7. Community Education

Education should form the backbone of any compliance strategy, as most people are willing to do the right thing when they understand the importance of following legislative requirements and industry practices.

Efforts should be made to ensure OWM approvals and communications with the public are clear, accurate and helpful, which is expected to reduce confusion and noncompliance, improve understanding of OWM and potentially save the community time and money. Therefore, all written communications with the public pertaining to OWM (i.e., approvals, letters, emails and Council’s website) will be reviewed regularly for accuracy and helpfulness, and a digital copy the Department of Local Government’s The Easy Septic Guide, which many householders may find informative, will be provided to property owners with the ATO or renewal certificate. Officers will also aim to educate the community about the latest OWM requirements and standards as part of the monitoring program, which in many cases will entail face-to-face communication with residents during inspections. Consideration should also be given to hosting educational workshops at Council venues.

8. Staff Requirements

It is vital that this Strategy is implemented by skilled environmental health professionals who hold suitable university qualifications and who have adequate experience in environmental management matters, ideally in a regulatory capacity.

Because of the number of septic systems in environmentally sensitive areas in the region, Council has established an On-site Wastewater Management Section within the Building and Environmental Health Services Department, comprising EHOs and Business Support Officers who specialise in OWM. Such dedication of resources to OWM is crucial for ensuring that Council meets its legislative obligations and that staff have adequate expertise to solve complex OWM matters thoroughly, efficiently and consistently. Although knowledge and skills gained through on-the-job experience are in many respects superior to that obtained through the completion of tertiary courses and training programs, staff will be encouraged to attend useful industryspecific courses that are held by reputable training organisations (e.g., the Centre for Environmental Training). It is also important that shared leadership is encouraged to promote team collaboration, problem-solving, decision making and a shared set of values and beliefs, which is likely to improve knowledge sharing and performance in the On-site Wastewater Management Section and will be important for ensuring this Strategy is successful. Accordingly, professional development is expected to occur largely as a by-product of being part of a positive, competent and collaborative team focused on improvement.

9. Review

This Strategy will be reviewed in the last quarter of 2024 and a new strategy will be presented to Council for adoption in the first quarter of 2025.

As mentioned, the implications and ramifications of the details in this Strategy cannot be known in advance with a high degree of certainty. Therefore, this Strategy is merely a starting point for managing OWM systems across the region, offering enough flexibility for officers to refine monitoring and assessment processes as necessary to improve outcomes. Data collected during the implementation of this Strategy will be pivotal for shaping future strategies.

10. Conclusion

Such a substantial number of septic systems in the region calls for a strategic approach to manage the risks and cumulative impacts associated with failing or poorly designed systems, especially in highly sensitive receiving environments.

A preliminary risk assessment has revealed that 520 systems close to POAAs in the Wallis Lake, Port Stephens/Karuah River and Manning River estuaries are likely to present the greatest risk and therefore should be inspected as part of a carefully considered monitoring program, which can be expanded in the future to include systems of lower risk (e.g., systems beyond 200 m from POAAs). It is expected that many systems in these areas would fail to meet the performance standards in the Regulation and that an estimated 40 per cent of systems inspected in the first 12 months will require follow-up action to varying degrees. Therefore, careful attention has been given to managing resources and community expectations to ensure Council is successful in mitigating serious or significant threats to public health and the environment in the future.