Annual Report 2019–20 Acknowledgement of Country Sydney Water acknowledges the traditional custodians and their ancestors of the lands and waters in Sydney, the Illawarra and Blue Mountains where we work, live and learn: the Dharawal, Gundungurra, Darkinjung and Dharug nations. Their lore, traditions and customs nurtured and continue to nurture the waters, both saltwater and sweetwater, within Sydney Water’s operating area, creating well-being for all. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, water and community. Cover: Sydney Water’s Winnie and Ziggy with trainer Bettina Grieve are part of our Canine Leak Detection Program. Photograph: Josh Plush of Sydney Water. Contents Acknowledgement of Country 2 Our people 49 Letter to Shareholder Ministers 4 People and culture 49 Learning and development 50 About Sydney Water – creating a better life 5 Diversity and inclusion 53 Total workforce 55 Our community 56 01 Water stations 56 Overview 7 Sponsorships and grants 57 Giving programs 58 A challenging year with much opportunity ahead 8 Preserving and protecting our past 61 A message from our Chair and Managing Director 8 One strategy to deliver our vision 10 Our focus areas 11 03 Goals and measurement 12 Corporate governance 63 Highlights of 2019–20 13 Corporate governance 64 Board of Directors 64 Delivering essential services 13 Sydney Water Board Directors 67 Creating a better life for our customers 13 Board committees 70 Creating a better, healthier environment 15 Board meetings and attendance 70 Creating a better life through innovation 17 Executive team and organisation structure 71 Creating a better life, together with our people 18 Risk management 72 Legal events 74 Measuring our success 2019–20 20 Privacy principles 75 Safety and wellbeing 20 Customer experience 21 Business sustainability 21 04 Corporate reputation 22 Financial statements 77 Organisational culture 22 Financial performance 78 Exemptions from the reporting provisions 82 Pricing 83 02 Auditor-General’s statutory audit report 88 Our performance 25 Financial Statements for the year ended Our growing network 26 30 June 2020 89 Area of operations 26 Independent Auditor’s Report 151 Delivering for our communities 28 Delivering for the future 34 05 Research and innovation 37 Appendices 157 Our environment 40 Appendix 1: Government Information Wastewater overflows 40 (Public Access) Act 2009 158 Sewage Treatment Impact Monitoring Program 40 Appendix 2: Public interest disclosures 162 Parramatta River Masterplan 40 Appendix 3: Annual Report external production costs 163 Water conservation 41 Working with the Environment Protection Authority 41 Our customers 42 06 Customer Contract 42 Glossary and index 165 Customer satisfaction 43 Glossary 166 Community engagement and customer participation 44 Index of figures, maps and tables 170 Customer communications and promotions 44 Statutory information index 172 Social programs 44 About this report 174 Multicultural policies and services program 46 Contact us 174 3 Letter to Shareholder Ministers Dear Treasurer Perrottet and Minister Tudehope, Report on performance for the year ended 30 June 2020. We are pleased to submit the Annual Report of Sydney Water Corporation (Sydney Water) for the year ended 30 June 2020 for presentation to Parliament. Our Annual Report 2019–20 has been prepared according to the requirements of section 24A of the State Owned Corporations Act 1989 (NSW) and the Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984 (NSW). The financial statements, which form part of this Annual Report, have been certified by the Auditor-General of New South Wales. Yours sincerely, Bruce Morgan Roch Cheroux Chairman Managing Director 4 Sydney Water Annual Report 2019–20 About Sydney Water – creating a better life For 130 years, we have helped shape our Our Vision is to create a better life with cities, supported our communities and world-class water services. By delivering continually innovated and evolved our systems world-class water services, we can create to meet the growing needs and expectations of a better life for our customers, our business our customers. Every day, we supply more than partners and our communities. We share the five million customers with safe, high-quality NSW Government’s vision for thriving, liveable drinking water. We are also custodians cities with safe, clean drinking water, tree-lined of wastewater, recycled water and some streets, parks and green spaces, and access stormwater services, ensuring our communities to safe, local waterways and beaches for can enjoy healthy rivers and clean beaches. recreation and fun. Our families, friends and future generations Sydney Water is a statutory corporation, depend on us to protect their health and our wholly owned by the NSW Government. environment. In doing so, we respect the Our Operating Licence is regulated by the traditional ‘Caring for Country’ restorative Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal approaches practised over tens of thousands (IPART), which sets out the standards and of years by Indigenous Australians, and play requirements we must meet. our part to sustain and improve the health of the landscape by recognising and nurturing We operate under the Sydney Water the value of water in our environment Act 1994 (NSW) and have three equal and communities. principal objectives: Water is an essential part of daily life, but it’s • protect public health the way we use water in our cities that helps • protect the environment us thrive and supports the productivity and • be a successful business. prosperity of our economy. We must continue to adapt to the challenges of the world in which Our people are proud to deliver essential we live, work and play, proactively nurturing services to our community, and we are our water and environment for the benefit of committed to continually improving our future generations. performance by understanding and responding to customer expectations and meeting the challenges of a growing population, climate change and competition. 5 Our people are working together to create a high-performance culture to deliver results. 01 Overview 7 A challenging year with much opportunity ahead A message from our Chair This year marked the completion of our 2015–2020 Lifestream strategy, which focused and Managing Director on placing our customers at the heart of For our customers, the community and our everything we do and building resilience business, the past year has been one of throughout our organisation to make it fit and extreme challenges, from prolonged drought, ready for the future. Sydney Water implemented and devastating bushfires to floods and the a new technology platform to improve the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. These events customer experience and laid the foundation have tested the essential services that support for transforming the way we interact with our cities as never before. our customers. Following the successful implementation of the Lifestream strategy, we Our role in protecting public health and the must now respond to evolving customer and environment has never been more important. stakeholder expectations and a changing world. From our water conservation campaigns and our work to secure safe, quality drinking water In recent months, we have been working to throughout the drought, to assisting on the develop our new strategy, which will help us frontline during the bushfires and more recently meet the demands of customer expectations, supporting research as part of the COVID-19 increasing competition, growing cities and response, we are extremely proud of the climate change. It draws on feedback and contribution our people make every day to insights from our customers, our stakeholders ensure our customers continue to have reliable and our people and sets bold ambitions for access to world-class water services. our future. We have realigned our business to better respond to the challenges and The long-term dry weather and drought have opportunities ahead and we are already seeing had a significant impact on our network. The significant benefits across the business, extreme moisture deficit in soil and the effects including our growing pipeline of work across of tree roots searching for water have caused Western Sydney. extensive damage to pipes and led to increased leakage and more blockages and breaks. In We have secured landmark contracts with the view of heightened extremes in climate, we Western Sydney International Airport and the are investing more in improving our network’s new Sydney Science Park to deliver critical performances so we can continue to meet water services that go beyond ‘business as the challenges of growing cities and climate usual’ and support future growth in these variability. Our recent IPART price determination economic centrepieces of the Western reflects our focus on building innovation and Parkland City. These two contracts are resilience, to ensure a sustainable and thriving significant in many ways. future for Greater Sydney, with $4.6 billion ($2019–20) allocated for capital works over the Both projects demonstrate the leading-edge next four years. Improving our environmental technology and innovation that Sydney Water performance and increasing water conservation brings to the market. They also illustrate initiatives are also priorities for us. We our ability to provide world-class water and will invest $60 million into continuing key wastewater solutions for our customers that initiatives, including