3 minute read
From the CEO
Industry associations are born from a desire to influence and an understanding that there is strength in numbers. Next year it will be seventy years since industry leaders across the consulting industry came together to form what is now Consult Australia. We will be celebrating this legacy in style next year as we invite you to OneConsult, our Conference, Exhibition, and Awards for Excellence Celebration, March 30 and 31, to be held at the Hilton in Sydney. Watch out for more video announcements and follow our progress as we build up to the event. The team and I at Consult Australia are extremely proud to carry this legacy forward and we look forward to seeing you at OneConsult 2022.
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As members the more you get involved with us, the more influence you have over the strategy and direction of Consult Australia. This year you can nominate to join the Board, so please watch out for the call for nominations in your inbox. Board directors are elected by vote of the membership, with the successful candidates announced at the Annual General Meeting on October 21. There are many other ways to get involved with Consult Australia beyond the Board, one of the easiest ways is to email or call one of the team, we love to hear from you. Also, don’t forget that if your business is a member of Consult Australia, you and your team are all able to create a log-in via our website and access all the fantastic member-only materials, and sign up to the contact lists that most appeal to you.
Positive influence is what we’re all about at Consult Australia and we’re delighted to be casting a wider net with other related industry groups. As you might have seen we worked with the Australian Constructors Association and twelve other industry groups calling for reforms to procurement practices in response to the Commonwealth Parliament’s inquiry into procurement practices for governmentfunded infrastructure. We have also written and published a joint guide with Engineers Australia and the Institute of Architects to provide design professionals guidance about the interplay between their contract terms, insurance, and obligations under the NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act, which came into force on 1 July 2021. We continue to raise the voice of you, our members across the country with senior leaders across all levels of government and industry and you can read more about our activities in the state/territory news sections and our new advocacy highlights feature.
In your role as trusted advisors, consultants have a significant influence on shaping not only our built world, but also our environment, and our culture. Aecom shares with us how mentors and role models can increase migrant women’s influence in attaining higher organisational roles in Australia. Mikael Heinonen, Cofounder at Collabaloop builds on this by looking at influence from a group environment perspective and the value of diversity and inclusion. Natasha Gadzuric and Dr. Tom Crow talk about the value of good culture within project teams for clients and the key role the project managers play in influencing that culture.
Others can and do play a significant role regarding the environment in which consultants operate, whether it’s in the role of a regulator, see Hamish Geddes and Josh Mills article on the powers of influence held by the NSW Building Commissioner, or the work of other not-for-profit organisations like the Re-Engineering Foundation that has an incredibly positive influence on children’s engagement with STEM subjects at school through their Formula 1 design competition, see Dr. Michael Mayers OAM article.
We all have the power to influence but as the saying goes, we are stronger together, and as OneConsult there is so much that we can achieve. •
Nicola Grayson
CEO
