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State & Territories Updates
State & Territory Updates
With varying market conditions around the country Consult Australia’s state and territory managers share their insights on key challenges and opportunities for our members.
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NSW
Kristy Eulenstein
As suspected, practice issues in New South Wales have been focussed on the Design and Building Practitioners Regulation 2021 which were recently finalised. A key win for consultants is that we were successful in securing a one-year transition period for the insurance obligations in the regulations. This means that both building practitioners and design practitioners get the same transition time. In the next year Consult Australia will be working to ensure any obligations imposed are fair and reasonable. Most recently the government consulted on proposed Guidelines and Ministerial Direction relevant to ‘regulated designs’. We have alerted the government to the considerable confusion in the industry about the reforms and continue to work with them to produce clear guidance materials for industry that can be shared with members.
Members who provide, or are seeking to provide, services to Transport for NSW (TfNSW) should note that TfNSW will soon be releasing proposed contracts for consultation. The proposed contracts are a result of considerable work within the agency as it amalgamated and streamlines the various Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and TfNSW contracts. Our meetings with TfNSW on procurement issues have been encouraging, however it is vital that businesses make clear to TfNSW any concerns with the contracts (in addition to our submission). Keep checking our website for more information.
We understand that capacity in the market is constrained with the amount of work in the pipeline and we continue our messaging to the NSW government to coordinate their project pipelines across the State and with other jurisdictions. We will continue to use Infrastructure NSW’s Infrastructure Industry Forum to raise these issues.
Many thanks to those members involved in the Year-12 Infrastructure Traineeships where students undertake a rotational traineeship with consulting businesses, contracting businesses and the government. Anthony Manning, Chief Executive of School Infrastructure NSW was very complimentary about our involvement in this people-focussed initiative. If you want to get involved please contact us.
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NT
Jan Irvine
NT Gold Sponsors
A significant milestone for our pipeline advocacy is the launch of Infrastructure NT, which we have been calling for in line with our thought leadership report on independent infrastructure bodies. The recently released NT Budget has a number of measures relevant to members, including land releases and funding of the vaccine rollout (an issue relevant to our advocacy on people which is being considered in every jurisdiction).
In our practice area, we recently made a submission on building reforms and engineering registration. Our recommendations were consistent with our messaging in other parts of Australia that we need to minimise unnecessary burdens on industry. One significant burden raised by members was the need to register both as an individual engineer and as a business in NT. This is an unnecessary duplication of registration and insurance requirements.
SA
In response to Consult Australia’s call for improvements to the South Australian statutory declaration regime, the Attorney-General advised that reforms will be introduced into parliament to ensure that the flexibility offered during COVID-19 will apply permanently. This will ensure that the statutory declaration regime is more aligned with the Commonwealth approach (and other state/territories) and represents a significant win for business practice.
We have secured a meeting with the Treasurer on the back of the release of our policy paper Unlocking Stimulus from Property Tax Reforms. This gave us a great opportunity to talk not only about property tax but also the capacity issues and the need for a smart pipeline of projects.
In response to procurement and contract concerns raised last year, Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) has made minor changes to its buildings contract AS4122-2000 Annexure A and B. Unfortunately, the risk profile of the contract remains largely unchanged. We continue to engage with the Department to demonstrate the link between unfavorable contract terms and the current state of the insurance market as well as the business impacts on members.
The SA Productivity Commission has requested Consult Australia’s input into the inquiry into reform of the state’s regulatory framework. We used the opportunity to discuss the exemption under the State Procurement Regulations 2005 of building and construction projects above $165k which means that many improvements in procurement do not flow to those projects. We also pointed out that the increased use of standardised contracts (with only limited and reasonable special condition) and more reasonable insurance requirements would significantly improve the procurement of advisory, design and engineering.
We also have a number of upcoming high-profile Boardroom Lunches with key decision makers including the Treasurer, the CEO of Infrastructure SA and the Executive Director of the North South Corridor.
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Tas
The recent state election saw the return of government and soon after the announcement of Martin Blake as the new CEO of Infrastructure Tasmania. We have already scheduled a meeting with Infrastructure Tasmania and look forward to discussing key pipeline and procurement issues.
We are aware that TasWater has released an updated small services contract and would like to hear from members about the experience of working with TasWater especially with the move of smaller projects out of the Central Delivery Office.
In addition to our monthly meetings with State Development, we have also secured quarterly meetings with Treasury to discuss capacity and contracting issues.
TAS Gold Sponsors
ACT
We have secured a meeting with the Opposition Leader on the back of the release of our policy paper Unlocking Stimulus from Property Tax Reforms. This gives us a great opportunity to talk not only about property tax but also the capacity issues and the need for a smart pipeline of projects.
The ACT also has a strong pipeline of upcoming high-profile Boardroom Lunches with key decision makers including the CEO of the ACT City Renewal Authority, the Chief Executive of the National Capital Authority and the Acting Secretary, Estate Planning at E&IG, Department of Defence.
We continue our quarterly engagement with agencies to discuss a range of procurement, pipeline and people issues.
ACT Gold Sponsors
QLD
Kristine Banks
We have been active in responding the government’s decision to abolish Building Queensland and move its functions into the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning as part of the Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021 (Qld). In our submission we opposed the move, noting that a small $1 million dollar cost-saving to the government comes at the cost of independent governance in the assessment of projects for the state. Consult Australia gave evidence to the Economics and Governance Parliamentary Committee at a public hearing on 27 April 2021 where we stressed the importance of good governance structures as a priority pipeline issue, as per our thought leadership report on independent infrastructure bodies.
Our engagement with TMR remains strong through our quarterly meetings. TMR has requested our views on a range of procurement issues including, their draft best practice industry conditions (dominated by enterprise agreement standards for constructors), and new contract terms for panel arrangements to commence in July. We also continue our involvement in TMR’s Collaborative Procurement and Delivery Taskforce where we have been assisting in developing a collaborative framework to improve contracting processes and minimise disputes.
As outlined in the last Consulting Matters, in the people area we are working with the Queensland Major Contractors Association (QMCA) to bring to life our joint Charter for Change. We are looking for ways to hold each other to account against the goals of the Charter for a better culture across our industry sectors.
We continue to hear from members that the biggest practice issue is the availability and affordability of professional indemnity insurance. We continue to alert all government clients and Treasury to the issue presenting ways to de-risk the market.
QLD Gold Sponsor
VIC
James Robertson
Members involved in our advocacy on practice issues with the Construction Supplier Register (CSR) will be aware that we had a recent win. The Department of Treasury and Finance has paused further action on the review and suspensions of businesses from the CSR until after 1 July 2021. This will allow the Department to consider the advice we provided as well as the implication of changes to the Building Act 1993 because of the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019. The key change being that body corporate registration for engineers will no longer be in legislation (only practitioner registration under the new Act).
Further to the registration of engineers, we recently contributed to the public consultation on proposed fees for the scheme. In our submission, we highlighted our ongoing advocacy for ‘one fee, one registration’ arrangements across the country and we also called for a similar approach for professionals needing registration in multiple disciplines. Separately, we also have the Department joining us for a free members-only session on the scheme’s implementation.
We also have had a couple of milestones with our engagements with Victorian politicians on pipeline matters. On 27 May, the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP, Minister for Transport Infrastructure and Suburban Rail Loop, joined members for an online boardroom lunch to discuss forward works and top challenges facing our industry. Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer, and Louise Staley MP, Shadow Treasurer, have also both expressed an interest in our recent paper on how property tax reforms can help create a stronger pipeline of building projects. We hope to have meetings scheduled with their offices shortly to discuss this work.
The 2021-22 Victorian Budget was handed down on 20 May, again highlighting the importance of our industry in the state’s recovery efforts from COVID-19. More information to come on how the budget also impacts on our people advocacy.
Our procurement activities are once again building in Victoria. Recently, we were invited to a roundtable meeting with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect to discuss current procurement challenges in Victoria, to present on our model client policy, and to workshop other possible solutions.
VIC Gold Sponsors
WA
Diane Dowdell
With the return of government after the state election we have secured a meeting with the Premier’s Office to discuss a broad range of topics including procurement, pipeline and practice.
Members involved in local government projects will be aware of the intensive engagement we have been having with the WA Local Government Association (WALGA). Thanks to those members who responded to our call for input and feedback. Unfortunately, WALGA does not seem keen to resolve the issues Consult Australia raised with the draft Panel Agreement for Preferred Suppliers and the Contract Conditions, especially the insurance impacts. However, we continue to offer a workshop session to work through this complex area with WALGA and its legal advisors.
We have continued our positive engagement with key stakeholders including Main Roads and the Public Transport Authority and the Water Corporation. In addition, we have commenced discussions with the construction industry associations to develop collaborative positions to engage with the Minister for Infrastructure and Ports on business sustainability and pipeline of works.
We have secured a meeting with the Office of the Minister for Finance to discuss our policy paper Unlocking Stimulus from Property Tax Reforms. This gives us a great opportunity to talk not only about property tax but also the capacity issues and the need for a smart pipeline of projects.
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