Submission Guide

There are 13 key themes that presenters are encouraged to address at Ozwater’25.
See Call for Papers for detailed sub-theme outlines and suggested topic areas.

Theme 01: Communities of the Future

Theme 02: Excellence in Operations

Theme 03: Asset Management, Planning & Delivery

Theme 04: Delivering Excellence in Customer Experience

Theme 05: Advances in People, Culture, Diversity, Inclusion and Equity

Theme 06: First Nations People Knowledge & Participation

Theme 07: Leadership in Governance & Progressive Regulation

Theme 08: Supporting Healthy Communities & Environments

Theme 09: The Water Nexus: Achieving a Circular Economy

Theme 10: Preparing for Climate Change & Extreme Events

Theme 11: Resilience & Water Security for the Future

Theme 12: Rural, Remote & Regional Water

Theme 13: Wildcard

What types of submissions can be made?

Extended Abstract

An extended abstract is a research paper where its ideas and significance can be understood in less than an hour. 

● Ozwater extended abstracts must be a maximum of 2 pages of text, followed by a maximum of 3 pages of tables or graphs.

● Please do not include references or acknowledgements in this abstract. If your abstract is accepted for presentation, references can be added to the final paper.

Case Study

Case studies describe real-life water scenarios or projects.

● Case studies can be presented on behalf of an individual or organisation.

● The case study should outline the issue, analysis, solution and evaluate the project results and impact.

● Ozwater case studies must be a maximum of 2 pages of text, followed by a maximum of 3 pages of tables or graphs.

Video Pitch

Use this to pitch your presentation idea if video is the best platform to showcase your project.

● Video may include marketing campaigns, community engagement or customer projects.

● Video pitches must run for 4 minutes or less.

● If your video pitch is accepted, a written paper is required for presentation.

Workshop and Panel

Each year, the Ozwater Program features a series of Workshops and Panels as part of the Technical Program. These run for 90 minutes at the end of Day 1 and 2.

● Each submission is reviewed by the Ozwater Committee during the Program Building Workshop.

● This is a great opportunity for community engagement, expert debate or open forums.

● These sessions are a chance to be creative and engaging, think about how you could use 90 minutes to share your ideas and captivate your audience.

Exhibition Stage

Exhibition Stage presentations are the opportunity to present on your products and services in a more relaxed environment.

● Sessions available are flexible and can run between 10 - 40 minutes

● The Stage this year is located adjacent to the Exhibiton Hall

Submission and review key dates

submission_guide_timeline_ozwater2025

Key Ozwater'25 Dates for Presenters

Action	Date	20-minute Technical Presentation	10-minute Pitch Presentation	Workshop & Panel
Presenter registration due	Friday, 31 January 2025	Compulsory	Compulsory	Compulsory for all panellists and facilitators
Full paper submission due	Friday, 28 February 2025	Compulsory	Optional	All content returned - Compulsory
A1 Poster artwork due	Friday, 10 May 2025	Not applicable	Compulsory	N/A
Revised full paper due	Friday, 9 May 2025	Optional	Optional	N/A
Final presentation due	Friday, 9 May 2025	Compulsory	Compulsory	Compulsory
Ozwater’24	20 - 22 May 2025	Compulsory	Compulsory	Compulsory

You must ensure you can keep to the above schedule before you submit an abstract.

How to submit

Submissions must be lodged through our Submission Platform, Aventri. Follow the prompts to create a login and submit your document. All documents must be saved as PDFs (or Mp.4 if Video Pitch) and uploaded through the portal. No submissions will be accepted via email. You will receive a confirmation email after each successful submission. Please contact events@awa.asn.au with any questions.

Selection criteria

All abstracts for technical papers, case studies and video pitches are peer-reviewed by water industry professionals and academics and scored via the submission portal. AWA staff facilitate the process and support the Committee in building the program but do not take part in actual reviewing or selection of submissions.

Submissions are judged on:

Relationship to the themes of the Conference
Contribution and significance to the water sector
Technical, project and case study content
Interest and significance to the Ozwater audience
Status of the project
Quality (spelling, grammar, layout and production value)

People who have submitted an abstract are encouraged to also review papers.
Express your interest here.

Submission requirements

Submissions must relate to the conference sub-themes.
Submissions must use the correct template to submit an abstract, case study or video pitch.
Submissions must be made via the submission portal. Submissions emailed to AWA cannot be considered.
Submission titles must be clear and concise – under 20 words. Remember, they will become the title of the presentation, if selected. You may be asked to re-write your title for clarity.
You may submit more than one abstract, case study, or video pitch.
Presenters can only be featured in the Ozwater’25 program once as a speaker. If multiple submissions are accepted, you must nominate an alternate speaker.
Submissions must be based on outcomes, not future projects.
The paper submitted into the Ozwater’25 program must not have been presented or published previously.
This does not apply to papers that have been presented at a conference hosted by AWA or published via AWA Water e-Journal.

Conditions

By submitting an abstract, case study, or video pitch, it will be assumed that all authors have consented to its submission and that all copyright provisions have been met.

If accepted for a 20-minute Technical Presentation, submission of a full paper is compulsory.
Abstracts and/or full papers will appear online and will be made available to attendees and to the public 3 months after the event date.
Ozwater is Australia’s leading water conference and exhibition: only submissions of the highest quality will be accepted.
Submissions of a commercial nature will not be accepted.
Scores and comments from peer review of abstracts and full papers will be made available once reviewing closes.

Ozwater'25 Submission Guide