Kristy, Consult Australia’s Head of Policy and Government Relations, joined Engineers Australia’s National President Raj Aseervatham, Sydney Metro’s Ian Lowe and GHD’s Megan Stanley at Bentley’s Illuminate Sydney 2025.
The topic on the table? How to navigate the evolving infrastructure landscape.
Australia’s five-year major public infrastructure pipeline stands at $213 billion, according to Infrastructure Australia’s 2024 Market Capacity Report. But that’s down 8% year-on-year.
“We are avoiding the tough discussions on risk identification and pricing,” Kristy said.
Consult Australia’s Unravelling Risk report, released in April, finds change in scope is the leading cause of disputes, both globally and locally. Just over half (51%) of claims in Australia cite scope as the leading issue – compared to 37% globally.
Misleading and deceptive conduct claims are on the rise, and are often used tactically in disputes, Consult Australia’s report finds. And professional indemnity (PI) insurance loss ratios for engineers are well above the industry’s sustainable threshold of 70%.
Pipeline uncertainty is another big risk, Infrastructure Australia’s Market Capacity Report notes. Despite workforce shortages at the national aggregate level, delays or uncertainty at the project level can disincentivise businesses from investing in workforce capacity building.
Infrastructure Australia’s findings are reiterated in Consult Australia’s 2024 survey of design, advisory and engineering businesses. This found 46% of respondents had made resource cuts in the previous 12 months, and 57% had redeployed staff to alternative projects due to changes to the government infrastructure pipeline.
Engineers Australia’s Engineering Tomorrow report points out the looming skills shortage ahead, Raj Aseervatham noted during the discussion. Engineers Australia is calling for a national target of 60,000 additional engineering graduates over the next decade, as an estimated two million workers in engineering and building trades will be needed in the clean energy sector alone by 2050.
“Our members need confidence in the pipeline first to ensure they can build longer-term capability,” Kristy observed. “Consult Australia is focused on the need for certainty of work over the next six to 12 months.”
Consult Australia offers a range of resources for members, including the Centre for Contracting & Risk, the Mental Health Knowledge Hub and the Empowering Small Business e-newsletter.
The Illuminate Sydney audience of 400 engaged deeply with the content, with questions ranging from digital transformation to leadership pathways for young engineers. As one young engineering student later reflected on LinkedIn, the panel offered “so much insight into the future of infrastructure”.
For Kristy, Bentley Systems’ program highlighted the value of clear, honest industry dialogue. “Communication and conversations matter – being able to listen, share and learn is how we solve problems together.”