2016 March Consulting Matters

AUTUMN 2016

The power of middle management 24

Empowering Our People to Lead

12 Federal Election 2016

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The six key ingredients of a great manager

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Consulting Matters

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CONTENTS Federal Election 2016

12 Bridging the Quay with intelligent design

When the ground is shifting, effective executives listen to their middle managers

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Cover image: Elizabeth Quay Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridge Photo courtesy of Jacaranda Photography and Arup

Industry updates

Features

Industry comment 22

Emergency – urgency – business as usual

Industry updates

2

Financial Review Client Choice Awards

4

When the ground is shifting, effective executives listen to their middle managers

Consult Australia appointments

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Empowering our people to lead

24

New Members

4

The six key ingredients of a great manager

26

What’s happening in Consult Australia

Business essentials

From the President

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From the CEO

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Meet the Consult Australia Board

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Federal Election 2016 ideas for infrastructure

12

Division updates

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An Australian Director Abroad

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A Less Time Travelled

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The perils of middle management

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Corporate Social responsibility Responding to emergencies around the world

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Project case studies The shape of a trench drain and how it affects hydraulic performance 32 Realising a new vision for disability care

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Making mobility cities

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Bridging the Quay with intelligent design

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Consulting Matters

Industry updates

Industry updates NEW APPOINTMENTS Tony Barry, Managing Director Asia at Aurecon (and past-President of ACEA 2004 – 2006) has been appointed as a Director of FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers. He has been involved with FIDIC since 2005 and was most recently a member of the FIDIC ASPAC Executive Committee. See more on page 18.

Ashley Wright (left) will become the next CEO of GHD following the retirement of Ian Shepherd on 31 March 2016. Based in Perth, Ashley is currently General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa and previously led GHD’s Western Australian operations. His career spans 27 years of professional experience across Australia, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and the UK bringing an international perspective that’s aligned to GHD’s expanded global footprint.

Ian Shepherd (left) will retire after a career of over 30 years at GHD, including almost eight years as CEO. Under his leadership, the company has grown significantly, from an annual turnover of AUD0.9 billion in 2008 to AUD1.6 billion in 2015. Ian has led the company through both the boom and the GFC and, more recently, the dramatic decline in global commodity prices.

David Bell (left) has returned to MWH as the Australia New Zealand Transportation General Manager. With significant experience in the transportation sector, David returns to MWH Global after successfully serving as Australian Operations Managing Director for HDR Inc. Prior to this, David was the National Transportation Leader for MWH Australia where he was responsible for the initial start-up and organic growth

of the transportation practice, growing the function to 80 staff.

Ron Chu has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer at Coffey in Sydney.

Mr Chu is currently Executive Vice President and President of Resource Management & Energy at Tetra Tech and has more than 20 years' experience with the current company, serving in various technical and management capacities.

Chye Heng, will retire after 31 years as Chief Financial Officer of Beca. Chye has guided the strategic financial development of the Group from a small New Zealand practice to a large Asia-Pacific professional services consultancy through periods of both growth and volatility. He will remain at the helm of the company’s legal department.

Beca has appointed Mark Fleming (currently the Group Finance Director) (left) to take over the reins as Chief Financial Officer from April 2016. Mark is a Chartered Accountant, a Fellow of CPA Australia and the holder of a Masters in Commerce from the University of Auckland. He joined Beca in 1999 from a senior role in PwC and has been on Beca’s global executive team as Group Finance Director since 2013.

Following nomination by Consult Australia, the FIDIC Young Professional Forum Steering Committee has appointed Darren Beaver from AECOM (previously NDY) as its Australian representative. Darren joins a small team from around the globe to further the interests of young professionals in our industry.

Nicole Stoddart (left) has joined AECOM as Managing Director, Construction Services – Australia and New Zealand, to help build a pipeline of projects across ANZ, meeting the demand from local and global clients for a partner that can design, build, construct

and operate assets on their behalf. Previously at John Holland, she has held management roles with McConnell Dowell, Leighton Contractors and Laing O’Rourke.

Ashley Lang, who had been leading URS Australia’s Oil & Gas business, will continue in that role at AECOM, with her expanded remit within the combined company also including New Zealand. As ANZ Market Sector Director, Oil & Gas, she will oversee a multi-disciplinary team of around 200 that focuses on providing integrated solutions to domestic and international clients.

Kate Dunton, who was previously leading AECOM’s Southern Marketing team, has become the new Director of Clients and Marketing and will now champion AECOM’s client service culture across Australia and New Zealand.

Peter Letts has recently joined the WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff team in Sydney as Transport Major Project Executive. Peter brings over 30 years of Australian road experience to the team.

He was most recently General Manager, Project Delivery at NSW Roads and Maritime Services, responsible for managing a portfolio of projects from $1m to over $1b.

The Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has appointed Tony Gleeson as its new Chief Executive Office. Tony took over AIRAH’s helm on February 1.

Craig Laslett has been appointed Managing Director of Lendlease’s Engineering business in Australia, based in Sydney. Craig has wide experience in engineering and construction, having spent more than 30 years leading projects such as Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station and Brisbane’s Inner City Bypass. He has also led complex and diversified businesses, including four years spent as Managing Director of Leighton Contractors.

Richard Boggon has recently re-joined WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff as General Manager for Transport Services. Richard will lead transport operations and capability

Industry updates

across Australia and New Zealand, bringing significant government, industry and key client experience to the team. pitt&sherry has announced the appointment of Matt Hyatt as Group Executive - Victoria. Matt was previously Technical Director at Aurecon, working on major transport, industrial, mining and water infrastructure projects. He brings to pitt&sherry robust operational management, strong project experience and an intimate understanding of asset planning, design, construction and commissioning. pitt&sherry has announced that Bob Gregg has been appointed to the position of Group Executive – Queensland and Northern Territory. Gregg was previously based in the Brisbane office of VDM Group managing east coast construction operations and responsible for all national and international consulting operations.

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).

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.

SLR Consulting has appointed Suzanne Jolly as Principal Consultant in the Environmental Management, Planning and Approvals team. Suzanne has 17 years’ experience in environmental management, due diligence, strategic business building and client management, and prior to joining SLR held various senior positions with SKM and Jacobs Group.

Andrew Muller (left), previously CFO of Lendlease Construction & Infrastructure Australia, had joined Aurecon as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and as a member of its Executive Committee. This appointment follows the decision of Aurecon CFO, Tony McCusker to step down from the CFO role and to continue working for Aurecon on a part time basis.

Consulting Matters

Editor Kisanne Dulin

Michael Shirley (left) has joined Aurecon as Managing Director, Clients and as a member of Aurecon’s Executive Committee.

Michael joins Aurecon from Jacobs, where he was most recently Group Vice President ANZ Infrastructure and Environment. Throughout his career, Michael has worked with clients on large infrastructure projects and in global delivery across Asia Pacific, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Chair of Good Design Australia, Maureen Thurston (left) has been appointed as Aurecon’s Global Design to Innovate Director.

Maureen joins from Deloitte and is Chair of Design Australia and an Adjunct Professor at UTS, Maureen is an industrial designer, educator, entrepreneur and author. She has over 30 years of experience capturing the aggregate value of design.

Kylie Mercer (left) has been appointed as the new Registrar of the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland (BPEQ) following an extensive five month search. Kylie joins BPEQ from the Queensland Teachers College where she was the Executive Manager - Disciplines and Appeals for nine years

President Andrew Mather

Chief Executive Officer Megan Motto

Director – Policy & Government Relations 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

Accounts and EA to CEO Sara McLellan

Corporate Designer Voltaire Corpuz

Editorial submissions kisanne@consultaustralia.com.au

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

AWARDS

Congratulations to all Consult Australia member firms who were winners in the Financial Review Client Choice Awards 2016!

Congratulations to Consult Australia Member firms Arup, Aurecon, Aecom, GHD, Jacobs and Worley Parsons for being named in the Top 100 Graduate Employers overall and to Arup and Aurecon who were rated by students as #1 and #2 respectively in the civil engineering, building services and construction sector ranking. The Top 100 Graduate Employer Rankings are based on the results of a survey conducted annually by GradAustralia and completed by over 6,000 university students. The survey explores career motivations and expectations, and asks students to nominate graduate employers that most appeal to them.

Firm Awards Best provider to power & utilities – Aurecon Best provider to property – Wood & Grieve Best provided to construction & Infrastructure – Golder Associates Best provider to government & community – Tonkin & Taylor Best New Zealand firm – Tonkin & Taylor Best SA firm – Aurecon Best Vic firm – Golder Associates Best WA firm - Golder Associates

Best consulting engineering firm (revenue under $50m) – non member GTA Consulting Best consulting engineering firm (revenue $50m - $200m) – Tonkin & Taylor Best consulting engineering firm (revenue over $200m) – Golder Associates Practitioner Awards Most client focussed consulting engineer – Brent Thomas (Calibre Consulting) Overall Awards Best professional services firm (rtevenue $50m - $200m) – Tonkin & Taylor

Consult Australia appointment Ryan Bondar, Senior Advisor– Policy & Government Relations Ryan joins Consult Australia after more than a decade working in government relations and public policy.

He has worked for a number of industry associations across a diverse portfolio area representing members with government and other stakeholders.

He has also worked as a government relations consultant assisting clients with a wide range of policy, legislative and regulatory challenges and has worked as a political advisor for both State and Federal members of Parliament.

Contact Ryan on 02 8252 6707 or at ryan@consultaustralia.com.au

New Members ACES Up Engineering AMEY Australia Amplitude Consultants Australian Consulting Engineers BHT Group CH2M decibel (architecture))) Edge Consulting Emdee Consulting Engineering Innovations & Construction GAF Traffic Globe Consulting GML Heritage

Green Business Greenview Consulting Harris Kmon Solutions HDR - QLD Hurley Palmer Flatt InRoads Group Intellect Consulting Jay Doo Consulting JDSI Consulting Engineers KJA (assoc) KSCE Lighting Design Studio Make Architects

Mission Critical Systems Mosaic Orisson Consulting Redpath Partners (assoc) RSA RMA Engineers SafeLink WHS (assoc) Stephen Grubits & Assoc Strucsure Vencer WillowFrank Woods Bagot

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Consulting Matters

What’s happening at Consult Australia

From the President question that there is a very strong link between staff engagement levels and a company’s performance, and there is equally no doubt of the contribution that the engagement, performance and messaging of middle management plays in creating that dynamic.

This fundamentally means that any company that fails to get their middle management team aligned with the company vision and strategy is likely to struggle to achieve either.

Sir Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. Building a middle management team of ‘giants’ would therefore seem to be a sensible strategy for CEOs, and for companies, that want to be successful (and which company doesn’t?).

While it is the CEO that traditionally sets out and articulates the vision of a company or an organisation, that CEO then needs to work with their senior and middle management teams in order to turn that vision into a strategy for the business and it is then largely the middle management team that are primarily responsible for executing and delivering on that strategy.

This makes middle management the direct link between ‘the executive’ of the organisation and its employees—this role mean that they not only have a considerable influence over the culture of the organisation but that they are also key to building and maintaining staff engagement levels and, in turn, ensuring strong company performance.

It is likely that the phrase, ‘the power of middle management was coined in recognition of this aspect of middle managements role. Certainly, there is no

Internal communication is key across all levels of an organisation. Taking the time to create a culture where all staff are aware of and share the vision for the company pays dividends when a shared sense of purpose and ownership over where an organisation is heading sees everyone working together to make that vision become reality.

Support and operations functions, such as HR, marketing, finance and IT, form the backbone of any company regardless of whether they are standalone positions (as in larger firms) or additional duties performed by consultants in smaller ones. In both cases these functions are typically run by a middle management team, and alignment between the way these areas are run and the strategic direction of the company is essential for organisational efficiency and business success. It is therefore important that support functions become business partners of the production departments, and that managers of these functions be recognised as being essential to the delivery of the business strategy.

Support and operations functions, such as HR, marketing, finance and IT, form the backbone of any company regardless of whether they are standalone positions as in larger firms or additional duties performed by consultants in smaller ones.

Through our services and advocacy Consult Australia is focussed on supporting our firm’s middle management in line with their business priorities to deliver commercial success. We do this through engaging them on committees and roundtables, providing training courses to assist in their career growth (both face-to-face and now online through ConsultED); through the provision of tools to help them in strategy development (such as the Practice Performance Survey, Salary Survey and ConsultHR) and through providing opportunities for them to network with peers from across the industry to give just a few examples.

I would therefore encourage our member firms to engage with Consult Australia at all levels of your organisations to make sure you are receiving the real value of these benefits—whether you are the CEO who can encourage the engagement of your middle managers or are a middle manager yourself and want to get more involved I would encourage you to do so.

Consult Australia aims to help our members do business better and as I have just [hopefully clearly!] outlined above—good businesses needs good middle managers— they are not only the future of our industry, they are also its present.

Effective and engaged middle managers can be the difference between simply surviving or actually thriving in a competitive market so I encourage you all to take some time to reflect on the power of middle management and how well you are utilising it/being utilised in your organisation.

Andrew Mather President

What’s happening at Consult Australia

Consulting Matters

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From the CEO We all know that employees join companies, but leave managers, so surely this is the time to step up investment in these critical organisational assets, rather than to leave them to flounder.

The consulting firm of the new era is a very different beast from that which proliferated when I began at Consult Australia some fifteen years ago. These days, a number of our members are large global practices, with hundreds of office locations all around the world. They have many thousands of staff, many of which travel extensively and often work remotely. This makes managing staff an increasingly complex business, and places an often greater onus on middle management to drive change and productivity at the coal face.

As we know from numerous examples in the corporate world, however, the purpose, goals and values of organisations, set by Boards and senior executives, can often get ‘lost in translation’ down the chain of command.

Sophisticated internal communications strategies can go some way to mitigating this risk, but it is increasingly important for these systems to be reinforced by both formal and informal processes.

The Consult Australia Champions of Change, for example, have been on an evolutionary learning path in terms of changing the dial on gender diversity in their organisations.

What becomes blatantly apparent as we embark on this journey is the obvious truth in the old adage ‘what gets measured gets done’. Setting targets (whether they be gender, retention, safety or anything else) becomes a redundant exercise if they are not accompanied by accountability. This is what the Champions call ‘targets with teeth’, and it drives accountability for action through organisations to affect real rather than superficial change.

Middle managers then become the key to driving enduring change, and organisational performance. However for many at this level in firms, the competing priorities of an increasing workload, additional pressure and

mounting personal and family responsibilities can mean it’s difficult to find the space to invest in developing leadership and management capability.

All firms should recognise the importance of continued professional development, but often for middle managers this is left more up to chance and osmosis than structured programs. We all know that employees join companies, but leave managers, so surely this is the time to step up investment in these critical organisational assets, rather than to leave them to flounder.

For these reasons, Consult Australia has been working with our Skills Roundtable (consisting of the HR Managers of many of our largest firms) to develop a deeper capability in delivering on-line training for our members in a range of areas. The newly launched ConsultED lists 15 different courses in areas such as; Legal, Standards and Codes; Business Practice; Health and Safety; and, Human Resources to assist middle managers and leaders of firms to both comply with legislative and regulatory requirements, and run more productive businesses.

This on-line resource recognises the constraints on consultants and provides a true learning opportunity that is high quality, efficient in delivery, and cognisant of time and geographical constraints. There will be more courses added in the future, so keep an eye on this cost effective resource!

In addition to this, we have also added a capacity building day for Managers of smallmedium firms (as well as aspiring managers) at the beginning of this year's ASPAC CEO Conference (running 27-29 April). This provides a unique opportunity to give our members both formal, structured learning, as well as informal opportunities to network with their peers in order to build leadership capability across our sector. The overall

program (for both this day and the main Conference) is once again outstanding, and will be a forum not to be missed.

After all, it is only the continued up-skilling of our leaders AND middle managers that will build a resilient industry that will not just cope, but thrive in the new and changing world we encounter.

Megan Motto Consult Australia

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Consulting Matters

What’s happening at Consult Australia

Meet the Consult Australia Board Consult Australia is pleased to welcome the following individuals to the Board of Consult Australia. The Board is comprised of continuing Directors: Camille McGregor (Aurecon), Neill Stevens (NS Projects) and Kiri Parr (Arup), re-elected members: Andrew Mather (WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff) and James Wright (Orrisson Consulting) and new members: Max Bomben (Calibre consulting) and Gerry Doyle (Tonkin Consulting).

Top row from left: James Wright, Camille McGregor, Andrew Mather, Kiri Parr and Megan Motto Bottom row from left: Neill Stevens, Max Bomben and Gerry Doyle

Introducing our new board members

MAX BOMBEN Max Bomben is the Managing Director of Calibre Consulting, a multidisciplinary

built environment professional services firm that employs more than 650 staff with offices across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Since joining Calibre following the acquisition of Brown Consulting in 2011, Max has contributed significantly to the planning and strategic growth of the company. In recognition of his strong business acumen and leadership he was appointed Managing Director in April 2015. During his time at Calibre he has held various management roles including, Executive General Manager of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Max’s twenty plus years of experience is credited to his hands on and direct involvement in a number of major civil infrastructure projects including roads, bridges and subdivisions. Max’s experience demonstrates an intimate understanding

of complex engineering solutions across constructability, industry change and innovation.

In addition to his roles within Calibre, Max is also active in a variety of business and industry organisations. His industry participation demonstrates his commitment to the engineering and building industry 1. WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING THE CONSULTING SECTOR IN AUSTRALIA? First is the commoditisation of professional services by awarding contracts on a ‘lowest fee’ basis. Too often clients award projects to the lowest fee which typically results in delivery of substandard services.

It’s important that clients do not select consultants based solely on price, but

What’s happening at Consult Australia

consider criteria such as past experience, methodology and project team as well as their ability to deliver value. I am keen to work with the Consult Australia leadership team to reinforce the value of “Quality Based Assessment” to industry.

Another challenge for the sector is the delivery of mega projects. Frequently clients package projects under the assumption that ‘bigger is better’. However, this presents challenges on multiple fronts, including staff retention for those firms who are not successful. Equally at the conclusion of major projects there is often a significant downsizing of staff. In the case of mega projects, given the size of the Australian workforce, we also need to question whether industry has the capacity to actually deliver such projects at a local level.

2. WHY DID YOU STAND FOR THE BOARD AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACHIEVE? I stood for the Board in order to be part of an

Consulting Matters

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Gender diversity continues to be a critical issue, particularly in the civil and structural engineering fields. The male/female ratio in the technical disciplines is a disservice to the profession. industry association which I have believed in for a long time. In this role, I hope to provide new ideas on how to become an association that is seen by government, at both state and national level, as the primary source for thought leadership and engagement on issues regarding the built environment and consulting sector.

Gender diversity continues to be a critical issue, particularly in the civil and structural engineering fields. The male/female ratio in the technical disciplines is a disservice to the profession. For change to happen we need to

do more, talk less. At my own firm, we have a scholarship program specifically designed to support young women considering engineering as a career. In 2016 we have 15 young women participating in the Dream Big Scholarship. I have also introduced a leave buy-back program and flexible working policies, which help not only women, but all staff, maintain a work-life balance. Firms need to be progressive in this area.

If the Australian economy is to thrive into the future we have to ensure that we have a supply of suitably skilled technical people working in Australia and the best way to do that is to make the profession attractive.

GERRY DOYLE Gerry Doyle is the Chief Executive Officer for Tonkin Consulting, a South Australian firm with 60 years’ experience providing engineering solutions for local government, state government and private clients. Under Gerry’s leadership, Tonkin Consulting has expanded its geographic reach from four offices to six around Australia. Gerry is a Civil Engineer with broad and practical experience in the design and project management of water supply and wastewater projects in South Australia. A number of these involved the planning, consultation and development of negotiated solutions to successfully meet key stakeholder and business needs in complex and challenging environments.

1. What are the biggest issues facing the consulting sector in Australia?

In my opinion, the biggest issues facing the consulting sector are workloads and skills development.

We work in an environment where there is a boom and then a bust. When the boom is on, there aren’t enough people to fill the jobs, salaries increase and costs skyrocket. When a bust comes there are widespread redundancies, graduates can’t get experience, a lot of people leave the industry and everyone undercuts each other to try to win work. If the Australian economy is to thrive into the future we have to ensure that we have a supply of suitably skilled technical people working in Australia and the best way to do that is to make the profession attractive. To do that we need to be able to provide stable employment into the future which means that we need to provide stable workloads.

The second issue is the offshoring of skills development that has the potential to mean Australia doesn’t have the skills to be self-sufficient and is dependent on other countries for skilled technical people.

2. Why did you stand for the Board and what would you like to achieve?

I stood for the Board as it was an opportunity for me to contribute beyond the company I

work for. I believe that the consulting industry needs to play an important role in the future Australian economy and I hope that I can contribute to Consult Australia continuing its active role in this space. I also believe that Consult Australia plays an important role for SMEs, and as a representative of a SME, I believe that I can provide input into the needs of similar businesses which I hope will in turn enable them to focus on what they are best at while at the same time providing an opportunity for Consult Australia.

My final reason for joining the Board was to add to the geographic diversification of the Board. As someone who is based in Adelaide and manages a business with offices in South Australia and the Northern Territory, I am well place to also provide representation for these parts of Australia.

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

The returning Consult Australia Board ANDREW MATHER, MANAGING DIRECTOR: PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT & RESOURCES, WSP | PARSONS BRINCKERHOFF GROUP – ASIA PACIFIC REGION Consult Australia President Andrew Mather was previously the Regional Managing Director of WSP Group for the Asia Pacific Region. Andrew has over 25 year’s history as an integral part of the development of the WSP Group including CEO of WSP Africa and Regional Managing Director for WSP Group’s Asia Pacific Region. He is responsible for WSP Group’s interests in the region and for expanding the region both geographically and into new disciplines and sectors. Andrew was on the Council of the Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) for seven years prior to re-locating to Australia.

KIRI PARR, REGIONAL LEGAL COUNSEL, ARUP Consult Australia Vice President Kiri Parr is Regional Legal Counsel for Arup, leading the delivery of legal services to the business in the region, which encompasses Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Indonesia. Kiri has been with Arup for eight years and her role extends to risk management, contract negotiation, dispute management and general legal advice.

Prior to joining Arup in 2005, Kiri worked for 10 years in private practice specialising in construction law. Kiri has a Bachelor of Arts and Law is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

JAMES WRIGHT, DIRECTOR, ORISSON CONSULTING James Wright is the principal consultant at Orisson Consulting, a boutique business advisory practice focused on supporting clients in the built and natural environment. Prior to this, James was the Australian Managing Director for Beca, a broad engineering and management consultancy servicing government and private clients across infrastructure, industrial, buildings and defence sectors. James has also held various leadership roles with KBR, including Director of Business Operations for the Asia Pacific and General Manager for Queensland. He has led significant organisational change programs and has been on numerous corporate boards and leadership teams across major projects and capital programs. With 25 years’ experience in the industry, James brings a strong business perspective and broad regional knowledge to the Board. James is a mechanical engineer and holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

CAMILLE MCGREGOR, DIRECTOR, CLIENT ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT, AURECON Camille has worked in the professional services industry for over 17 years with SKM, Jacobs and now Aurecon.

Camille has held a variety of operational, client, strategic and project leadership roles in Melbourne and Adelaide over that time primarily across the water, natural resources, and infrastructure sectors. Camille is an environmental scientist by background and has a Bachelor of Science and Arts and a Master of Environment. Her current role is as a Director, Client Account Management at Aurecon. This is Camille’s second term on the Consult Australia Board where she also sits on the Risk Committee and the Nominations & Remuneration Committee.

NEILL STEVENS, MANAGING DIRECTOR, NS PROJECTS Neill has over 32 years experience, focusing on the property development and construction industries, mostly at senior management and director level. As Managing Director of NS Projects, Neill has been involved in the direction and project management of many high profile urban renewal, built form, infrastructure and land development projects in the public and private sectors. His expertise is in the leadership of project initiation, feasibility studies, due diligence, commercial analysis and development and implementation of project procurement and delivery strategies.

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

Federal Election 2016 ideas for infrastructure "Infrastructure spending has a role to play in sustaining growth and also in generating confidence. […] it would be confidence-enhancing if there was an agreed story about a long-term pipeline of infrastructure projects, surrounded by appropriate governance on project selection, risk-sharing between public and private sectors at varying stages of production and ownership, and appropriate pricing for use of the finished product. […] The real economy would benefit from the steady pipeline of construction work – as opposed to a boom and bust. It would also benefit from confidence about improved efficiency of logistics over time resulting from the better infrastructure."

Glenn Stevens – Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia. Brisbane. 10 June 2015

As we approach the 2016 Federal Election, the need for new ideas and fresh thinking to stimulate productivity, jobs and growth is increasingly acute.

With the GST off the table and negative gearing reforms sparking opposition in industry and government, real tax and federation reform looks set to become a political plaything for yet another Parliamentary term. With no real solution to the looming challenges of health and

education spending demands across the states and territories, it is becoming increasingly apparent that candidates for election are going to need some more meaningful policies to build their credibility with the electorate.

Off the back of the Australian Infrastructure Plan, new opportunities to invest in and deliver productivity-boosting infrastructure may herald the greatest policy and economic opportunities for the country.

Our infrastructure networks provide access to employment, facilitate social inclusion, and allow our cities to grow. Transport infrastructure alone moves 520 billion tonne kms of freight each year, supplying Australia’s industry, enabling export revenues, and supporting our economy.

An increasing infrastructure deficit demands ongoing investment, particularly in, near, and between our major cities.

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.

Consult Australia’s focus in the lead-up to the 2016 Federal Election is on opportunities to plan and deliver the infrastructure for the future with a focus on maximising value for money outcomes and productivity benefits for the taxpayer.

Our Federal Election platform, to be released in the coming weeks will focus on six principal areas:

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BETTER AND FAIRER WAYS OF PAYING FOR INFRASTRUCTURE Taxes are no longer enough to pay for the infrastructure we need to maintain our high standard of living. We need to consider new and improved funding mechanisms, such as fairer, cost-reflective road pricing, ongoing asset recycling and value capture. We must separate decisions to invest in new productivity-boosting infrastructure from politicised arguments about debt and deficit.

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STABLISHING AN INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION FUND TO SUPPORT AN E INVESTMENT READY PROJECT PIPELINE Consult Australia recommends a dedicated innovation fund, separated from pre-determined infrastructure projects, to support the development of new investment-ready infrastructure through: feasibility studies, community engagement and public participation, business case development, cost-benefit analysis (including assessments of wider economic benefits) and environmental impact analysis.

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PREPARING AN INFRASTRUCTURE & NEW TECHNOLOGIES STRATEGY It is critical that we plan early to maximise the benefits brought by changes in technology, and ensure that the infrastructure we are planning today is positioned to accommodate new models for passenger and freight movement, changes in consumer behaviour and new markets for services that have not existed previously.

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BUILDING MORE FOR LESS THROUGH IMPROVED PROCUREMENT At a time when public finances are stretched, better procurement offers government the chance to build more for less, while also developing a better relationship with its industry partners. Successive Consult Australia reports have come up with a range of recommendations to improve procurement that offer significant savings and better value for money outcomes for all governments if implemented.

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I NCENTIVISING INTEGRATED STRATEGIC PLANNING TO SUPPORT MORE PRODUCTIVE, LIVEABLE AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES It is essential that governments support longer-term planning goals in consultation with business and the community. All governments have a responsibility to support decision making and community consultation that provides for and delivers integrated planning, land-use and infrastructure. At a national level this can be supported with a national spatial policy and plan to provide an overarching framework.

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DEVELOPING A FULLY FUNDED NATIONAL FREIGHT STRATEGY Much of our existing freight networks are victims of long-term underinvestment or a lack of integrated strategic planning. For example, governments have proved often reluctant to commit to funding rail freight infrastructure where the greatest benefits of what is a substantial investment will only be seen in the long-term beyond any relevant political cycle.

Consult Australia is excited by the cross-party commitment to infrastructure as a critical productivity lever for growth. We are looking forward to working across the Federal Parliament, and with candidates around Australia, to advocate for our priorities above which we are confident will deliver the productivity we need to boost our competitiveness, grow the economy and create new jobs.

Look out for our Federal Election Campaign for 2016, to be released in the coming weeks, and stay tuned as we take our recommendations forward in the months ahead.

JONATHAN CARTLEDGE DIRECTOR OF POLICY & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS CONSULT AUSTRALIA

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

DIVISION UPDATES

WA UPDATE The push for change to onerous proportionate liability exclusionary practices continues in Western Australia. After high level meetings at departmental level, it is clear that government departments irrationally wish to retain the right to exclude part 1F of the Civil Liability Act despite the poor value for money outcomes and ineffective risk management it delivers for their own respective departments, businesses and ultimately the tax payer.

It is clear that any change must now be progressed at the legislative level, with the option to exclude 1F requiring removal from the Civil Liability Act all together.

Given the constrained fiscal environment, further advocacy work has been focused on promoting Value Capture as an alternative funding method for major infrastructure projects. An excellent breakfast event on the Value Capture Roadmap report, produced by Consult Australia and member firm AECOM, was held on the 5th of Feb with much success. The event was very well attended with numerous politicians, senior bureaucrats and business leaders from within the State keen to understand value capture’s potential

NT UPDATE Procurement reform continues to inform our advocacy priorities.

The Northern Territory Government (NTG) Department of Business continues its procurement reform program with the Buy Local Plan introduced in January of this year. The aim of the plan is to give local businesses greater opportunity to tender for and win government work.

At the most recent quarterly NTG Department of Infrastructure (DoI) / Consult Australia Working Group meeting topics discussed included: • The recently released Government 'Buy Local' policy; • Proposed changes to the tender assessment process;

application moving forward. The success of the event was highlighted by positive media coverage in WA Business News, with a copy of the article available here for information.

The first of the FutureNet breakfasts for 2016 was also a great success with Mark Jeffery from ODG Solutions presentation on ‘Transforming the Workplace, Building great leaders and organisations through cultural change’ being held on the 19 Feb.

Overall a very busy start to the year with more to come.

Steve Coghlan National Strategic Partner

The next Consult Australia event entitled ‘Organisational Diversity: Quotas v Targets’ will be held on the 1 April. The event will take the form of a panel discussion and focus on the two main mechanisms aimed at promoting greater female representation in business and government. Panellists will include Senator Linda Reynolds, Senator for WA; Megan Motto, CEO Consult Australia; Craig Walkemeyer, GHD Executive and WA Manager; and other senior executives from the built environment.

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Our next FutureNet event is earmarked for the 29 April and our young professionals have secured Arup fellow Tristram Carfrae as our keynote speaker. Planning is also underway for the annual Engineers & Architects Round Table (an invitation only event) which is to be held on the 6 May.

• Quality of tender documents and scope of work; • Forward works program; • Our continued opposition to the 40% price weighting on all DoI tenders; • Civil & Buildings business groups procurement plan FY 2015/16; and • Expected number of works out to tender prior to ‘care taker’ period within the election cycle – and our member firms concern for lack of work, business sustainability over this period, loss of skills and capacity within the Territory.

We will continue to keep our members updated on all reforms and changes via our NT Update emails.

Coming up, we have a Boardroom Breakfast on 30 March with Michael Gunner MLA, Leader of the Opposition. With the Territory general election scheduled to be held 27

August it is timely our members meet with the Leader of The Opposition to understand Territory Labor’s plans for the future of the Territory and the party’s election policies.

Jan Irvine

National Strategic Partner

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DIVISION UPDATES

VIC UPDATE The Victorian Government’s Infrastructure Victoria (IV) legislation has been passed, meaning that an independent body overseeing Government Infrastructure planning has now been established.

We have submitted our response to the ‘Laying The Foundations’ discussion paper, which sets the scene for IV's strategy, outlines its guiding principles and proposes draft objectives and infrastructure needs for consultation.

The Victorian division started off the year with a Meet the Client, Major Projects Victoria (MPV) event, hosted by Executive Director, Tim Bamford. This event provided a great opportunity for our members to meet Mr Bamford and hear his insights into the plans for MPV over 2016.

Autodesk joined us on 22 March to discuss the way BIM has captured the construction industry and changed the way our companies operate. The evolution of BIM was discussed and the impact it has on today’s projects.

Another well attended event by our members.

Consult Australia and the Society of Construction Law Australia held an informative roundtable luncheon on 14 April for industry to share their views on any contractual issues.

A big thank you to our division sponsors Colin, Biggers & Paisley, ACO Polycrete, Hays Recruitment, and BST.

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Stacy Scopano, Senior Industry Strategy Manager for Building Construction at

NSW UPDATE We have a lot planned in New South Wales in the coming months, from a range of existing and thought-provoking events to a number of key advocacy activities aimed at improving the business environment for our members.

Coming up we have member only events with key decision makers from bodies such as the NSW Treasury and Urban Growth NSW. Our FutureNet Committees in Sydney and Newcastle are preparing a number of exciting events for young professionals. Our 2016 Future Business Leaders Program is underway, with participants this year considering the future of Olympic Park.

While our professional development series is already in full swing following successful events on Building Information Modelling and the recruitment of passive job seekers.

March also saw us appear before the NSW Legislative Assembly Inquiry into the Procurement of Government Infrastructure, being led by the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure. Building on our detailed submission, this was an important inquiry and platform to advocate for change in those areas of most need for our members, notably around contract variations, proportionate liability and procurement skills in the public sector.

Looking ahead 2016 is set to be an interesting time for our industry as we delve into an almost unprecedented level of work across all sectors, not least in roads and transport with the Pacific Highway upgrades and Sydney Metro Stage 2 well underway.

As always members are encouraged to contact the NSW team to raise any ideas or issues that they may be facing, or to learn more about what is going on.

Matthew Trigg

National Strategic Partner

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Consulting Matters What’s happening at Consult Australia

DIVISION UPDATES

QLD UPDATE The Queensland Division has had a busy start to 2016!

We launched the year with boardroom lunch, which saw us host Director-Generals and Deputy Director-Generals from departments including; Department of Premier & Cabinet, Department of Infrastructure, Local Government & Planning, Department of Housing and Public Works, Department of Transport & Main Roads and Queensland Health. This was an exceptional turnout and is a credit to the reputation and relationships established across the Queensland Government in recent years.

Queensland Infrastructure Plan. By joining forces, we brought together over 500 members and guests to hear the State’s plans to build confidence in, and jumpstart the Queensland economy. Our Media Release, An Optimistic Plan for a Stronger Queensland welcomed the significant policy initiatives announced in the Plan that reflect Consult Australia’s advocacy and priorities. Significantly, key concepts outlined in AECOM and Consult Australia’s Value Capture Roadmap report, will be taken forward as part of the Plan.

The first quarter of 2016 also saw FutureNet host successful first events for future leaders in both Brisbane and Townsville. FutureNet continues to offer a great opportunities for professionals to build invaluable networks and we encourage you to get your staff involved.

Notably, February saw Greg Chemello Economic Development Queensland provide an informative and valuable update to our members and guests. Greg offered great insight into his department’s operations and was extremely receptive to member feedback.

In Queensland committee news, we have welcomed Rebecca Fox, BECA and Campbell Williams, NDY on board. We’d also like to thank departing committee members Mark Griffiths and Dechlan Ellis for their valuable contributions.

ACT UPDATE It’s been a productive month in the ACT at FutureNet, Regional and Federal level.

FutureNet has been through the process of developing a Terms of Reference and a completely new committee, with Ben Cargill of Calibre Consulting now chair, and joined

by Brachy Wilson of GHD, and Ewen Lee of Point Project Management. Other members of the multi-skilled group include a lawyer, planner, media specialist and government director. Following an initial ‘Casula Sessions’ event in partnership with other young professional networks, FutureNet is now working on an event in partnership with the Land Development Agency and two international planning experts.

At a local level the Canberra Regional Committee has developed and agreed a new Terms of Reference and is progressing

Stacey Rawlings

National Strategic Partner

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We look forward to bringing our members a number of additional jointly hosted events and initiatives. Look out for these announcements in the near future!

Regular forums will be scheduled with these departments to progress the concepts discussed in the Better Buying Better Outcomes and Breaking Up is Hard To Do reports, launched last year.

In March we were proud to partner with IAQ and Engineers Australia to launch the

us achieve a great start to 2016, we look forward to continuing this momentum in the months ahead.

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Lastly, thank you to all our sponsors, members and stakeholders who have helped

in two campaigns: ‘Borderless’ and ‘Education’. The former concerns planning and implementing infrastructure across state and territory boundaries, the latter workforce development and planning through developing working relationships with all major tertiary institutions in Canberra and the surrounding region.

review of the Defence Infrastructure Panel: Recommendations included to simplify and modernise service lines on the revised Panel; amend tender requirements under the Panel to require standardised responses; a more flexible panel arrangement; and more robust debriefs, conducted by the appropriate personnel.

Two Consult Australia members, AECOM and SMEC, were involved in the successful consortium for the delivery of Canberra’s largest infrastructure project, Capital Metro.

Kevin Keith

Members on the Consult Australia Federal Committee held an exclusive boardroom lunch with the Assistant Finance Minister, Assistant Cabinet Secretary,and Member for Eden-Monaro, Dr. Peter Hendy. A boardroom lunch with Steve Grzeskowiak, Dep. Secretary Estate and Infrastructure in the Department of Defence, followed up a representation made on behalf of Consult Australia members concerning a

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DIVISION UPDATES

SA UPDATE The Division hit the ground running in 2016 in order to continue the momentum of our advocacy work during the latter part of last year.

The release of the Better Buying, Better Outcomes report was well received in our meeting with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI). Discussions with DPTI included project delivery models, management of contracts, project procurement methods; and liability issues. The Department also advised of a pre qualification review. We were invited to provide comment and feedback on the above, along with our top three priority recommendations from the Better Buying, Better Outcomes report. We strongly recommended a forward pipeline of work as crucial to the sustainability of our industry, as well as providing ongoing employment to negate the loss of both skills and young people from our industry and the state. Agreed on-going meetings will enable us to work through these issues.

As the Department progresses through its rejuvenation program we will continue to update members on upcoming and current changes.

A Boardroom Lunch with The Hon Jay Weatherill MP, Premier of South Australia was held in early March.

2016

Members voiced their concern for the health of our industry and the wider state, and discussed working with Government to return to a jobs growth market given the current difficult economic climate. The Premier outlined Government initiatives and future opportunities for consultants across a number of sectors including defence, mining, bio medical and infrastructure; and touched on the possibility of further investigation of a nuclear industry. It was noted many of these possibilities were in infant stages and as yet unfunded. We reiterated our concern at the lack of a pipeline of work and were advised this particular issue was on the government radar. As an outcome of the lunch Consult Australia will soon host an update from Defence SA, details of which will be made available to members via email.

Jan Irvine

The February Industry Breakfast introduced Consult Australia’s recently released report Valuing Better Engagement – an economic framework and was held at the beautiful Adelaide Oval. The event was fully subscribed, with almost 50% of the audience from the public sector. Attendees heard presenters including Steve Dangerfield, Senior Manager Stakeholder Management, SA Water explain via case studies the economic benefits and positive outcomes attainable when embedding stakeholder engagement professionals within the project management team from the earliest stages of a project.

CONSULT AUSTRALIA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

Save the dates!

4 April 6 May 17 June 25 November

We would like to thank Golder Associates for their support and generosity in providing office space for Consult Australia in South Australia.

Call for entries open Entry forms due Submissions due Awards evening (Melbourne, Victoria)

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Consulting Matters Industry updates

An Australian Director abroad Tony Barry, Managing Director Asia at Aurecon and past-President of Consult Australia (as ACEA 2004 – 2006) has been appointed as a Director of FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, in a hotly contested global election.

He follows in the footsteps of Dick Kell, previous Chairman of Cardno Australia, who served on FIDIC's Board (1999 – 2005; President 2003 – 2005) and another Australian, Denis Sheehan, who served as Chairman of the ASPAC Executive Committee (2009 – 2012).

CONSULTING MATTERS ASKED TONY (TB) ABOUT THE DECISION TO STAND FOR ELECTION AND, MORE BROADLY, ABOUT HIS VIEWS ON OUR INDUSTRY AND FIDIC’S ROLE IN IT.

WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO STAND FOR ELECTION TO THE FIDIC BOARD? TB: Primarily, I stood for the FIDIC Board because I have developed a strong affinity for FIDIC over many years, seen the tremendous benefit of participating in it and wanted to see it flourish. I have been very lucky to have worked in a great company and enjoyed what the consulting engineering profession has given me personally as well as what it does for our people, our clients and our societies.

I thought I could bring FIDIC my experience as a director of an international company (and its many international subsidiaries); as President of Consult Australia (then ACEA); and of 34 years as a consulting engineer and 40 years as an engineer. I also bring the experience from being part of a small leadership team managing business in Australasia, South Africa, Middle East and Asia and of working with firms from the UK and Canada.

I also believed that I had a strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities the profession faces and could contribute new ideas to how we might best meet them.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE GLOBAL CONSULTING ENGINEERING INDUSTRY ARE? TB: I think there are five main challenges:

Anthony Barry at Consult Australia's 2015 Asia Pacific CEO Conference in Sydney

1. INDUSTRY PROFILE The development of mega firms has seen both vertical integration and consolidation in the industry. These firms are now leading the industry in terms of innovative project delivery, technology and use of big data, and are driving a competitive landscape which smaller competitors will struggle to emulate.

The capital being poured into systems and technology is very significant and is equipping global companies to deploy their capability very quickly and internationally.

These firms have their own leadership programmes and now see leadership as a competitive advantage. They are selecting and developing their best people to bring the full strength of their capability to their clients.

They are setting competitive benchmarks which are challenging for local companies.

2. MARKET VOLATILITY The challenge here is that the volatility experienced over recent years in the global economy has challenged the sustainability of business, leadership and skill retention in many countries.

The demand for consulting engineering services is driven to a large extent by capital investment and projects. Investment is cyclical and timed to capture proximate

political, economic and financial returns. To create a sustainable future for the industry, training and developing our engineers to offer greater coverage of, and deliver better value across, the asset cycle is vital to both addressing sustainability more generally as well as capturing optimal benefit from the asset.

3. THE NEEDS OF A DIVERSE WORLD Our world is a complex place with everchanging geopolitics, economics and cultures. It is dangerous to categorise but it is what we do to help our understanding.

In doing so, however, we project our perspective onto complex subjects, onto regions and countries, and onto peoples, religions and cultures.

The challenge for our industry is how we accommodate and leverage the diversity in the world we work in. How do we accommodate different perspectives of opportunity and risk? How do we accommodate different standards and expectations, often established in the developed world as best practice? How do we build acceptance of that diversity and improve our preparedness to engage with it so that more of the world can benefit from the services we offer?

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4. URBANISATION Leading our cities to provide a sustainable vibrant environment for our communities is an opportunity available to our industry.

Whether it be through transport solutions; the use of space to enhance living by improving the lifestyle, opportunities and experience of our communities; or by developing infrastructure which contributes to better health, less stress and more harmony. What role does the engineer play in achieving better outcomes for our communities and are we doing enough?

Are we focused on building infrastructure in a way which is sympathetic to our communities or do we turn our cities into harsh, noisy, dusty construction zones? What does our environmental impact balance sheet look like? Do we sacrifice projects net benefit through poor construction practice? Can we deliver infrastructure more efficiently and sensitively?

As an industry while we have contributed enormously to the global infrastructure challenge and improved our cities very significantly. There are many examples of cities where infrastructure that our clients developed—and in which we participated— have negatively impacted the social and environmental performance of the city. We have learned much from these examples and as an industry have a great deal to bring to the infrastructure and built environment of tomorrow.

Providing leadership on these issues is a great opportunity for consulting engineers.

We have an opportunity to facilitate discussion on these challenges and provide the knowledge and policy advice for governments to build the cities of the future in the most appropriate form. In doing so, we have the opportunity to enhance the industry’s position in society and the value we deliver to our communities.

5. NEW TECHNOLOGIES With the development of new technologies and the ability to deliver services anywhere in the world, we need to ask: is the local firm under threat? Will global players dominate? Will engineering be overtaken by other professions, using new technology to deliver solutions in which the engineering is embedded?

Will models, data and information management present a threat or an opportunity to engineers? Do we have the systems in place to manage it, to keep data safe, to secure it? Will data be owned by engineers or clients? Are we agile enough to stay on top of it?

We are now seeing firms with global networks using cloud storage being able to use models / work across time zones

with integrated teams, sometimes working across multiple shifts to deliver projects.

They are developing BIM technology and achieving massive efficiencies in project delivery. Some are building big data systems which enable them to be ahead of their competitors in positioning themselves for projects, holding data sets and models which become proprietary to the companies and use ‘gaming’ technology to replace traditional design and management systems.

The capital requirements to support this investment are significant and many businesses will struggle to stay the course.

Is that the reality or will the small agile firms head in a different direction adopting technologies, business models and exciting talent that will reduce the effort required to meet the global infrastructure challenge?

HOW DO YOU THINK FIDIC WILL NEED TO RESPOND TO THESE AND OTHER CHALLENGES? TB: There are many ways in which FIDIC could respond to these challenges and it is presumptuous for me to comment at this stage on what it may do. I would observe though that FIDIC has a history of observing the market, strategising, planning, re-directing and changing to meet challenges in the industry and the global business environment.

By its nature as a membership driven organisation, its relevance is guided by not only its Executive Committee but very importantly, its member associations.

I am confident that with appropriate guidance FIDIC will respond to these challenges and also those internal to the organisation constructively and quickly. I will certainly be contributing to make it happen.

One opportunity FIDIC has fostered for many years to assist the industry in addressing a number of these challenges, is through its development of the Young Professionals.

The YPs are at the forefront of a number of these issues in terms of awareness, skill development and insight. Mobilising FIDIC’s YPs on these subjects enables FIDIC to access the latest thinking and to leverage the development piece effectively.

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WHY DO YOU THINK LARGE GLOBAL FIRMS, WITH SIGNIFICANT RESOURCES OF THEIR OWN, SHOULD ENGAGE WITH FIDIC? TB: Large global firms have tremendous capability and capacity. Some appear to no longer see the benefit of participation and drive the benefit their own competitive position brings. Their obsession with their own future is appropriate and the market pressures on them are massive.

This is all important. However, they are participating in an industry and are in a competitive environment. Our industry bodies do provide them with perspective, with information, forums to exchange ideas, to develop collaborative relationships, to contribute to policy development and to gain a sense of what others are doing. They enable participants to build a global network, to gauge their competitive position, to get a better understanding of the competition, to hone their approach and their skills, to meet their next merger or acquisition target and to gain insights they don’t get inside their own business.

There is a wealth of opportunity to use what one learns through FIDIC and your contacts to enhance what your own firm does and how you do it. If we can continuously improve the value we bring to our clients as an industry, in such a competitive environment, we ensure its sustainability.

There is nothing about being big that will ensure survival.

I also believe that these firms have an obligation, in one sense as part of their social licence to operate, to participate in the profession and in our industry through FIDIC and the various industry associations.

WHAT RELEVANCE DOES FIDIC HAVE FOR SMALL PRACTICES THAT ONLY OPERATE IN A COUNTRY LIKE AUSTRALIA? TB: Small business is exposed to all the vagaries of the market, technological development and the economy—albeit in different ways to the large firms.

The demand for consulting engineering services is driven to a large extent by capital investment and projects. Investment is cyclical and timed to capture proximate political, economic and financial returns.

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Consulting Matters Industry updates

If we can continuously improve the value we bring to our clients as an industry, in such a competitive environment, we ensure its sustainability. There is nothing about being big that will ensure survival.

FIDIC provides a wealth of documentation which supports small business and a very significant number of participants in FIDIC events come from small businesses.

Australia is a very well developed market, strongly regulated and de-risked from a business perspective. Many developed nations are likewise straightforward to operate in. One challenge in working only in this environment is that the need for innovation is somewhat unnecessary because everything works. Need is satisfied.

However, the reality is that Australia is a competitor in a global world and what happens outside Australia can leave us vulnerable to significant disruption. Staying connected with the world is vital if we are to understand how the world is changing and innovating and stay competitive with these changes. FIDIC provides a great mechanism through which to do this.

HOW DO YOU THINK AUSTRALIA CAN GET THE BEST OUT OF GLOBAL PARTICIPATION IN FIDIC? TB: I believe that Australia can get the best out of FIDIC by participating in every aspect of FIDIC’s activities, contributing its views and expertise and engaging in discussion on global issues.

The reality is that Australia is a tiny market in world terms and if Australia is to build wealth it needs Australian domiciled companies to attract revenues from Asia and other parts of the globe. Other economies are investing in technologies, not yet seen or used in Australia, and companies are building skills outside Australia embedded in these technologies. Without global engagement, Australia firms are under threat that they will fall behind in the technology race and eventually lose their competitive position even in the Australian market.

FIDIC provides a great opportunity to engage and build relationships that you can leverage for future success.

FIDIC - International Federation of Consulting Engineers Founded in 1913, FIDIC is charged with promoting and implementing the consulting engineering industry’s strategic goals on behalf of its Member Associations (i.e. national associations of consulting engineers) and to disseminate information and resources of interest to its members. Today, FIDIC membership covers 97 countries around the world.

FIDIC, in the furtherance of its goals, publishes international standard forms of contracts for works and for clients, consultants, sub-consultants, joint ventures and representatives, together with related materials such as standard pre-qualification forms.

FIDIC also publishes business practice documents such as policy statements, position papers, guidelines, training manuals and training resource kits in the areas of management systems and business processes.

You can find out more about FIDIC here.

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A Lesson in Time Travel Strap in, feet on the floor and prepare yourself to be thrust upwards of 600 miles per hour through the air in a contraption with more technology than a flying Delorean.

We’re talking about flying here. An ordinary enough task that most practice on a regular basis in our line of work, and depending on which direction you are flying, also one which involves time travel. I am always amused to board at 6:00 PM for a Trans Pacific flight to land stateside at 9:00 PM despite the brutal 13 hours of travel. I have long since proclaimed to be better at time travel than Marty McFly in Back To The Future.

So what’s so special about it? The flying itself is nothing new, nothing special. It is just a part of business these days. The special thing is what travel affords us, the opportunity to be in a new place with new people, and encountering new things, new possibilities. My 94-year-old Grandfather always says, “When you rest…you rust.”

This motto has kept him going strong for so long, it must have merit. The same principle can be applied to business and development, especially in this age of globalisation and all the scary things riding on its coattails, where establishing a personal connection can make a big difference in the business of consulting.

So why fly? Why spend your valuable time strapped in and eating rehydrated food to time travel across the globe? We endure in order to have the opportunity to connect with people. As this world grows larger and more competition crowds in, fighting more feverishly for business opportunities, the saving grace for the consultant will be the connections, client relationships, and professional interactions you develop and maintain. Whether it results in a direct business opportunity or the chance to exchange experience and advice with one another, face to face meetings have proven over the course of time to be the best resource to cut through the global noise and

As this world grows larger and more competition crowds in, fighting more feverishly for business opportunities, the saving grace for the consultant will be the connections, client relationships, and professional interactions you develop and maintain.

could make the biggest difference to your success this year.

Now I will say…you are in luck! With so many networking events, business meetings, and even conferences on offer, it can be hard to decide which ones are worth your time and money. The good news is that a conference with immense opportunity is available in your own backyard! The festive Kiwis are hosting this year’s FIDIC ASPAC Conference in none other than Queenstown, New Zealand. It is an opportunity to hear from world-renowned speakers and lecturers, government officials and leaders of industry. It is also an opportunity to gain professional connections and develop potential business opportunities with delegates from around the world. To just place that cherry on top, it happens to be hosted in Queenstown, land of adrenaline, and a great place to occupy your downtime between plenary sessions.

The hosts, ACENZ, have lined up a power-packed speaker itinerary ranging from professors, motivational speakers, government officials, award-winning professionals, and more. Speakers of note include Tony Barry, Managing Director of

Aurecon Asia; Sean Chiao, President of AECOM Asia Pacific; Government Officials Julie-Anne Genter and David Seymour; Associate Professor at Massey University, Dr Jane Goodyer; Business Specialist Bruce Holland, and many more.

ACENZ have also arranged some great treats to unwind after each day of conference.

Board the TSS Earnslaw, a working steamship, to take in the majestic views of the surrounding snow-capped mountain landscape. Hop from one place to the next in the cozy downtown of Queenstown during our Café Crawl and enjoy a cold pint or delicious local wine. Finish the conference from 500 feet above in the Skyline Restaurant, which includes a ride in the famous gondola, for the closing dinner gala. If all this wasn’t enough, two special technical tours will be on offer facilitated by industry experts. Tour one is a geotechnical tour through Christchurch led by CERA Chief Geotechnical Engineer, Dr Jan Kupec.

Tour two is a water treatment plant tour to Glenorchy led by technical director and water engineering expert Robert White.

This conference will be well worth the short journey to New Zealand to experience top tier speakers, quality activities for your down time, and the most treasured of all reasons… to grow and foster your professional network which may result in new business opportunities.

Holly Merchant ACENZ Register today at http://www.fidic-aspac2016.com/registration/

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Consulting Matters Features

When the ground is shifting, effective executives listen to their middle managers Research tells us that the majority of change efforts fail. Not surprisingly, management literature is overflowing with papers, books and TED-style talks addressing the short fall. A well-read leader may start with a thesis— to drive change they must deliver a compelling narrative—however they also recognise the need to have an understanding of, and appreciation for, their own companies ‘organisational health’ which requires a level of empathetic listening.

The well-read leader also understands how the shifting media, political and regulatory landscape affects their business. In some sectors of the resources industry, for example, the social licence to operate has been challenged. In addition, there has been a policy shift toward the precautionary principle, with the burden of proof on operators to demonstrate harm minimisation.

Sustainable water management and air quality are two hot button issues that increase the cost of doing business in Australia, while commodity prices flat line.

For these sectors of the resource industry, the ground is shifting, and to be sustainable organisations must respond.

When the ground shifts, research shows that the more homogeneous and hierarchical an organisation, the harder it will be to respond. Of course, we may not recognise our organisation as being hierarchical.

Perhaps we should consider the argument of Daniel Goleman, who identifies research showing that for all organisations higherranking individuals consistently focus their gaze less on lower-ranking people, and are more likely to interrupt or monopolise the conversation. He also claims that mapping attention to power in an organisation gives a clear indication of hierarchy: for example,

Sustainable water management is seen as increasingly important (Photograph source – WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff)

the longer it takes person A to respond to person B, the more relative power person B has. This effect is so predictable that Columbia University has developed an algorithm called ‘social hierarchy detection’ to describe it. Security organisations even use email response times to ‘map’ terrorist organisations. The good news, according to Goleman, is that this behaviour can be ‘unlearned’, so that ‘great’ leaders can strengthen every form of their ability to focus

In an organisational context, if an audience is cynical about a leader’s authenticity, it is likely the intended meaning of any ‘change management’ story will be diluted. The audience’s interpretation of the story is amplified when that story is recompiled and presented to the wider organisation.

by a willingness to exercise the attention circuit of their brain in the same way we exercise our analytic skills and other systems of the body.

In an organisational context, if an audience is cynical about a leader’s authenticity, it is likely the intended meaning of any ‘change management’ story will be diluted. The audience’s interpretation of the story is amplified when that story is recompiled and presented to the wider organisation. Any story teller should consider the so called ‘small talk arena’. It refers to conversations that allow people to tell or retell stories.

‘Formal talk’ is challenged and subverted, and changed and revised. It is sometimes ‘over coffee’ that the success of the story is decided. This is often the domain of the middle manager.

Accepting the need for a compelling story to accompany change management, the risk is that well-intentioned leaders will spend significant time in communicating their story via road shows and town hall meeting, but not spend the required time listening. An

Features Consulting Matters

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Is the sun setting on some traditional resource activity within Australia?

(Photograph source – WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff)

analogy that demonstrates this is the wellknown behavioural experiment in which half the participants are randomly assigned a lottery number, and half are allowed to choose their own numbers. Just before drawing the winning number, the researchers offered to buy the tickets from their owners.

No matter the geography or diversity of the environment, they had to pay at least five times more to those who came up with their own numbers. This analogy confirms what we instinctively know, that we human beings are more likely to invest in our own ideas and stories.

Goleman argues that the ability to focus on others is the foundation of empathy and an ability to build social relationships.

“Executives who can effectively focus on others are easy to recognise. They are the ones who find common ground, whose

opinions carry the most weight, and with whom people want to work. They emerge as natural leaders regardless of organisational or social rank.” It would pay for executives to identify the ‘leaders’ within their middle management ranks, and listen carefully. They may find the informal networks developed by middle management leaders are more influential than any organisational chart would suggest.

Peter Wells NSW Engineering Manager WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff Wells, P, Russell, A, Worley, A, Wright, S, “Site Wide Water Management for a large Coal Mine Expansion,” 36th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, Hobart, 7-10 December 2015.

P. Wells & M. Henry, 2015 “Creating compelling narratives to drive change,” SENG 2015 National Conference, 9& 10 Sept 2015, Adelaide Convention Centre.

D. Goleman, 2013, “The Focused Leader, How effective executives direct their own – and their organisations – attention,” Harvard Business Review, December 2013, pp50-60.

C. Aiken and S. Keller, 2009, “The Irrational Side of change Management”, Mckinsey Quarterly, April 2009.

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Consulting Matters Features

Empowering Our People to Lead Jacob Grech, Regional HR Director for Arcadis, Australia Pacific, says actively encouraging staff to take leadership roles is delivering a stronger company culture.

A recent study in the Harvard Business Review suggested organisational innovation was most successful when middle management was actively engaged in the effort. Fortunately we’d already discovered that.

Over three years ago Arcadis began to actively look at how we could encourage our future leaders so that we stayed a relevant, client focused organisation for the long term.

To do it we developed three Leadership Action Groups to engage nearly 20% of our staff at different stages of their careers through exposure to our regional executive board, and access to learning and development programs.

The three groups—Professional Growth Network, Leadership Development Group and the Graduate Group—were created at three distinct levels in the company to allow us to identify and create leaders right across Arcadis.

THE BIGGER PICTURE We realised early on that creating wellrounded leaders meant raising their engagement levels in areas like staff development and client focus, but also boosting awareness of the broader and external context in which we operate.

Our leadership programs start at the graduate level. This is important for a whole range of reasons, including making it clearer to new staff that there are leadership opportunities and career pathways in the company, more effective succession planning, and improving the way Arcadis taps into a diverse range of experience, skills and ideas as early as possible.

Client focus was clearly also one of the most important goals in developing our next generation of leaders. Arcadis understood that it can be rare to find senior staff or new hires with high-level client skills and so embarked on a ‘grow your own’ approach to boost understanding of brand strategy and the role each employee plays in achieving company goals.

Each of the three groups achieve this by giving the people in them an opportunity outside their normal roles to take leadership steps through leading events, having input to strategy creation, presenting at executive meetings and organising client events, to name just a few activities.

Our leadership programs start at the graduate level. This is important for a whole range of reasons, including making it clearer to new staff that there are leadership opportunities and career pathways in the company, more effective succession planning, and improving the way Arcadis taps into a diverse range of experience, skills and ideas as early as possible.

Each Leadership Action Group also has a Regional Executive Team sponsor as a mentor so their activities are not only aligned to strategy, but their ideas are communicated at the executive level. State leaders help to manage and co-ordinate a schedule of activities and projects, but these are developed autonomously by the groups themselves.

All groups get together on a monthly basis, run their own agenda and activities, and this element of control energises staff members to create an open environment for learning and sharing of ideas.

PRODUCING RESULTS The leadership initiative has been highly successful. For a start, staff surveys show the groups achieved a positive ‘Engagement Index’ across Australia, where 83% of employees felt ‘empowered to make a bigger difference for clients’ and 93% were ‘proud of the exceptional outcomes’ they deliver to them.

We are also witnessing a more well-rounded skill set in our consultants as they no longer focus exclusively on their technical development. For example, one of our state Professional Growth Network groups reported back on how to better implement our Global Excellence Centres, and their report and recommendation were tabled and adopted at a global level.

The groups regularly provide updates to executives at quarterly executive team meetings on how they are tracking with strategic projects, intranet articles and have the opportunity to speak to our global board members.

The biggest achievement? We are now able to recruit internally for all our senior leadership positions and over the years been able to appoint staff to management positions that have been part of these leadership groups.

Jacob Grech HR Director Arcadis

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Consulting Matters Features

The six key ingredients of a great manager I have to admit it—I am a perfectionist. As an executive leader in my organization, I expect a great deal of my people. I expect us to innovate, to deliver with the highest quality, to be passionate, and to drive ourselves to exceed expectations. In short, perfection.

and egoless enough that no assignment is beneath their ability. They are also obsessive about quality, with a work hard/play hard ethic, and passion for getting the job done.

Great managers value teamwork. They have the core ability to bring people together and work seamlessly with others. They put the needs of the team above themselves and allow the effectiveness and productivity of the team to outweigh the needs of any one individual.

The Oxford dictionary defines perfect as, "Having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be. Free from any flaw or defect in condition or quality; faultless. Precisely accurate; exact. Highly suitable for someone or something; exactly right".

It's a big word, perfection. I get that. It evokes connotations of grandeur and challenges our potential. What does perfect really mean to us? Can we expect it of our people? Can we actually achieve it?

SHORT ANSWER: HOW CAN WE NOT? YOU NEED A GREAT MANAGER To be a great leader, you need to be the visionary, the dreamer, the change agent.

But being a great leader does not necessarily mean you are a great manager.

According to Leadership and Management expert Markus Buckingham,

Great managers are not mini-executives waiting for leadership to be thrust upon them. Great leaders are not simply managers who have developed sophistication. The core activities of a manager and a leader are simply different.

To achieve greatness, or perfection even, you need to have someone else who will

run point on the front lines. Someone you trust to represent you. Someone to work alongside you to make your vision a reality. A pragmatic, detailed-oriented someone, whose core skills, abilities, and passions are expertly honed for organising, coordinating, motivating, collaborating, and communicating.

To be successful, you need a great manager!

THE KEY INGREDIENTS Clearly, a great manager is someone that is highly qualified with the requisite ‘hard skills’ and subject matter expertise. But, the hard skills are not the most important ingredient. What significantly differentiates great managers from good ones is how they engage.

Great managers have the natural ability to learn quickly and have extraordinary aptitude. They are sponges that soak up and transfer the knowledge around them.

Managerial aptitude is not just about being smart, but also the ability to apply creative and critical thinking to problem solving.

Great managers are chameleons that adapt effectively to their circumstances.

They have the uncanny ability to synthesize the variables and drive decisive action. From explaining an issue to an irate CEO, to talking a customer through a question, to jumping in hands-on with the team to get the work done.

Great managers have integrity and value professional conduct. They are humble

Great managers are fair. They have a knack for balancing loyalties between what is best for the company and what is good for the employee. They are highly respected and appreciated by their peers and subordinates.

They are the ones people ask to work with.

Their employees remember their birthdays and invite them to lunch. Their people often volunteer to work overtime when needed, versus having it mandated. Great managers have a softer side, but they are not pushovers. They also have a hard edge and know when and how they need to push their teams in order to achieve the desired results and outcomes.

Great managers are disciplined. They are process junkies that continually establish, refine, and enforce process discipline in order to get reliable and repeatable results. If you do not have effective processes in place, great managers are the ones lobbying at the front of the line to get what is needed in place in order to ensure success.

A LEADER’S CALL TO ACTION We can, and should, proudly expect greatness and perfection from our people, because to be quite frank, we expect it from ourselves. Expecting greatness means being great ourselves. It means holding ourselves to the same standard, being fair, and of course, leading by example.

Do you have a great manager? If not, perhaps it's time for you to take a hard look and raise the bar. If you do, what are they doing that separates them from the crowd, and how can we learn from their example?

Barry Lawrence BST Global Group & Product Director

Consulting Matters

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Consulting Matters Business essentials

The perils of middle management You’ve reached middle management and you’re enjoying some of the spoils. Perhaps a German coupe in the drive, a golf club membership at a private course, a real Louis Vuitton handbag. But once you hit this level, there are perils you should be wary of that could be career-limiting at best and professionally fatal at worst.

Middle management is defined as the intermediate management of a hierarchical organisation that is subordinate to the executive management and responsible for at least two lower levels of junior staff1. While the executive team and board make the big decisions and take responsibility for them, middle management is tasked with running the business on a day-to-day basis, making revenue forecasts, managing expenses and, above all, dealing with the staff on which the company depends to operate.

So what do you need to look out for to avoid the career traps? Firstly, maintaining a happy workforce and a harmonious workplace is invaluable. If this can’t be fostered then a world of pain may not be far away.

More than ever, employees know their rights in the workplace or, perhaps more crucially, they are more likely to pursue a formal complaint if they feel they’ve been mistreated in any way. Let’s take the example of the well-publicised case a couple of years ago by a David Jones employee seeking $8 million in damages for alleged inappropriate advances by a senior manager. While the case may not have been successful, it led to

So what do you need to look out for to avoid the career traps? Firstly, maintaining a happy workforce and a harmonious workplace is invaluable. If this can’t be fostered then a world of pain may not be far away.

a media field-day as well as an out of court settlement thought to cost the company not millions, but still hundreds of thousands of dollars.

More commonly, employees at all levels are pursuing claims against employers for alleged bullying, harassment and wrongful dismissal – often against individual managers rather than the company itself. Fair Work Australia can accept a formal complaint for a lodgement fee of less than $70, meaning disgruntled employees have little disincentive to pursue a complaint.

While the dollar value that Fair Work Australia can award is limited, a complaint can still be a stressful, costly and time-consuming process for the middle management personnel involved, not to mention the impact of bad

morale that can stem from an unpleasant workplace environment.

Another issue is the risk, increasingly borne by management, of theft by employees (often in other middle management roles themselves) of the company’s money and other property and, more worryingly for a company’s reputation, its client’s money or property. The complexity of payment processes and the vast amount of clients, suppliers and collaborators that companies deal with every day means the possibility for theft exists at every turn.

Companies’ traditional strategies to mitigate this threat are as worthy as ever. While payment by cheque may have been largely replaced by EFT and on-line payment methods, the practice of having a countersignatory for all payments is still a first line of defence.

The best way to avoid employment claims and the cost of theft within a business is to manage the risk from the outset. A robust HR policy that is actually adhered to and risk controls across all financial functions can reduce the chances of things going awry in the first place.

A further emerging area of risk for any company is the risk of its systems being breached and the information it holds concerning employees, clients and financials (such as banking) falling in to the wrong hands. The reputational damage that a cyber breach can cause is bad enough, but the cost of notifying everyone whose information has been accessed can be excessive. And then there’s the cost of fixing the holes in the IT system.

Business essentials Consulting Matters

Insurance should always be a strategy that acts as a last resort, so while middle management’s risk strategy should never be simply to buy insurance, it can be a final piece in the overall jigsaw of managing the risk in any business.

Management liability, employment practices liability, crime and employee fidelity, cyber liability and similar insurance policies can provide cover for the costs of claims against company management (and individual managers themselves) as well as for the legal expenses covering actions such as complaints and thefts.

Willis Towers Watson is a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. We can help management identify, control and minimise risk and maintain workplace harmony. Where insurance is a part of an enterprise’s risk management strategy, our associates can advise and arrange solutions for every possibility.

Chris Moore National PI Manager, FINEX Australia Willis Towers Watson eter Aucoin (1989), Middle Managers, Institute of Public P Administration of Canada, p. 191, ISBN 9780920715024

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Consulting Matters Corporate social responsibility

Responding to emergencies around the world

Screenshot of the Global Ebola Response Mapping Portal

Three GHD professionals recently deployed with humanitarian organisation RedR Australia to provide emergency assistance to communities in need.

When devastating earthquakes struck Nepal, civil engineer Camilla Bachet provided water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support, while Rod Towner, also a civil engineer, helped the World Health Organization (WHO) respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

With approximately 4.2 million people affected by the earthquakes, Camilla coordinated a cluster of United Nations and government agencies, as well as local and international NGOs. One of her key objectives was to identify the WASH needs and gaps in the eastern districts of Nepal and advocate for agencies to move to these areas to provide the survivors with support.

“By the time I left a lot of the gaps were being filled. You could feel the transition progress from an emergency to development reconstruction,” Camilla says.

Working in Geneva, Switzerland, Rod used his Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping skills to update the dedicated Global Ebola Response Mapping Portal, which is accessed by field staff from WHO and other agencies.

“The maps are used to identify where to send people for testing or treatment, and to plan new treatment centres. These decisions are critical to saving lives,” Rod says.

Camilla Bachet in Nepal

Rod Towner in Geneva

As part of a partnership with RedR, GHD people have the opportunity to train for and pursue humanitarian and disaster relief roles. The partnership is supported by the corporate social responsibility program ‘GHD in the Community’.

Continuing this partnership, hydrogeologist Alyssa Barron has now deployed to Vanuatu to work with UNICEF in response to drought conditions caused by El Nino weather patterns. Alyssa will be advising on groundwater drilling options to ensure a sustainable clean water supply.

Camilla says, “I decided to pursue RedR training and deployment opportunities because I wanted to experience different countries and cultures while using my professional skills.”

Rod says, “One of my main aims in training and deploying with RedR was to use my skills in a practical way to provide direct benefit to some of the most vulnerable people affected by disasters."

Camilla Bachet, Rod Towner and Alyssa Barron GHD For more information on RedR Australia’s activities, visit www.redr.org.au

Industry comment Consulting Matters

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Emergency – urgency – business as usual Natural disasters have become more frequent, more intense, and now affect more people than ever before; and will continue to affect our lives significantly in the future. Here are my thoughts on how we could prepare ourselves to react to a call for assistance to repair and reinstate infrastructure after a disaster. This article introduces the concept of an intermediate phase between the state of emergency and business as usual, which I have called a state of urgency.

Most authorities have disaster response management plans at the ready to implement as soon as disaster strikes. These cover the initial state of emergency and immediate aftermath, but how many authorities appreciate that a business as usual approach is often not the best way to manage the ensuing repair and reconstruction phase?

The business as usual trap thwarts the recovery process by requiring much of our effort to be spent on inconsequential nice-to-haves. We do not usually have the resources, nor do we have the time, to devote our efforts to meeting all the business as usual standards and preferences during the recovery period. We know we have to comply with statutory legislation – that is mandatory – but the rest of our recovery effort should be focused on efficient and more importantly effective use of our resources. We have to be prepared to relinquish some of the nice-to-haves in favour of expediencies.

There’s the betterment trap too.

Understandably, we would like to try to incorporate improvement projects into the recovery process; but in doing so we blur the focus of our recovery efforts.

Business as usual requires all due processes approvals, notices, and standards to be followed to the letter. Woe betide those who flout the conventions. They will fall foul of the gate-keepers we have in every organisation.

‘It’s more than my job’s worth…’ These gate keepers lack the ability or mandate to be able

to exercise their own judgement and relax standards and preferences for the greater good of the state of urgency that must exist.

They have the inordinate power to derail the recovery process, without them even knowing that they are doing so.

But, if we have articulated exactly what these gate-keepers can and must let through, and what they can’t and mustn’t let through, then when we arrive at a gate with a design bearing the ‘produced under state of urgency’ passport stamp, the gate-keeper must let us through; without fear of anyone violating any statutory law or procedure. Anyone examining the design or specifications in the future would also be alerted to the fact that they had been produced under a documented state of urgency protocol; and should therefore not be judged as unsuitable, substandard, or unsafe merely because

These gate keepers lack the ability or mandate to be able to exercise their own judgement and relax standards and preferences for the greater good of the state of urgency that must exist.

They have the inordinate power to derail the recovery process, without them even knowing that they are doing so.

normally expected standards and preferences are not apparent.

So, instead of proceeding headlong into business as usual mode as we try to implement a recovery programme of works, we would do better to consider first exactly what nice-to-haves we would be prepared to relinquish, so that everyone knows and understands what is important and what is not, and what can be achieved realistically and what can’t. Such special and duly documented protocols can apply only to the recovery period—the state of urgency— and cannot be implemented unless the relevant authority overseeing the recovery has declared a state of urgency. This is not a statutory declaration in the sense of a state of emergency, but an internal acknowledgement of and commitment to the necessity for expediencies and the relinquishment of inconsequential requirements.

In short, we must acknowledge that a state of urgency with different protocols exists between a state of emergency and business as usual.

We need to think about it, document it, and be prepared for it. You may wish to raise this topic with your clients, so that they too are better prepared.

Keith Weale Principal Transportation Engineer MWH

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Consulting Matters Project case studies

The shape of a trench drain and how it affects hydraulic performance The inner shape of a trench drain has a significant influence on its hydraulic performance. The material from which this inner section is created also makes a difference; with smooth surfaces preferred over bumpy or rough concrete.

If trench drains are incorrectly designed, they will lack the ability to clear rainwater efficiently. When this happens, pavements are likely to cost developers in maintenance and repair. In our previous article, we described how the slope had a considerable impact on the performance of a trench drain’s hydraulics. In particular, we discussed how it helps determine the velocity of the liquid that flows through it.

Water travels downhill, and if the pavement cannot assist in this endeavour, then the drainage must be configured to provide the necessary falls, preferably by implementing a slope in the base of a trench run. Factory manufactured sloped channels enable sufficient drainage, while a stepped configuration isn’t as likely to have as great of an affect on a drain’s hydraulic performance.

In this article, we’re going to look at how the shape of a trench drain impacts hydraulic performance.

While V-shaped sewers and drains were originally inspired by their eggshaped counterparts, their popularity is fundamentally due to two driving advantages: 1. T here are no corners for matter to collect.

2. T hey possess excellent hydraulic properties.

ACO’s V-shaped Polycrete® Channels are the world’s most efficient surface drainage system.

They ensure liquid velocity is optimised to allow efficient flow through the drainage system for up to 40 metres in a variety of widths and load classes.

The main benefit is that the fast liquid velocities promote a selfcleaning effect not only during times of heavy rainfall, but also when rainfall is light. Nevertheless, it’s not only the shape and slope which define the hydraulic performance of a drain – the materials used to construct it also play a vital role.

HYDRAULIC PROPERTIES OF V SHAPED TRENCH DRAINS When considering hydraulic properties of trench drains, the ultimate piece of the puzzle is the internal shape of the drainage channel. Inspired by the shape of traditional egg (V) shaped sewers; ACO has transferred these benefits to its external drainage systems.

Egg shaped sewers have been used for many years, since as early as 19th century London. Also known as oval shaped sewers, at the time they were considered the best option for larger combined sewers. This particular design went on to be used for the sewers in Paris, and eventually in the United States too.

TRENCH DRAIN MATERIALS A smooth surface of a channel enables fluids to flow at their optimum speeds. Polymer concrete is an ideal material to use if the hydraulic performance of a trench drain is to reach its full potential.

Utilising this type of material makes channels much easier to clean as it doesn’t support biological (plant life) or bacterial growth (mould).

ACO has developed innovated drainage systems to cater to the needs of a constantly changing environment.

For more information on drainage theory, click here If you require further information about any of our products, or have any questions - feel free to contact us today or give us a call on 1300 765 226

Consulting Matters

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Heavy duty systems include: • TraffikDrain – Polycrete® Channels with removable grates for road applications • Monoblock – one piece Polycrete® Channels where additional security is required in demanding environments • KerbDrain – one piece Polycrete® Channels with integrally cast channel and batter comprising inlets for continuous drainage • Qmax – slot drainage system made from lightweight, medium density polyethylene.

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ACO Polycrete Pty Ltd ACO Limited

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Consulting Matters Project case studies

Realising a new vision for disability care

Minda is a South Australian charity that has been caring for people with intellectual disabilities for almost 120 years on their large shorefront site at Brighton.

During 2011, in alignment with the recent United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Minda engaged GHD Woodhead to assist in creating a masterplan for the site which meets the organisation’s goals and aspirations to “create an environment where people with intellectual disability can embrace and enjoy the experiences of life.”

The challenge for the design team was to ‘de-institutionalise’ the facility to create a fully viable, vital and vibrant future for the site.

The masterplan established an innovative development that integrates into the wider community, incorporates commercial and social aspects into the site, and reframes how people with intellectual disabilities live in South Australia.

GHD Woodhead saw this as a wonderful opportunity to deliver a new campus at the forefront of best practice aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Articles 2 and 3 of the convention

give the definition to how universal design and reasonable accommodation need to be considered. The approach to the Minda site goes beyond basic responses to accommodation to include design responses for habilitation and rehabilitation along with assistive technologies. GHD Woodhead has created a community place that maintains key aspects of social protection for individuals while allowing for full participation by all in the wider neighbourhood and within our shared society.

Over five years, GHD Woodhead has demonstrated a passionate commitment to its work with Minda, including collaborative engagement workshops, coordination and design processes with Minda’s people and key stakeholders to generate a compelling and realisable vision for the site. Members of the design team worked as volunteers at the Minda campus to get to know the workings of the existing facility.

Another design challenge was opening up the site to the neighbouring community while addressing existing stormwater catchment requirements. The consultant design team led a community consultation meeting in the neighbouring surf club, engaging 120 people.

Project case studies Consulting Matters

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The consultant design team led a community consultation meeting in the neighbouring surf club, engaging 120 people.

The design team also conducted stakeholder engagement with Minda staff, volunteers and residents to maximise the input to the project.

The design team also conducted stakeholder engagement with Minda staff, volunteers and residents to maximise the input to the project.

The new Minda intellectual disability accommodation was designed to appear as a typical suburban street to integrate into the neighbouring community whilst still meeting the requirements of people with disabilities.

There are various levels of housing, from low, independent living to accommodation for people with exceptional needs. The feel of each of these types of accommodation was

designed to be as close to a typical home as possible on the outside while creating a physical and psychological haven inside for residents, staff and visitors. Several options for housing were designed and constructed, from single-bedroom apartments, to multi-bed apartments, to single-storey share homes.

All accommodation is able to be serviced and discretely monitored by the staff.

The design work and innovative processes utilised by GHD Woodhead support the fulfilment of Minda’s ambition for high quality care and facilities for people with intellectual disabilities and allowing everyone to live full and active lives.

Michael Hegarty and John Schmidt GHD Woodhead

The Minda site represents an important legacy of the founders of the charity from the earliest days of the state of South Australia.

Making mobility cities By the middle of the century around two thirds of the world’s population will live in cities, but making them smart, sustainable places for everyone who lives or works in them will be one of our biggest challenges.

A crucial part of improving the way our urban spaces function is better transport and mobility. Arcadis has recently launched a framework to better understand, design and build urban transport hubs, also known as Mobility Oriented Development or MODe. Arcadis’s new approach— MODe—identifies the integral features of transit hubs, setting out four key values that should underpin and inform their development, including accessibility and comfort, urban environment, social placemaking and economic development.

Stephen Taylor, City Executive for Arcadis in Sydney (one of the 13 cities featured in Arcadis’ Cities Initiative) said “There are examples both here and internationally of transit hubs that have very little connection to the communities in which they’re built and that’s a wasted opportunity “Given the limited space and competing demands of cities we can no longer afford to build single function transport facilities.

For the first time MODe gives public or private organisations a tool to develop smart, integrated projects able to maximize their full value.”

Stephen says he has only just started to introduce key public and private sector clients in Sydney to MODe and MODex, but says the response has been enthusiastic.

Arcadis has in fact put MODe to work in a very practical way by creating an indexalso known as MODex that measured and assessed 21 existing transit hubs around the world, including Sydney’s Chatswood Station in the north of the city.

“Government and developers all agree that integrated planning and a clear framework for achieving it deliver high quality projects, higher return on investment and more sophisticated transport solutions” Stephen said.

Using the four main values and a series of cascading qualitative and quantitative measures like revenue, urban form or public facilities, MODex benchmarked how well each transport development functioned both internally and in relation to the wider community around it.

“New York’s Grand Central Station got the highest overall outcome while Chatswood did best on Urban Environment, but it really isn’t intended to be a ranking tool as such, but meant to showcase best practice in a very real and practical way,” Stephen added.

“MODe allows clients to look at all the separate issues and stakeholders involved and bring them together holistically for a far better solution.”

“We also know that all transport related development has wider community impacts and it’s these important commercial, economic, social and cultural parameters that also need to be managed and fostered.

“MODe deftly acknowledges how quickly both our cities and urban transport are evolving, providing a smarter way to design mixed use projects to seamlessly blend living, working, play and learning in interconnected ways.”

For more information on the MODe report: http://mode.arcadis.com/ Steve Taylor Arcadis

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Consulting Matters

Bridging the Quay with intelligent design

Project case studies Consulting Matters

ELIZABETH QUAY PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLIST BRIDGE The $440 million Elizabeth Quay was officially unveiled to the public in January.

Part of a bold plan by the Western Australian Government to revitalise central Perth, Elizabeth Quay features a stunning 2.7ha inlet and 1.5ha promenade with bars and restaurants and will eventually be surrounded by a vibrant mix of offices, apartments, hotels and shops.

The event also marked the opening of the spectacular new $20 million pedestrian and cyclist bridge, which stands out as the jewel in the crown of the precinct.

The 22m high cable-stayed bridge spans the inlet and offers impressive 360 degree views across the Swan River and the Perth CBD and allows for continuous movement around the Quay.

Arup was engaged by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA) and novated to managing contractor CPB Contractors (formerly Leighton Contractors) and Broad as the lead design consultant for the bridge, and worked closely with stakeholders to deliver multi-disciplinary services from concept design through to completion.

THE DESIGN PROCESS A bridge as a primary element is a very simple structure; however the Elizabeth Quay Bridge presented three core challenges.

Firstly, the bridge was to be simple and transparent despite being positioned in constrained location. Secondly, the deck needed to be raised up to a certain level to provide clearance and allow vessels to safely pass underneath it. And thirdly, from

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a functional point of view the bridge had to have a minimum width of 5m to offer easy access for pedestrians and cyclists to move smoothly across it, including disabled users.

Given these challenges, Arup’s team of designers knew that the bridge’s design needed to more complex than a simple ‘straight line’ bridge.

The solution was two leaning arches with 45m spans, connecting in the middle, and sweeping down towards the water to rest on concrete piers supported on piles socketed into the rock bed.

To ensure that existing views across the river to South Perth were not obstructed, elements’ of transparency were added to the bridge’s balustrades. However, the bridge still needed some level of solidity in order to reduce wind-induced vibrations. Arup’s wind engineers reviewed the bridge to mitigate vibration and overcome potential vortex shedding issues.

Another area of design which defined the form of the arches was the lighting concept.

The illuminated bridge arches needed to be visible from both sides of the Swan River.

To achieve this, Arup designed a five-sided cross-section at the apex of both arches’ to optimise illumination and arch visibility and this also allowed the arches’ to be illuminated from the bridge deck.

Despite the complexities within the design, the concept of maintaining visual simplicity is at the core of the bridge’s design.

BRIDGE MATERIALS Presented with a windy riverside location and the at-times harsh Western Australian climate, in-depth consideration was given to

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Consulting Matters Our industry

the materials selected for use in the new bridge. Jarrah was selected for the bridge decking, not only because it wears well but because it is native to Western Australia and therefore familiar to many of the people using the bridge. The Jarrah was sourced from the south-west of Western Australia.

EQ BRIDGE FAST FACTS • Cable stayed bridge

• East arch 22 metres high

• 110 metres long

• Weight 480 tonnes

• West arch 20 metres high

• 2.5 tonnes per metre of bridge

Because of its durability and in particular its resistance to salt and wind corrosion, stainless steel was selected for the architectural elements such as balustrading.

Similarly, concrete was adopted for the foundations and piers.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER The delivery of the design for the Elizabeth Quay pedestrian and cyclist bridge took a multi-disciplinary approach, which included Arup’s structural, civil, geotechnical, electrical, wind, materials, maritime and vibration engineering teams and Arup Associates.

Arup’s design solution overcame every technical challenge whilst ensuring the bridge’s visual appeal was at the forefront of the design.

The final bridge design has delivered everything the MRA and Arup sought to achieve in terms of simple and pure structural forms, complemented by rationalised modular architecture. The bridge is an iconic structure and a key element in the transformation of Perth’s Swan River watefront.

ARUP

NEW

Is it time to get hands on with your super?

Cbus Self Managed is now available Cbus has introduced a new investment option that allows you to get hands on with your super.

With Cbus Self Managed, eligible members can invest their super directly in a range of Australian shares, Exchange Traded Funds and term deposits via a secure online platform.

You get the choice and control of a self-managed super fund (SMSF) without the administration and compliance burden.

To find out more, visit www.cbussuper.com.au/cbusselfmanaged Read the relevant Cbus Product Disclosure Statement to decide whether Cbus is right for you. Contact 1300 361 784 or visit www.cbussuper.com.au for a copy.

Cbus’ Trustee: United Super Pty Ltd ABN 46 006 261 623 AFSL 233792 Cbus ABN 75 493 363 262.

EASY CHOICES!

Consulting Matters

39

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

Bovill Risk & Insurance Consultants

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

Open courses and in-house training available!

Thinking about professional development?

Consult Australia offers a number of intensive training programs to provide consultants with invaluable skills, knowledge and advice. This powerful training puts you in control and allows you to better protect your business.

Please see the website for other dates and further information.

Learn vital information about: • Designer duties under current legislation • Hazard identification tools

2016 dates: VIC: 12-13 May QLD: 26-27 May NSW: 23-24 Jun

Contracts for Consultants Learn vital information about: • Contract formulation & terms • Contractual relationships

• Risk assessment, control, and management

• Liability & Insurance

• Safety in design procedures and documentation

• Professional indemnity insurance

• Onerous contract terms • Dispute resolution

• Best practice examples

Facilitated by Tony Horan - one of the most knowledgeable and experienced barristers working in the construction industry in Australia.

Member Price: $1,800 Non-Member Price: $2,680* Includes the Safety in Design Tool Kit which is free for members.

*

The Role of the Superintendent Topics include: • Scope of duties • The dual roles of the Superintendent

2016 dates: VIC: 18 May NSW: 1 Jun WA: 22 Jun QLD: 27 Jun

• Decision making and conveying information • Liability of the Superintendent • Insurance issues Facilitated by Tony Horan - one of the most knowledgeable and experienced barristers working in the construction industry in Australia.

Member Price: $1,300 Non-Member Price: $1,550

2016 dates: VIC: 19-21 May NSW: 2-4 Jun WA: 23-25 Jun QLD: 28-30 Jun

Member Price: $2,900 Non-Member Price: $3,200

ConsultEDNEW ConsultED is an on-line platform that has been developed to provide Consult Australia members (and others) with access to a variety of interactive training courses from the convenience of their desktop.

• Legal,Standards and Codes • Business Practice • Health and Safety • Human Resources

Member Price: $65 Non-Member Price: $85 Ma 2016

Safety in Design