Join the 2026 PIA NSW Emerging Planners Committee for an engaging evening designed to connect, inspire and upskill emerging planners at every stage of their professional journey.
Bringing together students, early- to mid-career planners and experienced industry professionals across local government, state government and private consultancy, this event explores what a planning career looks like over the long haul.
The event aims to support emerging planners with skills that can be applied in day-to-day work and carry forward throughout their careers. The evening will include a keynote session, three concurrent workshops and a panel discussion focused on navigating different career stages, knowledge sharing, skills development and learning from experiences across different roles within the planning profession.
There will also be dedicated networking opportunities, giving attendees the chance to connect with peers and industry professionals, exchange ideas and build meaningful professional relationships.
Session 1 Keynote
A planning career is rarely a straight line. Our keynote sets the tone for the evening, by exploring how planning careers evolve over time. This will include moving across sectors and specialisations, managing transitions and knowing when to stay, pivot or take a risk.
Drawing on her own journey, Estelle will reflect on challenges, mistakes and key learning moments that shaped her career. She will also share practical advice on building the skills and confidence that support planners through every stage of their career.
Presenter
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Estelle Grech
Policy Manager, Committee for Sydney
Estelle Grech is a Churchill Fellow and policy director at the Committee for Sydney, leading work on planning, housing and social equity. She brings experience across senior ministerial advisory roles, local government and consulting, with a track record in shaping policy to create more inclusive and liveable cities.
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Session 2 Concurrent Workshops
*Attendees will have to choose one at the registration desk on the evening
Workshop 1: From Strategy to Place: Masterplanning in Practice
This workshop explores the masterplanning process from both a council and consultancy perspective. It focuses on the skills needed to move from big-picture strategy to built outcomes and includes a hands-on activity where participants can put these ideas into practice.
Presenter
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Albert Madrigal
Manager Strategic Land Use Planning, Dungog Shire Council
Albert is an Urban Planner with extensive experience in statutory planning, strategic planning, social planning and transport planning. His expertise spans Local Environmental Plans and Development Control Plans, master planning, policy development, Local Strategic Planning Statements, urban strategies, development application assessment, pre-development application advice and stakeholder engagement.
Currently the Manager for Strategic Land Use Planning at Dungog Council, Albert is responsible for the development of key strategies such as housing, the Local Strategic Planning Statement, and rural lands, all designed to inform a new Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan.
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Sean Perry
Associate Director, Mecone
Sean Perry is an Associate Director at Mecone, where he leads the social planning and engagement practice. He works with councils, state agencies, and the private sector across Australia to design engagement programs that inform planning processes at all scales. He is also a social infrastructure planning specialist, working primarily with local government to plan for, design, and deliver community facilities, cultural infrastructure and open space. |
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Jessie Wiseman | Associate, Mecone
Jessie Wiseman is an Associate at Mecone with nearly a decade of planning experience. Having worked in both the public and private sectors, Jessie brings a well-rounded and practical perspective to complex planning challenges. She has worked on a diverse range of projects including planning proposals, precinct planning, contributions planning, voluntary planning agreements, State Significant Development applications and local development applications. Jessie also advises on early-stage due diligence, helping identify opportunities, manage risks and shape development strategy. |
Workshop 1: Beyond Small Talk: Networking with Confidence (Interactive Session)
This informal, interactive session explores how to build meaningful professional connections that go further than small talk and one-off interactions. Through a facilitated conversation, the session will cover practical approaches to networking, including professional etiquette, building genuine relationships and gaining confidence in different settings. Attendees will be encouraged to share experiences, ask questions and reflect on what works (and what doesn’t) in real world planning profession.
Presenter
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Rukshan de Silva RPIA
National Planning Manager, Lendlease
Rukshan is a Registered Planner and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, who currently holds the role of National Planning Manager at Lendlease.
With a background that spans across consulting, local government, and state government, he is committed to ensuring that Australia’s planners and planning systems are set up for success. His experience is focused in strategic planning, community and stakeholder engagement, program delivery, and economic development.
Rukshan leverages his experience and networks to prioritise cross-sector collaboration in responding to key issues confronting the planning profession. In his former role, he brought together PIA, state government, local government, private sector, and academia, to address the planner shortage and grow a pipeline of para-planners, and is continuing to prioritise effective responses to the planning skills shortage on the PIA Board.
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Session 3 Panel Discussion
What I Wish I’d Known: Lessons Across Career Stages
From “I’ve got no idea what I’m doing” to finding your place in the industry, every planner experiences moments of uncertainty, pivots and hard-won lessons throughout their career. This panel brings together planners from student level to management for an honest conversation about the transitions they’ve navigated and the unexpected paths along the way.
Hear what skills mattered most, the challenges no one really talks about, and what they would do differently with the benefit of hindsight. Expect practical insights and relatable advice to help you navigate your next steps with confidence.
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Presenter
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Sarah Glennan RPIA
Place & Sustainability Manager, Sutherland Shire Council
Delivering better outcomes for society underpins Sarah’s approach to planning great places. Sarah is driven by collaborating with partners to create solutions to complex challenges in our cities and local communities. Sarah has almost twenty years of experience across the public and private sectors, with a focus on delivering solutions by integrating planning, sustainability and safety responses to deliver coordinated outcomes for the community.
An avid believer in collaborative practice, Sarah engages meaningfully and harnesses the expertise of stakeholders across disciplines to deliver sustainable and feasible project and policy outcomes. |
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Stephanie Wood RPIA
Planning Officer, Department of Planning, Housing & Infrastructure
Steph is an Urban and Regional Planner with over 10 years experience in private consulting and both State and local government. Currently a Planning Officer in the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) Assessments team, Steph is responsible for the assessment of large-scale housing projects that contribute to the NSW housing supply.
With a background in drafting as well as planning, Steph’s career has been varied, providing her with a strong understanding of the relationship between strategic planning, design and development delivery. This background supports her practical, solutions focused approach to development assessment and implementation. |
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Joe Burraston
Senior Planner, Arup
Joe Burraston is a Senior Planner at Arup with over 10 years' experience spanning strategic planning, urban design and architecture across both the NSW public sector and private practice.
Joe's career has taken him across multiple levels of government and into the private sector. At the Department of Planning, he has coordinated State-led rezonings for major urban renewal precincts, led planning and placemaking for the Tech Central innovation district at the Greater Cities Commission, coordinated the NSW Housing Pattern Book at Government Architect NSW, and at the City of Sydney, has led the development urban design studies and strategic plans. |
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Justine Tse
Assistant Planner, Mecone
Justin is currently studying Planning at UNSW and has spent the past 1.5 years with Mecone, working toward his full planning qualification through a Bachelor of Planning. During this time, he has contributed to a wide range of projects including subdivisions, and residential, commercial, and industrial developments, by preparing planning advice and reports. His experience has strengthened his project management capabilities and deepened his expertise in navigating planning applications and approval pathways
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Tharun Parthiban PIA Assoc.
Project Officer - Place Partnerships & Governance, Transport for NSW
Tharun Parthiban is an experienced place planning, partnerships and governance practitioner with a strong academic foundation in urbanism and architecture. Driven by a genuine passion for creating inclusive, people-centred towns and cities, he brings extensive experience delivering social planning projects across local government areas in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, alongside managing a major grant program across NSW councils.
His work includes the development of social infrastructure strategies, community engagement, public space evaluation and behaviour mapping, GIS analysis and grant management, contributing to a strong understanding of how place, design and governance shape communities. |
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Terms & Conditions
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In all other situations we cannot issue a refund or credit.
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