Melbourne, Victoria, Australia — The International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation (IWSH) will deliver a new Plumbing Champions social project activity as part of the upcoming WorldSkills Australia National Championships & Skills Show, which will be hosted Aug. 17-19 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Developed and presented by IWSH and the World Plumbing Council, the ongoing Plumbing Champions program aims to inspire young people to pursue a career in the skilled trades, encouraging the next generation of plumbers and highlighting the best talents and practices from across the plumbing – and broader building and construction – industry. The program demonstrates the real-world application of improved plumbing systems assembled in skills competitions or industry trade-show settings for the benefit of local communities.
For the upcoming project in Australia, IWSH will coordinate the design, assembly and donation of new hand-washing facilities for the Yooralla Business Enterprise site at Mooroopna, Victoria. Yooralla is an organization that supports people with disabilities of all ages and needs across Melbourne and regional Victoria. The new hand-washing facilities will be transported to Yooralla for immediate installation at the end of the skills competition, supported by apprentices from the Plumbing Industry and Climate Action Centre (PICAC), also based in Melbourne.
“IWSH belongs to the entire IAPMO Group family worldwide, so we are very excited to welcome this new Plumbing Champions initiative to Australia for the first time having seen similar IWSH community plumbing projects delivered in the past few years through partner IAPMO offices in India, Indonesia, and of course the United States,” said Paul Bonsak, managing director of IAPMO Oceania. “Over the past 12 months we have completed registration of IWSH Australia with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, so the upcoming project at WorldSkills Australia represents the first of what we hope will be many more innovative and creative new corporate social responsibility efforts together with our fantastic plumbing industry partners here Down Under.”
The project will be further supported with material and tool donations from the Reece Foundation, which works with volunteer tradespeople and partners to provide clean water and sanitation to communities in Australia and overseas.
“Through this upcoming Plumbing Champions effort, we will be providing 16 new individual hand-wash basins with hot and cold water at Yooralla Mooroopna – eight for the main workshop area, and four each for the male and female bathrooms,” said Grant Stewart, IWSH International program director and long-standing WorldSkills Australia representative. “The existing facilities at the site are not fit for purpose, despite its long and valued history in the local community. It was established in 1975 by parents of people with disabilities before being taken over by Yooralla. They are one of Victoria, Australia’s largest and oldest not-for-profit disability service providers, so it is an honor to connect with the upcoming national skills competition to support these plumbing upgrades for carers and staff.”
Follow updates from the project via IWSH social media channels, @IWSHFoundation and #PlumbingChampions.
Visit https://www.worldskills.org.au/ to learn more about WorldSkills Australia.
Visit https://www.yooralla.com.au/ to learn more about Yooralla.
Visit https://www.reecefoundation.charity/ to learn more about the Reece Foundation.
The International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation (IWSH) is the philanthropic arm of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO®). For more information, visit www.iwsh.org.
IAPMO®, developer of the Uniform Solar, Hydronics and Geothermal Code (USHGC®) and Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code (USPSHTC®), has posted online the 2025 Report on Proposals for the 2027 editions of these prospective American National Standard-designated model codes.
IAPMO® and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) have renewed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), now incorporating ASSE International and ARCSA International, to jointly advance and promote the mutual interests of education, regulations, design, specifications, installation, and inspection of plumbing systems, as well as training, testing and certifying qualified professionals to perform design work responsive to the need to conserve and protect water supplies, and reduce energy use connected to delivery and use of water.
IAPMO®, developer of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC®) and Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC®), has posted online the 2025 Report on Comments (ROC) for the 2027 editions of these American National Standard-designated model codes. The ROC includes the committee actions as discussed during the May 6-8 technical committee meetings, the electronic ballot results as balloted between May 19-June 16, and the Technical Correlating Committee actions on all comments received for the 2027 editions.