WILD Breakfast

Charmaine Quick is the Managing Director of Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW), having made history, when she was appointed to the role for the first time in February 2019, as the first female Managing Director of GMW 30 years of existence. She was reappointed for the second time in 2023. This was not the first time she made history. Charmaine had already made history by being the first woman in the role of “Executive General Manager, Service Delivery” for Melbourne Water in 2016. She has over 30 years of experience in the water industry, with focus on strategic programs delivery, creating efficiencies, and a strong history of leading change. GMW is the largest rural water corporation in Australia, and is responsible for storing, managing, and delivering about 70% of the state’s water to a 68,000 square kilometre area, bordered by the Great Dividing Range to the south and the River Murray to the north and stretching from Corryong in the east to Nyah in the West. GMW also manages 50% of Victoria’s underground water supplies and Australia’s largest irrigation delivery network. Prior to leading GMW, Charmaine spent 28 years in Melbourne Water, the largest urban utility in Victoria, with water services directly contributing to the high livelihood standards of millions of Melbournians. She is known for her ability to influence and drive change at an organisational level, nationally and internationally for asset management, relationship contract management and customer service. She was recognised as one of 50 most influential public sector women in Victoria in 2017. To sum up her career she has taken on new challenges approximately every three years, covering all aspects (water, sewage, waterways and drainage) and areas from operations, maintenance and planning. She moved both laterally, gaining breadth of knowledge and experience, as well as up – and sometimes down if there was learning to be gained. Charmaine’s qualifications include Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Melbourne University) and Master of Environmental Science (Monash University). She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Despite her extensive leadership experience, she first and foremost sees herself as fundamentally “technical” and a true engineer at heart, focused on delivering quality engineering services that benefit the community. Charmaine is also a board member of VicWater, Institute of Water Administration (IWA) and LaTrobe University, Shepparton Campus, Regional Advisory Board.