2016 June Consulting Matters

WINTER 2016

Compliance

& Regulation

18

A pathway to helping improve compliance

29 Property as an enabler of wellness

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Victoria, the place to be for climate action

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Consulting Matters

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CONTENTS

Shaping a new gateway for Perth

Compliance and Regulation – Building Information Modelling

12 24

41

Go directly to jail

Cover image: Sky Ribbon Perth photo courtesy of GHD

Industry updates Industry updates

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New Members

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What’s happening in Consult Australia From the President

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From the CEO

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Division updates

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National Engineering Registration: An update on Consult Australia's position 12 Federal Election 2016 ideas for infrastructure

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Fitness for Purpose

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Business essentials

Compliance and Regulation – Building Information Modelling

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ACO’s market leading modular trench drain

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Victoria, the place to be for climate action

22

Defining the purpose of super will embed infrastructure in portfolios

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Go directly to jail

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Legislation and Guidelines: When Less is More

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Ethics and integrity: what could be more important?

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Enabling electricity evolution through appropriate economic regulation

Bringing an outdoor space to life for cancer charity

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28

Shining a Light on Humanitarian Aid

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Property as an enabler of wellness

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18

Corporate Social responsibility

Project case studies

Protecting your business Is my practice covered for work undertaken by contract staff or independent contractors?

Features NCC: A pathway to helping improve compliance

Conversation with Bronwyn Evans, CEO Standards Australia

Shaping a new gateway for Perth

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Consulting Matters

Industry updates

Industry updates NEW APPOINTMENTS WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff recently welcomed Tim Cuthbert and Daniel Gallagher who lend valuable global project management and traffic engineering expertise to their integrated transport planning teams in New Zealand and in Queensland. Tim has over 25 years’ industry experience and most recently led their transport planning business in the UK. Daniel’s career to date has seen him based in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia and more locally as a Senior Traffic Engineer for Cardno.

Arcadis has appointed Luke Keys as Business Leader for Industry and Power.

Luke was previously a Principal Engineer and Client Relationship Director at Arcadis, with prior experience including SMEC and GHD. Luke is also currently the Chairman of the QLD Network for The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Jill Hannaford has been named Technical Services Leader – Australia at GHD with the goal of increasing collaboration across the company’s 75+ services, from agriculture to water treatment. With a career at GHD spanning more than 23 years, Jill was the driving force in pioneering the company’s Stakeholder Engagement and Social Sustainability service.

SMEC has appointed Dayan Jayasekera to the role of Principal Project Manager, Urban Development. Dayan will be focused on project delivery for SMEC’s urban clients in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

She has 20 years’ experience delivering results across the construction, development and consulting sectors and has previously held senior roles with Coffey, Stocklands, Springfield Land Corporation and Carson Group and is the current Chairman of the Property Council of Australia Planning and Infrastructure Committee. Dayan will be based in SMEC’s Brisbane office.

The Australian Institute of Architects is pleased to announce Jennifer Cunich as the new Chief Executive Officer of the member organisation. Ms Cunich joins the Institute from the Property Council of Australia, where

she has worked for 20 years, first as the ACT Executive Director and since 2002 as the Executive Director of the Victorian Division.

Brenda Kingston has been appointed Deputy Regional Director for WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Victoria, working alongside Regional Director Tim Gosbell to oversee the continued growth of their Victorian operations. It is also worthy of note that Brenda was the first female appointed as a Director in the heritage WSP business – as a Technical Director in Sustainability.

Beca has appointed Rebecca Fox as its new Queensland Regional Manager.

Rebecca is a highly respected client and business development manager with more than 15 years' experience in construction management and commerce, combined with professional services experience.

Arcadis has appointed John Sibthorpe as Business Leader Highways and Structures, Victoria. John joins Arcadis from his previous position as PrincipalSouthern Region Transport and Resources Leader at Arup, involving the management of a multi-disciplinary infrastructure business.

John’s experience also includes VicRoads, Leighton Contractors and Remedial Engineering.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff continues to boost its presence in Western Australia with the appointment of a Regional Executive for Transport and Infrastructure, Shereen Mikhail. Shereen previously led the company’s bridges team in Perth, delivering a range of projects including tender designs for Perth Freight Link and NorthLink WA. He has 25 years’ experience delivering major roads, expressways, bridges and tunnels with a focus on Design and Construct and Early Contractor Involvement contracts.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has appointed James Pearson to the position of Chief Executive Officer. James took up this appointment in April, replacing former CEO Kate Carnell AO. Wayne E Costin, founder of Costin Roe Consulting, Fellow of the Institution of

Grant Roe (left) welcomes Mark Wilson (centre) to the board of Costin Roe Consulting following the announcement of forthcoming retirement by the firm’s founder, Wayne Costin (right).

Engineers Australia and Life Member of Consult Australia, has announced plans to retire from executive duties. Mark Wilson, former Associate Director of Costin Roe Consulting, is now a Director, and Grant Roe is the new Managing Director.

GHD has appointed Sonia Adams as Market Development Leader, leading the company’s growth strategies and positioning GHD to win nationally significant projects. In her previous role as Client Liaison Manager in Sydney, Sonia has brought a different dimension to how GHD wins work and partners with leading sub-consultants.

SMEC has welcomed Daniel Gregor to its team as Leader of Advisory and Consultancy Services. Daniel brings over 14 years of integrated transport planning experience covering freight, roads, public transport and major urban renewal projects.

Arcadis has appointed Gary Davey as Business Leader – Rail. Gary brings over 25 years’ experience in the initiation, design, construction and commissioning of major rail projects. Recent experience has been in the development of major freight projects within TfNSW. Gary recently spent two years in the role of Project Director for the construction readiness phase of the Maldon to Dombarton Rail Link. Gary’s experience in the rail market spans government client roles, consulting engineering and construction contracting.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has also welcomed Jansen Stewart, an internal appointee, to his new role of Client Director,

Industry updates

Consulting Matters

Rail for Australia and New Zealand.

Jansen has worked with WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff for the past 11 years. He was instrumental in building the NSW rail team and leading the early design team for Sydney Metro, Australia’s largest public transport project. Most recently he has been the client relationship lead for rail in NSW and ACT. Craig Walkemeyer has been appointed as Australian Market Leader – Energy & Resources at GHD. He will remain based in Perth and be responsible for GHD’s national strategy and client service in Mining, Oil & Gas, and Power.

Formal signing of the Sterling Cooper acquisition

by NDY, left to right: Patrick Fogarty, Director Clients & Strategy NDY; Stuart Fowler, CEO NDY; George Steeves, President Sterling Cooper; and Paul Cooper, Chairman NDY.

Editor Kisanne Dulin

President

Ken Maher will bring a new focus to the Australian Institute of Architects’ policy program following his inauguration as the 77th National President. Maher has a strong interest in the role of design in contributing to public life, and extensive experience advising governments throughout Australia and internationally on sustainability and the future of cities.

GHD has appointed Sheldon Krahe as Manager – Western Australia. Sheldon was previously the company’s Australian Market Leader – Property and Buildings and played a key role in the growth of the GHDWoodhead integrated design practice.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed Steve Cooley to head up its asset management and network performance team in Australia and New Zealand.

Steve brings extensive asset and network management experience to the firm and draws on 25 years’ of strategic, tactical and operational practice in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Arup welcomes the appointment of four new Principals in the Australasia Region: Finola Reid is the Education Leader for Arup in Australasia. An acoustic specialist by background, Finola leads multidisciplinary design teams on some of Arup’s more complex projects in the education and arts sectors; Kerryn Coker is the Architectural Engineering Leader in Sydney, a specialist group of façade and environmental engineers; Tan Yoong Heng, Civil and Transport Leader for Singapore, has successfully

Andrew Mather

led many infrastructure and masterplanning development projects in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia; and Catherine Redden is the Commercial Leader for Buildings and brings commercial acumen and expertise to the business and leads commercial management for major projects.

Chief Executive Officer Megan Motto

EA to CEO Accounts/Administration Coordinator Guillaume Marchand

Director – Policy & Government Relations

EXPANSION Norman Disney & Young (NDY) has announced its expansion into the Canadian market. The expansion comes as a result of NDY acquiring Vancouver-based mechanical engineering company Sterling Cooper, a consultancy with more than four decades of expertise.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has opened an office in Nerang, moving closer to the engineering consultancy’s Gold Coast clients.

Aurecon has invested in strengthening its Philippines operations and has appointed Mohit Kumar as Aurecon’s Country Manager in the Philippines.

Jonathan Cartledge

Director – Membership & Commercial Services Kisanne Dulin

Senior Advisor Policy & Government Relations Ryan Bondar

Business Development Manager Jennifer Kelly

Manager – Events & Education Dio Connelly

Marketing & Business Administration Assistant Shannon Walsh

Corporate Designer Voltaire Corpuz

Editorial submissions kisanne@consultaustralia.com.au

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Stantec announced the completion of its acquisition of MWH Global in May with MWH shareholders voting overwhelmingly in favour of the acquisition. In combination, Stantec will have approximately 22,000 team

Advertising enquiries info@consultaustralia.com.au Consulting Matters is produced by Consult Australia. Phone: (02) 9922 4711.

Website: www.consultaustralia.com.au

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Consulting Matters

Industry updates

members distributed across more than 400 offices located around the world.

After nearly a century, leading cost consultancy and project management brand Davis Langdon, will disappear from the Australian marketplace. Established in London in 1919, Davis Langdon became an AECOM company in 2010 and as of May 1 has been fully integrated and will now go to market as AECOM.

AWARDS Congratulations to WGE on being awarded Aon Best Employer status for the fifth year in a row! A total of 14 companies achieved Best Employer accreditation, with many recognisable names such as Cisco, Blackmores and SEEK making the list. WGE continues to be the only engineering consulting firm to achieve Best Employer status, so we hope to see the list expand over coming years!

Sydney’s Barangaroo headland park was judged Australia’s Best Infrastructure Project at the National Infrastructure

Awards “The $250 million project has delivered a unique addition to Sydney’s harbour and it was this uniqueness that saw it take out this top award” said Brendan Lyon, CEO of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

Our congratulations to member firms Advisian, Aurecon and WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff received the Project Management Institute (PMI) Project of the Year Award 2016 for their role as the Project Management Contractor for the Roy Hill Project. This is the second award this month for the Roy Hill team, which also won the 2016 Railway Technical Society of Australasia Railway Project Award.

IN MEMORIAM Sad news last month of the passing of Dr John Connell, a founder of one of Aurecon’s heritage businesses, John Connell & Associates. One of the most influential engineers of his generation, John passed away peacefully aged 102.

An economic forecast for consulting in the built and natural environment On sale now To purchase your copy go to http://bit.ly/2016economicforecast

NEW MEMBERS Aces Up Engineering Draco Industries Pty Ltd dT Architecture Engineering Fitness Hydrology and Risk Consulting MCS Consulting Services Mobius Fire Safety Orion Consulting Engineers Overall Building Consultancy Services PTS Consulting Australia Scientific Fire Services Scott Carver Scroggie Consulting Engineers Traffic Design Group Limited Zanshin Engineering

What’s happening at Consult Australia

Consulting Matters

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From the President we either comply or we face the imposition of fines.

In the case of regulation the maxims of ‘less is more’ and ‘keep it simple’ should apply.

Most of our employees are however not directly impacted by the above mentioned regulation, and neither do they have to concern themselves with compliance to that regulation. Companies however, all have their own internal regulation with which staff members are expected to comply. This regulation is normally expressed in the form of company policies.

The third level of regulation that affects our industry is state and government regulation regarding planning and permitting. This more than often prevents, or at best delays projects getting off the ground. In a recent mining project that we were involved in, there were over 1000 pieces of regulation that the mine owners had to get through in order to go ahead and build the mine. This ‘over–regulation’ had occurred as described above when new regulation was put in place (mostly for good reason), but the impact on previous regulation not properly assessed– resulting in redundant regulation being left in place.

There are two ways that companies can ensure compliance with their own regulations. The first one and probably the most common way, would be to penalise non-compliance. The second way, and arguably the most effective way, is to promote the benefits of compliance.

When one thinks of compliance and regulation from a company point of view, the first thing that springs to mind is the normal statutory compliance with ASIC in terms of the Companies Act, and also tax compliance in terms of ATO rules and regulations. This is an area that does indeed require focus, and it is essential that all companies do comply with ASIC and ATO rules and regulations. In both these cases it is a simple matter that

In most cases, if staff understand the reason for a policy and the benefits that will accrue to them and / or the company from them adhering to these policies, then they are much more likely to willingly comply with the policies. If there is no benefit, or if we cannot explain the benefits, then one needs to question whether that particular policy does add value and is in fact necessary.

Too often we add new policies without removing old policies or without checking the impact and this can and does over time, result in a number of redundant policies.

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As a country we do need to address this, as over-regulation does have an impact, not only on the amount of development that takes place and hence ultimately on GDP, but it also has a significant impact on our productivity.

If we are to remain competitive as a nation, then we do need to ensure that we maintain a high productivity index.

Andrew Mather President

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Consulting Matters

What’s happening at Consult Australia

From the CEO their diversity statistics to the WGEA, the process of collection and analysis of their own data, as well as the opportunity for benchmarking more broadly, shone a light on the issue of inclusivity and institutional corporate bias. From this base, a more scientific and data driven approach could be taken to instituting initiatives to see the dial shifting more substantially and sustainably.

Another example of Consult Australia’s active involvement has been in the area of the registration of engineers. This particular issue is explored in more detail on pages 8–9, but it is an interesting case study to see how our position has evolved over time, both due to changing external circumstances but also due to a maturing of the Association from a quasiprofessional body (which it began as many years ago) to a true industry association representing first and foremost the interests of the business.

As an Industry Association, Consult Australia has had a long history of becoming involved in discussions and negotiations pertaining to regulation on members’ behalf. Sometimes these discussions are in favour of new, retained or increased regulation in order to protect our member’s interests or achieve a particular policy outcome. Often however, it will be to argue for reduced or streamlined regulation to help our members run lean, globally competitive businesses.

An example of where Consult Australia has argued for the retention of regulation in recent years is in regard to our active lobbying for the retention of the Workforce Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and its reporting requirements. In this example, the Consult Australia Champions of Change wrote to the then Prime Minister Tony Abbott to argue for the retention of the Agency, which was one of many government organisations on the chopping block in the name of reduced government spending. Whilst the overall goal of expenditure constraint was appreciated, the Champions recognised that this Agency was working to achieve an important public policy outcome (increasing the number of women both participating and taking leadership roles in our workforce), in an area where the market itself was failing to deliver the desired outcome.

The Champions felt strongly that even though there was a compliance burden in reporting

For many engineers, registration is seen as a pathway to improved status and a vehicle for attracting the best and brightest into the industry. I would argue, however, that the relationship between registration and improved community protection or professional standards is correlational rather than causal. Supported by strong ethical, professional and corporate behaviours, engineers in Australia have voluntarily striven for excellence through technical upskilling. It is one of the reasons that we find it hard to point to systemic failures of our great structures, but rather continue to celebrate their excellence. There are other, more complex issues at play which must be addressed to bring engineers to the forefront of public discourse and civic leadership.

Both of these, however, are live examples of the fine line that exists between regulation that is useful to achieve a business or policy outcome, and that which simply becomes additional red tape.

In our deliberations of all matters of regulation, Consult Australia always endeavours to satisfy ourselves that the net benefit to the community and our members is paramount. Critical analysis must be carried out to understand the core purpose of the regulation, and to make a determination as to the worthiness of the cause. This leads us to consider five key questions; 1. Is there a market failure to address?

2. Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

3. C an the same result be achieved another way?

4. Will there be unintended consequences?

5. S hould these be temporary or permanent measures?

In asking ourselves these questions and exploring in detail the answers, we bring a rigour to our analysis and keep our eye on the end game. After all, regulation can facilitate or inhibit innovation, and it is our role to be ever cognisant of this double edged sword.

There may be local benefits but global competitiveness may be at risk, and in an increasingly interconnected world, we cannot afford to be complacent.

Each case must be carefully assessed on merit – BUT as an industry association we must err on the side of less regulation as overall it stifles businesses ability to grow and innovate.

Our members will ultimately benefit more from enjoying the freedoms (and being challenged by the pressures) of free trade.

This bumper issue of Consulting Matters explores these issues and gives a glimpse into the broad array of issues your association is involved with. Enjoy!

Megan Motto Consult Australia

What’s happening at Consult Australia

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What’s happening at Consult Australia

Division 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 member firms.

ACT

Kevin Keith A New City On April 30 1911, the Minister for Home Affairs, King O’Malley, launched a competition for a new city. It would be a city for whom trade would not require river or sea port, but face-to-face conversation and exchange of ideas. A city whose wealth would come not from what would be mined, but from the mind: its capacity to take and implement decisions on behalf of a growing nation.

It would be Australia’s first true knowledge-based economy, the countries cleverest city, the original smart – Canberra.

With federal government followed other world-class institutions: galleries and museums showcasing all that was known, scientists, academics and researchers racing to reveal what was not. It gave the world the first glimpse of the moon landing at Honeysuckle Creek and the first glimpse of the future through the invention of WiFi. In return the world gave it the title of best place to live via the OECD. Such was its success that over the years its reason for being changed. Creeks of confidence, industry, and creativity flowed into that initial stream of federation forming a river of growing purpose and direction; a community not just to serve the nation, but to help lead the nation through its ability to develop and implement ideas; an economy founded on federation but now moving forward on innovation, on renewable energy, on creating jobs in both the public and the private sector.

Yet as Canberra has changed so too has the world.

Urban populations are now increasing by 65 million each year. Some Chinese cities have economies larger than European countries.

Houses are being 3D printed and ‘nobody’ will drive future cars. All can be taxi-drivers, hoteliers, publishers; or bank managers through buttons in the palm of our hand, cashiers through the wave of a plastic card.

In half a century future Melbourne will be the size of present day Melbourne and Sydney combined, and future Canberra will have doubled—times two in shops, times two in traffic, times two requiring homes, schools, hospitals and employment.

In times of questions, uncertainty, disruption, there is opportunity for those with answers, there is value in cities with answers. The key to capitalising on this opportunity is two-fold.

The ACT Government rightly invests in physical infrastructure as this is critical for growth. High connectivity between like-minded firms, government, academia, their employees, and the local non-tradable [restaurants, cafes] sector, is fundamental to the maintenance of a world-class knowledge-based economy as we are the raw material.

Productivity relates to how efficiently we transport ourselves.

Yet the city born to make decisions taken for the nation, must also now lead a new process of decision-making. By 2020 there will be 50 billion devices around the world connected to the internet, merging our online and offline world, shaping our environment in real-time and helping solve the challenges of urbanisation.

Data from these devices and other sources will influence every aspect of decision-making: where, when and how governments’ spend, industry invests, citizens live. It will give certainty where once there was only supposition. Evidence will govern and improvement will be a constant process as data is provided in real time.

There is no competition for a new city as there was over a century ago, but there is an extraordinary opportunity for a new type of city —for the original smart to be an original smart city by utilising the knowledge and innovation capacity of the extraordinary people, institutions, and networks who reside here.

Kevin Keith is the ACT Manager of Consult Australia | FutureNet, Director of GovHack, and an organiser of the inaugural CBR Smart Week taking place at the Highball Express on the 21 and 23 of June.

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Urban populations are now increasing by 65 million each year. Some Chinese cities have economies larger than European countries. Houses are being 3D printed and ‘nobody’ will drive future cars. All can be taxidrivers, hoteliers, or publishers; bank managers through buttons in the palm of our hand, cashiers through the wave of a plastic card.

What’s happening at Consult Australia

NSW

Matthew Trigg All three levels of government in Australia have a role to play in meeting the needs of our communities both now and into the future. Doing so without an effective understanding of industry practices and capability leave selected officials and public sector decision makers open to making mistakes that cost everyone unnecessary time and money.

Similarly, a firm that does not understand what a government is doing or why it is doing it, will be prone to making mistakes, missing opportunities, and generally falling behind their competitors.

Industry associations like Consult Australia provide a critical link between policy makers and industry. In New South Wales we seek to align our events and advocacy work wherever possible; magnifying the benefits of each.

An example of this is how we are teaming up with a number of our partner associations to deliver a milestone forum at the Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney on Thursday 11 August 2016.

Sponsored by The Hon Rob Stokes MP, Minister for Planning, the focus of Built Environment Meets Parliament (BEMP) NSW will be on presenting new information and insights into how we consider our urban environments, and progressing how we consider areas such as design, planning, policy, funding and infrastructure.

There will be a range of public and private sector speakers, with all members of parliament invited to attend and industry tickets also available at bempnsw.com.

The theme for the day will be 'The New Great Australian Dream: How can we deliver quality urban living?' with the event delivered in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Architects, the Green Building Council of Australia, the Planning Institute of Australia and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.

To find out what else is happening in New South Wales visit: consultaustralia.com.au/NSW

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QLD

Stacey Rawlings In somewhat of a disappointing result for Queensland, May’s Federal Budget did not deliver the infrastructure funding as we had hoped.

Despite strong lobbying efforts demanding $1 billion of the $5 billion asset recycling infrastructure fund, Queensland was not eligible for the funding after being disqualified as a result of asset sales and privatisation being ruled out for the state.

It’s clear the Palaszczuk Government’s stance on asset sales is pushing Queensland further into economic oblivion, and that’s not just Consult Australia’s opinion. Queensland’s stance on asset sales and the lack of infrastructure announcements is being increasingly criticised by commentators in the media, particularly in Queensland but also on a national front.

Funding from the asset recycling program was allocated to key projects in other states, and the sentiment from Queensland is that the current government’s refusal to budge from its pre-election commitment is stifling infrastructure growth in the state.

One shining light was the inland rail project from Brisbane to Melbourne which received $594 million. Funds have also been set aside for black spot funding projects on the state's major roads, renewal of Queensland's bridges to help facilitate higher productivity vehicle access and infrastructure projects essential to the movement of people and freight as part of the Northern Australia initiative.

Nonetheless, we are still holding out hope the federal election will create new momentum for infrastructure investment as a pipeline of significant infrastructure projects is pivotal to the state’s development.

From a local perspective, we’re thankful this month’s Queensland budget did deliver some concrete commitment, with $10.7 billion in capital works allocated to infrastructure projects.

National Strategic Partner

A $2 billion allocation to the state infrastructure fund was a welcome contribution and the additional $40 million for the new Townsville stadium will be welcomed by our northern members in particular.

Queensland Division is pleased to be working closely with the Infrastructure Portfolio Office and will keep members updated on the progress being made by this office.

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Most recently another $800 million for the Cross River Rail project received on top of the $50 million—which comes under the $2 billion for the state infrastructure fund—to set up the authority and progress planning and environmental approvals, is another welcome pledge to keep that project moving forward.

Let’s hope the commitment to key infrastructure projects for our state doesn’t stop there.

National Strategic Partner

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

NT

SA

Jan Irvine

Jan Irvine Procurement reform continues to inform our advocacy priorities in the Territory. Over the past few years the NT Division has focussed on building relationships with both the Northern Territory Government (NTG) Department of Infrastructure (DoI) and The Department of Business (DoB), and we now enjoy a strong connection with both through an ongoing quarterly working group (DoI); and a quarterly forum (DoB).

With the challenge faced by the public sector of operating within a political environment that does not tolerate failure, a positive procurement culture becomes a significant factor in delivering best value for money outcomes - for the government, for the community, and for the Territory’s economy. A collaborative approach that sees procurement as a relationship based on trust rather than a process will ultimately drive more successful project outcomes.

In the Territory, through our regular meetings with government we have been able to affect a change in public sector procurement culture with the NTG up skilling procurement teams with a view to moving towards becoming a model client; with the introduction of transparent procurement procedures and; the willingness of departmental heads to engage and consult with industry (Consult Australia) to exchange and share ideas for procurement reform that works for both client and consultant.

The NT Division, following our May 2016 round of meetings, is currently awaiting confirmation the DoI: • Would adopt the use of Australian Standard AS4122-2010; General Conditions of Contract for Consultants as the preferred form of engagement of consultants providing services to the department; • As a means to reduce red-tape, and assist industry in cost effective bidding, change the current tender process to the following as a useful process to alleviate high bidding costs:  That consultant tenders are not required to include proof of compliance against specific assessment criteria such as WHS, capability, local content and risk at the time of tendering; and  That only the shortlisted or preferred consultant tenderers would then be required to produce proof of compliance against the relevant competencies or assessment criteria such as those stated above.

The Division will continue to engage and work collaboratively with the Government to achieve best practice procurement which in turn will support our industry to deliver best possible outcomes to its clients and allow the best possible public infrastructure outcomes from limited budgets.

National Strategic Partner

With the release of the tentative findings of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission (NFCRC) on 15 February 2016, the SA Division came out in support of a staged plan to develop opportunities and fully explore the potential to develop a new nuclear industry in the State.

The final report was handed down on 6 May 2016 and indicates the potential for a new nuclear industry to leverage South Australia’s unique geography and skills base to deliver new jobs and growth.

The general findings include: •S outh Australia can safely increase its participation in Nuclear Fuel Cycle (NFC) activities; •T he management of “international used fuel and intermediate level waste” would be “significant and enduring economic benefit”; •S hould a waste disposal/storage facility proceed, it could only do so with long term bi-partisan support at both state and federal government; •S ocial licence in South Australia is critical to proceed with legislating, planning and implementing a NFC project; •A ny NFC projects must be owned and controlled by the State Government and wealth generated should be preserved and equitably shared for current and future generations; and •T he report recommends that the legislative prohibitions on nuclear be removed.

The SA Division believes it is now clear that a nuclear industry for South Australia is viable and has unique potential to: •C reate jobs and build new supply chains; •S upport new and advanced services industries; • I ncentivise new industry and innovation clusters; •A ttract and retain key skills in South Australia and slow the migration of young people domestically and internationally; •T he potential to provide an additional base load generation fuel option; and •S upply and support a zero emissions energy source.

Consult Australia recommends establishing an independent Nuclear South Australia agency to progress the findings and recommendations delivered by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission.

If we do not act soon to capitalise on our strengths, then we risk looking back longing for the leadership and ambition that would have retained our key skills, capitalise on our natural advantages, and set us on a new more productive path.

National Strategic Partner

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WA

VIC & TAS

Steve Coghlan

Zeina Iesa

The Victorian Government's Infrastructure Victoria last month released its options paper, All things considered, putting forward over 200 ideas to address Victoria’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years.

We have submitted our response to the discussion paper, which includes options and ideas for how we could meet Victoria’s infrastructure needs over the short, medium and long term.

CEO of Melbourne Metro Rail Association, Evan Tattersall will join us for a Meet the Client briefing on the 17 August. Mr Tattersall will share insight into the fully-funded $11 billion project, including two nine kilometre tunnels and five underground railway stations.

We look forward to our Boardroom Luncheon with Victorian Treasurer, Minister Tim Pallas, on the 23 August, hosted by Colin Biggers & Paisley. 14 Victorian Regional Directors from our member firms will have the opportunity to exchange views on current policy objectives.

Platinum sponsors, VicSuper hosted an event on the business impacts behavioural science and financial literacy are having on your organisation. Dr Johann Ponnampalam (MD of behaviour change consultancy, Decision Design and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology at Deakin University) and Katrina McPhee (Manager, New Business at VicSuper) shared insight into ways in which your company can improve employee financial literacy through education, financial advice and strategies.

The Tasmanian government handed down their budgets last month, announcing significant investments in road and transport infrastructure, includes funding for $1.8 billion in infrastructure projects, including an investment of $656 million in road and bridge improvements, funded jointly by the State and Federal governments.

The committee will be hosting events and boardroom lunches with the relevant ministers to hear more about these exciting announcements. Keep an eye out for more information soon!

National Strategic Partner

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Gold Sponsor:

The long awaited results of a recent review of the Infrastructure Coordinating Committee (ICC), the current government infrastructure coordinating authority which sits within the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC), is certainly something Consult Australia members, and other built environment sector proponents, look forward to hearing about sooner than later. It is hoped that such a review will provide for much needed improvement to the State’s current disjointed and short sighted state wide planning process. More specifically it is hoped that such a review will enable government to remedy the current lack of long term, 15 plus year planning that is so desperately needed in Western Australia.

In WA, Consult Australia have for some time now, been advocating for the establishment of an independent statutory authority to provide for such a plan, even calling for such a body to provide for planning out to perhaps even as far as 30 years into the future.

We have also been proposing that any such independent statutory infrastructure body should be made up of a mix of both government and industry experts tasked to develop such a plan devoid of undue political or government department influence, and bias.

That is not to say such a plan would be set in stone once developed by this proposed expert body, but rather the rolling plan it produces would form the basis of informed, business case proven and prioritised infrastructure requirements for the State in a way which the current ‘process’ does not. Such a body, similar to what is now established in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, would be bound by an Act of Parliament to develop and deliver a long term state specific infrastructure plan for the government of the day, with the politicians and senior bureaucrats still having the ultimate say as to whether a specific project or projects would proceed according to competing priorities and any fiscal constraints of the day.

Though we are hopeful that the ICC review goes someway to rectifying the current longer term planning gap within the State, one thing is for certain the call for change and improvement to the status quo is getting louder by the day.

National Strategic Partner

Platinum Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors:

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

National Engineering Registration: An update on Consult Australia's position AS GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY CONSIDER IN MORE DETAIL WHETHER AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT ENGINEERING REGISTRATION, AND IN THE ABSENCE OF A CLEARLY DEFINED CAMPAIGN SUPPORTING NATIONAL REGISTRATION, CONSULT AUSTRALIA HAS REVIEWED OUR POSITION.

SOME BACKGROUND TO NATIONAL ENGINEERING REGISTRATION In 2009, Consult Australia agreed to support a national registration scheme for professional engineers. Support for a scheme was subject to the following prerequisites: • A nationally consistent system introduced through state and territory legislation.

• An independent registration board.

• A system applicable to all engineers who are capable of independent practice.

From 2010 to 2012, Consult Australia engaged in activities to promote national registration to governments and opposition parties in all jurisdictions. This was in coalition with National Engineering Registration Board (NERB) members: Engineers Australia (EA), Professionals Australia, and the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA).

Delivering a nationally consistent scheme has proven enormously challenging. Support from Governments around the country is mixed.

As well as the Queensland government, governments in Victoria, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have expressed support for a registration scheme in various forms. Other jurisdictions and the federal government and opposition are lukewarm in their support.

As a consequence, the original objective of the NERB, to advocate for national engineering registration, introduced consistently across states and territories, has been compromised. The NERB has been effectively disbanded, and alongside the differing views of states and territories, there is now significant increased risk of multiple, incompatible schemes that impose new and substantial cost and compliance burdens on Consult Australia member firms.

SUPPORTING THE HIGHEST PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS ACROSS ALL DISCIPLINES Consult Australia strongly advocates for the highest appropriate professional standards, skills and competencies as recognised through the delivery of effective professional training, accreditation and qualifications for all those employees of all disciplines employed by our member firms.

It is in the commercial interests of our member firms to compete on the basis of the skills represented by their employees. An enduring focus on the above objective has resulted in increased industry standards and consumer confidence, and continues to raise the status of all those disciplines our firms represent. Australia now represents the highest standards of professionalism in many of those disciplines employed by our member firms, including in engineering, architecture, project management, engagement, and quantity surveying.

OPPOSING NEW AND UNNECESSARY REGULATORY BURDENS The increasing prevalence of state and territory-based engineering registration schemes ignores the success of the market in driving higher industry standards, and imposes a new and unnecessary regulatory burden on business. This burden is in addition to firms’ ongoing commitment to seeking the highest appropriate levels of professional accreditation for their employees, and risks undermining the very competitive tension that has so successfully driven higher standards through our industry to date.

The increased costs and red-tape created through engineering registration represents another burden for professional services businesses. Fragmented registration initiatives, both through their establishment, maintenance and ongoing fees imposed on business will only serve to decrease competitiveness in the sector, and increase the cost of doing business across related supply-chains in infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, property and resources industries across Australia.

At a time when the cost of doing business is under constant review, the imposition of unnecessary regulation through ad-hoc and nationally inconsistent registration schemes should not be supported.

What’s happening at Consult Australia Consulting Matters

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Delivering a nationally consistent scheme has proven enormously challenging. Support from Governments around the country is mixed. As well as the Queensland government, governments in Victoria, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have expressed support for a registration scheme in various forms.

UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS AND RISKS Historically the following potential benefits were identified as positive outcomes of national registration, and underpinned Consult Australia’s support: • Credible evidence of competence to practice.

• Increased consumer confidence.

• Supports the delivery of improved safety through design.

• Accessible listing of practitioners in their area of practice.

• The potential to remove unqualified practitioners from market.

• Potential for raising the status of engineers.

• Increased opportunity for engineers to work on projects across state borders.

• Increased potential for mutual recognition internationally.

• Reduced costs and overheads of state based registration.

The following were identified as the risks associated with registration: • Complications with international market regulation.

• Personal liability implications.

• Fees and administration that created a substantial, new and increased cost to firms.

With the increased likelihood of a range of state and territory schemes operating independently, the risks outlined above are exacerbated. Alongside these risks, those benefits relating to mutual recognition, crossjurisdictional mobility, and reduced costs and overheads, have shifted to become likely negative outcomes from the development of multiple parallel registration schemes.

In consideration of any registration scheme, whether it be for a nationally consistent model, or an individual jurisdiction, seeking to address these risks is important – particularly issues from existing schemes around potential impacts on individuals’ personal liability; and the implications for using overseas-based engineers.

In relation to increased personal liability, depending on the design of any registration scheme, there are risks that signing-off work as a registered engineer may increase personal liability. Not all engineers will become registered, which may mean that those who are registered will accept increased responsibility (and any associated liability) for the work of their non-registered peers. This may act as a disincentive for registration.

When considering the implications of registration for overseas-based engineers, a related concern is the potential need for registration schemes to require overseasbased engineers to be supervised by an engineer registered in Australia. This would create new cost-burdens where interstate or overseas based engineers are required to be registered, or where there are barriers to entry based on the recognition of overseas qualifications.

Overall, the additional cost and compliance burden of registration, as it is now being

implemented, is the most significant concern for Consult Australia member firms.

With the objective of nationally consistent registration at risk, member firms working across borders, are facing the worst outcome with a range of schemes imposing individual registration fees and unique regulatory requirements. Ultimately this will erode firms’ profitability, competitiveness, mobility of expertise, and increase the costs of the services provided to private and public sector clients across Australia.

Consult Australia’s position statement, Engineering Registration: Opposing a Nationally Inconsistent Approach can be downloaded here.

Jonathan Cartledge Director of Policy and Government Relations

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

FEDERAL ELECTION

2016 IDEAS FOR

INFRASTRUCTURE

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME. THERE IS NEVER A TRUER SAYING THAN THAT WHEN IT COMES TO POLITICS. WITH THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN WELL UNDERWAY AND AUSTRALIANS GOING TO THE POLLS ON JULY 2, ONCE AGAIN THE PUBLIC IS SUBJECTED TO THE RELENTLESS REPETITION OF CATCH PHRASES AND PROMISES FROM OUR POLITICAL LEADERS.

What’s happening at Consult Australia Consulting Matters

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We believe that increased infrastructure investment that improves economic capacity and productivity must be the first policy response to the challenges arising from increasing congestion and declining quality of life across Australia.

As it readies its conclusion, the 2016 Federal Election will be the second longest campaign in history, surpassed only by Robert Menzies back in 1954. However, Menzies didn’t have the added complexity of television, a 24-hour news cycle and social media to contend with.

In addition to a lengthy election campaign, it is also the first double dissolution in nearly 30 years. A double dissolution election differs from regular elections, when only half the Senate seats are contested. In a double dissolution, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are dissolved at the same time, meaning every seat in both chambers is contested Perhaps another unique factor in this election campaign is just how underwhelming it has been. There has been no sense of urgency. The Government is neck and neck with the Opposition if you believe the latest polls, yet neither major party seems to step up to the challenge and address the concerns of Australian’s.

While it may be the case that many people don’t consciously consider their vote until the final week of the campaign, there is an increasing trend of voters pre-polling and casting their vote early. This is likely to be the case this time around, with Election Day to fall in the middle of the school holidays in most states and territories.

At the 2013 federal election more than 25 per cent of voters cast their vote early at pre polling locations, postal votes have grown considerably over the last ten years.

So it may be the case that both leaders are going to wait until the final week before they ramp up their campaigns, but in doing so will risk not connecting with the presumably large number of people who do decide to vote early.

Even keen political observers are somewhat flabbergasted at this campaign; it isn’t your typical election where two leaders battle it, crossing the country in order to win those undecided. This is more like a dawdle in the park, a hit and hope that someone is listening to their message.

All this meandering from the major parties has given rise to the minor parties and independents who will also contest the election. A recent poll showed that more than 15 per cent of voters are considering voting for a minor party or independent at the election and if this is the case Australia could see yet another hung parliament.

Whatever the outcome, Consult Australia will ensure that our message is heard in Canberra. The importance of moving beyond short term political thinking and focusing on the long term infrastructure that Australia so desperately needs is at the core of our advocacy.

Highlighting the need for new ideas and fresh thinking to stimulate productivity, jobs and growth is central to ensure that our industry grows and can prosper in difficult economic times.

We believe that increased infrastructure investment that improves economic capacity and productivity must be the first policy response to the challenges arising from increasing congestion and declining quality of life across Australia.

Consult Australia’s plan encourages all politicians, regardless of party, to give serious consideration to the recommendations made to ensure that Australia can plan and deliver the infrastructure for the future and maximise value for money for the taxpayer. Our six ideas for infrastructure include:

1 BETTER AND FAIRER WAYS OF PAYING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE 2 ESTABLISHING AN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION FUND TO SUPPORT AN INVESTMENT READY PROJECT PIPELINE 3 PREPARING AN INFRASTRUCTURE AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES STRATEGY 4 BUILDING MORE FOR LESS THROUGH IMPROVED PROCUREMENT 5 INCENTIVISING INTEGRATED STRATEGIC PLANNING TO SUPPORT MORE PRODUCTIVE, LIVEABLE AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES 6 DEVELOPING A FULLY FUNDED NATIONAL FREIGHT AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY

As we saunter to the finish line of this election campaign, pleading for some excitement, it is important to remind our Federal politicians that there needs to be stability and a focus on the future when considering policies that impact the built environment.

Whatever the results post July, Consult Australia is ready to advocate the best possible outcome for our industry.

You can find Consult Australia’s election platform here

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

Fitness for Purpose Under Australian Consumer Law when entering into a contract with a supplier for services, there is an implied warranty that the services will be reasonably ‘fit for purpose’.

The current law exempts architects and engineers from the implied warranty that services are fit for purpose, if the consumer makes the purpose known to the supplier.

If you cast your mind back to 2010 you may remember the old Trade Practices Act being replaced with a single national law, known as The Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The overarching aim of this change was to ensure consumers have laws in place which make their rights clear and consistent, and offer an appropriate level of protection.

At the same time, the ACL aims to provide Australian businesses with simple, national consumer laws that make compliance easier.

At this time there was a proposal that the exemption for engineers and architects be removed, well five years on the removal of the exemption is back on the agenda.

These national laws have now been in place for five years across Australia and the Federal Government recently sought feedback on the ACL from interested stakeholders on whether the law is working effectively and what could be improved.

So what would this mean for our industry if the exemption was removed? It will mean that consumer warranties apply to all professions, including architects and engineers. Put simply a client of an architect or engineer will want the services provided to achieve a particular purpose. This purpose is then communicated to the architect or engineer and the service is provided, then the architect or engineer will be held to guarantee that the services will be fit for that purpose.

So what does this actually mean for engineers and architects and our industry? Consult Australia has consistently argued that the

highlighted the fact that there is no robust policy basis for the removal of the exemption that applies to engineers and architects.

Further, we argued that the Act already adequately protects consumers and more importantly there appears to be no market failure to justify removing the exemption.

guarantee is not possible due to the very nature of the services provided and the unique characteristics of the supply chain in which engineers and architects provide these services.

As we are aware building and construction projects involve multiple parties in the delivery of a project. It is the builder or contractor that delivers the end product.

To require the architect or engineer to warrant the performance of other parties, particularly where they have no control over the other parties or the quality of their work, is plainly unreasonable, reflects poor risk management, and creates new risks for all those involved in the supply chain.

The introduction of an implied fitness for purpose warranty would introduce substantial risk for engineers, architects and their insurers because it exposes them to the risks associated with the performance and behaviour of other participants involved in delivery of the project. These additional risks will drive up the cost of services and Professional Indemnity Insurance and ultimately increase costs for consumers and clients.

We maintain that absolute fitness for purpose warranties that pose greater liability risk will lead to engineers and architects adopting more conservative approaches in their designs thus increasing project outturn costs and acting to reduce innovation.

Removal of the exemption will particularly impact small businesses working in the residential sector because of increased risk, costs and disputation. This has broader implications for housing affordability if the cost of professional services increases and competition is reduced in the small business sector.

While the final recommendations from the review won’t be made until 2017 it is important that we ensure that the exemption for professionals such as architects and engineers remains. Consult Australia will work with the Government, Opposition and cross benches to ensure that the regulatory burden and potential costs that removal of this exemption will have on our industry is minimised.

Ryan Bondar Consult Australia Consult Australia’s submission to the review can be found here

As a result Consult Australia is strongly opposed to any proposal to remove the exemption for engineers and architects from the fitness for purpose warranty provision currently contained in the ACL. In our submission to the review Consult Australia

So what does this actually mean for engineers and architects and our industry? Consult Australia has consistently argued that the guarantee is not possible due to the very nature of the services provided and the unique characteristics of the supply chain in which engineers and architects provide these services.

Consulting Matters

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At a time when consultants are increasingly time poor, ConsultED lets you study what you want, when you want and where you want and it takes only five easy steps to do it.

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Consulting Matters Feature

NCC: A pathway to helping improve compliance It would not be an unreasonable assumption if anyone was to think that the sole purpose of making the National Construction Code (NCC) freely available online was about reducing the cost burden of regulation.

As important as doing this was, it is part of a much longer-term strategy endorsed by national building ministers and the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) to increase access, awareness and understanding of the NCC through a series of transformational projects that include improving the useability of the NCC, further enhancing access through digitisation and increasing the use of performance-based design. If successful, this will increase national productivity and improve building outcomes through higher levels of compliance.

HOW SO? When you boil it down it is a fairly simple strategy. Having regard to the fact that it is not the regulator of the building and plumbing sectors, the ABCB has a limited number of tools in its kit by which it can help facilitate such outcomes.

In the space of 12 months the number of people who have become registered users of the NCC has gone from 11,000 to just on 100,000. Having achieved this milestone the ABCB wants to ensure that these users can better familiarise themselves with how a performance-based code is designed to work, improve its useability and provide a suite of educational materials to help support their understanding.

At the same time the ABCB wants to improve the ease of access to the document, particularly for smart devices, which will include the potential reformatting of content, improved search capabilities for subject matter and more explanatory information.

What I have described is a gross simplification of an ambitious range of initiatives that will take time to be developed and involve a change in mind-set in some quarters, as well as building capacity in others.

It is also complemented by a number of other initiatives that the ABCB is facilitating, to improve the regulatory infrastructure, administration and practice that underpins the successful application of the NCC to buildings and plumbing installations. This is a change in approach away from being completely absorbed by making constant changes to the content of the NCC, to

improving its operationalisation by all those involved in the building and plumbing control supply chains.

This could not be possible, however, without first making the NCC available online at no cost, and moving to a three year amendment cycle in 2016, because these two things generated an environment in which the ABCB could change its business model to become more proactive in supporting how the code is used rather than just its development.

This leads nicely into the subject of compliance, which can be fraught and is certainly complex. So first it is important to stress again that the ABCB is not a regulator and has no powers of compliance.

It nevertheless has an interest in the subject, particularly in the context of national consistency through the NCC and effective regulatory systems.

Having regard to increased labour mobility, innovation in construction, disruptive technologies and global supply chains, all of which ignore jurisdictional boundaries, the greater the level of national consistency, the greater the likelihood of compliance.

This is not an excuse for poor practice, but it is much harder to comply with a highly nuanced regulatory system that varies from state to state, which is why the NCC is estimated as having the potential, if effectively implemented, to deliver $2.2 billion per annum in national productivity benefits. This does not take account of the multiplier that can be expected to occur if there is a commensurate rise in levels of compliance.

There are other factors, beyond national consistency, that have the potential to contribute to increased levels of compliance that the ABCB is interested in exploring to the extent of its remit. Many of these other factors are canvassed by Michael Lambert in his recent review of the Building Practitioners Act in NSW, which appropriately takes a holistic assessment of the system and identifies five key areas of investment to address potential short-comings: • Governance and guidance • Improving information capture • Clarifying roles and responsibilities • Accreditation and education • Enforcement, auditing and insurance.

The Next Instalment in Building Regulatory Reform contains the full suite of transformational projects underway by the ABCB. It is available for download from the ABCB website.

These groupings generally accord with reviews and reports over the years from other jurisdictions, all of which point to the importance of effective monitoring of the system in order to identify opportunities to improve aspects of the system or practices within it.

This is not to imply systemic failure, nor to single out any one part of the building and plumbing control supply chain, but rather points to the fragmented, yet highly interdependent nature of building. It also reveals that compliance cannot be achieved through regulation alone and involves the active participation and accountability of all key players.

For more information on the ABCB and the transformational projects underway, visit the ABCB website at www.abcb.gov.au.

Neil Savery

Feature Consulting Matters

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Conversation with Bronwyn Evans, CEO Standards Australia Dr Bronwyn Evans joined Standards Australia as CEO in October 2013. Since then, Standards Australia has put in place a new five year strategic plan and embarked on a substantial transformation program.

Standards are not new to Bronwyn. Bronwyn started her career as an engineer in power generation and construction and then moved to a role as a project manager in the electrical team with Standards Australia before leaving to pursue a global career in healthcare working with icons like GE Healthcare and Cochlear Limited.

Q: H OW HAS STANDARDS AUSTRALIA CHANGED SINCE YOUR TIME AS A PROJECT MANAGER? A: Standards Australia today is a very different organisation. We spend much more time speaking with and listening to our stakeholders. We have an engagement function that connects us across industry and government and we are a strong voice in regional and international standards development. We are also planning for the Standards Australia we need to be well ahead of today so that we are part of the future.

Q: Y OU MENTIONED YOUR FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN. TELL US ABOUT ITS FOCUS. A: We are looking to be a simpler, faster, and better organisation to deal with in every way.

This means reduced production times, increased relevance and better outputs.

We value and appreciate the time given to us by our contributors so we need to maximise their outcomes. We are building the technology base that will allow us to connect digitally across the economy.

There is no one element that dominates – our focus is simpler, faster and better across the board.

Q: R EGULATION AND COMPLIANCE IS A BIG ISSUE IN OUR SECTOR. DO YOU HAVE ANY VIEWS ON THIS? A: Absolutely. Australia needs a strong technical infrastructure as much as we need resilient physical infrastructure. That technical infrastructure comprises the systems of regulation, compliance and standards.

Firstly, in the area of regulation we want Australia to have one set of rules and for these to be performance based as much as possible. It makes no sense that we have 8, 21 or 48 different sets of rules for the same thing. We talk to government often about this.

Compliance is equally important. There is no point having one set of rules and Australian standards if no one is checking.

People often confuse us as the 'standards police' but that is not our role. Our message on this is that all players need to work better together to strengthen our technical infrastructure. Industry has done a lot to raise this issue with government.

Q: W HERE DO YOU SEE STANDARDS IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME? A: That is a great question and one that is occupying our thinking constantly. We see some big themes emerging.

In the built environment I think we will see standards content being much more about principles and performance.

Access for all standards users will be digital and I think standards around the world will be much more integrated.

Some things won’t change like the fundamentals of the consensus based standards setting. This process will remain, but I think a stronger consensus based ‘digital communities of practice’ will emerge.

With these opportunities and trends emerging it is a great time to be involved in the standards world. www.standards.org.au

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Consulting Matters Feature

Compliance and Regulation – Building Information Modelling Digitisation is spearheading a transformation of the built environment and creating a space where digital and physical built assets interact. At the heart of this shift is the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM). BIM facilitates the virtual production, analysis, evaluation and optimal development of an asset in a digital environment. This allows us to build twice—once virtually, co-ordinating and optimising methodology—then again flawlessly in the real world.

The construction sector is now awash with boundless data and digital connectivity, and through the use of BIM and advanced analytics we have the ability to capture, manage and analyse large amounts of data. BIM workflows allow designers and constructors to improve the accuracy and quality of the information they produce while reducing the time needed to deliver that information to clients.

When coupled with the real-time capability of the Internet of Things, Telemetry and the Internet of Services, we can use predictive analytics and algorithms to provide immediate insights on asset performance.

This includes predicting failures before they occur or before a service is interrupted, creating significant savings across the total expenditure of a project or program.

These additional benefits are helping to accelerate the adoption of BIM. In some countries it is starting to become embedded through national digitisation programs such as in the UK, where Level 2 BIM is mandated on all centrally procured government projects.

Working groups such the EU BIM Task Group

are exploring the optimisation of the full life-cycle of public works and how BIM can improve the efficiency, effectiveness and value for public money where they believe 35 per cent of construction cost is wasted in unproductive activities. Globally BIM is also starting to feature in the regulatory process with the likes of Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) having introduced BIM e-submissions as part of its compliance process.

Feature Consulting Matters

In Australia there is significant movement in BIM and a wider Digital Engineering agenda, an example of this is on the iconic Sydney Opera House project, where AECOM are integrating various asset data sources with a building model to provide a single portal from which the building operations team can better manage the facility.

The cost-saving benefits of BIM have been recognised by the Australian Federal and State governments, and the mandating of BIM for the procurement and delivery of government projects has consistently appeared in key publications including: • Productivity Commission – Inquiry Report into Public Infrastructure – July 2014 (Recommendation 12.5) • Infrastructure Australia – Australian Infrastructure Plan – Priorities and reforms for our nation’s future – February 2016 (Recommendation 10.4) • Queensland Government - State Infrastructure Plan – Part B: Program – March 2016 (Implementation Action 15 and Opportunity 10) House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities - report on the inquiry into the role of smart ICT in the design and planning of infrastructure (March 2016) The report on the inquiry into the role of smart ICT recommended:

“The Australian Government, as part of its infrastructure procurement processes, require BIM to LOD500 on all major infrastructure projects, exceeding $50 million in cost, receiving Australian Government funding, including projects partially funded by Federal Government in partnership with state, territory and local governments, and that it focus on tendering mechanisms that will facilitate this outcome, on a project-byproject basis, with a view to ultimately establishing BIM as a procurement standard.”

In Queensland, the State Infrastructure Plan Part B: Program (March 2016) reads: “In partnership with industry, build Queensland’s public and private sector capability to move towards a mandatory adoption of BIM on building projects by 2020 and on major infrastructure by 2023.”

In our view, BIM will shortly become a compliance issue in Australia, as it already has in the UK where organisations will need to demonstrate capability and capacity to deliver on the Government’s digital information requirements. In some cases this will necessitate upskilling to ensure that information standards can be met at the various levels: individuals, project teams and at an organisation level. At the same time, it is essential that academia prepares new entrants to the industry and ensures that they

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have the digital skills and knowledge to lead us into a digitised era.

In the UK the government has commissioned a working group BIM4Regs to explore the integration of regulations into BIM to simplify compliance and enable building regulations and planning applications to be made using 3D computer models. The objective is to eventually incorporate building regulations, planning and health and safety requirements into BIM. The initiative will embed regulatory information within BIM software so project teams can instantaneously determine if designs conform to set rules.

This is an exciting time for industry worldwide as we move towards a data-centric approach to the creation and care of our built environment, however, we must prepare and mobilise to ensure that we realise the benefits.

David Philp AECOM Global BIM/MIC Consultancy Director David Burchard Associate Director – Rail and Transit AECOM

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Consulting Matters Feature

Victoria, the place to be for climate action INTRODUCTION Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time. Seemingly ever changing state and federal government stances on the issue have left communities and industry confused about what action they should be taking. The recent Paris Agreement on climate change provides a global direction for nations, including Australia, who is a signatory.

The upcoming Australian federal election provides an opportunity for the Government to show how it will position to meet the challenges of climate change. Each state also has the opportunity to build on this. Victoria is leading with a review of its Climate Change Act and the development of a Climate Change Framework and Climate Strategy.

State / Territory

Key Legislation or Policy

Victoria

Climate Change Act 2010 (Under Review)

Requires decision makers to take climate change into account when making specified decisions under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994, Coastal Management Act 1995, Environment Protection Act 1970, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 and Water Act 1989.

Australian Capital Territory

Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act 2010

Sets out the ACT targets of zero net emissions (carbon neutrality) by 2050, and a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and a requirement for setting a renewable energy target (announced in 2016 as 100% by 2020).

South Australia

Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act 2007

Greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of equal to or less than 40% of 1990 levels by 31 December 2050. The state is also targeting 33% of South Australia’s electricity generation to come from renewable energy by 2020 (revised from 20% by 2014 under the Act).

Tasmania

Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008

Sets target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Tasmania to at least 60% below 1990 levels by 31 December 2050.

Key points

A TIME TO ACT The climate has changed in Victoria with increases in temperatures and reductions in rainfall. These changes are likely to continue with Victoria becoming hotter and drier.

As the climate continues to change, more intense and frequent storms, heat waves and cold snaps will worsen existing problems and create new hazards. The impacts go beyond just the coast and rising sea levels, presenting risks to all regions.

In April 2016, 174 countries including Australia, signed the Paris Agreement, an international agreement on climate change that sets a global action plan to slow the rate of global warming to well below 2°C and put the world on track to avoid the effects of dangerous and imminent climate change.

How Australia and its states respond to commitments under the Paris Agreement is yet to be determined.

A VARIETY OF APPROACHES State governments are playing an important role in driving action to reduce emissions and helping to prepare for the risks of climate change.

All states and territories have policies (see table) addressing climate adaptation and mitigation.

However, only Victoria, Tasmania, South Australian and the Australian Capital Territory have a Climate Change Act. Guidelines to assist in the consideration of climate risks including sea level rise are available for most states. All states and territories except New South Wales and Queensland have published emissions reduction targets.

CLIMATE ACTION IN VICTORIA The Victorian Government is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating the risks posed by extreme weather events and longer term changes in climate and is currently revising the Climate Change Act (Act), preparing a climate change framework and an adaptation plan in response.

The revision of the Act will respond to the recommendations from the Independent Review of the Climate Change Act 2010, handed down in February 2016. It is anticipated that the government will accept the majority of recommendations which include: • Setting long term objectives for climate change mitigation and adaptation

•P roviding a framework that supports effective and efficient development and implementation of climate policy •P roviding long term certainty for planning and investment •E mbedding consideration of climate change in government decision making, policies and programs, supported by monitoring and reporting.

It is hoped that the Adaptation Plan will articulate how Victoria will make a meaningful contribution to the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Feature Consulting Matters

THE OPPORTUNITY The introduction of clear policy provides direction for government agencies and industry. For those that may not have a requirement to act, clear policy can help justify to their stakeholders why they are taking action. There is much than can be done by organisations to mitigate and adapt, however, many may not have the capability to take the actions themselves. This presents opportunities for consulting and advisory services to assist with the following: •U nderstanding climate risk and greenhouse gas emission profiles.

• I dentifying and prioritising actions to address or manage risks and reduce emissions.

•E mbedding consideration of climate issues into existing processes. Understanding decision-making processes and identifying key questions that need to be asked at the various stages of decision making.

•E ngagement with stakeholders on the topic.

Governments can’t do it all alone. Industry has a lot to offer in assisting with action including the provision of goods or services in preparation and response to disasters. We can play an important role in connecting industry and government and helping to shape public-private sector partnerships that can help tackle the challenges we face.

For those organisations that are not bound by clear requirements to act, the actions outlined above provide a sensible approach to organisational risk management. For many organisations and communities, extreme weather events present risks to operations now, irrespective of how their frequency or intensity will alter as a result of climate change. Knowing your current risk profile can only assist risk management and support businesses continuity planning.

Similarly, a significant portion of many organisations’ greenhouse gas emissions will relate to energy use.

Understanding where energy or transportation fuel is used will help inform decisions that can improve the efficiency and reduce costs. It can also help to identify supply chain vulnerabilities. Knowing your risks and integrating these into infrastructure and programs will provide the greatest opportunity to influence change, reduce risk and ultimately increase the return on investment.

Allan Klindworth Principal Consultant Sustainability and Resilience AECOM

Since the article was written, the Victorian Government has made a commitment to legislate a target of net zero GHG emissions by 2050. To help meet the target, interim targets will be set every five years. In addition, a commitment was made to having at least 25 per cent of the state's electricity come from Victorian-built renewable generation by 2020, and 40 per cent by 2025.

CONTRACTS FOR CONSULTANTS CPD Do you know what you’re signing? You could be exposing yourself and your firm to avoidable risk.

Attend this course to learn about: • Contract information • Contract terms • Contracting issues • Liability and relief • Construction contracts & consultancy agreements • Onerous contract terms • Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance • Ending a contract • Dispute resolution

Book now For more course information and course dates go to www.consultaustralia.com.au/Home/education/ or contact us on (02) 9922 4711 or education@consultaustralia.com.au

$2,900 for Consult Australia members $3,770 for non members Group booking and in-house discounts available

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Consulting Matters Feature

Go directly to jail Go directly to jail. Do not pass ‘Go’. Do not collect $200.

It is mildly annoying to be sent to jail while playing the board game MonopolyTM. What many business leaders may not realise is that the prospect of going to jail in the real world is an ever-present reality.

Picture this: A tragic injury has occurred at your workplace. As a business leader, you are lumbered with the weight of distressing human emotions, major disruption to normal operations and fallout from your company’s damaged reputation. As if this isn’t burden enough, you are also faced with the excruciating task of proving to the regulator how the worker (whose life is now destroyed) was provided with a safe and healthy workplace, in so far as is reasonably practicable.

This grim scenario is all too common an occurrence in Australia. According to Safe Work Australia, more than half a million workers were injured in the Australian workplace during 2015. Twenty per cent of these injuries were considered serious, including 196 fatalities.

Familiar with playing games of chance, you might be OK with these odds. However keep in mind that actual harm need not occur for Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) charges to be brought to bear, merely a ‘risk of serious harm’. The maximum penalties for WHS breaches involve jail sentences and personal fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, neither of which can be effectively insured against.

Do you still want to play the game knowing that these are the rules? If you are up for the challenge, here are some hot tips to keep your people safe and you out of jail.

KNOW WHAT COULD GO WRONG Business leaders need to genuinely understand their people’s job duties, the environment in which they perform these duties, what could go wrong, and what should be done to make sure things go right.

The best way to understand all of this is to talk with your workers and see for yourself.

An elegant way to capture, analyse and share this information is within a simple risk assessment. There are a bunch of perfectly fine and free templates available on the internet. Your risk assessment should then be treated as a live document that is frequently referred to, updated as required

(the more pen marks the better), and used to help prioritise the continual reduction of WHS risks.

FORMALLY ASSESS YOUR PEOPLE’S COMPETENCY Once you already have a seriously injured worker, it’ll be a big challenge to prove they were competent to complete their tasks safety unless you have a documented safe method of work and have formally assessed your worker as competent. A competency assessment process can be as simple or as complicated as you like, so long as you can show that each worker acknowledges the steps required to do their job safely.

Signatures and dates help.

Your risk assessment will help to prioritise the activities that should have safe work method statements, noting that these statements are a legal requirement for any high risk construction work.

BUILD A HAZARD IDENTIFICATION CULTURE Compelling your entire workforce to become hyper-vigilant to observing and reporting workplace hazards should have an inverse impact on your injury rates. Remember this: Today’s observation can avoid tomorrow’s operation.

Shifting a workplace culture takes time and requires clear commitment from the top.

Your workers must have a compelling reason why they should disrupt their daily grind to

report workplace hazards. The proverbial carrot and stick should be applied, favouring the former in abundance. Of course these days, having an intuitive online system for reporting observations is a must. Yes there is an app for that.

GET YOUR FINGERPRINTS ALL OVER SAFETY Today’s business leaders are so busy, so many reports, meetings, emails…so busy.

News flash: An injured worker’s family will not understand. Your colleagues, the regulator and the magistrate will not care. If you can’t lead for safety, then you can’t lead.

If you are a business leader and don’t want to go to jail, then you need to get your fingerprints all over your safety arrangements. Go to where the workers are and discuss what could go wrong. Read your company’s safety reports but also confirm with your own eyes that arrangements are in place to manage WHS risks. Complete an inspection checklist. Publicly praise people who do the right thing. Immediately act to address any at-risk situations, ideally without blame. Share any learnings. Put safety on the agenda and actively participate in the discussion.

Do all of this and you will regularly pass ‘Go’ and see business performance continually improve, safely.

Kim Sammut General Manager, Safety, Health, Environment & Quality WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

Feature Consulting Matters

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Legislation and Guidelines: When Less is More I recently came across a video of the late Kerry Packer on social media.

It was from 1991, and he was speaking at a parliamentary committee on print media.

Amongst many other statements, a particular point stood out to me on the issue of laws.

Packer mused that since he was a young man, there had (at that time anyway) been tens of thousands of laws passed by Federal, State and Local Governments, a fact that led him to question whether Australia was a better place as a result.

Packer also questioned whether laws were passed simply to control things that people 'just got on with' back-in-the-day. He boldly closed by stating that each set of legislation passed was an erosion of our privileges—all to the slightly smirking amusement of the committee he was appearing before.

Stumbling across this video was timely for me given Queensland is about to pass new Planning Legislation (probably about the 4th major overhaul in the past 10 years). Having recently attended the Planning Institute of Australia’s (PIA) 2016 Congress in Brisbane, it struck me that a number of the speakers I heard during the Congress had discussed how they achieved things within our communities through either actively stepping around current legislation—or removing it altogether.

When a new piece of legislation is passed, from a political perspective it is often heralded as bringing forward significant change, economic growth or enlivened social justice. Whilst legislation certainly has allowed groups to legally enforce their just, right and equitable standing within our society, I have never turned to a piece of legislation to seek an answer to a problem in the 'real world'. As a planner, I am often in the position of implementing solutions and attempting to bend legislation to fit. So, in this context, it must be remembered that legislation is simply a tool. It outlines the general playing field, the rules of the game and, in some instances, process. It cannot, however, and possibly should not, be the solution in itself.

During the PIA Congress, I heard several speakers talk on the subject of communitybased planning and projects. A particularly passionate speaker from Taree Shire Council outlined a community planning project that resulted in the clean-up of Taree High Street,

and a significant boast to local community pride. This project brought together business and the community to enliven what was becoming a down-at-heel community space.

Through a large community effort the High Street was cleaned up. Social media played a part too, with owners of poorly maintained properties initially shamed into cleaning up their acts, and then celebrated once they had done so. Through removal of restrictive local laws and some positive encouragement, meanwhile, retailers where allowed to use the street as an extension of their café, shop or business. All of which has led the community to feel significantly more proud of their High Street, with knock-on effects for business and trading conditions.

What struck me about the story was that nobody asked “should we do it?” or “can we do it?”; it was accepted as something that needed to be done. Once it was clear there was a problem, a community champion outlined a possible solution and, ultimately, the community bought into the solution.

This type of permissive dynamic and agreed community position is something which we need more of, and which could replace some of the legislation we presently have to manage.

The solutions to challenges that we are encountering as our communities grow, evolve and change are unlikely to be solved by new legislation on its own. What needs to occur is a very clear, constructive and inclusive debate of the type of Australia we want to live in, and the kind of Australians we all want to be. This does not necessarily even mean having a fixed idea of our future utopia, but perhaps having a shared agreed position on the type of journey we want to take as we all progressively get there. We can use the legislation we need (not the legislation we have) to implement the solution.

Dylan Porter Associate Director – Planning AECOM

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Consulting Matters Features

Ethics and integrity: what could be more important?

WHEN WE CONSIDER THE MANY BUSINESSES THESE DAYS THAT ARE COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS (ALLEGEDLY) LACKING ETHICS AND INTEGRITY IN HOW THEY GO ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS (FIRMS SUCH AS VOLKSWAGEN (CHEATING ON EMISSIONS), COMMONWEALTH BANK INSURANCE (CLAIMS PAYMENTS), 7-11 (UNDERPAYING LABOUR), SAMARCO (BHP BILLITON AND VALE: TAILINGS DAM COLLAPSE), NEWS CORP (UK PHONE TAPPING) ALONG WITH THE MANY BIG AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ACCUSED OF BULLYING SMALLER SUPPLIERS COME TO MIND), WE SHOULD ALL QUESTION OUR VALUES AND PRACTICES AND EXAMINE OUR OWN STANDARDS AND BEHAVIOURS. This type of examination is particularly important for professional service firms because once there is a breach of trust with clients, employees or suppliers; we lose our goodwill and have basically nothing credible left to do business with!

There is nothing new about companies taking the low road on integrity. My first experience of this was of the Ford Pinto with the exploding petrol tank over 40 years ago. On discovering the potential issue, Ford did a cost benefit analysis and decided that it wasn’t worth spending $11 per vehicle to correct the design problem that could cause fire in a particular type of rear end smash, estimating that 180 deaths would be ‘acceptable’ and lower in total cost across the model range. This turned out to be a substantial underestimate of deaths and injuries, added to which the cost-benefit document went public, causing Ford to lose a tremendous amount of respect in the market, and of course market share.

This also came to mind recently while working with the top team of a bank to run in-house workshops on leadership, mission, vision, values and strategy. When we assessed them against the characteristics of great leaders and leadership teams, of which integrity was only one item on my list, they clearly articulated that integrity was paramount. They felt that it was the

most important leadership element because “we are nothing without the trust of our stakeholders”.

So how can professional service firms ensure they take the high road in design, project management, supplier selection, internal staff management and all other key aspects of firm activities? It is clearly easier said than done with studies showing that there are many billions of dollars lost to fraud in Australia each year. This includes occurrences in businesses that have statements about ethics in their values, vision and mission.

As an example, some friends of mine who own and operate a furniture business (and practice the highest level of honesty in every way) were none-the-less blind to the fact that a trusted senior manager had been skimming their supply contracts for some 20 years until a supplier finally spoke up…There is obviously the risk of a gap forming between knowing, and wanting to do, the right thing as leaders, and implementing it thoroughly in an organisational setting.

There are some things that work well though: • Lead by example. Senior leaders must do more than just point to the right things to do: they must demonstrate them with their actions. Directors should show their respect for the business as an

independent entity by always doing what is right, without compromise, and being transparent about this standard.

•T rain, educate and discuss the moral standard of your business. Do not assume that everyone will figure it out by osmosis or some magic medium of communication. We need to be explicit about how important these matters and standards are.

•A dopt a zero tolerance approach to ethical breaches. This does not mean firing everyone who takes home a paper clip, but rather refers to setting a standard and seriously pursuing it through implementing a moral code of conduct and not sweeping breaches under the carpet. I see lots of businesses who bury such breaches just to avoid the publicity, and while we can all appreciate why this is tempting, let us please consider whether that approach is better in the long run relative to coming clean and holding up breaches as a means of reinforcing standards and learning lessons broadly.

Being explicit about what is acceptable and what is not with all stakeholders and publishing a code of conduct will only help to raise the standards of behaviour, and lower the probability of the next tailings dam collapse, or other breach of trust.

Hence my friendly challenge to all those who lead and manage within professional service firms is this: how well do you lead by example on integrity? How well do you explicitly promote and train for the highest levels of ethical standards in your staff, and how well do you measure and inspect to those standards? Remember the old saying: ”People do what you inspect, not what you expect”.

So how can professional service firms ensure they take the high road in design, project management, supplier selection, internal staff management and all other key aspects of firm activities? It is clearly easier said than done with studies showing that there are many billions of dollars lost to fraud in Australia each year. This includes occurrences in businesses that have statements about ethics in their values, vision and mission.

Features Consulting Matters

Being explicit about what is acceptable and what is not with all stakeholders, and publishing a code of conduct will only help to raise the standards of behaviour, and lower the probability of the next tailings dam collapse, or other breach of trust.

Finally, we should all remember the return-on-investment motivation for this high-integrity approach. We are not doing it because we are nice people, we are doing it because it is right, and we also note that it happens to provide a positive long term return on investment: just ask those leading VW if they would like to have their opportunity to make some past decisions differently.

Their short termism and lack of integrity has cost that business many tens of billions of dollars.

The risk is even higher for consulting firms where reputation is everything when we are in the ‘trusted advisor’ business. In the built environment, it can also clearly be a matter of life and death, and not just about the future prosperity of our businesses.

Professor Danny Samson University of Melbourne

SERVICE EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION 2016: DRIVING BUSINESS VALUE NEW format and structure: Two day intensive program October 10-11, 2016 This two-day residential management course focuses on business excellence for technical professionals with key topics including: Service Excellence and Innovation 2016 addresses the core issue for engineers, architects and other technical professionals: how to create additional value for clients, and therefore drive the volume and price of professional services up for your firm/ department.

Cost: $2,750 excluding GST The fee includes full residential costs, meals and comprehensive materials.

Registration: For more information and to register, contact Professor Daniel Samson on (03) 8344 5344 or d.samson@unimelb.edu.au

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Consulting Matters Features

Enabling electricity evolution through appropriate economic regulation THE POWER SYSTEM OF THE FUTURE WILL BE QUITE DIFFERENT TO THAT WHICH EXISTS IN AUSTRALIA TODAY. Environmental imperatives and rapidly changing technology are challenging all regulatory frameworks including Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM).

Regions such as South Australia have seen rapid uptake of large scale renewable generation. Individual households have continued to invest in rooftop photovoltaic (PV) thanks to the rapid reduction in the cost of PV systems despite the end of initial generous feed-in tariffs.

Achieving the greenhouse gas emission limits in the Paris agreement1 will likely require substantial decarbonisation of the electricity supply industry.

PV coupled with battery storage is capable of transforming passive electricity consumers into active participants in the electricity market. These technology shifts are likely to see a transformation of the power grid from the traditional linear structure that exists today to an almost organic structure, where energy production, consumption and storage occur at all points along the value chain.

Technology is changing rapidly particularly compared to the time it takes to enact substantial changes to the NEM regulatory framework. Many are now questioning whether our regulations need to evolve more quickly to keep pace and avoid impeding innovation and uptake of new technology.

REGULATORY CHANGES NEED CAREFUL CONSIDERATION The regulatory regime faces conflicting priorities. It needs to be flexible enough to not impede the innovation required, while at the same time offering a stable and predictable environment that will continue to encourage investment. There is always a danger that government will use regulation to deliver a ‘chosen’ outcome rather than facilitating the innovation and investment to achieve agreed objectives.

Perhaps we need to embrace a regime that puts more emphasis on key objectives, principles and frameworks while introducing incentives and discretion to allow adaptation where required.

Many are now questioning whether our regulations need to evolve more quickly to keep pace and avoid impeding innovation and uptake of new technology.

HOW THAT MIGHT WORK The RIO framework introduced by the electricity regulator in the UK (Ofgem) provides an example of fostering innovation through incentives. For example, new performance incentives have encouraged network companies to become more customer focused 2.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has introduced a range of incentive mechanisms to enhance the services Network Service Providers (NSPs) deliver. Both the AER and Ofgem schemes are intended to encourage the network companies to innovate and thereby capture rewards and avoid penalties under the incentive regimes.

Incentive regimes are only part of the story.

Also needed are regulations that recognise the rapid pace of change and allow for some level of discretion to cater for the unexpected situations that inevitably arise. Achieving this requires regulations that describe a preferred operating arrangement, while allowing departures where it can be demonstrated that they would not materially contravene the fundamental principles on which the regulations are based.

Many would suggest that the existing powers of the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), AER and NSPs for connection matters provide such discretion.

However exercising discretion requires the organisations’ officers to possess a deep understanding of the relevant technical, economic, market and customer impacts of any such decision.

My colleagues and I believe that regulators that are empowered to exercise discretion are essential for the regulations to work efficiently and allow participants to pursue innovation rather than impede it.

If the regulators can provide clear guidance as to the evidence they need to see to exercise their discretion it empowers

participants by allowing them to self-assess the merit of any application and prepare the necessary evidence.

The preparation of evidence will be case specific and in most cases will not be a trivial undertaking. It will require experience in economics, regulation and market operation coupled with a detailed understanding of the individual circumstances. An ability to study the performance of the integrated power system and related electricity market is also essential to quantify the impact of exercising the proposed discretion.

GHD believes that significant value is created for our clients through sharing our expertise and experience in the different global jurisdictions—not just within Australia. Our core regulatory teams in Australia and the UK operate throughout the world in markets with emerging demand as well as mature regimes where the challenge is more the conflict of supply technologies rather than supplying growing demand.

Appropriate incentives and the prudent exercise of discretion by regulators will enable the innovations required to deliver the power system of the future that achieves carbon abatement targets, while maintaining reliable supply of electricity to customers at an affordable price.

David Bones GHD Agreement made at the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015 by 195 countries. The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

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Basil Scarsella, CEO UK Power Networks address at the 2016 ENA conference

Features Consulting Matters

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Property as an enabler of wellness There’s a movement taking place in the First World that might best be described as The Optimised Self*. Driven by a combination of pressurised lifestyles, work stress and burn-out—dubbed karoshi in Japanese (death by work). This movement has seeded a back-lash of the most positive proportions: a collective obsession with health and wellbeing—the idea that the body and mind can be maintained to operate at peak capacity—dependent on both internal and external conditions.

Perhaps the vitamin waters and protein powders are fad, but the implications this holds for our built environments—the spaces in which we live and work—are both exciting and commercial in possibility.

The WELL Building Standard is a result of seven years of research and development, and looks to be disrupting the architecture and construction industry in much the same way Green Star did when it was first introduced. It’s already gaining significant traction, with the likes of CBRE (its LA offices were the first in the world to be certified), and Grocon building to WELL standards.

Other major companies including DEXUS and Frasers Property have already formally registered for the standard.

WELL is the brain-child of Paul Scialla, founder of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the governing body which administers WELL, and founder and CEO of Delos, which originally pioneered WELL. Through these two bodies, Scialla has led the development of the WELL Building Standard through extensive research and collaborative think tanks that originally identified the various health vulnerabilities that might be addressed through the built environment.

“Things like cardiovascular health, respiratory health, immune health, sleep health,” says Scialla.

From there, Scialla and an expanded team of experts across fields of medicine, science, design, architecture and sustainability began an initial construct of the WELL standard: a triage of components encompassing medical, scientific and practitioner peer review. Over 100 external experts were engaged to peer review the standard before version 1.0 was officially launched.

“A building actually has to be set up to boost people’s health. It intends to actually help them to, at first, maybe passively, become more healthy—thanks to [integral

This approach requires consultants to be highly outcome oriented, with the end-user experience at the forefront of any design decisions. IWBI acknowledges there is a 15 per cent crossover with LEED and Green Star standards but WELL adds value through quality of lighting, HVAC systems and central management building systems.

environmental factors such as] quality of air and light,” says Scialla.

WELL is a performance-based program with 102 features in the WELL Building Standard, all based on medically backed intentions.

These features address air, water and light quality.

This approach requires consultants to be highly outcome oriented, with the end-user experience at the forefront of any design decisions. IWBI acknowledges there is a 15 per cent crossover with LEED and Green Star standards but WELL adds value through quality of lighting, HVAC systems and central management building systems.

The beauty of WELL is that in addressing the human condition, its standards are universal.

While there may be other intricacies involved in localised adaptation, our basic biological needs remain constant irrespective of geography.

Beyond workplace contexts, there has already been traction in the residential and retail market. To date, over 200 projects have registered or been certified in 13 countries, helping to further refine the standard at an international and local level.

The major advantage of WELL is that it’s passive in nature. By creating a space that has preventative medical intentions, there is a huge potential to create a positive impact to the health of the building’s end users—both in the short and long term. And this occurs without significant effort from the end user.

Through Delos, Scialla has also established the Well Living Lab where he and his team

undertake tests within simulated workspace, residential and hotel room environments. This allows them to gain ‘real time feedback’ on things like respiratory and sleeping patterns, heart rate variability, long-term stress indicators and more. All of which is building a compelling body of data that IWBI will have at its disposal.

Broader still are the economic and societal impacts that flow on from this research and the ongoing growth of the WELL program.

When you consider the opportunity to introduce this notion of prevention in daily lives through a vehicle as large as real estate, the potential is, well, exponential.

Ric Navarro Global Director Communications & Marketing NDY * The Future Laboratory, Trend Briefing 2016: The Age of the Long Near (presented Melbourne, February 2016)

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Consulting Matters Protecting your business

Is my practice covered for work undertaken by contract staff or independent contractors?

Professional indemnity insurance is designed to protect your practice against claims that arise from errors and omissions associated with the provision of professional advice and services. These professional services are usually provided by employees on behalf of the practice (their employer). So when something goes wrong that results in a claim, it is the practice which is sued. Employees are rarely sued personally.

The practice’s professional indemnity insurance policy will cover it for work that has been carried out by ‘employees’ (provided that they meet the test described below).

However, practices sometimes want to engage the services of an independent contractor rather than engage under a contract of employment. This could be because specialist skills are required from a specific individual for a short time only or for the duration of a specific project and it may not be appropriate to engage them as an employee.

Is the practice covered in the same way for work carried by these ‘contract staff’ or ‘independent contractors’ as they would be for work carried out by ‘employees’ under its professional indemnity policy?

If the work is carried out by an ‘employee’, then the answer is yes – the practice will be covered.

If the work is carried out by an ‘independent contractor’ then the answer is no. However, there are steps that a professional business can take so that it is appropriately covered.

EMPLOYER OR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR – ‘THE INSURANCE TEST’ The most important thing to determine is whether a person is an ‘employee’ for the purposes of the professional indemnity policy.

The test to determine this for insurance purposes is different to other legal tests (for example tax purposes). So a person might be an employee for insurance purposes but not for other purposes and vice versa.

Although each policy wording will be slightly different, generally a person will be an

Is the practice covered in the same way for work carried by these ‘contract staff’ or ‘independent contractors’ as they would be for work carried out by ‘employees’ under its professional indemnity policy? ‘employee’ for the purposes of a professional indemnity policy if they are: • A natural person (as opposed to a Pty Ltd company); • Undertaking the business as noted on the policy schedule; • Appropriately qualified; and • Controlled and supervised by the insured entity.

Sometimes an independent contractor will set up their own Pty Ltd company to invoice your practice directly for the services they provide; in other instances, the individual person will invoice directly.

If the independent contractor provides its services through a company, it will not be an employee for insurance purposes (even if it meets all the other tests).

However, it may not always be quite so clear cut. For example, your practice might engage a person to provide specialist services and although that person invoices you directly and is appropriately qualified, the practice is not supervising them. Are they an employee or an independent contractor? What does the practice need to do to make sure that it is appropriately covered for their work?

You should first consider all relevant factors to determine whether you are dealing with an employee or an independent contractor, such as: •W ho is this person and what services are they providing?

•A re those services being provided through a company or directly by an individual? Check which person / company is invoicing the practice.

Protecting your business Consulting Matters

• What contribution does this person make to the practice?

• What level of supervision does the individual need, and what level of supervision can the practice provide?

• Is the practice able to supervise them, or are the services they are providing too specialist to supervise?

• Is this person treated to all intents and purposes as an employee, or is this person really behaving more like a business from whom the practice is buying services?

INSURANCE OPTIONS If you are dealing with an ‘employee’ situation you do not need to do anything.

If you are dealing with an ‘independent contractor’, there are two options: You can either: •R equire them to carry their own professional indemnity insurance (particularly if they are providing their services under a Pty Ltd company rather than as an individual). If you choose this option, then you will need to ensure that they are contractually required to maintain this insurance for an appropriate period of time after the work is completed; or •A sk your insurer to note them on the practice’s professional indemnity insurance policy. This is done through a ‘Contractor’s Endorsement’ (sometimes also referred to as a ‘subcontractor / agent / consultant endorsement'). You will need to provide your broker with the independent contractor’s name and ABN and a copy of their resume, and confirm they are providing professional services listed under the practice’s policy schedule.

If the practice decides to obtain a contractor’s endorsement remember that: •O nce an independent contractor’s name is included on the endorsement their name will need to stay there; and •T he endorsement covers the practice for work undertaken by the independent contractor for and on behalf of the practice (and not for other work they may undertake – they would need to maintain their own insurance for that).

Beth Tricker Risk Manager (QLD/NT) Planned Cover (PI Pathway partner)

Professional Indemnity question?

Consult Australia believes that it is important to support members in all aspects of their business.

We also recognise the impact that the insurance market has on Consult Australia member firms in terms of availability, affordability and quality of Professional Indemnity insurance.

Post your latest Professional Indemnity insurance cases on the Consult Australia Linkedin group and our PI Insurance Pathway will advise you on the best steps to tackle these issues.

BRIC

Bovill Risk & Insurance Consultants

Protecting Professionals

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Consulting Matters Business essentials

ACO’s market leading modular trench drain ACO’s trench drains are highly regarded in the construction industry for their drainage effectiveness, efficiency, durability and choice of architectural grates. Here are eight (8) reasons why designers specify the world’s best commercial trench drain system

Poor mechanical features

Good mechanical features

1. COMPLIANCE ACO’s drainage systems meet both Australian and international standards, AS3996 (Access Covers and Grates) and EN1433 (Drainage channels for vehicular and pedestrian areas) respectively. Additionally, all grates have been load tested and NATA certified. ACO has NATA accreditation (No.15193) for its testing laboratory and, for its standard and custom grates, can provide NATA certified test reports to both AS3996 and EN1433.

2. MATERIALS AND DESIGN Materials used to manufacture ACO’s drainage products are selected carefully for their superior durability in Australian conditions, making systems suitable for all applications. This includes light duty urban environments to busy motorways and heavy duty industrial applications.

Polycrete® Channels, grates and edge rails are manufactured from a variety of robust, durable and aesthetic materials designed to suit a large number of application environments and project specifications. ACO offers a suite of channel and grate options depending on the intended application.

Polycrete® is ACO’s trademark for polymer concrete castings made in Sydney from

a manufacturing process that is highly regulated by batch testing and stringent quality practices. Polymer concrete is a composite that comprises a polyester resin binder reinforced by mineral aggregates and fillers. The resulting castings are strong, compact and impervious to moisture as well as resistant to chemical and biological attack making Polycrete® Channels the most precision manufactured and durable product solution on the market.

The edge rails are the exposed edges of the trench, which secure the grate into position, and because they are exposed to the same loads as the grate, they are robust and integrally cast. Edge rails are fitted with interlocking lugs to prevent the longitudinal movement of grates, a common failure mode for inferiorly designed trench drains with ill-fitting rails. ACO’s rails are manufactured from rolled galvanised steel or stainless steel or cast ductile iron for optimum durability.

Finally, a trench drain’s design life is heavily influenced by how well it keys into a slab or pavement. This is critical for load transference and uniform loading stress distribution. ACO’s Polycrete® Channels incorporate a mechanical keying design comprising deep pockets and large structural ribs. This ensures that the drain, when installed correctly, works homogeneously with its encasement surrounds for the intended design life of the pavement or slab

3. HYDRAULIC EFFICIENCY ACO’s trench drains are uniquely designed with a ‘V’ profile. This is very different to the typical ‘U’ shape or flat bottom drain characteristically supplied in the industry. ‘U’ shaped drains, whilst easy to manufacture,

are prone to sedimentary build up as the geometry tends to minimise water depth and therefore water velocity. Water has a tendency to move under the influence of its own weight. The deeper the water, the quicker it moves.

In stark contrast, ACO’s trench drains are designed to maximise water depths. Oddly enough, the benefits are realised during (the more common) minor rainfalls events, where water depths (i.e. velocities) need to be maximized to produce a better selfcleaning effect. This is extremely important because it ensures drains are sediment-free in preparation for the next major storm event that produces the peak flows. The drainage is further improved by polymer concrete’s smooth surface, which enables fluids to flow at their optimum speed with less friction.

Flat and level pavements are the safest to walk or drive on but extremely difficult to drain. This is because water can only flow efficiently downhill. Standing water can be dangerous or at least be a nuisance. To solve this, ACO’s trench drains comprise channels with continuously sloped inverts for up to 40 metres in length with a 0.5% built-in slope, in a range of widths and load classes. This allows designers to only incorporate simple,

Consulting Matters

Trench drainage that performs!

ACO’s Superior Hydraulic, V-shaped sloped trench drains Draining flat pavements is challenging.

Efficient drainage requires water to flow downhill; thereby removing runoff quickly and keeping drains silt free.

ACO’s hydraulically smooth V-shaped Polycrete® Channels ensure maximum liquid velocities even under low rainfall conditions. The result is a cleaner and clearer drain, ready for peak storms.

ACO’s sloped channels can provide continuous sloped runs up to 80m in flat pavements with a single outlet.

Available in a range of widths and load classes.

ACO’s Sydney based Technical Services Department offers complimentary fully documented advice on hydraulics for individual projects.

Ph: 1300 765 226 | sales@acoaus.com.au | www.acoaus.com.au

ACO. The future of drainage

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Consulting Matters Business essentials

safe and subtle falls in their pavements as opposed to complex falls required for nonsloping channels or isolated grated pits.

4. EASY INSTALLATION ACO’s newest trench drain installation device allows for quicker installation.

The device also removes any uncertainty and instability that once existed with poorly skilled contractors when installing modular drains.

Channel elements can also be set up quickly and securely whilst allowing for single concrete pour operations. ACO’s innovative design was developed in conjunction with its new generation trench drain to ensure perfect alignment of joints and channel heights.

5. BOLTLESS GRATES

Unlike conventional trench drains, ACO’s systems contain no bolts and provide secure locking while enabling rapid removal and replacement of grates for quick and easy installation and maintenance. Light to medium duty grates are secured with the Quicklok boltless locking device. A nylon stud is factory fitted to the grate, allowing it to snap tight into a bar positioned across the channel. ACO’s heavy duty grates are secured with PowerLok. This locking system doesn’t require a locking bar and is surrounded by the anti-shunt lugs (mentioned previously) positioned in the edge rail to prevent longitudinal movement from traffic loads.

6. HEELSAFE® ANTISLIP ACO believe that small slotted grates and slip resistance should go hand in hand.

Compliant to a number of Australian

Standards for pedestrian, wheelchair, bicycle and cane use, ACO’s slip resistant grates are available in a range of designs and materials to suit individual application requirements.

There are 9 different types of foot friendly grates to suit all projects. Each grate has been slip rated to AS 4586 (Slip resistance classification of new pedestrian surface materials) to give pedestrians assurance under foot

7. TECHNICAL SERVICES ACO has invested heavily to technically support its product lines. Staffed by qualified engineers and equipped with purpose-written computer software, a design service is offered as a no-obligation service and is backed up with extensive, high quality information. ACO’s Technical Services Department can offer professionally presented documented advice on water management layouts, hydraulics, correct product selection, through to advice on installation and maintenance. ACO has also conducted extensive water intake tests on all of its grates at the Water Research Laboratory, UNSW. Comprehensive research and development, both independently, and in conjunction with leading academic institutions and research bodies, have been key to the ACO’s success.

8. CUSTOMER SERVICE ACO’s objective is to provide a ‘right first time’ policy to complement our unmatched technical support and innovative culture.

When you deal with an Australian manufacturer, you can expect world-class customer service without delays. ACO

continually trains and develops its employees so they are empowered to not only provide the customer with the right information, but also deliver it with the right attitude. ACO’s sales force offers a comprehensive support service for specifiers and installers. Its internal telesales offices deal with incoming enquiries and orders.

Stocks of product are located at strategic locations in all major cities, which are constantly being replenished from ACO’s manufacturing facility in Sydney. Logistics and distribution teams are responsible for supplying orders to customers correctly and on time.

For more information, visit www.acoaus.com.au or speak to our friendly sales assistants on 1300 765 226

Business essentials Consulting Matters

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Defining the purpose of super will embed infrastructure in portfolios If you look at the mission statements of most super funds, it’s hard to differentiate between them. The words vary, but they pretty much say the same thing: 'To deliver income and financial security to members in retirement'.

So when you read the debate about defining the purpose of superannuation, it is easy to wonder what the fuss is about when providers and beneficiaries seem to have the same understanding and to share the same view.

Despite this, there is general consensus among politicians and across the industry that enshrining super’s purpose in legislation is a good idea. In essence, it will in theory reduce or at least confine 'fiddling with the rules' around super in the future and therefore promote public confidence in the system.

However, defining the purpose of super is unlikely to resolve any of the budgetary pressures faced by a nation with an aging population. The challenges around less tax payers supporting a greater number of nontaxpayers will still exist.

From the perspective of Consult Australia’s stakeholders, it will not resolve the underlying tension between super’s stated purpose to make Australians as financially self-sufficient as possible and devising means for government to access the trillions of superannuation dollars to support public infrastructure.

The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, recently suggested that government needs to put strategies in place to encourage super funds to allocate a greater proportion of the infrastructure investments domestically rather than overseas.

The question is: HOW DO SUPER FUNDS VIEW INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND WHAT MAKES IT ATTRACTIVE? The headline to this is that while an aging population creates a budgetary challenge for the government, it actually increases the attractiveness of some infrastructure investments for super funds.

The super industry is itself going through a major transition, in which infrastructure investment will play a role. This is being driven by an increasing proportion of fund members moving from the savings phase

From the perspective of Consult Australia’s stakeholders, it will not resolve the underlying tension between super’s stated purpose to make Australians as financially self-sufficient as possible and devising means for government to access the trillions of superannuation dollars to support public infrastructure. into drawdown phase—from accumulation into retirement income accounts.

This changes cashflows for funds, as members begin to receive regular income from them rather than contribute. From an investment perspective, this makes assets that will deliver reliable long-term income streams more attractive. In the equities world, it means investing in companies that pay attractive dividends more than those likely to deliver spectacular capital gains.

So the investment criteria typically applied by funds, looked at through the Equip prism, include: Scale – A major success factor. Impact on asset allocation, concentrated risk and liquidity; Risk/return – Income generating (bondlike 6 to 8 per cent returns); or growth asset (equity-like 10 to 12 per cent returns); gearing (potential volatility of cashflows); Income – More attractive as members enter retirement phase; Gatekeepers – direct to fund or via external managers? Investments in the $100m to $500m range best pitched to aggregators; Active shareholding – As direct co-investors, funds want some influence over decisions in development and management of assets.

Enshrining the purpose of super in legislation will provide a more solid framework within which the community can plan for the future with a higher degree of confidence—both at the individual and collective levels.

It will redouble the focus of super funds in delivering financial adequacy in retirement for their members and, by so doing, will embed fund investment behaviour that will

encourage them to continue to seek the long-term, income-generating investments from attractive infrastructure investments— whether direct or through financial instruments like social bonds.

Ultimately, infrastructure investment considerations are like any other super funds make. They must support funds’ capacity to meet their fiduciary obligations and the expectations of their members.

Geoff Brooks Executive Officer, Strategic Marketing and Communications EquipSuper

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Consulting Matters Corporate social responsibility

Bringing an outdoor space to life for cancer charity

GHD’s Young Professionals (YPs) in South Queensland have volunteered their time to redesign the outdoor space and create a community garden at the Leukaemia Foundation head office in Brisbane.

Cindy Fenton, who leads GHD’s YP group in South Queensland, says, “We have an ongoing relationship with the Leukaemia Foundation, which helps support blood cancer patients and funds life-saving research. This time, we went above and beyond typical fundraising and volunteering.

Instead, we used our planning, design and engineering skills to create a calming space that was comfortable for Leukaemia Foundation staff, volunteers and patients, and adaptable to different types of events.”

The first phase of the Regeneration Project comprised the design of a community garden, mural, bench seating and general layout of the space. YPs embarked on a collaborative design process and consulted with Leukaemia Foundation staff and volunteers to develop options for this outdoor space.

The team then volunteered their own time over a weekend to paint walls, plant and put together garden beds. GHD Urban Planner

Business essentials Consulting Matters

37

and House Rules finalist Danielle Russell and her husband, Ben, enlivened the garden with floral murals.

Overall, approximately 200 hours were donated by YPs through internal discussions, ideas generation and the working bee.

Cindy adds, “The Regeneration Project presented an opportunity for YPs to be the drivers of design, while giving back to our community. The project brought some much-needed colour to a previously unused space, while enabling young professionals to further develop skills in client and job management, and communication.”

Some of the design elements included: •S electing plants that are easy to maintain and unlikely to cause hay fever and allergic reactions; •B ench seating for older volunteers to avoid standing for extended periods; and •M oveable planter boxes to allow the space to be used for corporate stand-up events.

The next phase of this project, to be completed later this year, will consider options for shading the area. It will also involve another working bee by volunteers from GHD and the Leukaemia Foundation.

You can check out some photos at leukaemiaqld.org.au/regeneration.

Cindy Fenton GHD

How does your super fund measure up?

Like you, we believe the future can only be built on vision, planning and skilled implementation.

It is a philosophy that has enabled us to deliver consistently strong investment performance for over 80 years.

Our goal is to better equip you to achieve an adequate income in retirement. As an Equip member, your ready access to information and professional advice can help you make the most of your super.

If you’re an employer considering a switch to a high-performing fund for your employees, or you’re just looking for a fund that can take care of your future, we’re ready to take your call.

National Sponsor

John Farrington Executive Officer, Corporate Relationships

For personal super inquiries:

(03) 9248 5911; Mob: 0438 302 746

1800 682 626

Email: jfarrington@equipsuper.com.au

www.equipsuper.com.au

Equipsuper Pty Ltd ABN 64 006 964 049 AFSL 246383 is the Trustee of the Equipsuper Superannuation Fund ABN 33 813 823 017. This information is general information only.

Before making a decision to invest in the fund, you should read the appropriate Equip Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). Past performance is not an indication of future performance.

38

Consulting Matters Corporate social responsibility

Shining a Light on Humanitarian Aid

John Simpson in Jordan

John Simpson and Ethiopian colleagues

Australian electrical engineer John Simpson hopes to save the World Food Programme (WFP) hundreds of thousands of dollars in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia currently hosts more than 650,000 refugees from neighbouring South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia and many are dependent on WFP food aid. Meanwhile, a drought, brought on by the El Nino effect, has left 10.2 million locals in need of emergency food assistance and WFP is assisting the Government to provide this.

Deployed to Ethiopia by RedR Australia in May this year, he is installing and maintaining electricity supplies that will enable the WFP to operate a biometric fingerprint scanner in their food distribution sites, which are located in remote refugee camps and drought stricken areas.

Biometric scanning reduces fraud, ensures the right people get the food aid and enables efficient distribution. WFP and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees began implementing biometric fingerprint scanning in some of their global operations in 2013 and realised savings of more than AUD2 million a month. However, it requires electricity and that’s where RedR Australia has stepped in to deploy John Simpson’s expertise.

“I’ll be determining the requirements and supervising the installation of electrical services and associated general maintenance required for its upkeep,” John said.

“We will need to use automatic voltage regulators to compensate for the irregular supply as well as back-up generators,” he explained from his base in the capital of Addis Ababa.

“In a situation like this, AC voltage stabilisers are used to maintain a supply voltage at a constant level. The type being used by WFP is an Autotransformer which uses servomechanism to adjust the transformers winding ratio to keep the voltage constant.

These are placed after the incoming supply from the electricity company and before the load that the WFP facilities need. Voltage stabilisers are not typically used in Australia where the voltage supply is pretty good,” he said.

John is part of a team responsible for the installation and maintenance of all electrical services to WFP’s offices and warehouses across Ethiopia. The electricity will not only enable the biometric system but also ensure warehouse staff can operate computers and get access to air conditioning in places where temperatures often reach into the high forties.

A former research engineer at the University of Wollongong, John has been deploying with RedR for the past six years and this is his fifth assignment.

“It’s a change from my usual work and it’s interesting work because you can see the result of what you do and you are working with a lot of people from around the world.

You have a common purpose and the need is immediate.”

Previously, John worked on the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan and helped install and maintain electricity to the Zaatari camp which went on to house more than 100,000 refugees.

“The Zaatari role involved organising electrical supplies across the camp for hospitals, medical clinics, offices, schools, food distributions centres and supermarkets.

Getting a limited electrical supply to the refugees and controlling their usage was also an enormous challenge,” he said.

“The role had a large interaction with people with expertise in areas outside your own including health, site planning, security, water and sanitation, field and community people. There was also a large interaction

Electrical mess Zaatari

with the refugee community. I got to watch the progress and was part of providing the infrastructure that helped turn a refugee camp into something resembling a city.”

John was attracted to RedR Australia after seeing an article about the organisation in Engineers Australia’s magazine.

“I had not previously had any experience in the humanitarian sector, with the United Nations or worked in third world countries. People on the RedR roster are selected for their professional expertise. In my roles with RedR I have worked as an engineer and believe I was given these roles because of my relevant engineering experience not because of my great knowledge of the humanitarian sector,” John said adding that he built his knowledge of the humanitarian sector by doing RedR’s training courses in Essentials of Humanitarian Practice and Personal Safety Security and Communications.

If you are interested in joining RedR’s humanitarian roster or finding our more about opportunities in the humanitarian sector by participating in their training courses, you can find more information on their website at www.redr.org.au Consulting Australia is a founding partner of RedR Australia.

Consulting Matters

39

SELECTED TRAINED DEPLOYED for short-term paid international emergency work Mel Schmidt, natural disaster relief effort, Pakistan 2012

Do you have what it takes? Visit www.redr.org.au infrastructure repair and replacement + shelter + water and sanitation + site planning + logistics

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Consulting Matters

Project case studies Consulting Matters

41

Shaping a new gateway for Perth

Aerial view of completed Grand Gateway to Western Australia

For many visitors to Perth, the drive through the landmark Gateway WA project will be their first experience of the city and the state of Western Australia.

The largest ever project undertaken by Main Roads Western Australia has transformed one of the state’s most important transport hubs, providing safer and more efficient links between the airport and the city.

Main Roads Western Australia worked with an alliance made up of GHD, AECOM, BG&E, Georgiou and CPB Contractors (a member of the CIMIC Group).The project was completed almost a year ahead of schedule and under budget.

The project widened 7 km of Tonkin Highway to six lanes, upgraded 3 km of Leach Highway to expressway standard, constructed four new grade-separated interchanges and upgraded a fifth interchange, including the Grand Gateway three-level interchange that provides new access to Perth Airport.

For the first time in Western Australia, the design incorporates coloured and patterned way-finding cues integrated into the infrastructure and planting to assist drivers to successfully negotiate the complex road network.

The urban design realises the concept of ‘Ribbons through the Landscape’, inspired by the city, the Swan River and the Darling Range. The iconic design elements include the ‘Earth Ribbon’, an 800 m long section of stratified rusted steel panels representing the ancient geology and Indigenous heritage of the Noongar country, and the ‘Sky Ribbon’, more than 220 large aluminium panels representing the journeys, and the contemporary aspirations of Western Australia.

The project also incorporates the largest stand-alone art installation of its kind in Australia, known as Land Art Gateway. Gravel and natural vegetation convey a composite of universal themes of Indigenous artists from across the state. This artwork can be easily viewed by motorists and air travellers arriving or departing Perth, and provides a striking introduction to the state.

The focus on creating a sense of place is also evident in the planting of more than one million plants in collaboration with Kings Park and Botanic Garden. More than 90 per cent of the plants selected are endemic to the Perth area, with the remainder being natives and wildflowers from other parts of the state.

One of the project challenges was the design of the Leach Highway and Tonkin

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Consulting Matters Project case studies

The focus on creating a sense of place is also evident in the planting of more than one million plants in collaboration with Kings Park and Botanic Garden. More than 90 per cent of the plants selected are endemic to the Perth area, with the remainder being natives and wildflowers from other parts of the state.

Highway interchange, which had to meet height restrictions for the adjacent airport.

As a result, the ramp roadways were taken underneath a section of the new interchange using waterproof, reinforced concrete ‘bath’ structures. These structures were needed as the road would intercept natural groundwater levels, while environmental controls prevented permanent lowering of groundwater.

Gateway WA also incorporated road and bridge improvements, local road modifications, 21 km of continuous grade separated shared path and local connections for pedestrians and cyclists, 6 km of noise/ screen walls, landscaping and installing

approximately one million plants, innovative urban design and intelligent transport system technology.

Most recently, Gateway WA achieved the second highest Infrastructure Sustainability rating for a completed project from the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia. The rating recognised excellence in managing waste, protection of fauna, recognition of Indigenous heritage and innovations in design to improve road safety.

The road upgrades cater for an anticipated doubling of passenger air travel, and the doubling of freight and container transport within the surrounding industrial precinct by 2030.

The project’s success has been achieved thanks to a partnership between industry leaders and the state’s road authority, as well as collaboration with stakeholders such as Perth Airport, the freight industry, local councils and the surrounding community.

Martin Coyle and John White GHD

EASY CHOICES!

Consulting Matters

43

CONSULT AUSTRALIA IS ON YOUR SIDE

Consult Australia believes that it is important to support members in all aspects of their business.

We also recognise the impact that the insurance market has on Consult Australia member firms in terms of availability, affordability and quality of Professional Indemnity insurance.

Protecting Professionals

BRIC

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Consult Australia’s PI Insurance Pathway gives Consult Australia members access to the PI market through a Panel of Brokers selected by Consult Australia. Consult Australia is providing a referral service only and is not providing any form of financial advice or offering a financial product. Consult Australia does not guarantee the value, price and terms of cover that may be received from any member of the Panel of Brokers. Any agreement entered into through use of the PI Insurance Pathway will be expressly between the Panel Broker and the Consult Australia member firm.

March 2016

To get a quote please visit: www.consultaustralia.com.au/pipathway.aspx

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Safety in Design