A year of progress and promise

Jonathan Cartledge, Chief Executive Officer, Consult Australia

A year of progress and promise

A year is a short time to drive bold change, but it is also a good yardstick to measure both progress and promise for the year ahead.


Our team at Consult Australia is acutely aware that the fortunes of our members’ businesses fluctuate with investment in the infrastructure pipeline and changes to government. This has certainly been the case in 2024, and our focus has been on practical advocacy, tools, resources and business opportunities that directly benefit our members.


We are proud to have secured several significant policy wins in 2024, including contract amendments in key states and a pause on the proposed NSW Practice Standard for Professional Engineers. These changes will improve the business environment for our members in 2025. These are a reflection of all our members’ engagement in our roundtables, committees and focus groups throughout the year. Read our team’s reflections on these wins and other advocacy highlights in their wrap of the year in this month’s Consulting Matters.


Beyond immediate policy wins, we've remained laser-focused on long-term strategic goals, like securing greater certainty in the infrastructure pipeline, advancing the digital by default agenda and championing diversity. We know digitally-enabled, diverse businesses will help our industry to evolve, innovate and thrive. Among the many milestones this year, we launched the Enabling Digital by Default white paper and welcomed Arup’s Australasia Co-Chair Kerryn Coker as the new Chair of the Consult Australia Champions of Change Coalition. The release of the 2024 Champions of Change Coalition Impact Report a testament to their continued leadership.


We also introduced a range of practical business-focused training programs, resources and guides to support our smaller members including our new online member only resource centre alongside our landmark Centre for Contracting and Risk, and Diversity and Inclusion Knowledge Hub.


Many of the changes we've seen in 2024 reflect a growing recognition among governments that the status quo is no longer sufficient. The NSW Government’s Principles for Partnership, released this month and covered in this month’s Consulting Matters, is a welcome step in the right direction and we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively for bigger, bolder strides in 2025.


With geopolitical uncertainty, a flat domestic economy and a federal election on the horizon, our industry is facing headwinds in 2025. We will be there with you, every step of the way, to navigate the obstacles and seize the opportunities.


On behalf of the Consult Australia team, enjoy the festive season and take time out to rest and recharge. We wrote to all government agencies in October, as part of our ongoing Pause of Wellbeing campaign, to take a break until Monday 6 January 2025 – and we hope you will too.

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A year of progress and promise