensure that they choose the best people, the most appropriate people, for the job.
For the Board members, it’s a big commitment in time and effort and there’s no payment, other than the satisfaction of contributing to the success of this organisation.
As for the Secretariat, we are here to serve you, the members, and we endeavour to do the best we can for you. Your feedback is welcome.
As for the Association, it’s stable, but members should not be complacent. If you never question what you think you’ve got right, you never look at ways of doing things better in the future. Yes, we reckon we’ve got it right. But make sure you challenge us. You’re the members – the shareholders – it’s your right and your duty.
Looking ahead, while we will continue to undertake those 68 tasks we also must respond to new opportunities and issues as they arise.
I encourage all members to consider participating in the RSC and the EPCRC. On the matter of training, the need for a formalised, or semi-formalised, training system has been discussed for many years.
Now, I believe we’re well on the way to doing something very good.
Work on coal seam gas (CSG) matters will continue. We have a group of APIA members, plus upstream people, working on a Code of Practice for CSG gathering pipelines.
And we will keep arguing the case for pipelines and Pipeliners; we’ll keep pushing out information about the industry so more and more people know who we are; we’ll keep hammering safety issues; and, we’ll do our best to keep the organisation financially stable.
We’re looking at ways to take the APIA message to crews on remote construction sites – they don’t get to functions; they sometimes don’t even know about us. We’ll keep working with the various committees and we’ll harness the experience of the long-term Pipeliners – further developing the links between the younger members and those who got this industry started. That will help us to make sure experience and knowledge is shared and ongoing.
Finally, thanks. On behalf of the team at the secretariat, I’d like to thank APIA and the members for making this industry a brilliant industry to work in.
This article is an edited version of Cheryl Cartwright’s presentation at the 2009 APIA Convention.
Issues highlighted included:
- APIA’s purpose is to serve the APIA members;
- It’s the members’ responsibility to ensure that the Association is run well and they should ensure appropriate people are elected to the Board so their views are fully represented; and,
- Members participate in a range of APIA activities.