Welcome

WELCOME A message from our Chairman and Managing Director

November 2020

Terry Lawler AO Darren Cleary

The past year has been unlike any other in our long and proud history. As a region, we have experienced one of the worst droughts on record, with Hunter Water storages falling to 52 per cent capacity in early February 2020, necessitating the introduction of Level 2 water restrictions for the first time in 40 years. In late 2019, our region, state and nation experienced the devastation of the Black Summer bushfires, and since then the global community has experienced a worldwide pandemic and the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Our focus throughout has been how we at Hunter Water can best support our community to continue to be resilient to such challenges. We must commend our people - employees and contractors - who have shown resilience and innovation, responding quickly and effectively to the demands of these crises, helping to meet the needs of our customers and region. Our corporate values of Leading, Wellbeing, Trust, Inclusion and Learning have very much been on display over the last year. Our first priority in responding to COVID-19 has been to adapt the way we work to ensure the safety of the community and our people whilst delivering essential water and wastewater services. In March and April 2020, our operational and maintenance staff rapidly adjusted their work practices to ensure that they could meet all relevant health and social distancing guidelines. Since March, the majority of our office-based staff have been working remotely. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt by our community and we have focused on how we can support and assist those customers who are experiencing financial hardship. Our customers and communities must be commended for their response to drought. They have embraced Love Water and helped us to conserve our most precious resource. Together, homes and businesses used 15 per cent less water than forecast, saving the equivalent of the consumption of 52,000 homes. Our community’s commitment was matched by Hunter Water’s continued efforts to reduce water loss across our network. During the year, we reduced water leakage by a further 13 per cent, taking cumulative savings to 34 per cent over the last three years. We also surveyed more than 100 per cent of our network for leaks and breaks, implemented innovative technologies, and increased recycled water schemes and dual reticulation – switching on a new recycled water scheme at East Maitland. Rightfully, this annual report documents the year in review, transparently sharing with our community Hunter Water’s key achievements and overall business performance from July 2019 to June 2020. Financially we continue to perform well. The most significant impact to Hunter Water’s financial performance was drought and related activities, which resulted in lower revenue from water usage at the same time as increasing operating expenditure across the year. As this report confirms, total revenue for the year was $368.4m, down $7.2m from 2018-19. Total expenses were $297.2m (up $17.9m, primarily due to drought-related costs including operation of the Tomago sandbeds, water

restrictions and planning works for the Belmont Drought Response Desalination Plant). As a result, end of year net profit after tax was $51.8m, with a dividend of $32.9m paid to the NSW Government. At the end of the financial year, Hunter Water held $2.9 billion in assets (up $150m from 2018-19). Customer affordability remains critical in difficult times. Under the new determination of prices from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), the average yearly household bill has fallen by $48. In addition to approving a reduction in customer bills, IPART has also approved Hunter Water’s proposed $653 million investment program in new infrastructure, technology and service improvements. Over the coming years, these investments will continue to ensure we can cater for growth, build for the future of our region, and deliver a higher level of service to our customers and communities. The safety, health and wellbeing of our people and communities remained our highest priority, guiding both our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and business activities. In 2019-20, a new Safety, Health and Wellbeing Strategy was launched, integrating both physical and psychological health and wellbeing and focusing on personal leadership. Over the last five years, our Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate has fallen from 4.1 (2014-15) to 2.7 and Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate from 16 to 8.1. Although this trend is in the right direction we will continue to focus on how we can continue to improve the safety of all of Hunter Water’s workers. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion has supported the business’ overall performance, bringing together people from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives and talents, including the delivery of Indigenous and disability scholarships. We engaged with more than 1,660 school students across the year, promoting water conservation, sharing Indigenous water stories, and helping to inspire careers in STEM subjects. We supported the development of staff through our Leadership Program, the Women in MBA (WiMBA) scholarship, and our Women’s Mentoring Program. We have also continued our focus on meaningful reconciliation, working with local First Nations people, and implementing actions in our Reconciliation Action Plan. We are proud of our involvement in the Winnovators challenge in support of international development charity WaterAid. Hunter Water raised $44,000 to support WaterAid’s work to deliver clean water and sanitation to the world’s poorest communities and our own Team Mareiwa claimed the Global Award for the challenge to develop a solution to provide safe drinking water for the Indigenous Wayuu people of Columbia. Work continues on the review of the Lower Hunter Water Security Plan, which will inform the sustainable water future of our region, and address the impacts of climate change, drought and population growth. Community engagement will continue over the 2020-21 financial year, with the plan expected to be released in 2021. Our vision remains to be a valued partner in delivering the aspirations for our region. Hunter Water, and the Hunter community more generally, are known for our resilience. We have provided essential services to our community for more than 128 years, and will continue to play a key role in supporting and enabling our community to be resilient, sustainable and prosperous.

Terry Lawler AO

Chairman

Darren Cleary

Managing Director