October 2025

Pulse Check

Market conditions report

Project uncertainty, business risk and cost pressures weigh on industry, according to Consult Australia’s latest research. But there are signs of resilience, with 49% of respondent member businesses optimistic about the year ahead.

Each year, Consult Australia surveys its members to take the industry’s pulse. The 2025 survey was completed by 41 member businesses, representing a combined workforce of more than 29,070 people.

The survey confirms a continuation of last year’s market conditions, with 97% of respondents reporting current or near-term capacity. There are few sectors where respondents flag ‘too much work’ compared with previous years.

“Some capacity can be healthy and provide room to bid on new work or take on projects in other sectors,” says Consult Australia’s National Policy Manager Kristine Banks. “But when available work diminishes across multiple sectors, businesses struggle to maintain staff through redeployment and cuts become unavoidable.

“Pipeline uncertainty makes it difficult to hold onto resources or invest in capability. Many of respondent member businesses work across jurisdictions and manage their workforce nationally. That’s why coordinated pipeline planning matters.”

 

Key findings from respondent member businesses

  • Spare capacity: 97% across all sectors say they have spare capacity now or within six months. ‘Not enough work’ is the dominant response across most sectors, compared with 77% in 2024.
  • People on the move: 51% have redeployed staff to other projects in the past year; 43% made additional resource cuts due to delayed or cancelled projects.
  • Risky business: 43% are operating in a higher risk environment than they were 12 months ago.
  • Central challenges: Escalating business costs and a lack of pipeline certainty are the top two business challenges.
  • PI pain point: 57% say professional indemnity insurance premiums have continued to rise, despite slightly better availability.
  • Compliance creep: 68% report rising business compliance costs, including professional registration, licensing and insurance.
  • Salary squeeze: Salaries are the fastest-rising cost pressure in the past 12 months – outpacing both insurance and compliance costs.
  • Digital skills priority: 62% cite digital, data and AI capabilities as priority skill gaps for the next three years.

 

“Despite the challenges highlighted in the survey, 49% of respondent member businesses are optimistic about the business outlook over the next 12 months. This reflects the sector’s resilience. But it also reinforces the need for strong government policy signals and consistent pipeline visibility to build confidence further,” Kristine concludes.

Download Consult Australia’s Market conditions report.

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