Dr Nick Schofield.

Dr Nicholas Schofield has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Water Partnership.

Nick is the Professor and inaugural Director of the University of NSW Global Water Institute.  He will take over from Dr Gary Jones who was the inaugural CEO of the Australian Water Partnership and who played a vital role in setting it up.

Announcing Nick’s appointment, eWater Chairman Don Blackmore said: “We are delighted to welcome Nick to the role of CEO of the AWP.  Nick has the sectoral expertise, strategic leadership experience, management skills and personal attributes necessary to do the job with distinction from start-up and to deliver tangible results for Australia and its international partners. His professional credibility, together with his networks across the Australian water sector and internationally are a great match for the AWP at this stage of its development.”

Nick was appointed by the eWater Board through a competitive selection process and from a strong field of candidates.  Nick’s previous roles include Chief Executive Officer of the International RiverFoundation, Principal Consultant with Sinclair Knight Merz, Science Manager in Land & Water Australia and Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Water Resources Council.

Kaye Schofield, Chair of the AWP Advisory Committee, welcomed Nick to the AWP family.  “Nick brings a wealth of experience in government, the private sector and in non-government organisations.  He understands the global water challenges, the importance of a ‘Team Australia’ approach to helping partner countries to address them, and appreciates that AWP is about sharing of knowledge between its international and Australian partners to strengthen the capacity of both.”

“I am tremendously excited to be offered the opportunity to lead the AWP on its journey of sharing the extraordinary know-how and expertise of the Australian water sector with partners in the Asia-Pacific region, which is the epicentre of the world’s water issues,” said Dr Schofield.  “Australians will be proud to be offering innovative solutions that could immediately benefit hundreds of millions of people facing dire, often life-threatening water problems”.

Nick will take up his new role in Canberra on 3 July 2017.  Kaye Schofield will continue as Interim CEO until then.

The AWP is a unique and innovative initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, under the Australian Aid Program.  Announced in 2015 by Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, AWP’s role is to strategically connect international demand for Australia’s expertise in water resource management from across the Indo-Pacific region with Australian partners from the public and private sector.  The development goal for the AWP is to enhance the sustainable management of water resources in the Indo-Pacific region, in turn supporting inclusive economic development, improvements to water security for all, and reductions in environmental and social impacts and regional tensions.  eWater Ltd is the managing partner for the AWP.