3 minute read
From the CEO
The Awards for Excellence is my favourite event in the Consult Australia calendar, made all the more special as we celebrate 70 years of association!
Advertisement
Our very first Award ceremony was in fact held in 1968. The winning projects included:
• Batman Bridge, Launceston
• Oil Wharf, Westernport, Victoria
• Expansions and Modernisation: Newcastle Grain Terminal
• Murray Valley Salinity Study
• Glass Walls of the Sydney Opera House
• Paterson Bridge, Launceston
• Anglo-Australian Optical telescope – Building and Dome Observatory
Steeped in this wonderful history, there is no night on which we are prouder to represent this wonderful industry and be part of such a rich legacy.
Congratulations to all our winners, with particular mention to our Hall of Fame recipients, Arup and Tonkin, for the outstanding achievement of three consecutive wins in the ‘Firm of the Year’ category (large and medium respectively).
A truly touching moment of the night was the standing ovation given to Richard Kell, as we honoured his achievement in receiving the International Federation of Consulting Engineers highest honour, the Louis Prangey Award. This is presented to a person who has rendered significant service to the Federation and/or to the profession of independent consulting engineering, and who exemplifies the objectives of the Federation. The recipient is considered to be a role model for the consulting engineering industry.
In keeping with the celebration theme, I’d like to celebrate a win we achieved for our small business members in the Federal Budget announcements. This win has been achieved through our ongoing advocacy on the Commonwealth Government’s procurement consultative roundtable, which is attended by all the commonwealth secretaries (agency heads). We are the only sector specific industry group on the roundtable aside from the IT industry. I have consistently raised the Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance market issues in that roundtable and have been asked twice to present to them on the state of the market and issues for business. I have also presented to the standing group of over 80 commonwealth procurement officers on PI insurance.
In the Budget papers the Commonwealth confirmed that it will amend the Commonwealth Procurement Rules so that commonwealth agencies must limit the extent of pre-contract insurance and liability requirement to reflect sufficient risk sharing whilst not imposing unreasonable or disproportionate risk transfer that unduly restricts the number of suppliers who can bid. This is great news because it’s a step towards model client behaviour, which we can now use as a signal for all other governments to adopt in their procurement. We will follow up to ensure that this commitment is adopted by the new Federal Government.
We are also celebrating our Partnership for Change collaboration with the Australian Constructors Association and the release of four papers covering, adoption of digital technology, addressing multiple design reviews, resolving the thorny issue of information reliance, and our Model Client policy. See our website for details.
I hope you enjoy this celebratory issue!
Nicola Grayson
CEO
