Back in December of 2004 Jeff Patchell published a White Paper in his magazine Plumbing Connection in which amongst other things he suggested that the Plumbing Industry on a national level appeared to have lost its way due to a glaring lack of leadership at a national scale and fractured thinking along state boundaries.
The Institute of Plumbing Australia followed this and subsequent stories with concern and in September 2005 hosted an Industry meeting in Sydney to gauge the support for some form of national movement. Invitations went to many of the leading Plumbing Organisations around Australia to send a representative to this interest meeting, this resulted in 24 persons around the meeting table. There are still many more organisations that should be at the table and we will continue to work on that.
Although there were a number of differing opinions around the table the real success was a vote to continue, with those assembled agreeing to an informal grouping of plumbing industry associations across Australia to meet with a view of discussing industry issues be formed. This group was dubbed the Plumbing Coalition.
At its second meeting in Adelaide March 2006 the name was formalised as "Plumbing Coalition Australia" but the strength of the group is not in its name but in the Organisations that have agreed to meet on even terms to work to a common good.
Up to now Australia has been known for its World Best Practice plumbing systems and installations but it must be recognised that to maintain that standing requires adequate and ongoing investment in time and money for training and retraining, and that training needs to be consistent across Australia together with consistent regulation, standards and product approval.
The Institute of Plumbing Australia Inc. provided the first convenor/secretariat for Plumbing Coalition Australia, this role now rotates through member organisations annually.
The First Meeting Sydney, September 2005 (PDF: 86K / 1 Page)
Secretaries Report to Adelaide Meeting (PDF: 53K / 2 Pages)
Minutes of Adelaide Meeting 2 March 2006 (PDF: 68K / 5 Pages
For current information contact PCA Convenor 2008 - Murray Thomas murrayt@mpaskills.com.au