An illustration of two smiling people, one is blind.

Our Events

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events will be announced here.

WaterAble is pleased to invite members to join us in celebrating International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) on 3 December 2026, 11.30am – 12.30pm (AEDT).

This year, we are thrilled to welcome Amber Anthony as our guest speaker.

Meet Amber Anthony – Autistic yapper, CEO, Board Member, and Senior Change Practitioner who lives at the intersection of strategy and empathy (and makes it look easy).

From ABC to Spotify, Amber has been flipping the script on disability and neurodivergence – because too often, disabled people are spoken about, not with. Her mission? To ensure people with disabilities are not just included, but visible, valued, and genuinely thriving.

Across Australia, she partners with organisations to deliver development with a different – blending lived experience with sharp commercial insight to prove a simple truth: disability isn’t a compliance checkbox, it’s a competitive advantage (and a seriously smart investment.)

Expert real talk, practical tools, and powerful perspective shifts – especially when it comes to how neurodivergent leaders navigate systems not built for them and still reshape them anyway.

Because this isn’t about fitting in – it’s about standing out on purpose.

The pitch? The future of change isn’t more of the same. It’s brains wired for brilliance – and bold enough to use it.

Join online as we celebrate International Day of People with Disability and continue raising awareness, understanding, and acceptance of the more than 5.5 million Australians living with disability.

Register today and be part of the conversation.

Previous Events

This year we were thrilled to have Mike Rolls speaking as part of the International Day of People with Disability celebrations on 3 December 2025.

Mike is a passionate advocate and mentor for others living with disability. A double amputee, Mike shared his philosophy and extraordinary story of recovery and reinvention, helping us shift perspectives on our own challenges.

Hays, in partnership with WaterAble held a series of webinars to support career growth.

Three webinars took place across October and November 2025, looking at core skills to enhance career paths and step into the next opportunity:

  1. Creating Stand Out CVs – Assist with standing out to recruiters and hiring managers.
  2. Rock Your Profile: LinkedIn for Career Growth – Empowers candidates to build a professional LinkedIn presence that attracts recruiters, and talent teams and builds credibility.
  3. Nail your Interview: Skills, Confidence & Strategy – Help prepare for all types of interviews.

In partnership with the water industry WaterAble held an Industry Workshop to discuss the Industry Project – My Inclusion Passport.

The My Inclusion Passport project aims to create a secure, user-controlled digital platform for people with disabilities to record and share workplace adjustment needs, fostering inclusion in the Australian water sector. The workshop outlined core principles, with a focus on privacy, consent and accessibility and gathered feedback emphasising trust, usability, and organisational boundaries.

WaterAble has amplified the leadership of persons with disability on International Day of People with Disability on 3 December.

Because of WaterAble’s leadership program, for this International Day of People with Disability, we had people with lived experience of disability who work in the water sector speaking at the event.

This as a significant achievement of both WaterAble, our graduates Kimberlee Pithers, Melissa Carroll, Scott Phillips, and Sylvia Campbell and our employer partners Greater Western Water, Melbourne Water, South East Water, Seqwater and Veolia who have had employees successfully complete the leadership program.

A big thank you to these amazing graduates who shared about what they’d like people to know about disability, to those who helped organise and fun the event and to everyone that celebrated International Day of People with Disability with us today at our online event.

We are incredibly proud of this program and our graduates from across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland and look forward to watching what they do next. We had our biggest online participation this year and look forward to growing this next year. Special thanks to all our employer partners who have supported our Leadership Program by supporting their employees to attend and successfully complete the program.

Our fourth AGM was held in person at VicWater (Little Lonsdale Street) and also online via Teams. The committee celebrated the graduation of the second cohort of our Leadership Program and awarded Donald Hughan a Life Membership

Our third AGM was held in person at VicWater (Little Lonsdale Street) and also online via Teams. The committee voted to pass the motion to become a program of VicWater and enable organisations to partner with WaterAble.

This year we were joined by the amazing speaker Akii Ngo and Minister Shing to celebrate International Day of People Disability

Our second AGM was held in person at VicWater (Little Lonsdale Street) and also online via Teams. The committee voted to pass the motion to allow Associate members to join the committee from other states outside of Victoria, so we’re looking forward to growing our network.

This year we were joined by the amazing speaker Jody Barney who was inducted in 2021 to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women for her advocacy and education work for the needs and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disabilities.

For those who couldn’t attend, watch a recording of the event on YouTube.

The WaterAble Organising Committee invited all WaterAble members and supporters to attend our first Annual General Meeting. Thanks to everyone who attended.

Celebrating International Day of People with a Disability 2020 with hosts Llewellyn Prain, Donald Hughes and Matt Iversen.

Watch a recording of this event on YouTube, along with Auslan interpretation and closed captions.

Thanks to everyone who attended our launch in July. If you missed it, you can watch a recording on Youtube.

While there were Auslan interpreters on the day, unfortunately, they were not recorded. The recording is however fully captioned.