June 2026

We problems and us solutions

Jonathan Cartledge, Chief Executive Officer, Consult Australia

At Consult Australia’s recent Building a Resilient Water Future forum, delivered in partnership with VicWater, GHD’s Lindsey Brown encouraged participants to think in terms of “we problems and us solutions”.

It's a phrase that resonated around the room.

The forum brought together Consult Australia members with leaders from government and water authorities to discuss the challenges facing Victoria’s water sector. The issues we explored were wide-ranging and you can read a rundown in this month’s Consulting Matters.

But what struck me most wasn’t the discussion itself, although it was insightful. It was the willingness of people to have it.

The trust and safety created through the forum allowed participants to begin courageous conversations about constraints, competing priorities and practical opportunities for improvement. With a range of views on ‘the how’, everyone recognised that the challenges ahead are bigger than any one organisation.

That same spirit was evident at our most recent Liability and Contracts Roundtable, where Consult Australia members were joined by Australian Constructors Association (ACA) Chief Executive Officer Peter Colacino and Head of Policy Kristin Moss.

Legal and commercial leaders came together to discuss some of the systemic issues that continue to plague project delivery. The conversation was candid, constructive and focused on what we can do better.

In a guest opinion piece in this edition of Consulting Matters, Peter Colacino writes about “a shared view of what better looks like” through the new Partnership for Change best practice design principles.

This is the fifth thought leadership paper we have published with the ACA since launching Partnership for Change in 2022. Along the way, we’ve explored digital technology, model client principles, the impact of multiple design reviews and fair approaches to reliance information. The latest paper turns its attention to the design process itself.

Unclear scope, repeated design reviews, late stakeholder engagement and poor decision-making don’t belong to any one part of the industry. They are “we problems”, which means working together to find “us solutions”.

 

Stop Press

Consult Australia members have raised concerns about the proposed closure of CSIRO’s full-scale fire testing facility at North Ryde and the potential implications beyond fire safety. The facility plays an important role in supporting housing delivery, critical infrastructure projects, advanced manufacturing, product innovation, regulatory decision-making and Australia’s broader sovereign technical capability.

Through our membership of the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF), Consult Australia is engaging with the Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science, Tim Ayres, and with CSIRO. The Minister has indicated he has not yet seen evidence of these potential broader impacts.

If your business would be affected by the closure, we want to hear from you. Members with examples or evidence of potential impacts are encouraged to contact Kristy Eulenstein so we can help inform ongoing discussions with the Australian Government.