In my career, I have been very fortunate to have been involved in policy, legislative and guideline development with the South Australian Environment Protection Authority. This was highlighted by my involvement in the progression of legislative reforms to ensure the robust management of site contamination in South Australia.

I am most proud, that this work led to an amendment to the Environment Protection Act 1993 (SA), which has improved the management of site contamination in South Australia.

These changes have also facilitated the introduction of a site contamination audit scheme in South Australia. (Before these crucial developments, the management of site contamination in the state faced significant challenges and limitations). As we approach the 15th anniversary of these transformative legislative changes in 2024, the groundwork laid has been instrumental in ensuring the proper assessment, remediation, and regulation of site contamination in South Australia. This marks a significant milestone in environmental protection within the region, which I am most proud to have played a role in.

My name is Isobel Stout.

I am currently employed by Pattle Delamore Partners Limited in the Christchurch office as a Service Leader in Environmental Science. I came to this role nearly a year ago, after 33 years in local government as a Senior Environmental Health Officer where most of my work revolved around land development, contaminated land, hazardous substances, solid waste and compliance issues. My educational background includes degrees in science, environmental health and public health with specialist qualifications in environmental noise.

The point I want to raise in this article is the benefits I have seen in bringing my local government and regulatory insights into the world of consulting. In many ways I see myself as an emerging professional in terms of consulting, apart from my age that is! I have also been a little surprised at the lack of knowledge of the regulatory machinations of local government amongst some consultants.

Comparing the two sectors I see more in common than differences, the hard skills, the emphasis on knowledge to the point of quite extreme speciality. That’s not to say that these aren’t important qualities, but I believe the flip side is equally important to both sectors.

Shifting to consulting has focused on the soft skills which I found underrepresented in the regulatory world. By soft skills I mean those related more to listening than talking, more to forming a relationship than dictating. I see this understanding of the soft skills better acknowledged by consultants than regulators to the detriment I think of regulators.

On the other hand, I have found my regulatory discipline when it comes to field notes, reporting, record and time keeping, offers me advantages to my consulting career.

I think I have made the transition very successfully to consulting and my knowledge of how regulators work has been incredibly valuable. Yes, I was uncertain to begin with but really the skills are transferable (in both directions) the public service habits, investigative skills and the getting along with everyone to get the job done. Career change later in life is eminently doable and I would love more to join me.

It's a privilege to be in a position to mentor emerging professionals whilst at the same time sharing some of their uncertainties and concerns in a whole new world.

I would like to think I inspire career change, even later in life, and urging people not to underestimate the value of regulatory and public service habits.

The so called ‘soft skills’ are actually hard. It isn’t just what you know but how you apply it.

It’s hard to think of just one – there are so many to choose from!

I’ve been with WasteMINZ since 2008 – the past two years of which I’ve been chief executive.

For the majority of my time with WasteMINZ, I coordinated WasteMINZ’s Contaminated Land Management (CLM) Sector Group. In this role, I managed many projects that fulfilled a need within the contaminated land management sector, organised our annual conference, and provided key guidance to our members.

The Contaminated Site Safety Certificate (CSSC) course is one project that I’m particularly proud of, because it emphasised what our members can do when we collaborate with other organisations. The course was developed by ALGA and WasteMINZ, after an ALGA member identified a gap in training for people who are entering the CLM space and going on to sites. The aim of the course is to draw attention to the hazards people could be exposed to on a site, the controls that should be put in place to manage these hazards, and ultimately keep people safe.

At WasteMINZ, we don’t wait around for governments or other agencies to come up with a solution – we identify a need, find a solution, and get on with the job.

That’s why I’m so proud of the CSSC course, because our two agencies came together to fill the need of our members. Ultimately, that’s what we’re here for – to serve our members.

Another piece of work that I’d like to highlight is the numerous fact sheets and guidance that we release on behalf of our sector. These cover topics such as why a Suitability Qualified and Experienced Practitioner (SQEP) is needed; buying and selling a property that may be contaminated; assessing and managing coal tar contamination in roading; managing the collection, receipt, transport and disposal of asbestos waste; and much more!

Producing these documents can be a lengthy process – for some complex topics, it can take years to get the right expertise, develop the guidance and then consult on it with stakeholders and members.

I always try to live by the rule: “don’t let perfection get in the way of progress”. So, we make sure our documentation is as robust as possible, but we also know that we need to regularly review it, listen to feedback, and go back and update it. We’re really fortunate that we have passionate, dedicated people who volunteer their time to make a difference. Our members have the knowledge and expertise to know what the industry needs. The WasteMINZ team’s role is facilitation and coordination – but our members are the ones who do the mahi!

Something else I’m proud of is dealing with the challenges that the pandemic posed to in-person events.

From 2020 to early 2022, we had been postponing our annual conference because of the pandemic restrictions. When I started the CE role in early 2022, I needed to make a quick decision to either postpone it again or turn it into a virtual summit. I decided to go for the virtual option – and within 2 months, the team had pulled together an amazing programme for our members to attend online. We received so much support from the members. In fact, the number of attendees were similar to that of our in-person conference. Last year, we held our first in-person conference since 2019 – and the members flocked to it! We were so excited to see everyone face-to-face, and provide networking and learning opportunities to those in the waste, resource recovery and contaminated land management sectors.

Our members are powerhouses – they have day jobs, but they continue to volunteer their time and knowledge for the good of the sector. I’m eternally grateful that I’ve ended up in an industry that makes such a difference to our world. I don’t think everybody who goes to work each day feels like this, so I feel very fortunate.

When I was growing up, there weren’t many role models for women in leadership positions. It took me a long time to realise that I could be in leadership as well.

Being in a leadership role is rewarding, but it can be lonely and challenging – you must make decisions all the time, and you have to trust yourself. It’s so important to have a network around you, like I do, of other people – men and women – that you can talk to if you want to sense check something.

I am surrounded by amazing women in our sector who are doing great things and are always willing to offer their support to me to make me better. That makes a huge difference.

I will finish off by saying that being a female in this sector has never held me back. I’ve been offered opportunities, and I have taken them. That is the best advice I could give to anyone – don’t be afraid to say yes!

When asked if I would contribute to this issue of Cronicle, I was very flattered: I don’t see myself as having been a significant contributor to our industry, although I have been around a long time! It’s incredibly difficult to pick out any single project or achievement as being particularly special, since I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved with so many fantastic projects.

Very early in my career I was appointed as expert witness on a contractual dispute over a large colliery remediation project in Yorkshire, northern England. The client was English Partnerships, a quasi public-sector brownfield redevelopment agency tasked with regenerating the coalfields regions in the 1990’s. The idea of the project was that the enormous spoil heap (several million tonnes) would be remediated by coal washing. Unfortunately it didn’t work because there was too much clay, too much acidity and not enough recoverable coal. The contractor ceased work and launched a claim for 30 million pounds, and legal proceedings commenced. I spent the next 3 years poring over the contract and the evidence, and got to learn a great deal about contracts and contract law which turned out to be really useful throughout my career. As part of the settlement, I wrote a new contract and specification for an alternative remediation solution which was eventually agreed and carried out successfully.

My next highlight is having been lucky enough to work on the 2013 revision of the National Environmental Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999. I led the successful bid for the revision of Schedules B4 and B7 (the health investigation levels and health risk assessment guidance), and delivered the first redraft of both documents in 2009. The project included building the exposure model in excel that generated the HILs and writing both schedules. Conceptually, I followed the UK idea of a fully transparent quantitative method for establishing the investigation levels, accompanied by clear guidance on their derivation and application. Jackie Wright completed the work to produce the final versions of the documents. Schedules B4 and B7 represent a significant step forward in Australian contaminated land assessment, establishing a fully risk based system backed up by defensible and transparent input data to the model. I personally think our ASC NEPM is better than either the US or UK systems, and I’m very proud to have been part of it.

Lastly, I’m going to talk about what I do now, which is delivering the UTS Contaminated Sites Assessment, Remediation and Management (CSARM) short courses. The courses have been highly successful over the last 15 years and I take no credit for that, but I am wholly committed to making them as good as I can and to making them available to more people. The courses cover the key aspects of the contaminated land process, and there are five modules which are each 2.5 or 3 days in length; they are NSW focussed and aimed primarily at consultants and can be attended either in person at UTS, or online. This year, I’ve added a sixth online-only course aimed at Council officers which covers contaminated land basics and NSW regulation from a regulator and land manager perspective.

All the courses are taught by highly experienced industry professional, including NSW Site Auditors, technical experts, regulators from NSW EPA and councils, and legal experts. I think that this model for delivery is one of the most important factors behind the success of the courses. It means that the courses are dependent on the generosity of the employers in allowing people time to come and teach, and also on the goodwill of the lecturers who mostly donate a lot of their own time to preparing their presentations. Having been one of the lecturers myself, before taking on the program director role, I really enjoyed doing it, and appreciated the opportunity to showcase ERM before an audience of potential employees.

As far as I know, it’s the only training of its kind in Australia. Ideally, I’d like to see something like this available for all States and Territories. To maintain and develop professional standards in our industry we definitely need more available training, particularly training that is routinely available and offered by an education provider such as a university or TAFE.

I’m not sure there is a particular project or area of research that I could list as a proud moment or career defining. In my over 25 years, I’ve been involved in such a wide variety of sites across Australia, from assessments of market gardens and service stations to auditing of mining operations, landfills, refineries and Defence estates. I consider myself to be a contaminated site generalist – knowing a bit about lots of things, and I’ve worked really hard. What I’m most proud of is the positive impact I’ve had across the sector and being a role model for other women in the industry.

My career commenced at a time where there were very few women in my field and certainly not in leadership roles. During my undergraduate degree, I commenced working - initially work experience and then on contract employment in the area of environmental planning. After graduating from uni, I commenced working full time as an environmental consultant where my love for contaminated sites and auditing commenced. I was the only female professional in the office so I shared the space downstairs with admin and the photocopier and fax machine. I was told that I wouldn’t be successful because I didn’t have the physical strength needed for field work and why bother when I would just go off and have kids anyway. By the way I could hand auger to 12m, install monitoring wells including setting the screen, fill the well and finish with concreting in the gatic as well as keep the drillers under control - who were inevitably male.

During my time in Melbourne, I expressed my interest in auditing and this is really when my career pathway was set. I was the Auditor’s representative for four auditors and managed a large number of projects. I learnt a lot from these four remarkable men plus our group of experts in remediation and risk assessment who shared with me their knowledge and skills and encouraged me to continue with my technical skills.

Returning to Perth in 2005, I continued to provide auditor assistance for Victorian projects (there was still no audit scheme yet in WA) in addition to providing senior review of assessment reports and advising on scopes and reporting for more complex projects. I continued to increase my technical knowledge and took on the role of group leader for a contaminated sites team (with a total of 30 staff).

In 2012, I was successful in being accredited in Western Australia as a Contaminated Sites Auditor. I was the first Perth based woman appointed (with Ruth Keogh the only other female based in Adelaide). At that time, there were few auditors in WA who were Perth based (only 5). There are still only 3 women who are accredited in WA.

In 2015 I joined Senversa’s Perth office. I was the first female internally promoted to Senior Principal at Senversa, recognising my industry leading external capability and skills. I was accredited as a Queensland Accredited Contaminated Land Auditor in 2016, the first appointed female auditor in that jurisdiction. And yes, there are still only a few women (total of 5) accredited in Queensland. In 2020, I was appointed to the WA Contaminated Sites Committee (an independent statutory administrative tribunal appointed by the Minister for Environment).

Throughout my career, I was faced with a lack of female mentors and role models. Since the early 1990’s, I have strived to advance the standing and impact women play in the contaminated land industry across Australia. I strongly believe in promoting science and science careers to women and am passionate about providing formal and informal mentoring roles within and outside of my organisation including establishing a forum for women in contaminated land to network, engage and support each other. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved at Senversa. In our Perth office we have an equal number of women and women in senior roles (Principal and Senior Principal) and a developing cohort of women who will continue to add to the future growth.

As a mum of two, I’ve also been externally involved in promoting STEM activities for children, particularly young girls, including establishing and running an after school science club for year 1-7 children to help “ignite the spark” and provide an avenue for exploring science outside of the curriculum. Although neither of my children have pursued careers in science, I’m hoping that I’ve at least been a positive role model for them, showing them that women can do anything and that you don’t need to be (or act like) a man to have a success in your chosen career.