What was the flood panel?

In June 2020, the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and the Department of Transport and Main Roads as representatives of the State of Queensland, jointly established the Independent panel of experts for flood studies in Queensland (the panel).

Five members of the expert panel were appointed:

• Mark Babister, Chair – Managing Director, WMAwater
• Tina O’Connell – Principal Engineer, Hydrology and Hydraulics, HDR
• Ferdinand Diermanse – Expert Researcher, Deltares
• Steve Clark – Managing Director, Water Technology
• Martin Giles – Senior Principal, BMT.

The panel’s focus was investigating whether national and state guidelines, as well as industry best practice, were applied by ARTC to modelling techniques and outputs to create the existing flood models. The panel assessed four core areas:

• extent
• assumptions
• application
• interpretation.

The panel investigated the design of waterway structures in relation to the Inland Rail in a floodplain environment in Queensland.

Managing the work of the panel was the responsibility of the Australian Government and Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. The panel reported to a joint working group comprising officers from the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. All panel advice, recommendations and deliverables were reported to the Joint Working Group.