NORTH East Water has satisfied the gender balance requirements of its board of directors with the appointment of five new directors including three women.
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Earlier this year, the Victorian Labor Government spilled all board positions at its 19 water authorities including North East Water based in Wodonga.
Managing director Craig Heiner was the only board member not required to go through an expressions of interest process to re-apply for his position.
North East Water has also increased its directors from eight to nine with a split of five males and four females.
The new directors are Gayle Lee, Helen Tobin-King, Brendan Foran, Rosemary Bisset and Stephen Brown.
Chairman David McKenzie, Cath Botta and Jonathan Koop were re-appointed.
Two former board members Rowan O'Hagan and Steve Bird have been appointed to other water authorities based in Bendigo and Bairnsdale respectively.
The appointments were made by environment, climate change and water minister Lisa Neville and the newlook board has met for the first time.
Mr McKenzie said it was the beginning of a new era for the board of North East Water which services an estimated 120,000 people.
“We will continue to improve our customer service, safety performance and efficiency”, he said.
“Our focus will be building a resilient and agile business that is best-prepared for long-term challenges like climate change and a growing population.
“The new board has a great mix of experience over many different fields and each Director will bring their own expertise to help shape the corporation over the coming years.
“They will have a steep learning curve over the next few months to understand the ins and outs of the business and I am more than confident that they’ll hit the ground running.
“The fact that two of our previous directors found new positions on other regional water boards shows how much they offer the Victorian water industry.”
Mr McKenzie has been North East Water chairman since 2013.
Board members can earn up to $40,000 a year and chairmen are eligible for up to $80,000.
North East Water couldn't confirm whether former directors Debi Gadd and Denis Flett re-applied for their positions.
