Standards Australia is 100 years old this year. But don’t think old and withered – think young and vibrant.
The organisation has undergone a renewal over the last decade. Where once it was a well-kept secret it now has a slick marketing machine and a whole lot more Australians know what it is and what it does.
Standards Australia threw a party last Thursday called the Gala Centenary Dinner. More than 500 people attended. While one of the larger venues in Sydney was required for the event, its attendance, while large, was only a small fraction of those involved in standards development in Australia. The engine room of Standards Australia is its technical committees and there are more than 5000 technical committee members. One of the very interesting comments made by one of our members that attended the Dinner was that the event made them “feel part of something that was much bigger”.
Ai Group and our members are part of the world of standards development. We have some 280 members representing us on upwards of 400 Standards Australia committees. This makes us one of the largest organisations engaged with them.
Our challenge also is to make members feel part of something bigger. Enter the inaugural Ai Group Standards Development Award.
What better backdrop for this Award than World Standards Day (Friday 14 October). At an Ai Group online event convened to mark the occasion, we were privileged to hear from Tracey Gramlick, Chair of Standards Australia and Kareen Riley-Takos, General Manager Operations, Standards Australia. Tracey spoke of the importance of standards in Australis’s infrastructure built over the last 100 years (e.g. rivets in the Sydney Harbour Bridge) and Kareen reflected on many of the organisation's recent achievements and plans for the future.
For our Award, Ai Group asked members to nominate individuals who have demonstrated these attributes:
We received 9 nominations for the Award:
The winner was Dennis Galvin. The citation for his nomination makes for interesting reading.
Dennis represents Ai Group on committees EL1 Electrical wiring rules and EL4 Accessories. In addition he represents Australia on IEC TC23/23B Plugs, socket-outlets and switches. Dennis is also an active participant in Ai Group’s Electrical Equipment Manufacturers and Suppliers Forum.
Dennis’s involvement with standards development spans close to 4 decades. He has overseen the shift from a focus on Australian standards to embracing international standards predominately from IEC. In the early days of globalisation he has also been instrumental in influencing the IEC to use Australian Standards as a basis for development.
He has overseen significant improvements in safety with electrical products and was instrumental in introducing insulated pins on socket outlets in Australia.
Dennis Galvin was appointed as chair of EL4 in 2014 at a time when regulators usually occupied the position. It was a major vote of confidence in industry that Dennis was appointed.
In his capacity as chair he has actively supported all newcomers to the standard arena. His passion for standards development is known to all. It is always a pleasure to be involved in a meeting with Dennis.
Not surprisingly Dennis was not able to accept his award as he was attending an international standards meeting in the US.
Congratulations Dennis
James is the Lead – Standards and Product Regulation with Ai Group. He currently manages members' engagement with Standards Australia and regulatory advocacy in the electrical and plumbing space. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Professional Accounting.
