August 2026

My pocket of potential

Jonathan Cartledge, Chief Executive Officer, Consult Australia

At the Australian Constructors Association’s Foundations and Frontiers conference this month, I had 90 seconds to name the “pocket of potential” I’m most excited about for the next 12 months.

My pocket of potential is confidence. Not confidence as a sentiment, but as an operating condition.

Consult Australia’s 2026 Market conditions report tells us that almost 80% of consulting businesses say pipeline uncertainty is their biggest challenge.

Uncertainty matters. Give businesses long-term visibility and trust in the pipeline and you give them the confidence to invest in the people, skills and technology we need for the future.

But confidence cuts both ways. Governments also need confidence that the market has the capability to deliver what they promise. Underpinning confidence on both sides is trust: businesses trusting that the pipeline will materialise, and governments trusting the market to deliver.

Our Protecting Cost Certainty research shows that delivering projects on budget doesn’t come from pushing more risk down the supply chain or demanding a lower price. It comes from getting risk, scope and responsibilities right early, with the right expertise at the table trusting the market to respond.

In other words, if governments are serious about building certainty into their budget envelopes, then our procurement models must build trust and reward, rather than erode, businesses that invest in the future.

Alison Scotland, CEO of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, expands on this point in our conversation about Infrastructure Net Zero in this edition of Consulting Matters. Governments can set ambitious targets, but they need the entire value chain to execute them. That requires confidence in the capability of the market which, in turn, gives businesses the confidence to keep building that capability.

The issues of certainty and continuity aren’t uniquely Australian and are driving closer trans-Tasman ties. Our freshly minted alignment agreement with ACE New Zealand reflects the value of working together on shared challenges.

Certainty creates confidence. Confidence enables investment. And investment gives us the capacity to do more. That’s how a pocket of potential becomes something much bigger and better. 

STOP PRESS

Since writing this column, the Victorian Government has announced it will abolish Infrastructure Victoria, with its functions to move into government departments. Consult Australia has joined Engineers Australia and the Australian Constructors Association in calling on the government to reconsider. Victoria has a complex and significant infrastructure pipeline: independent, and expert and transparent advice is important for its success. Read our joint response.