Service Delivery Conference 2026

Op Connect: Connecting the Team Around How We Deliver

A two-day conference-style experience to strengthen team connection, build shared understanding, and shape the future of Service Delivery under the new operating model.

Two-Day Event Full Function In-Person Conference Location TBD

Three goals. Two days. One team.

We are inviting the team to connect, think ahead to our future together, and align on key actions to get there.

Connect to Our System of Work

Help each of us better understand how we connect to the broader operating model.

Think Ahead

Explore what future work could look like if teams were not constrained by today's challenges.

Aspiration to Action

Test current challenges, explore better responses, and agree where attention should go next turning our ideas into practical focus areas.

What we are doing

People understand systems best when they can see them, move through them, and make choices within them.

Sharing your views

Opposite will conduct 30-minute interviews with each of you, and ask you to complete a survey and self-assessment gathered before the event so that we can focus on your challenges, ideas, and priorities.

Conference-style event

Opposite have designed the two days to be similar to a conference. You will move through stations and activities in groups interacting with a range of different topics.

Scenarios that relate to you

We will build our event around practical stories you share so we can test our thinking in a realistic context.

Playback & reflection

Insights from pre-work and activities will be played back so the group can see emerging patterns in what they value and where there are common challenges.

Whole-group alignment

After smaller-group exploration, the full function will come together to identify the ways of working and priorities that matter most.

Two days to connect and plan

Day 1 reimagines the future. Day 2 tests that future against the current system. Together we aim to produce clarity, alignment and practical priorities.

Opening & Scene-setting

Framing the purpose of the event and the context of the new operating model. Participants are invited to think beyond current constraints.

Warm-up Activity

A light, future-focused warm-up to shift people from business-as-usual thinking into a more open, exploratory mode.

Exploring Four Future States

Teams rotate through four compelling visions for Service Delivery then choose the one that is most compelling.

Group Profile Playback

Choices from the future-state activity are played back as a group profile revealing the individual and team preferences for the future.

Station 1. Examining the Changing Future Landscape

Explore external and internal forces shaping the future based on your survey and interview findings alongside broader trends likely to affect the work ahead.

Station 2. Future Ways of Working Experience

A "day in the life" scenario. Participants choose how they'd prefer work to happen in the future exploring topics like collaboration, coordination, planning, communication and decision-making.

Station 3. AI Personal Profile

Exploring individual's AI thinking styles profile (completed prior to session).

Station 4. AI Crash Course

A practical, confidence-building session on AI including practical examples, and a take-away learning kit.

Day 1 Close

Reflecting on what the group has learned about the future, about itself, and about the kinds of ways of working it is most drawn to — building a bridge into Day 2.

Reconnect & Frame the Day

Reconnecting to Day 1 insights and setting up the shift into operational reality. Day 1 is the imagined the future, Day 2 tests it against the current system.

Playback of Patterns

We will explore the current challenges shared in interviews and the survey. Participants will need to spot the red herrings (what didn't you say) versus true themes (what you did say!).

Stations 1-4. Lifecycle Challenge Rotation

Four interactive stations will be explored built around key parts of the Service Delivery lifecycle scenarios, decision sequences, consequences and reflections on what better would require.

Station 5. Agreeing Future Ways of Working

The whole group identifies which future behaviours and ways of working matter most through live voting.

Station 6. Priority Sorting & Focus Areas

Groups sort priorities into "Act on now", "Build next", and "Let go or stop prioritising" ensuring the event ends with strategic choice and focus.

Close & Commitment

An initial AI summary of the two days, challenging what it has pulled together as a group.

Key findings from the desktop review

A summary of findings from the desktop review conducted ahead of the All-In event. Your feedback on accuracy and completeness helps us design a better event.

Summary. Service Delivery is not failing. It is running a system that was historically not built for the conditions ahead. With the introduction of the new operating model (designed to address this gap), the All-In should make that system visible and achievable now, while the core business is still strong.

1

Operating model is designed but not completely integrated

Service Delivery is organised around the asset lifecycle of plan, design, build, operate and maintain. In practice, individual teams are strong but the way work moves between them is less clearly understood.

The distinction between the organisational structure (how roles, teams and reporting lines are arranged) and the operating model (how the business works to deliver outcomes through processes, accountabilities, decisions and interfaces) is not yet widely understood across the function. The structure may change over time to suit business needs, while the operating model provides a more consistent way of working.

The gap between the system as it is designed and the system as it is experienced day to day is the largest single thing the All-In can address.

2

Performance is strong against KPIs but risk reporting is weaker at the source

Operational measures are reported as meeting targets, while an internal review found that Board-level risk reports need to be much more closely connected to operational performance and driven from evidence rather than business-owner opinion.

3

External pressure is rising faster than the internal system is changing

Several pressures are arriving at the same time. The TGP transmission contract is unresolved, Origin is in the retail market, residential load is falling, the Victorian exit is approaching, and third-party damage to assets is rising.

Each of these on its own is manageable. Together they will test the function, and the internal pace of change in handoffs, capability and information flow is slower than the external pace.

4

Risk is managed as a register rather than as a decision

The risk environment relies on three separate systems that do not integrate well, a register holding more than 450 risks and more than 800 controls, and an enterprise risk capability that sits inside HSE rather than in a dedicated central function.

The three-lines-of-defence model is set out in policy but is weaker in the first and second lines in practice. The result is that risk is managed by being recorded rather than by being owned at the moment a decision is made.

5

"One SD" is the goal but not yet the day-to-day experience

Three real splits sit inside the function: between Tasmania and the remaining Victorian operation, between field and technical teams, and between people who joined before the Solstice rebrand and those who joined after.

"One team" is the right framing for the function, but it is not yet how the function feels day to day, and the All-In will surface those splits whether they are addressed directly or not.

The workforce is invested but wants more clarity on how the system connects to their day-to-day experience.

6

Team engagement with this process is strong

The most recent all-in session saw 75% participant engagement, overwhelmingly positive team sentiment, and clear feedback that the team wants these sessions to continue, stay interactive, and stay focused on them and the work of Service Delivery.

This gives the June All-In a strong mandate to build on. The function is not disengaged or resistant — it is ready for this conversation and has asked for it.

The case for now

  • The Victorian exit finishes within 18 months, and Service Delivery needs a clear picture of itself as a Tasmania-only function from FY28 onwards.
  • Risk and governance findings inside the business are clear and specific, and the All-In is a natural moment for Service Delivery leaders to respond to them visibly in front of the function.
  • Performance is on or ahead of budget across most measures, and there is capacity to do this work now that may not be there if external pressure builds.
  • Decisions about AI tooling and workflows in Service Delivery will be made in the next twelve to twenty-four months, and a shared view across the function before those decisions are made will help.
  • Team engagement with all-in sessions is strong and the function has given clear feedback that they want these events to continue, stay interactive, and stay focused on the team and the work. There is a mandate to build on.

Wider trends pressing on Service Delivery

Energy transition

Future gas demand is uncertain, and asset decisions need to consider a plausible transition path for the network rather than only its engineering life.

AI in field operations

AI is moving from experimental to operational use in utilities, and the bigger question is how AI will change which decisions are made by which roles.

Workforce and tacit knowledge

Australian utilities are losing experienced operators faster than they are transferring what those operators know, and the window to capture and codify that knowledge is closing.

Regulator and community expectations

The Australian Energy Regulator expects more from gas networks on risk, resilience and customer outcomes, and social licence for gas in Tasmania is no longer automatic.

Cyber and OT security

Critical infrastructure operators are facing increasing OT-security threats, and existing weaknesses in governance and information flow extend into a cyber dimension.

Retail competition

Origin's entry into the Tasmanian retail market means customer retention is no longer a given, and network reliability now matters more for keeping customers.

Climate and asset resilience

Weather volatility is increasing, and asset criticality and maintenance prioritisation need to weight climate-driven failure modes more heavily than they do today.

The business moment

  • Solstice Energy is going through its largest set of changes since the business was formed.
  • The Tas Gas to Solstice rebrand is complete, the wind-down of the Victorian gas operations (Project Yarra) is due to finish within the next eighteen months.
  • Electricity retailing is now in market and being tested commercially, and early positions are being taken on hydrogen, biomethane and the Westbury BioHub.
  • The core Tasmanian gas business is under pressure — residential gas load is falling, industrial customers are under viability pressure, and the TGP transmission contract is still being negotiated.
  • Origin entered the Tasmanian retail market in early 2026 and now holds about seven percent share.
  • Service Delivery sits in the middle of all of this, keeping the core business running while the rest of Solstice changes around it.

Service Delivery snapshot

  • Tas Gas Networks is Tasmania's sole natural gas distributor, operating around 790 km of network and serving more than 58,000 connections.
  • Service Delivery is the operational engine of the Tasmanian core business — it plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains the network end to end.
  • The function is around 27 FTE with three vacancies, organised across the asset lifecycle.

GM Service Delivery

Lee Mason

Accountable for overall Service Delivery performance, with six direct reports.

Asset Management

Alice Mildren (6 FTE)

GIS, engineering standards, performance, regulatory compliance and the Strategic Asset Management Plan.

Asset Planning

Brie Jak (3 FTE)

Works scheduling, the forward plan, fleet, and asset criticality.

Network Ops and Control

Tristan Thomson (~1 FTE)

SCADA, duty operations, incident response and business continuity.

Major Works

Ian Avico (~1 FTE)

Capital and cyclical works delivery.

Network Services TGN

Chris Wilson (10 FTE)

Tasmanian field technicians, electrical and instrumentation, and asset protection.

Field Services GPV/GNV

Jason Harriss (5 FTE)

Victorian field operations during the wind-down.

Key challenges and main opportunities

Key challenges

  • The risk environment is fragmented across more than 450 risks, more than 800 controls and three systems that do not integrate well.
  • Risk reporting to senior levels does not consistently match what is happening operationally.
  • There is a cultural reluctance to escalate bad news, which is a cultural issue before it is a structural one.
  • Capability and capacity are stretched, with three vacancies and enterprise risk capability sitting inside HSE rather than in a dedicated function.
  • Several external pressures are arriving at the same time, including TGP, Origin, falling residential load, the Victorian exit and rising third-party damage.

Main opportunities

  • Make the operating model visible and shared across the whole function.
  • Tighten the handoffs across Planning, Scheduling, Field and Operations as the highest-leverage internal value chain.
  • Move risk from a register to something owned in the moment a decision is made.
  • Use the AI sessions to build a shared view on how AI will change Service Delivery work.
  • Use the All-In itself as the visible leadership response to the risk and governance findings inside the business.

Recommendations for the All-In design

Open with honesty

Acknowledge the actual pressures facing the function and the recent risk and governance findings. Frame the event as building on strong performance rather than as a response to a problem.

Mix the groups

Mix groups across the three Service Delivery splits from the warm-up onwards. Tasmania and Victoria, field and technical, and pre-Solstice and post-Solstice tenure.

Anchor in real options

Anchor the four future states in real Solstice options. Lean regulated core, integrated Solstice operator, AI-enabled field service, and renewable gases.

Use real work for scenarios

Use real Service Delivery work for the Day 1 Station 2 scenarios. A complex main replacement, a council-contractor third-party strike, and an asset replace-or-defer call with incomplete data.

Tie stations to real challenges

Tie each Day 2 lifecycle station to one specific challenge from the desktop review. Plan to SAMP and criticality, Build to planning-to-field handoffs, Operate to third-party damage and escalation.

Behaviours from the gaps

Draw the Station 5 candidate behaviours directly from the gaps surfaced in the desktop review. Raise risk early when KPIs are green, keep field voice in planning decisions, and route bad news to the GM within 24 hours.

Seed with live priorities

Seed the Station 6 priority sort with the real strategic items already live in the function. System integration, SAMP embedding, risk register rationalisation, the "one SD" narrative, and the AI proof-of-concept portfolio.

Documents reviewed

2026 Board Strategy Day (BSD) draft — Sets corporate strategy as protect and optimise the core business while pursuing new growth. Five-year targets include retail breakeven by FY27, the Victorian exit by end FY27, and around four million dollars of new earnings by FY28.

Solstice Operational Risk Review (Veyter), October 2025 — External review of how Solstice manages risk. Four priority findings covering fragmented risk systems, thin risk capability, weak continuous improvement, and weak risk governance and reporting.

ELT Business Performance Report, March 2026 — Most recent monthly performance pack to the Executive Leadership Team. Core gas KPIs are largely on or ahead of budget. Three concerns flagged covering the TGP negotiation, third-party damage and Origin's retail entry.

Service Delivery org chart — GM Service Delivery (Lee Mason) plus six direct reports across Asset Management, Asset Planning, Network Operations and Control, Major Works, Network Services TGN and Field Services GPV/GNV.

All-In design brief and structuring papers — Confirm the purpose, audience, scope and design principles for the two-day event.

Hudson and Pitzer paper — Reference paper on safety and risk culture in high-hazard industries that has informed the design approach.

Asset Management strategy day slides, March 2025 — Show the status of the Strategic Asset Management Plan and the asset criticality work.

Four future states to explore

Each represents a different emphasis for what Service Delivery could become. Teams explore strengths, trade-offs, and choose what resonates most.

Operational Efficiency

A future built around coordination, clarity, control and smooth delivery. Everything works like clockwork — streamlined processes, clear handoffs and minimal waste.

High Team Engagement

A future built around trust, connection, inclusion, energy and strong team experience. People thrive, collaborate willingly and feel genuinely invested in outcomes.

Innovation & Change

A future built around adaptability, experimentation, learning and new ways of working. The function evolves continuously and embraces what's next.

Risk Resilience

A future built around foresight, strong controls, good decisions and the ability to respond well under pressure. Prepared for whatever comes next.

Four lifecycle challenge stations

Interactive, scenario-based stations that make the current system visible and help teams explore what better could look like.

1

Planning & Prioritisation

How work is scoped, sequenced, prioritised and handed over. Competing demands, unclear priorities, reactive work and cross-team coordination.

2

Delivery & Execution

How work moves from plan to action across teams, locations and contexts. Control, coordination, adaptation, handoffs and maintaining clarity.

3

Whole-of-life Asset Decisions

How decisions at one stage create downstream consequences. Design-build-operate-maintain connections and long-term visibility.

4

Risk & Safety in the Flow

How risk is identified, escalated and managed through normal work. Early identification, controls, escalation, speaking up and safe decisions under pressure.

What we'll walk away with

Shared Picture

A clearer view of who the function is and how it works as one system.

Stronger Connection

Deeper relationships across teams, locations and roles.

Future Direction

Insight into the futures the group finds most compelling and some quick AI upskilling.

Clear Priorities

A prioritised set of focus areas for what matters most going forward.

We'll be in touch soon with more details.

Two days of connection, insight and practical alignment.

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