Remembering the late Sharon Clark Tribute to Past Director and Long-Serving Member

Sharon Clark

Remembering the late Sharon Clark
Tribute to Past Director and Long-Serving Member

(1970 – 2024)

In January 2024, ALGA was saddened to hear that our long-term member and past board director (2007-2009) Sharon Clark passed away. 

Given this news, we spoke with some of Sharon's peers, to document (as best we could) her rich contribution to the sector throughout her career.

Described as an unforgettable contributor at our association, Sharon was a generous volunteer during her time with the Perth Branch and as Board Director to ALGA. Sharon was known for her kind and open personality, always willing to connect and participate in in-depth discussions with her peers. 

A little bit of History

Sharon began her career with Dames & Moore, an engineering company in Edinburgh. During the late 90's, Sharon moved to Perth, where she continued to pursue her career. During her time in Western Australia, Sharon excelled and became the Head of Contaminated Land in the WA Department of Environment and Conservation. During her time at the Department, Sharon created the WA Contaminated Sites Act 2003 and WA Contaminated Sites Regulations. Her work in this role had a significant impact, changing how WA handled contaminated sites, and resulted in the creation of the WA Auditor Scheme. 

In the late 2000s, Sharon acted as a government representative for a major lead contamination problem in Esperance, in which lead carbonate harvested near Wiluna, north of Kalgoorlie, was exported through the port of Esperance. Lead-contaminated dust was spread throughout the port and town, leading to contamination within the community. The contamination attracted large media attention following increased dead seagulls and a significant remediation operation.

Sharon subsequently moved to WA Land Corporation, government organisation, leading up the group managing contaminated land redevelopment for the government and becoming a client to many consultants and Auditors. Every year, many Auditors met with Sharon at Land Corporation during the week of the WA Auditors' meeting.

This short summary, gives you only a small glimpse into what was an incredible career, contributing significantly to ALGA, our sector and the communities Sharon served. The industry will not be the same without her and she will be missed deeply by her loved ones, her peers, ALGA's members and the sector at large.

To read the tributes made by her family, friends and colleagues please click here: Death / Funeral Notice - Sharon Clark (deathsandfunerals.com.au)