IWN Members Conference 2026 - Celebrating Excellence in Innovation

This year's theme for the IWN Members Conference is:

Celebrating Excellence in Innovation

The 2026 conference theme, Celebrating Excellence in Innovation, focuses on recognising outstanding projects that demonstrate innovation in action across the water sector.

The conference will showcase practical solutions, strong collaboration, and real-world impact — highlighting how ideas are being translated into outcomes that deliver value today while shaping the future.

Celebrating excellence isn’t just about recognition; it’s about sharing what works, learning from experience, and inspiring continued progress.

Together, the sector will come together to celebrate achievements, exchange insights, and build momentum for the next wave of innovation — delivering tomorrow’s water innovations today.

This conference is open to all IWN members to attend including all Victorian and Tasmanian Water corporation employees.

Program - Coming soon

This year we are having a 2 day conference with Day 1 being the formal conference at the State Library and Day 2 being an unconference which will be online and focus on the IWN programs, specifically looking at the current and future possible projects and trials.

Venue - The magnificent State Library, see map for directions to the Conversation Quarter, where the conference will be held.

Gather & Graze Dinner - A relaxed post-conference evening with roaming canapés, substantial plates, and space to unwind and connect on the evening of 27 July and costs $65 per person. 

Sponsorship Prospectus - We welcome Sponsors to support our event. Please see HERE for sponsorship opportunities. If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact enquiries@iwn.org.au.

Conference Cancellation & Refund Policy

Last year, we had an incredible response, with strong registrations and enthusiasm for the event. However, we also experienced a high drop-off rate, which had real impacts:

1️⃣ Wasted catering and money – Catering was planned based on registration numbers, and unfortunately, a large amount of food and therefore money went to waste. The money wasted could have been used more efficiently to fund our member projects/trials.

2️⃣ Missed opportunities – Our amazing speakers, panelists, and vendors put in time and effort to share their knowledge, but with fewer attendees, valuable insights and networking connections were lost.

To ensure we maximise participation, reduce waste, and respect the time and effort of all involved, we have enacted a Cancellation Policy that will be strictly followed.

Cancellation Policy

If you are no longer able to attend - 

• You may transfer your ticket to someone else from your organisation to attend in your place up-to 1 week out from the event (Monday 21 July). Please do this by clicking the 'manage order' button on your confirmation email. Please ensure that the new attendee's email is updated in the ticket details, otherwise they might miss important information.

• If you need to cancel your ticket, you must inform us at least 10 business days (by Monday 14 July) prior to the event via enquiries@iwn.org.au. If you fail to notify us within this timeframe and do not attend, a $200 fee will be charged to your organisation.

• If you need to cancel your dinner ticket you can cancel through the Humanitix platform and receive a full refund. 

We understand that unexpected circumstances might arise in the 2-week lead-up to the event. IWN will reasonably consider a request for cancellation within this period (which is outside of the cut-off times specified above) but we ask that you provide notice to us as soon as possible via enquiries@iwn.org.au.