A new reform agenda seeks to address longstanding issues that challenge Australia’s construction industry.
An Australian leadership forum has developed a reform agenda and roadmap to address longstanding issues in Australia’s construction and infrastructure sector.
Policymakers around the world are seeking to transform infrastructure in their countries.
In Australia, there’s been a significant pipeline of new projects. But supply chain issues, rising inflation, and the aftermath of the Covid pandemic are challenging the construction industry.
The government has also renewed its interest in infrastructure and the outcomes it delivers for society.
Policymakers want to embed learning from major transport projects into a growing number of water and energy schemes.
The Major Project Leadership Forum
In this context, the Major Project Leadership Forum was launched at the University of Sydney in February.
Co-hosted by the John Grill Institute for Project Leadership, Australian Constructors Association (ACA), and Consult Australia (CA), the forum brought together over 50 industry and government leaders.
This work has produced a reform agenda and roadmap for the sector, which launched today.
At the launch event, project leaders discussed challenges and opportunities for major infrastructure delivery in Australia, drawing on their experience with major hydro and rail projects.
Key discussion points
- Outcomes: the value that projects bring to communities, how the industry can best measure and manage it, and how to develop the wider narrative alongside stakeholders and communities.
- Productivity: how our work here can support the ICE, shifting focus from onsite productivity to efficiency of service provision, also considering procurement and the pipeline of projects.
- Collaboration: contracts and behaviours that increase the likelihood of success, the necessary culture shift, transparency and accountability, and what this means for skills development in major project leadership.
The launch took place online, with a panel discussion and Q&A to enable participation from across Australia and internationally.
Next steps
One of the key messages from the work so far is the need for new measures of project success.
These will help decision-makers better understand how projects fit into larger infrastructure systems.
Working groups on each of the three themes will take forward this work over the coming months.
Commit to action
Organisations along the infrastructure value chain, from public sector clients to private investors, are starting to engage with the agenda and roadmap.
The forum calls on Australian organisations and individuals—including ICE members and non-members—to join as signatories.
Next Steps: how Australia can solve its infrastructure delivery problem
The ICE is currently gathering evidence for a Next Steps programme on infrastructure delivery in Australia, with a policy paper due later this year.
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