1. From the Chief Executive Officer
By Rosie Wheen
This edition of Bridging holds space for Ethical Leadership as its central theme, showcased through key upcoming events in Melbourne:
- Fellows Professional Development Day – Ethical Leadership – 8 May
- 2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner – 8 May
Related articles from Fellows and Friends discuss consultation with Aboriginal communities, stressing the need for genuine collaboration and respect for Indigenous knowledge, alongside reflections on courageous leadership in Australian water policy.
A thought piece from Chris Arnott (2010) outlines the significant transformation of knowledge work driven by the rapid advancements in AI, particularly since the emergence of deep learning. It highlights how AI’s increasing computational power and sophistication, exemplified by Large Language Models, are moving beyond basic automation to augment and even disrupt traditional knowledge-based tasks. Ultimately, it argues for a symbiotic human-AI partnership, emphasising the need for adaptation and continuous learning to leverage AI’s growing potential in knowledge work.
Bridging also provides updates on PCT Leadership Programs and network activities, including a 2-day Fellows Unconvention coming to Canberra in November. There is a report back on our March webinar on the future of agriculture and water, and recommended reading includes several recent publications concerning wetland classification, river system repair, and the effectiveness of Murray-Darling Basin water reforms.
Enjoy the read.
2. In This Issue: Ethical Leadership
Ethical Leadership. What is it, why does it matter, what does it look like in action and where do we find the courage and the stamina to be ethical leaders in difficult and changing times?
Graduation Week – Melbourne
Fellows have also adopted Ethical Leadership as the theme for our 8 May Fellows Professional Development Day, and we will draw the thread through to our Graduation Dinner that evening. Both events will be held in Melbourne, and we encourage our Melbourne-based Fellows and Friends to attend.
See important details and announcements later in this edition of Bridging.
2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner
We are delighted to welcome MDBA as our first Ethics in Leadership Partner for the Dinner, Arup as our Innovation Partner and Yarra Valley Water as a Collaboration Partner.
Ethics in Leadership Partner
Thank you to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, our Ethics in Leadership Partner
PCT Principle #1 = Speak truth to power
Speaking truth to power is about using your voice and your power with purpose. To speak truth to power requires a grounding in yourself and your leadership and understanding your own power in the situation.
Peter Cullen was well known for his exceptional listening skills, and his judicious and ethical use of his voice and power to ‘speak for the rivers’.
Innovation Partner
Arup is our Innovation Partner for the Graduation Dinner
PCT Principle #2 = Forge new paths
We are entering ‘uncharted territory’ for our planet, with urgent and creative solutions needed to solve our interconnected biodiversity, climate, and water crises. Our world needs leaders who can be bold to imagine new ways forward, draw on courage, and persevere through challenges.
Peter Cullen recognised the urgency of action needed, and had courage to step up, create, and advocate for new solutions to address our water and environment challenges.
Collaboration Partner
We welcome Yarra Valley Water as a Collaboration Partner for the Dinner
PCT Principle #3 = Lead together
‘If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.’ Our world is complex and interconnected. Leaders need to embrace collaboration across all boundaries to draw in multiple viewpoints, deepen relationships and networks for change, and spark creativity.
Peter Cullen could work with anyone and did. From Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, to farmers, academics, policy makers, businesspeople, all the way to the Prime Minister – Peter included everyone on the journey to change.
With the generous support of our partners, the Graduation Dinner will be held at the elegant Swanston Hall, Melbourne Town Hall, in the evening of Thursday 8 May. The limited tickets are selling fast and Fellows and Friends are encouraged to purchase their seat now. We will close registrations for this event on Thursday 17 April.
Further information and how to register details follow later in this Edition of Bridging.
Consultation with Aboriginal communities is gammon (crap) and we need to do better
By Brooke Kennedy (2024), UNE and Paul Frazier (2012), 2rog Consulting
In the hot month of February 2025, Paul and Brooke undertook a series of meetings with Aboriginal people and groups in the Border Rivers region. The community meetings were held to help understand critical issues and aspects of the rivers, streams and wetlands in the area, with the ultimate aim to help the government better protect culturally significant places, plants, animals and water. It is important to note that we were meeting as representatives of government.
The key messages were clear:
- People are alarmed at the current condition of the rivers with bad or no water negatively impacting the plants, animals and people
- People want to protect Country (land and water) now and forever
- The health of the rivers and wetlands is directly linked to the health of the people
BUT one message stood above the rest and was mentioned by every group, consultation fatigue.
Over the last few years, and in particular the last 6 months the number of people representing the ‘government’, just for water, had increased.
The demands on community leaders or those holding water knowledge were significant and becoming onerous to attend meetings. Often this time was not paid for nor travel reimbursed. The people we spoke to did not complain about the impact on their time. No. But they were concerned that no matter how many people, groups, agencies, departments came to talk to them, the rivers were getting worse and the issues they raised seemingly went nowhere or had no impact. Then they will receive another request from a different group wanting the same information, they would ‘listen’ to experts and bureaucrats talking about their plans, with little hope that any co-design or actual actions would come from the meeting.
One participant said the next person who came from government to discuss water issues he was going to call a Mirror. We asked why and the response, because you ‘look into a mirror’ and no matter how many times he raised a point, he is always met with the same response, we will look into it, and it never eventuates into anything.
Like a mirror – we will look into it
Consultation – inaction – frustration
This loop cannot continue or the people will stop showing up.
What is the answer?
Genuine collaboration involves creating true, long-term partnerships where all stakeholders are actively involved from beginning to end and not mere stakeholders whose opinions tick the box but are then disregarded.
How can we achieve this?
Respect for Indigenous Knowledge
Aboriginal communities have the right to self-determination, they should have a major role in decisions that impact their Country, people and ultimately their future. Indigenous Knowledge, passed down through generations, offers valuable insights into sustainable land management practices that are often overlooked in western worlds. Through genuine consultation, Indigenous and Western science together can lead to holistic sustainable outcomes.
Long term, sustainable solutions
Genuine collaboration takes time and resources up front, but it is cheaper in the long run as these partnerships lead to more sustainable solutions that are supported by the community, as opposed to short-term, externally imposed solutions that may fail or cause harm in the long run.
Shared accountability
Genuine collaboration fosters a sense of shared responsibility, working together towards common goals rather than just getting feedback and ticking a box. The same people, or at least the same teams with some overlap of people, need to build these relationships. You can’t work together on a project if the team is always changing. The community isn’t changing, the rest of the team is.
Empowering the people
Many groups said they would love to have funding to look after their rivers. The people know their Country and how to look after it. Given the state of the rivers at present they might need some help to start but nurturing of Country is part of these communities. Many are sick of engagement and want to get ‘married’ – get paid for time and knowledge and effort to help their communities.
And people must get paid for their time. Paid properly.
Courage and ethical water leadership in Australian water policy and law – personal reflections
By Professor Jennifer McKay AM, Friend of the Trust
Courage is needed even when applying sound research methods to evaluate and expose the issues in policy administration and the process can be brutal. Don’t give up apply sound research to expose the issues and generally common sense will prevail.
It takes courage to suggest that the status quo needs reform especially in water and environmental management where there are strongly held divergent views.
I remember presenting a paper to the Australian Water Association based on this academic article, “Water institutional reforms in Australia”; this publication discusses the evolution and effectiveness of water governance reforms in Australia, offering lessons for other regions facing similar challenges.
The paper critiqued the introspective approaches of each state in water management and called for the adoption of a resolution of the administrative complexity of laws by harmonising the laws and the reporting structures.
I thought I would be lynched, however, I was applauded with many confidential off the record statements made to me by several public servants that I was right.
Professor Peter Cullen AO invited me to do some work on water governance after this event. I then followed this up with a 75-page paper researching water supply businesses: An evaluation of the corporate governance arrangements of Australian irrigation water providers was published in 2007 for Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures. (ISBN: 9780980498578).
The interviews examine the corporate governance structures of irrigation water providers in Australia. It evaluates how these governance arrangements impact the management and distribution of irrigation water. The study highlights the importance of effective governance in ensuring sustainable water management and addresses various challenges faced by water providers, including regulatory compliance, stakeholder engagement, and operational efficiency. The report also provides recommendations for improving governance practices to enhance the overall performance and sustainability of irrigation water providers.
This research was also published in the Australian Business Law Review (Australian business law review vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 432-445 )
When I pointed out to Professor Bob Baxt AO (an eminent lawyer, Chair of Trade Practices Commission, Dean of Law at Monash University and professorial fellow of University of Melbourne) the sustainability obligations in the water supply business charters and laws, he published it straight away and was grateful for the information. The Article was called Insubstantial tenuous and vague laws – the achievement of ecologically sustainable development by water supply businesses.
This built on the earlier work and also on reflections from further discussions at conferences, the work for Professor Peter Cullen AO and other international experiences.
The abstract reads:
Ecologically sustainable development (ESD) appears as a goal of laws regulating the environment and also in specific act creating water supply businesses… In addition to these requirements, there is a willingness of many businesses to report on their ecological footprint in annual reports to maintain their social licence to operate. This study established that there were approximately 333 water supply businesses in Australia and these had 14 different legal forms; 183 of the CEOs of the largest suppliers were interviewed in relation to achieving sustainable water management. The results show that CEOs were keen to implement ESD and considered it to be part of the social licence but were searching for understanding of the meaning of the Australian definition. The interviewed CEOs were asked about their ability to achieve ESD, to rank the effort that they have put in to achieve it, and to identify the barriers to achieving their ESD objectives. The results indicate a pessimistic outlook in relation to ability to achieve ESD related to a lack of community cohesion and lack of coordination between government agencies.
This reflection on the administration of Ecologically sustainable development, shows courage by both Peter Cullen and Bob Baxt. This inspired me to suggest that a duty to cooperate be inserted in State laws borrowing the concept from international law. As an academic, the half life of policy suggestions can be many years if at all. I was recognized for this work on trust as contributing to South Australian water policy and law in 2020. This was the Premiers medal. The citation reads.
Premier’s Medal Australian water awards South Australia – Water Professional of the Year Award (sponsored by the Department for Environment and Water) Professor Jennifer McKay, Professor of Business Law, University of South Australia. Professor Jennifer McKay’s extensive body of research has provided insights into water law governance and policy in Australia. Her research has helped policy makers to understand the impacts of their policies on farmers, urban dwellers and water users generally. She has also provided constructive suggestions to reform and improve water governance structures and promote ecologically sustainable development. Her research in relation to trust across and within the water sector has been instrumental in guiding water supply businesses and government strategy. Her passion and enthusiasm are evident and her contributions to the advancement of sustainable water management will have a lasting impact.
3. On Leadership
LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS 2025
By Dr Bek Christensen, PCT Programs Director
2025 PCT Leadership Program – Graduation Dinner
Proudly supported by our Ethics in Leadership Partner – Murray-Darling Basin Authority; – and our Innovation Partner – Arup; and our Collaboration Partner, Yarra Valley Water.
In May 2025, for the first time in almost a decade, the Peter Cullen Trust’s Leadership Program Graduation comes to Melbourne.
On Thursday 8 May we will come together to share important leadership conversations, experiences, celebrations and learnings at the 2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner at the Melbourne Town Hall.
You’re Invited – Thursday 8 May
The magnificent Swanston Hall is the venue for the 2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner where we will welcome our new cohort of Fellows and further enrich our thinking around ethical leadership in an intimate conversation with Trust Chair Professor Emerita Cynthia Mitchell, AO, Pat McCafferty, Managing Director, Yarra Valley Water and Professor Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University and Lead Councillor with The Biodiversity Council.
Our Guest Speakers
Ethical Leadership is the theme of a deep and intimate discussion with Pat McCafferty, Managing Director, Yarra Valley Water, and Professor Sarah Bekessy, RMIT and the Biodiversity Council. They will be in conversation with our own Professor Emerita Cynthia Mitchell AO.
Professor Emerita Cynthia Mitchell AO
Cynthia’s outstanding contributions to water, environment and community have spanned more than three decades; she is recognised as an exceptional inter-disciplinary and inter-generational leader.
Her worklife journey is driven by a passion to create lasting change. In her early career Cynthia led programs in the ‘new’ discipline of environmental engineering, becoming an ardent advocate for learning and teaching. Her work as Deputy Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS established her credentials as a world-leader in transdisciplinary research.
In January 2024, Cynthia was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the environment.
Pat McCafferty
Since 2014 Pat McCafferty has served as Managing Director of Yarra Valley Water, one of Australia’s largest water utilities providing services to 2M people across Melbourne.
His career in the water sector has spanned over 40 years, including advising the Australian Government as part of the National Water Initiative, experience working in the USA, and playing a lead role in navigating the Millenium Drought.
Pat is Deputy Board Chair of WaterAid Australia, a Board Trustee of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation, and was the inaugural Chair of Thriving Communities Australia, where he continues as a Director.
He is a past Chair of the Water Services Association of Australia.
Professor Sarah Bekessy
Professor Sarah Bekessy leads the ICON Science research group at RMIT University which uses interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex biodiversity conservation problems.
She is particularly interested in understanding the role of human behaviour in conservation, in designing cities to encourage ‘every day nature’ experiences and in defining and measuring ‘nature positive’ development.
Sarah co-developed the Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design protocol that has now been used by numerous developers, governments and non-government organisations to design innovative urban biodiversity strategies.
Sarah is a Lead Councillor with The Biodiversity Council, a Board member of Bush Heritage Australia and a member of the WWF Eminent Scientists Group.
DETAILED EVENT INFORMATION
- What: 2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner; 2-course seated dinner and full drinks service
- When: Thursday 8 May, 6.00 for 6.15 – 10.00pm
- Where: Swanston Hall, Melbourne Town Hall
- Tickets: $95 (+GST)
- Dress code: Cocktail/After Five
REGISTRATION
- 2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner: Thursday 8 May, 6.00 for 6.15-10.00pm, Swanston Hall – $95pp + GST.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions, please call or email for assistance during business hours, Monday to Thursday.
We look forward to your company in Melbourne in May.
2025 PCT Leadership Program – Graduation Dinner – Partnership Opportunities
The Trust welcomes aligned organisations to partner with us for the 2025 Leadership Program Graduation Dinner.
MDBA (Ethics in Leadership Partner), Arup (Innovation Partner) and Yarra Valley Water have responded to our invitation, and we welcome them as valued contributors to both our event and our sector.
Businesses and organisations with interest in partnership with the Trust are invited to connect with our CEO, Rosie Wheen – ceo@petercullentrust.com.au. Please contact Rosie for a copy of our Partnership Prospectus.
2025 Leadership Program (Women)
Applications for the 2025 PCT Leadership Program (Women) will CLOSE on 11 May 2025. Details of the Program and the application process have been shared with our networks, including Friends and Fellows. Please take a moment to think about who in your networks could be a good fit for the Program and have a conversation with them about applying.
This Program will take place from September-November this year, with Session One located in South East Qld for the third time, and Session Two in Canberra. We are grateful to the PNI Foundation for their support of our Women’s Program.
4. Network News and Views
Fellows COMMITTEE
Introducing the Fellows Committee 2025/2026
The Fellows Network is one of the Trust’s great strengths, and it is led and supported by a voluntary committee of Fellows, who serve two-year terms, deliver outstanding professional development and networking opportunities, and live the Cullen ethos of speaking truth to power.
In 2025/26 the Fellows Committee is:
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY
“Ethical Leadership” is the theme for the May PD Day in Melbourne – 8 May
Fellows Only Professional Development Day turns its focus to Ethical Leadership on Thursday 8 May, at the appropriately innovative Melbourne Connect, a University of Melbourne facility on Swanston Street, Carlton.
What is ethical leadership? And how do we hold on to our values in times of uncertainty?
We’ll share, unpack, upskill, network and face the challenge together.
The PD Day Organising team is excited to confirm a stellar lineup of Fellows and Friends who will be presenting on the day:
- Chris Arnott (2010, CEO and Founder Ride Kola; Director Segovia Consulting; Director, the Peter Cullen Trust)
- Professor Emerita Cynthia Mitchell AO (Friend and Chair of the Peter Cullen Trust; Founder, the good ancestor; Director, Foodswell)
- Jono La Nauze (2013, CEO, Environment Victoria; Executive Director, Climate Action Network Australia)
- Dr Sarina Loo (2010, CEO, Victorian Environmental Water Holder
Ethical Leadership – Fellows Professional Development Day:
When: Thursday 8 May, 9.30am-4.30pm
Where: Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanston Street, Carlton
Cost: $50pp + GST. Tickets are limited.
FELLOWS 2025 UNCONVENTION
A 2-day Fellows professional development extravaganza – Canberra, 19-20 November
This November, PD Day will be reimagined as a 2-day event.
Day 1 Fellows Fierce Conversation
Dig in to serious topics and have the ‘Stoush before the Beer’. Professor Peter Cullen used to say we need to have the Stoush before we can get the issues out. Polite presentations have their place. Open and honest discussion in a trusted space are next level.
Topics:
- Water to Drink – will there be any
- Nature Markets – impacts and flops
- Basin Plan – failures and future
Keynote speakers will be drawn from Fellows, Friends and other Super Stars to highlight issues and challenge us. Fellows who want to contribute will be coached, mentored and trained to sharpen their contributions – critical friends style.
Facilitated sessions, outcomes recorded and promulgated – all Chatham House.
Day 2 Breaking the Communication Impasse
Drawing on the topics and outcomes of Day 1 we will learn together to break through with our communication approaches. Trying new things, being out of our comfort zone and being better together.
What to do? Put the dates in your diary!
If one of the three topics is in your area of interest we can help you put together an amazing presentation and present it for maximum cut through – register your interest now and begin the journey. You will be both challenged and supported in great PCT fashion and the end result will be magnificent.
Email: lesley@petercullentrust.com.au to share your interest in the Unconvention journey.
NATIONAL WEBINAR SERIES
AgWater2050
By Dr Kathleen Broderick (2014)
The National Workshop “AgWater2050”, held on the 12th March, was attended by 50 Fellows and Friends. Rosie Wheen opened the event and welcomed all and encouraged us to embrace the opportunity to contribute to futures thinking around Agriculture.
An overview of the Ag2050 project was provided ahead of time and the 30-minute introduction to the four Ag2050 scenarios was provided by our presenters.
- Dr Rebecca Doble (2023), Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO
- Dr Ashlin Lee, Research Scientist, CSIRO
- Dr David Lemon (2013), Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
Rebecca thanked all for attending and provided a heartfelt invitation for PCT Fellows and Friends to contribute to their work, sharing expertise and experiences. Two facilitated breakout sessions followed, the first focused on the drivers that will impact water and agriculture between now and 2050, and the second focused on selecting one driver and brainstorming what the implications of this driver might be for agriculture.
Some of the drivers identified were:
- Water availability, management and use, including efficiency, alternative water sources and circular water economy
- Climate change outcomes and adaptation, particularly changing water demands and supply
- Digital and technology driven productivity and water efficiency
- Valuing natural resource and landscape stewardship along supply chains
- Valuing Indigenous knowledge and practices and their contribution to agriculture, water and environmental management
- Diversification, consolidation and intensification of farms and changing workforce
- Agricultural emissions reduction, including carbon offsets and the developing biofuels industry
It’s fair to say that the breakout sessions were diverse, and this posed some challenges for the seven volunteer facilitators, but they were up to the task and there were many interesting discussions about specific drivers of change. Conversations became most interesting when they focused on individual’s knowledge and experiences, for example knowledge of how horticulture technology is progressing and being adopted rapidly, with covered and (almost) closed systems rapidly producing more and more of our food. However, it was also a challenge to imagine how these drivers might interact to deliver future agriculture.
In closing the session, Rebecca thanked participants profusely and committed to reporting back on the workshop outcomes and suggested that the CSIRO Team would provide more opportunity to be involved in determining the preferred Futures for agriculture as their project progressed.
The AgWater 2050 Webinar inspired the sharing of some quotes by other Fellows:
From Yvette Colton (2023):
If there is anything that is certain about water, it is that demand for access to it and the maximum amount that can be taken sustainably at any point in time must be expected to change. The search for the most appropriate way to supply access to scarce water is now part of the global water agenda. As the clock ticks on, an increasing number of nations are becoming aware of the pressures that ever-changing economic conditions, ever-changing technologies, population growth and ongoing climatic change are placing on their water management regimes. In many countries, social preferences for arrangements that return health to degraded wetlands, rivers and aquifers are on the increase (Young, 2013).
With a James Bond like wit, Catley-Carlson (2009) describes this suite of pressures and challenges as a cocktail to be stirred carefully.
“Take one world already being exhausted by 6 billion people. Find the ingredients to feed another 2 billion people. Add demand for more food, more animal feed and more fuel. Use only the same amount of water the planet has had since creation. And don’t forget to restore the environment that sustains us. Stir very carefully.” (Catley-Carlson, 2009, p.2)
[Quoted in Designing water abstraction regimes for an ever-changing and ever-varying future Michael D. Young∗]
From Neil Sims (2016)
Brutally copied from Quote by James Joyce: “What in water did Bloom, waterlover, drawer of …”
The quote stood out to me because it describes all of the phases and beauty and function of water all together. I think it is a line of thinking from the main character while he is making a cup of tea.
To me, it is a useful reminder of all of the perspectives on water, which might contrast with seeing it as either just a resource or an academic pursuit.
“What in water did Bloom, waterlover, drawer of water, watercarrier, returning to the range, admire?
Its universality: its democratic equality and constancy to its nature in seeking its own level: its vastness in the ocean of Mercator’s projection: its unplumbed profundity in the Sundam trench of the Pacific exceeding 8000 fathoms: the restlessness of its waves and surface particles visiting in turn all points of its seaboard: the independence of its units: the variability of states of sea: its hydrostatic quiescence in calm: its hydrokinetic turgidity in neap and spring tides: its subsidence after devastation: its sterility in the circumpolar icecaps, arctic and antarctic: its climatic and commercial significance: its preponderance of 3 to 1 over the dry land of the globe: its indisputable hegemony extending in square leagues over all the region below the subequatorial tropic of Capricorn: the multisecular stability of its primeval basin: its luteofulvous bed: its capacity to dissolve and hold in solution all soluble substances including millions of tons of the most precious metals: its slow erosions of peninsulas and islands, its persistent formation of homothetic islands, peninsulas and downwardtending promontories: its alluvial deposits: its weight and volume and density: its imperturbability in lagoons and highland tarns: its gradation of colours in the torrid and temperate and frigid zones: its vehicular ramifications in continental lakecontained streams and confluent oceanflowing rivers with their tributaries and transoceanic currents, gulfstream, north and south equatorial courses: its violence in seaquakes, waterspouts, Artesian wells, eruptions, torrents, eddies, freshets, spates, groundswells, watersheds, waterpartings, geysers, cataracts, whirlpools, maelstroms, inundations, deluges, cloudbursts: its vast circumterrestrial ahorizontal curve: its secrecy in springs and latent humidity, revealed by rhabdomantic or hygrometric instruments and exemplified by the well by the hole in the wall at Ashtown gate, saturation of air, distillation of dew: the simplicity of its composition, two constituent parts of hydrogen with one constituent part of oxygen: its healing virtues: its buoyancy in the waters of the Dead Sea: its persevering penetrativeness in runnels, gullies, inadequate dams, leaks on shipboard: its properties for cleansing, quenching thirst and fire, nourishing vegetation: its infallibility as paradigm and paragon: its metamorphoses as vapour, mist, cloud, rain, sleet, snow, hail: its strength in rigid hydrants: its variety of forms in loughs and bays and gulfs and bights and guts and lagoons and atolls and archipelagos and sounds and fjords and minches and tidal estuaries and arms of sea: its solidity in glaciers, icebergs, icefloes: its docility in working hydraulic millwheels, turbines, dynamos, electric power stations, bleachworks, tanneries, scutchmills: its utility in canals, rivers, if navigable, floating and graving docks: its potentiality derivable from harnessed tides or watercourses falling from level to level: its submarine fauna and flora (anacoustic, photophobe), numerically, if not literally, the inhabitants of the globe: its ubiquity as constituting 90 percent of the human body: the noxiousness of its effluvia in lacustrine marshes, pestilential fens, faded flowerwater, stagnant pools in the waning moon.”
― James Joyce, Ulysses
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
Help us to stay connected. Have you had a career change recently? This is an invitation for all Fellows to update us on your current roles, titles, preferred emails, contact details etc. Please share your details with Lesley Ryall, Fellows Network Coordinator, at lesley@petercullentrust.com.au.
5. Diary Dates
PCT EVENTS
- 5-9 May – Graduation Week Events, Melbourne
- 8 May – Fellows Professional Development Day, Melbourne
- 8 May – Graduation Dinner, Melbourne
- 19-20 November – Unconvention, Canberra
PCT PROGRAMS
- 4-8 May – 2025 Leadership Program Session 2
- 11 May – 2025 Leadership Program (Women) – applications close
- 7-12 September – 2025 Leadership Program (Women) – Session 1
- 17-21 November – 2025 Leadership Program (Women) – Session 2
PCT GOVERNANCE
- 22 April – Audit Finance and Risk Committee
- 9 May – PCT Board
- 5 August – Audit Finance and Risk Committee
- 21 August – PCT Board
GLOBAL
- 22 April – International Mother Earth Day
- May and October – World Migratory Bird Day
- 22 May – International Day for Biological Diversity
- 5 June – World Environment Day
CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
Repairing Australia’s Inland Rivers and Groundwater Systems – 30 April, online
The Wentworth Group is hosting a lunchtime webinar to discuss the significance of new research on nine priority actions for repairing Australia’s inland river and groundwater systems. (See article in “Recommended Reading”, below.) This research is timely because the 2004 National Water Initiative is currently being renewed, and the upcoming review of Australia’s water legislation, the Commonwealth Water Act 2007 and Murray-Darling Basin Plan 2012.
Riversong: a tribute to the spirit and strength of our rivers – Canberra, 17 May
Riversong is hosted by the Australian River Restoration Centre, a charity working to restore our rivers, with all ticket proceeds going towards restoring our rivers for generations to come.
Tickets are on sale at www.riversong.au
World Lake Conference
Brisbane, 21-25 July – https://www.wlc20.org/
2025 River Reflections Conference
29-30 July on the lands of the Ngarrindjeri people, Murray Bridge, South Australia – https://www.mdba.gov.au/news-and-events/conferences/2025-river-reflections-conference
International River Symposium
Brisbane, 8-10 Sept – https://www.riverfoundation.org.au/international-river-symposium/
6. Stories from the Sector
The Intelligent Revolution: How AI is reshaping knowledge work
By Chris Arnott
To listen to a short AI-generated podcast of this article – listen here
The hum of technological advancement has reached a fever pitch in the last decade, and at its core lies the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). What was once relegated to the realm of science fiction has rapidly matured, evolving from theoretical algorithms into practical tools that are fundamentally altering the landscape of industries across the globe. Nowhere is this impact more profound and potentially revolutionary than in the realm of knowledge work1. Over the past five to ten years, in what has been coined the “deep learning era”, we’ve witnessed a seismic shift, moving from cautious exploration to widespread adoption of AI, unlocking unprecedented levels of efficiency, insight, and value.
Right here, right now
In the ten years from 2000 to 2010, training compute (one measure of AI performance) was on a long term growth trajectory of 1.4x per year. Since 2010 and the emergence of the deep learning era, that growth rate has more than tripled to 4.0 – 5.0x per year (Figure 1).
In less than two years, AI performance, when assessed against a set of PhD-level science questions, has moved from random guessing to at or beyond expert human level performance (Fig.2). These advancements have laid the foundation for AI to move beyond simple automation and into the complex, nuanced world of human expertise, much of which can be attributed to the emergence of LLMs2.
As Tim Urban’s article The AI Revolution: The road to superintelligence pointed out a decade ago in 2015, once computers commence what is known as “recursive self-improvement” there is an explosion in performance. This is the fundamental nature of any exponential growth curve; deceptively slow in the early phase and unimaginably fast in its final phase.
| Our distorted view of intelligence | Reality |
 |  |
Intelligent augmentation of knowledge work
Knowledge work has traditionally relied heavily on human intellect, experience, and intuition. How could a machine replicate the critical thinking of an experienced professional? The answer lies not in outright replacement, but in intelligent augmentation. AI is not here to supplant human expertise; rather, it serves as a powerful partner, amplifying capabilities and freeing up knowledge workers to focus on the higher-value aspects of their work; namely the strategic thinking, the nuanced communication, and the building of strong relationships and partnerships fundamental to achieving outcomes.
Consider the impact of AI on data analysis. Previously, sifting through mountains of data to identify trends and insights was a time-consuming and laborious process. Today, a range of AI-powered tools can analyze vast datasets in a fraction of the time, identifying correlations and patterns that might be invisible to the human eye, and brain for that matter. This allows knowledge workers to move beyond traditional, constrained approaches and delve into predictive and prescriptive insights, resulting in more informed and forward-looking advice.
Disrupting the time-cost-quality trade-off
Given the building blocks of knowledge work are labour-based outputs (such as technical analysis and written reports), traditionally there has been a direct relationship between time and cost. This trade-off constraint applies for internal resources as well as resources in partner agencies, departments, academia, industry and consultants that are engaged on fixed-price contracts. As a result, once available time and cost are defined, a certain quality is baked-in.
AI-enhanced analysis has the ability to disrupt this paradigm through the ability to consume, assess and iterate in (effectively) zero time.
| Factor | Traditional approach | AI-powered approach |
| Time | Long processing time | Real-time or near instant |
| Cost | Expensive (manual labour, expertise) | Reduced cost (automation, scalability) |
| Quality | Prone to human error, inconsistent | Improved accuracy, predictive insights |
However, the integration of AI into these traditionally human-centric fields is not without its quality challenges. Concerns about data privacy and security are paramount, especially when dealing with sensitive information. Ensuring the ethical and unbiased use of AI algorithms is also crucial to avoid perpetuating existing biases or creating new ones.
AI ‘hallucinations’ have also been an area of concern as this technology has emerged. This has been a big worry with Generative AI, especially with misinformation already being a problem online. However, AI is getting better. Techniques like “Chain-of-Thought” reasoning help the AI break down problems step-by-step, improving accuracy. Other techniques such as “Retrieval Augmented Generation”(RAG) and Deep Search allow the AI to search for and use real information to back up its answers. These methods, along with better training data and prompting strategies, are making AI more reliable and reducing those “hallucinations.” Basically, AI islearning to be more truthful and less prone to making stuff up.
AI is not only enhancing historical approaches, it is disrupting them
While AI has the potential to significantly enhance historical approaches to aspects such as public program performance evaluations, we are already beginning to observe the disruption of these historical approaches.
| Historical approach | AI-enhanced approach | AI-disruptive approach |
| Annual (or periodic) evaluation of system performance requires time consuming compilation of a limited amount of data and evidence, and evaluation of that information to draw out insights. Such approaches are ultimately limited in scope and quality due to the fundamental link between budget and time-cost | By applying AI to each stage of the evaluation process, scope and quality can be significantly enhanced with the same available budget. There is virtually no additional cost to acquire and analyse a greatly expanded data source. Additional insights can be drawn out through multiple and iterative lines of inquiry. | Using an AI-first approach, how can the historical approach be completely transformed? Continual data capture, predictive analytics, AI-agent stakeholder engagement and insights are just a few examples. By massively shrinking the Plan-Do-Review cycle to real time system feedback, investment effectiveness soars. |
| • Expensive • Limited • Slow • Static | • Cost effective • Limitless • Real time • Dynamic | • Personalised • Predictive • Autonomous • Enhanced impact |
The rise of Agentic AI workflows. The next frontier has arrived.
Unlike generative AI (e.g.: ChatGPT), which is primarily about creating content, agentic AI3 is designed to make decisions and act independently to reach specific goals. It also goes beyond traditional AI by being more autonomous, capable of pursuing long-term objectives, and better at learning and adapting.
Agentic AI workflows are powered by a complex infrastructure built upon decades of digital evolution. At the core of these workflows are generative AI agents, capable of autonomous decision-making and content creation. Platforms like “Make” and “Mind Studio” integrate various tools into an organisation’s workflow. This integration enables enhanced AI outcomes, including sophisticated automation, advanced content generation, improved efficiency, data-driven decision-making, ultimately driving a new era of intelligent and autonomous workflows.
| Platform | Ease of use | Target User | Key Features |
| Vertex AI Agent Builder | Low-Code/No-Code | Non-technical Users, Enterprises | Drag-and-drop interface, pre-built modules, enterprise-grade security, Google Cloud integration |
| MindStudio.ai | Low-Code/No-Code | Non-technical Users, Enterprises | Visual flow builder, pre-built templates, model-agnostic, building/deploying AI agents for diverse use cases |
| Make.com | Low-Code/No-Code | Non-technical Users, Enterprises | Visual scenario builder, pre-built connectors, advanced data transformation, complex automations, API integration, webhooks |
| Magic Loops | Low-Code/No-Code | Non-technical Users | Visual workflow modification, integrations with various APIs and language models, public loop sharing |
| Gumloop | Low-Code/No-Code | Marketing Teams | Visual interface, node-based workflow creation, templates, subflows |
| AutoGen | Requires Coding | Developers | Multi-agent collaboration, workflow customization, cloud service integration |
| CrewAI | Requires Coding | Developers | Framework for multi-agent collaboration |
| LangChain | Requires Coding | Developers | Framework for building AI-driven agents, modular design, unified LLM interface |
| Voiceflow | Low-Code/No-Code | Customer Support Teams | Conversational AI design tools, multi-platform support, collaboration features |
Conclusion
The rise of LLM-based AI in the last 5 to 10 years has ushered in a new era for knowledge work. By embracing the power of intelligent automation and augmentation, knowledge workers can achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency, accuracy, and insight, ultimately leading to better outcomes. The intelligent revolution is not just beginning; it is well underway, and its impact on the world will only continue to grow in the months and years to come.
Today the greatest value is in a symbiotic AI-human relationship leveraging the fullest potential of AI today along with human direction, domain expertise and QA review. In such a fluid and rapidly evolving space, this is also the best strategy for you and your organisation; adapting your skills and embracing collaboration with AI tools. However, this does require a shift in mindset, a commitment to continuous learning and the need to take action.
Footnotes:
1 Knowledge work involves non-routine problem-solving that requires a combination of convergent and divergent thinking, often leveraging expertise, information, and communication technologies to create value through intellectual capital rather than physical labor.
2 LLMs, or Large Language Models, are deep learning models with billions of parameters, trained on vast amounts of text data to understand, generate, and predict human language for a wide range of natural language processing tasks.
3 Agentic AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can make decisions and take actions on its own (called Agents, hence Agentic) to achieve a specific goal, without needing constant human instruction.
Restoring Our Rivers: Delivering the 450GL Implementation Plan – Update
DCCEEW has released the March 2025 Implementation Plan Update, providing details on progress for:
- Resilient Rivers Program
- Voluntary Water Purchase
- Sustainable Communities Program
Download the Update Framework for delivering the 450 GL – DCCEEW
7. Recommended Reading
Articles, Publications and Presentations
A consistent vegetation classification for wetland conservation and management in the Murray–Darling Basin.
Chen Y, Colloff M, Doherty M, Pittock J (2025). Published in Marine and Freshwater Research,76, MF24205, https://doi.org/10.1071/MF24205
Wetland classifications aid decision making for conservation purposes. Multiple classifications exist for the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia, including the Australian National Aquatic Ecosystem (ANAE) classification and ones for each Basin State. The Basin ANAE classification lacks clear definitions of wetland types and is misaligned with international conservation frameworks. Most State-based classifications cannot be consistently applied to support wetland management at Basin-scale.
This study proposes a simple, consistent, standardised wetland classification using the NSW vegetation framework at the vegetation class level, identifying nine distinct vegetation classes across the basin. Each class is closely linked to flow regimes, climate, and topography, providing valuable information for conservation decision-making.
This basin-wide classification enables us to clearly understand the distribution and extent of wetland, the extent of protection as conservation areas and potentials for management through environmental water. We found that only 8% of wetlands are within protected areas and 12% within the actively managed floodplain, highlighting an urgent need for more effective conservation efforts to meet Australia’s Global Biodiversity Framework commitment to protect and restore at least 30% of inland water ecosystems by 2030.
Repairing Australia’s inland river and groundwater systems: nine priority actions, benefits and the finance gap
Capon S. J., Steinfeld C. M., Pittock J., Moggridge B. J., Ward A., Baumgartner L. J., Sheldon F., Ward M., Medaris D. L. (2025). Published in Marine and Freshwater Research 76, MF24160 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF24160
Inland river and groundwater systems in Australia, as elsewhere, have been heavily overexploited, modified and degraded and are subject to increasing pressures from anthropogenic activities and climate change.
Here, we propose the following nine priority actions to repair these critical parts of our landscape not currently being implemented or not at a sufficient scale: (1) riparian revegetation, (2) incentivisation to retire riparian farmland, (3) water recovery to achieve sustainable levels of take in the Murray–Darling Basin, (4) restoration of riverine connectivity through constraints management, (5) removal or modification of fish barriers, (6) installation of cold-water pollution device on priority large dams, (7) installation of fish diversion screens on all irrigation pumps, (8) capping of open bores and conversion of open bore-drains remaining in the Great Artesian Basin and (9) restoration of groundwater extraction in the Murray–Darling Basin to a sustainable level of take.
We estimate the scale and costs associated with each priority action and synthesise evidence demonstrating benefits. We discuss the importance of enabling and supporting regional communities, especially Indigenous nations, to implement these actions.
To implement the priority actions outlined here at the scale indicated, our estimates suggest approximate annual investment from 2025 to 2054 of A$3.1 billion (2022 dollar values). Riparian revegetation across 14.4 × 106 ha could sequester 1.6 × 109 tonnes of CO2, offsetting ~37% of Australia’s net emissions over the next 30 years by using high-integrity carbon methods. Revenue generated through the carbon market could cover between 37 and 72% of the costs, reducing investment needed to between A$0.9 billion and A$2.0 billion (2022 dollar values).
When a 1-in-100 year flood washed through the Coorong, it made the vital microbiome of this lagoon healthier
Christoper Keneally, Justin Brookes, Matt Gibbs, Sophie Leterme, as published in The Conversation, 27 March 2025
You might know South Australia’s iconic Coorong from the famous Australian children’s book, Storm Boy, set around this coastal lagoon.
This internationally important wetland is sacred to the Ngarrindjeri people and a haven for migratory birds. The lagoon is the final stop for the Murray River’s waters before they reach the sea. Tens of thousands of migratory waterbirds visit annually. Pelicans, plovers, terns and ibises nest, while orange-bellied parrots visit and Murray Cod swim. But there are other important inhabitants – trillions of microscopic organisms
Preparing for co-production: A diagnostic approach to support reflexivity in interdisciplinary research teams.
Ligtermoet E., Munera-Roldan C., Robinson C., Sushil Z., Leith P. (2025) Nature: Humanities and Social Science Communications, SI: Integration and Implementation for transformative research https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-04196-7
There is broad recognition of the essential requirement for collaboration and co-producing knowledge in addressing sustainability crises and facilitating societal transitions. While much effort has focused on guiding principles and retrospective analysis, there is less research on equipping researchers with fit-for-context and fit-for-purpose approaches for preparing and implementing engaged research.
Drawing on literature in co-production, collaboration and transdisciplinary science, we present an operationalising framework and accompanying approach designed as a reflexive tool to assist research teams embarking in co-production.
This framework encourages critical evaluation of the research contexts in which teams are working, examining the interactions between positionality, purpose for co-producing, contextual and stakeholder power, and the tailoring of co-production processes.
Murky waters running clearer? Monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the state of the Murray–Darling Basin after more than three decades of policy reform
Colloff, M.J., Lanyon, K., Pittock, J., Costanza-van den Belt, M., Wheeler, S., Grafton, R.Q., Williams, J., Sheldon, F., Kingsford, R.T., Bino, G., Renzullo, L., Moggridge, B.J. 2024, published online. Marine and Freshwater Research https://doi.org/10.1071/MF24193
Rigorous monitoring and reporting helps determine effectiveness of water reforms. We assess implementation of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan, intended to ensure that water resources are used sustainably. Many aspects of Basin Plan implementation are poorly monitored and reported, owing to fragmented and inadequate data collection across jurisdictions.
To address this issue, we synthesised publicly available data for 27 indicators that provide insights into the State of the Basin since implementation of the Plan in 2012–2013.
Of the targets for the indicators, seven were met (26%), 10 were variable but showed no overall trend (37%) and 10 were not met (37%).
Bargaining with Nature over water reforms: the first independent assessment of the State of the Murray-Darling Basin raises serious concern
Matthew Colloff (Australian National University, Australia), Jamie Pittock (Australian National University, Australia), Quentin Grafton (Australian National University, Australia), Sarah Wheeler (Flinders University, Australia), John Williams (Australian National University, Australia), Kate Lanyon (Australian National University, Australia), Bradley Moggridge (University of Technology Sydney, Australia), Richard Kingsford (University of New South Wales, Australia) and Gilad Bino (University of New South Wales, Australia) Global Water Forum – published 2024: https://www.globalwaterforum.org/2024/12/19/bargaining-with-nature-over-water-reforms-the-first-independent-assessment-of-the-state-of-the-murray-darling-basin-raises-serious-concern/
Billions of dollars have been spent on recovering water for the environment in Australia’s most important and extensive catchment, the Murry-Darling Basin. What this money has achieved is far from certain. While the Government claims the investment has produced “a significant and positive impact on the environment and communities”, a just released independent scientific review suggests little has been achieved. It found that three quarters of the indicators used in the review, indicators chosen to reflect the outcomes the investment was designed to achieve, showed either no improvement or a worsening of conditions. Here, Matt Colloff and colleagues explain why this is unacceptable and what needs to happen. This contribution is based on a just-published peer reviewed article in Marine and Freshwater Research written by 12 independent scientists from multiple disciplines.