From the RDA Pilbara Chair - November 2026
I’m delighted to be writing my first column as Chair of RDA Pilbara. Since taking on the role in August, I’ve been struck by the goodwill and interest in our mission to drive sustainable and equitable development across the Pilbara, and I look forward to continuing to connect and engage with stakeholder throughout the region and beyond over the final six weeks of the year.
One of RDA Pilbara’s biggest endeavours this year has been the Count The Pilbara campaign, delivered in partnership with the Pilbara Development Commission, City of Karratha, Shire of East Pilbara and Town of Port Hedland, with the support of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Census undercounting has become a chronic problem for the Pilbara, one that must be fixed if our communities are to receive the funding and services they need.
I’m proud to report the campaign has now received national recognition, featuring in the Regional Australia Institute’s Year 4 Regionalisation Ambition Progress Report. Our work didn’t end on Census night. We will continue advocating to governments and stakeholders across the state and country for fairer, more accurate ways to count highly mobile populations like ours.
Making sure the Pilbara is heard on the national stage is also behind our upcoming trip to Canberra. CEO Daiva Gillam and I will be at Parliament House for the final sitting week of 2026 to secure support for Showcase WA 2027. You may remember the inaugural Showcase in August 2023, which provided Western Australian businesses with a direct line to national decision makers. It deserves a second act, giving Pilbara small businesses, Traditional Owner enterprises and industries a seat at the table with MPs and policy makers.
Before then, we’ll be in Adelaide for the National RDA Forum, where Daiva will speak on the jobs and workforce challenges facing the region. While there, the Northern RDA Alliance will meet to align our strategic advocacy priorities. Northern Australia is much stronger when it speaks with one voice and the Alliance helps us do exactly that.
Closer to home, October was business awards season, and RDA Pilbara was pleased to sponsor the Karratha & Districts, Newman and Onslow Chamber of Commerce and Industry awards. Local businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and deserve this kind of recognition. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists.
Daiva joined a panel at the Women of the Pilbara Forum, sharing insights from her experience leading regional engagement. It was great to see the event return for a second year, celebrating women’s leadership and exploring resilience, community, education, wellbeing and mentoring. Well done to the Port Hedland Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHCCI) for organising it.
I’d also like to thank the PHCCI for the chance to speak in front of over 300 attendees at the Hedland Economic Forum this week about how RDA Pilbara is driving a collaborative approach to regional influence. It was an excellent opportunity to recap Count The Pilbara, outline our plans for Showcase WA and share an update on our push for decision makers to put boots on the ground in the Pilbara before making calls about its future. To that end, we have invited the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia to visit in 2027, and I’ll keep you posted on progress.
Thank you for your ongoing support of RDA Pilbara. It’s a busy run to the end of the year, and I hope to catch up with many of you along the way.
