ACA on construction ‘sustainability’

Connecting the dots for a more sustainable construction industry

Work has begun to reform the culture of one of Australia’s largest and most complex industries. Jon Davies, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association, outlines what’s behind his organisation’s partnership with government for this cause, and the significant opportunities ahead with updated habits and values.

The construction industry has been presented with an enormous opportunity. We’ve been called upon to the lead the nation’s economic recovery. But we are faced with challenges that could seriously impact on our ability to do this.

Despite being the nation’s third largest industry, the construction industry consistently has one of the highest rates of insolvencies in Australia, only 12 per cent of our workforce are women, and workers are six times more likely to die from suicide than a workplace incident.

Now is the time to address the fundamental issues facing the industry that have also undermined our efforts to build capability and capacity. To do this, we need to shift our thinking of how the construction industry works from an industry made up of defined sectors, tiers and linear supply chains to a highly connected, complex network of suppliers, trades, designers, contractors and clients. We need to take a collaborative approach to delivering projects that focuses on improving productivity and delivering best value not lowest cost.

In pursuit of a more sustainable construction industry, the Australian Constructors Association is focused on improving three key pillars of the industry— culture, capacity and capability, and equitable and aligned commercial frameworks. Each of these areas are interconnected—improvement in one requires improvement in all.

Jon Davies,

CEO, Australian Constructors Association

Starting with culture, the construction industry is not an employer of choice and, as such, is missing out on employing approximately half the working population—women. That is why the Australian Constructors Association has partnered with the NSW and Victorian governments in the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce. The Taskforce is developing a new industry Culture Standard which is a framework for clients and contractors to work together to improve the culture in our industry. The Culture Standard aims to change the lives of construction workers by ensuring workers are provided adequate time to rest and pursue life activities outside of work; the occupational health and mental wellbeing of construction workers is prioritised; and the industry can attract and retain a more diverse range of workers. Once finalised, governments will be called upon to incorporate the Culture Standard into their standard procurement requirements to ensure we have the right skills in our industry and to address cultural issues.

Moreover, the Australian Constructors Association has been advocating for the Federal Government to lead reforms to improve productivity through the way governments procure and deliver projects. Improvements to government buying practices provide an enormous opportunity drive innovation including technology adoption, to reduce environmental impacts, to create local job opportunities, and to reduce life cycle costs. Further, they can have a significant impact on the way the industry collaborates and the culture within the industry.

With productivity growth over the last 30 years trailing other significant industries by 25 per cent, a halving of this gap would generate savings of $15 billion a year. Productivity can be addressed by improving the culture and diversity of the industry and increasing innovation and use of digital tools, but this will require reform—and it needs to involve all levels of government and industry.

Visit constructors.com.au for more information.