Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) has welcomed two authorised officers from the Waikato Regional Council of New Zealand as part of an exchange program to help develop best practice and improve operational capability across both regulators.
Beginning this week, Response Officer for Investigations and Incident Response, Novalea Crowe and Farming Services Resource Officer, Kane O’Keeffe will spend the next two weeks at EPA Victoria.
As part of a jam-packed itinerary, the officers will work across a number of units at EPA Victoria to identify and capture learnings from the authority that they could bring home and potentially implement into every day practice.
Their itinerary includes working with Environment Protection Officers out on the field, visiting EPA regional offices as well as its science, licensing, investigation and engagement teams and visiting a number of industries including agriculture, forestry, mines and landfills.
EPA Chief Executive Officer, Nial Finegan said the program was a wonderful opportunity for the two regulators to work together to help share knowledge and develop best practice.
“The program allows the officers to review, share and potentially adopt improvements to policies and practices such as pollution response, evidence collection, and compliance maintenance activities,” he said.
“They will also develop ongoing relationships to enable continued sharing of intelligence and enhance regulatory work practices through collaborative learning.”
The Interagency Regulatory Exchange Program 2016 is a pilot program for authorised officers from Australia and New Zealand.
Earlier this year, EPA Victoria sent two authorised officers across to Waikato Regional Council for two weeks.
Novalea Crowe has been with Waikato Regional Council for about a year, after a career in the police force and as a teacher.
Kane O’Keeffe has been with Waikato Regional Council for just over a year, having come from West Coast Regional Council, where he dealt with major mining industries, including gold mines.
Quote attributable to Response Officer for Investigations and Incident Response, Novalea Crowe
I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to learn about how another agency handle environmental issues and incidents. Our team is always looking for ways of improving our effectiveness.
Quote attributable to Farming Services Resource Officer, Kane O’Keeffe
I look forward to seeing how the EPA does things and hope to bring back some information that will help the Farming Services team and Waikato Regional Council as a whole to achieve its goals.