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Australia's building and infrastructure sector is at a critical crossroads. Despite contributing in 2023, infrastructure productivity — spanning both construction and asset performance — has stagnated over recent decades. 

This needs to change. Urgently. 

The sector faces a daunting task in coming years. It must expand capacity and capability to support the current project pipeline, ambitious housing targets and major new initiatives such as high-speed rail on the east coast, container port capacity and AUKUS-enabling infrastructure on the west coast, and venues for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Queensland. Simultaneously, it is contending with some of the toughest operating conditions in recent memory, with money, labor and material all in short supply. These pressures cut across every stage of the project lifecycle. 

In the face of these challenges, sponsors, planners, designers, engineers, consultants and constructors can no longer stick to traditional roles. They must become change makers: outspoken advocates for systemic reform and champions of smarter delivery. 

The status quo is no longer tenable

Productivity in Australia lags other advanced economies. While innovation and technology are driving significant gains in other sectors, buildings and infrastructure remains hampered by complex and extensive approval processes, outdated contracting models, inefficient design and construction practices, high material costs, critical skills shortages and training gaps. 

Past responses to cost overruns, approval challenges and delays have focused on introducing additional checks and balances instead of leveraging the considerable expertise of professionals right across the value chain to address systemic problems. In reality, project sponsors, planners, engineers, designers and constructors are best placed to identify new approaches that deliver improved outcomes and value for money in a commercially viable way. 

The bureaucracy around infrastructure planning and delivery is frustrating and counterproductive. Extended approval processes, complex stakeholder interests and outdated procurement approaches delay progress and inflate costs. Too often, a focus on lowest cost over long-term value drives short-term thinking and limits the ability to deliver broader social and economic benefits.

To change outcomes, Australia must change the rules that govern infrastructure planning and delivery. But professionals inside the system are held back, constrained by vested interests, rigid contracts and a culture that has long valued predictability and proven results over innovation. This culture must shift.

Technical professionals as advocates for change

To break the cycle, technical professionals need to use their credibility, project data, technology and experience to call out inefficiencies, push for smarter policies and demand delivery approaches that improve value and outcomes. 

Consider regulatory approvals. Engineers and designers know where processes duplicate effort, which standards are outdated and which approval pathways could be streamlined without compromising community interests or environmental protections. Similarly, when procurement models reward low-cost design over long-term value, or when scope creep and mid-project design changes impact delivery, these professionals understand the true implications. 

They should not just absorb these challenges. They should address them. 

Advocating for systemic reform 

Embracing advocacy also means engaging more proactively in shaping policy and regulation. This includes contributing to government consultation processes, serving on advisory panels and pushing for updates that align that reflect contemporary project planning, design and delivery practices. It means challenging legacy procurement models that shift disproportionate accountability and risk onto one party, creating adversarial instead of collaborative relationships. 

It also means championing digital adoption, data sharing and early contractor involvement as standard practices for modern delivery. Professional associations and industry bodies can amplify these calls, but change will only occur if professionals — within organizations like XÕ¾¸£ÀûËù — raise their voices. 

In conclusion

Australia’s building and infrastructure sector doesn't need more investment. It needs reform. And that will not happen unless those inside the system push for it. Silence reinforces the status quo. Challenging the accepted can change it.