Advocacy Highlights

Over the last quarter we have been meeting with Federal Ministerial Offices, including Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor and Minister for Infrastructure Catherine King. We’ve shared our Thinking Smarter About Skills paper and suggested improvements to skilled migration, education, and procurement. The new government is keen to partner with and support industry and has asked Consult Australia to continue to share the barriers our members are facing.

For the fifth year running we have released out Christmas Tender Campaign – where we ask primarily government clients to pause live procurement over the festive season to ensure a break for everyone. This year was huge with 108 letters from us, but in a positive sign 16 were mere thank you letters as these clients already have a policy in place ensuring a tender hiatus. For example, the Department of Defence, Tasmanian Department of Health, and the trailblazer QLD’s Department of Transport and Main Roads who first signed on to our campaign in 2018. This year is the second year we have been joined by our friends at the Australian Constructors Association, the Australasian Railway Association, Engineers Australia, and Roads Australia. With all sectors of our ecosystem acknowledging and pushing for mental health outcomes, we are finding fewer and fewer clients unresponsive to the call for a break. If you are aware of live tenders over the break, especially 16 December 2022 - 3 January 2023 without any reasonable extension, please let me or your local manager know so we can tackle it. In past years agencies have modified the timelines because of our advocacy.

Our work on professional indemnity insurance continues as we share the spotlight with the Insurance Council of Australia, to explain to government clients around the country how the market is shaping up and how Consult Australia’s advocacy is central to de-risking the market. This includes engagements with Department of Defence, Transport for NSW and NSW Treasury as well as future meetings with the Vic and QLD governments.

This is just a quick snapshot, remember and find out more about what we are doing at the local state and territory level from the team below. See also later in this issue our Small Business Spotlight for issues particular to small business members.

Kristy Eulenstein

Head of Policy and Government Relations

STATE UPDATES

NSW

We are currently assessing the next tranche of building reforms proposed by the NSW government. Key concerns include the possible impact on insurance availability and affordability for consultants due to another expansive duty of care. Further, the proposal to have unnecessary business registration for engineering businesses (in addition to practitioner registration). The reforms also include oppressive obligations including on individual practitioners to interrogate all ‘business associations’ to ensure that the associated practitioner/business has not been ‘involved in’ phoenixing activity. To help us push back on unnecessary regulation and find more pragmatic solutions to improve the quality of buildings in NSW, please contact Alison

For the first time, Alison brought together Transport for NSW, Infrastructure NSW, iCARE (the NSW government insurance provider), NSW Treasury with the Insurance Council of Australia to discuss the NSW government’s role in de-risking the market. In the context of the current crisis in the professional indemnity insurance market we discussed the gaps of project specific PI and corporate PI and the contract terms that unnecessarily contribute to the risk profile of consultants. Many thanks to members who actively proposed solutions in the meeting including Turnbull Engineering, SMEC, BG&E, Arcadis and AECOM.

ACT

In our advocacy on the registration of engineers in ACT we have already had some impact with the ACT government reconsidering the severe penalties under the proposed scheme. If you would like to keep up to date with the progress of the government’s registration scheme, please contact Alison

Alison Kirk

VIC

Mark has had a great response to our Victorian Election Priorities from candidates for the Victorian State Election. We will be prioritising meetings now the election has been held to raise the key issues for members including reforms we need on insurance and to unburden business. We need improved government contracting and procurement behaviours (which will deliver associated productivity and mental health benefits). We also advocate for initiatives to alleviate skills capacity issues.

Over the past quarter we have delivered high quality boardroom events in VIC including with Frankie Carroll, Stuart Mosely, Jonathan Spear and Cressida Wall.

Mark Rogers

WA

We have recently submitted to the proposed engineering registration scheme for WA. Consult Australia initially supported business registration as a more streamlined approach for businesses with significant numbers of engineers that would need registration at the three levels (professional, technologist and associate). However, we have been advised that the business registration would require sole traders to register twice, as an individual and again as a business (each with its own cost). As over 50% of the Australian consulting sector are sole traders, we cannot support this approach that unnecessarily burdens smaller businesses. If you would like more information, please contact Emma

Emma Thunder

SA

We hosted a great boardroom lunch with Jeremy Conway, CEO of Infrastructure SA in November with representatives across the membership. The wide-ranging discussion reflected the challenges facing the SA market including capacity constraints. Alongside this is the significant opportunities and innovation to help deliver an ambitious pipeline of infrastructure projects. Let us know who you’d be interested to have a boardroom breakfast or lunch with!

NT

We were pleased to be able to meet with local members in Darwin in November. The existing WA Committee members are keen to find new faces to help us drive our advocacy with the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics as well as the Power and Water Corporation. If you would like to know more about the commitment of being on the committee or if you want to raise any concerns about working in NT, contact us.

Kristy Eulenstein

QLD

To wrap up the year, Kristine will be hosting a Directors-General lunch with our QLD Committee and informed by other members questions and commentary. These engagements have been going for four years and maintain Consult Australia’s visibility and influence across QLD government.

Kristine’s advocacy with Transport and Main Roads has led to some positive changes to the new Infrastructure Building and Construction Panel contract with no liquidated damages, no security obligation, a liability cap not tied to insurance proceeds and an appropriate reliance regime on supplied information. Consult Australia will continue to highlight to TMR the problems with the contract’s standard of care, warranties, evidence of insurance, indemnity and having a default to uncapped liability where no monetary amount is specified. If you’d like to know more about this advocacy, or where else we are advocating for similar changes, please contact Kristine

TAS

Consult Australia’s advocacy on procurement reform and de-risking for delivery has resulted in agreed actions by the Building and Construction Industry Roundtable, which brings together industry representatives and the Tasmanian Government. It was agreed that there will be more training, information and guidance to improve procurement skills and strategies across government agencies and more early engagement of industry to improve government procurement strategies. Further government will adopt a more sustainable approach to risk allocation and share risk. Click here to read about these and the other agreed actions.

We were pleased to host a successful boardroom breakfast with Shane Gregory, Deputy Secretary Infrastructure, Department of Health in Hobart recently. This was a great opportunity for members to get intel on the latest approaches by Health on upcoming work and to further improve the collaborative communication we already have with the Department. If there are other senior agency leaders, you’d like to talk with at a boardroom event, please let us know.

Kristine Banks

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