Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander officers make up a quarter of the new recruits for the Natural Resources Access Regulator’s (NRAR) routine monitoring team.
Director of Water Regulation West at NRAR, Gregory Abood said the Regulator prioritised diversity in its latest recruitment drive, which saw 28 monitoring officers join teams in Dubbo, Tamworth and Deniliquin.
“Our new routine monitoring team will become the face of NRAR in regional NSW and so it was incredibly important for them to be as diverse as the community they work for,” Mr Abood said.
“We’re proud to see the NRAR team expand to include new Field Officers from all walks of life,” he said.
“While some candidates are entering the workforce for the first time, others have quite a few years’ experience under their belts.”
“Among the recruits are a Wiradjuri woman with a Diploma in Conservation and Land Management, a landscape painter, a former Environmental Protection Officer and a recent migrant from India.”
Mr Abood said the new recruits completed three weeks of intensive training earlier in the month and were now authorised offices under the Water Management Act 2000.
“Now that the regulator has expanded its on-the-ground presence in regional NSW we will be able to visit three times as many properties in the next 12 months than in the previous financial year,” he said.
“In doing so, we will increase public confidence in water regulation,” Mr Abood said.
