The Top 40 Public Sector Women in NSW for 2018 have been announced, with Sydney Water General Manager Angela Tsoukatos having been named amongst them.
Ms Tsoukatos was recognised at a ceremony held at NSW Parliament House on Thursday 5 July, along with other female leaders in the public sector.
Ms Tsoukatos started at Sydney Water in 1990 in the role of Ethnic Affairs Coordinator and has been with Sydney Water for 28 years, including over 18 years as part of the executive team in various general management roles.
During her tenure at Sydney Water, Angela has provided strategic direction and leadership to enable Sydney Water to deliver great outcomes for customers and the community in public health, the environment and product and service delivery.
Ms Tsoukatos, the current head of Sydney Water’s Customer, Strategy and Regulation team, said that it is an honour to receive the award.
“I did not expect it, but it truly is lovely recognition,” Ms Tsoukatos said.
“It is also a privilege to be amongst so many other capable and talented public sector women. We have come such a long way as women, but we have much more to do to achieve 50/50 women in leadership roles. It’s great for other women to see women being acknowledged – as they say, if you can see it, you can be it.”
Historically, women faced a stark choice in the public service: if they married, they gave up their professional careers. Wives were excluded from permanent employment in the public sector and single women were forced to give up permanent employment once married.
Today, women make up 62.5 per cent of the NSW public sector workforce, yet they represent just 36.1 per cent of leadership seniority and 41.2 per cent of government board and committee appointments.
Ms Tsoukatos added, “Sydney Water has always been a terrific organisation with a strong purpose and a role in our community. Over time, we have realised that our customers and the community we serve, have to be at the heart of what we do. This requires us to be a different organisation – one that listens, collaborates and co-creates water solutions.
“Women leaders and women with STEM roles are integral to this. I’d say we have moved away from talking about diversity and Inclusiveness to really getting on with it.
“Sydney Water has hard and fast targets and we are about to launch our Reconciliation Action Plan in the near future which heralds exciting times.”
