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.

NSW

Alison Kirk

In 2021 we invested significant time in engaging with NSW government, continuing to raise our profile. We demonstrated our influence as an advocate on the professional indemnity insurance impacts arising from the building reforms when we gave evidence at the NSW Parliament’s hearing on its Further Inquiry into Building Reforms. We appeared with Engineers Australia and the Insurance Council of Australia, following our joint letter to the inquiry on insurance issues.

Our engagement with these associations has led to influencing change including securing a one-year exemption from insurance requirements under the Design and Building Practitioners Regulation. We also produced a joint Guide for Design Practitioners and Engineers with Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Architects. This guide is a practical resource to help your business tackle the practice issues of contracting, insurance exposure and the requirements under the Design and Building Practitioners scheme.

We have also engaged regularly with Transport for NSW as they review their suite of contracts and Treasury as they review tendering of infrastructure advisory services. While these engagements have not resulted in changes at this time despite assurances, Consult Australia is the go-to association for these agencies to get advice on issues and solutions.

Finally in 2021, we have provided significant member support with lockdown and construction pause issues as government rules changed. We advocated on behalf of members to try and minimise the negative impacts on business continuity, although the enhanced restrictions in the local government areas of concerns were particularly challenging. During this time, our strong relationship with Infrastructure NSW ensured we got up-to-date advice and we had an ally talking about the specialists in our sector who could attend construction sites with minimal public health risks.

In 2022 we look forward to talking more to government clients on de-risking strategies in terms of contracting and procurement in addition to keeping strong on what we need to see fixed in the regulatory environment.

VIC

Cindy Laird

Our profile and influence with Victorian government grew significantly through our advocacy on key issues such as the Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 (Vic) (the PER Act) and the Construction Supplier Register (CSR). In respect of the registration of engineers, we engaged with Consumer Affairs Victoria to push for clarity and certainty on implementation of the scheme, including the definition of building. Members have the benefit of business guides on the scheme, which Consult Australia produced as well as government information updated when required.

In terms of the CSR, several members had long standing issues with the requirements of the CSR, with a review in late 2020 threatening to impact the ability of up to 36 businesses already on the CSR to provide engineering services to Victorian construction projects. The review outcome would have also impacted new entrants to the CSR.

Our ongoing engagement with the Department of Treasury initially led to a pause on the review actions and then finally to a change in the requirements of the CSR body corporate registration. Relying on the individual practitioner registration under the PER Act, Treasury no longer requires a Board representative to hold registration in each engineering category – a great win for our members!

Our profile as a leading advocate on skills shortages has led to positive engagement with the Department of Jobs Precincts and Regions where we are pushing for action to address the significant skills shortages. Victoria is undergoing record investment in infrastructure and without access to the global talent pool through migration, investment in upskilling, and reforms to increase our productivity, the problem will only worsen. We are continuing to work with the Department through their higher apprenticeship scheme and overseas qualification unit to look at options to fill the skills gap.

We were pleased to provide support to our members working in Victoria, providing advice on the continued lockdown, the construction pause and the worker permit system. The lengthy period of lockdown has impacted business leaders, teams, and individuals. members and their staff. We hope that our mental health knowledge hub continues to be useful in providing resources to help have those mental health discussions with each other.

QLD

Kristine Banks

A key focus this year has been on re-establishing engagement forums and building stronger relationships with Queensland government. For example, demonstrating Consult Australia’s value we have been invited on to the Procurement Industry Advisory Group (with a whole of government procurement focus) and the Infrastructure Industry Steering Committee.

Our positive relationship with the Department of Transport and Main Roads continued, working on a new collaborative model and launching the Infrastructure Industry Engagement Charter with other industry associations including the Queensland Major Contractors Association (QMCA). The open dialogue with the Department allowed us to strongly voice our concerns with the refreshed contract conditions for the Infrastructure Building Construction Panel (IBCP) with some hopefully positive announcements in coming weeks.

We have also invested significant time into our engagement with the Department of Energy and Public Works, that has the responsibility for the central procurement rules. Based on our advice, the specified required insurance levels in the government's insurance guide were significantly reduced to align with market availability. We also pushed for clarity on the government’s Best Practice Principles (BPP), which in Consult Australia’s view were not relevant and appropriate for consultants. We have just recently received advice that the BPP will not apply to consultants, as the intent is to improve on-site conditions of constructors. It is also confirmed that the Department will remove the related BPP requirements from the Special Conditions to AS4122-2010. We continue discussions on those Special Conditions, especially the liability framework which is of concern.

We heard from members that action was needed on local council contracts, so we have now established regular dialogue with Moreton Bay Regional Council, City of Gold Coast and Brisbane City Council.

SA

Jan Irvine

One of the biggest wins in terms of profile with the SA government has been the invite for Consult Australia to join the newly established Procurement Services SA Industry Advisory Group (IAG). The IAG is an information and advisory body which provides a forum for Consult Australia to share industry expertise with the South Australian Government and other IAG members and provide input on policy development, emergent trends and opportunities for improvements relating to government procurement activities. We know consultancies continue to experience procurement challenges when engaged by government departments and agencies. Priority issues include the need for standardised contracts and clauses, appropriate risk management and appropriate risk allocation and reasonable insurance requirements.

Our engagement with the Department of Environment and Water has also progressed with the Department agreeing to meet regularly for discussions on procurement and pipeline with the aim of both bettering consultants' business environment and assisting timely delivery of relevant projects.

A key advocacy win in SA this year is an issue that has plagued SA businesses for years…statutory declarations. Finally, after years pointing out the productivity loss of the limited list of authorised persons in the Oaths Act, the government (with a bit of help from COVID) finally saw the issue. We now have in SA a lengthier list of authorised persons (in line with the Commonwealth law) which should make it less onerous for businesses that need statutory declarations witnessed. A classic red-tape reduction win!

NT

It has been a slow and steady job to get engagement in NT with Water Corporation, but finally in 2021 we feel like we have a way to raise issues in a collaborative and open way. Our relationship with the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics also continues, with our joint working group (established in 2012) now focussing on our most challenging issues. These sessions will be a deep dive into the current insurance market and the consequences if we do not de-risk the market, as well as industry productivity and innovation. In 2022 we plan to consider reviews of designs and consultant early stage involvement. This group provides our members with a platform for useful conversations between our industry and government on those issues most important to their businesses.

TAS

It is almost unbelievable how we raised our profile in Tasmania in 2021. From the start of the year when we had little to no engagement with government, we now have quarterly forums with the Department of Treasury and Finance and TasWater as well as monthly forums with Department of State Growth and Infrastructure Tasmania. These forums have given us a way to raise the priority issues of our members in regard to future pipeline, procurement behaviours and contractual terms and conditions.

Our profile has led to Consult Australia being included in a limited group of key stakeholders and delivery partners to assist the Transport and Infrastructure Group within the Department of State Growth prepare its next strategic plan for 2022 to 2025. The forum is being facilitated by the former Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet and a great opportunity for us to influence this strategic plan.

Our engagement with the Civil Contractors Federation (Tas) has also been positive in 2021 as both associations grappled with the TasWater contracts and driving for change.

ACT

Our quarterly forums with both Major Projects Canberra (MPC) and the Environmental, Planning & Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) continued in 2021. This provides Consult Australia and our members with an avenue to build stronger relationships with the ACT government to foster continual improvement in project delivery and gain deeper insights into core drivers. These forums also offer an opportunity for government to tap into the wealth of experience held by members of Consult Australia.

Our strong relationships within government and our solutions-focus means that we had access to the right forums when lockdown was introduced, and the construction pause was being discussed. Using our key contacts, we were able to swiftly advocate on behalf of member businesses pointing to all the on-site work our members could continue to do with minimal public health risks.

Consult Australia, alongside Engineers Australia, and Professions Australia, is working with the ACT government in developing the framework to introduce a registration scheme for engineers. Regular roundtables are being held at which we're able to represent the views and needs of businesses that employ engineers.

Also in the ACT, local members were given the opportunity to engage with Defence on procurement issues in an open forum which was positively received.

WA

Diane Dowdell

The biggest advocacy highlight this year in WA was Consult Australia being invited by the McGowan Government to participate in key industry roundtables on smoothing the pipeline of work and the roll out of health directives on mandated vaccination. We are seen as the industry association providing solutions to issues. This influence ensures that the smoothing pipeline isn’t just focussed on the ‘high-vis cohort’ but also the professional consulting work that underpins all.

This year we continued our strong and positive engagement with Main Roads while also creating a new relationship with the Small Business Development Commissioner. We now hold regular meetings with the Commissioner who is committed to improving the environment for small businesses in WA. In the most recent discussions, the Commissioner was keen to understand how non-contracting out of proportionate liability could de-risk the Professional Indemnity Insurance market, by addressing the 'deep pockets syndrome'. As part of this engagement the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) approached us, having also raised similar issues as Consult Australia with the Commissioner. NIBA understands the risk transfer our members see and a keen to work with us, in WA and nationally, to progress from discussion to action. We look forward to working more with NIBA in 2022.

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