Welcome to the April Edition: Scaling with Confidence for success

We’re thrilled to bring you another edition of our monthly newsletter, packed with expert insights, must-know resources, and game-changing tips to help your business thrive! Your thoughts matter to us—drop us a line anytime at linda@consultaustralia.com.au.
Missed a past issue? No worries! Catch up here and stay inspired!

We’re excited to announce a new sponsor in the Consult Australia Small Business network – Total Synergy!

Sponsorship plays a vital role in supporting our small business community. It enables us to continue delivering valuable resources, events, and advocacy for our members. We’re proud to welcome Total Synergy as a partner who shares our commitment to helping small businesses thrive.

About Total Synergy

Total Synergy gives consulting engineering businesses the clearest path to project profitability. With over 20 years of experience working alongside Australian engineering firms, we understand the unique challenges of running a project-based business. Our software is purpose-built for small to mid-sized firms, helping them take control of projects, financials, and operations - all in one easy-to-use platform.

Total Synergy Webinar – Scaling with Confidence for success

As part of their welcome, Total Synergy has shared a fantastic webinar that we think will be of real value to our small business members.

As engineering firms grow, so do project complexities and operational pressures. Scaling successfully means more than just taking on bigger projects — it’s about maintaining control over timelines, budgets, and team capacity.

In this webinar, Rodney Drayton shares practical strategies for sustainable growth. We’ll explore how to overcome common scaling challenges, manage resources more effectively, reduce risk, and use technology to keep projects on track.

Rodney offers valuable insights into what it really takes to scale an AEC business — without compromising on quality or profitability. Link to the webinar here

Welcome aboard Total Synergy!

Total Synergy Webinar – Scaling with Confidence for success

Member Resources for Workplace Wins

Remember to visit Consult Australia’s Member Resources portal, which has a broad range of content including business guides relevant to attracting and retaining staff. Let us know if there is a topic missing, you’d like covered!

We also recommend ‘Getting Hiring Right’ by the Fair Work Ombudsman, which is a handy guide with many useful links, including to:

a pay calculator
template documents (such as the Fair Work Information Sheet), and
a free employment contract tool to build an easy and compliant employment contract.

Noting the untapped pool of skilled migrant engineers in Australia, we recently produced this ‘Improving access to global engineering skills’ business guide with Engineers Australia. The guide steps through the business process for hiring overseas-qualified engineers. Consult Australia and Engineers Australia developed the business guide as part of our ‘Leading Through Collaboration’ partnership agreement.

The Consult Australia Awards for Excellence

The Consult Australia Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner was held on Thursday 24 March at the ICC Sydney and was a resounding success, celebrating the outstanding achievements of firms across our industry.

We’re especially proud to recognise two of our small business members who performed exceptionally well.

Congratulations to Huma Hussain from Infrastructure Design & Innovation Pty Ltd, for taking home both the Small Business Excellence – Client Satisfaction Award and the prestigious Small Business Firm of the Year Award.

We also extend our congratulations to Peter Geoghegan from GEOTRON, who was awarded Highly Commended in the Small Business Excellence – Client Satisfaction Award.

The Consult Australia Awards for Excellence

This award category is free of charge for small business members, and we strongly encourage all eligible members to consider entering in the 2025–2026 season.

The 2025-2026 season will be open in August 2025.

Exclusive Scholarship Opportunity for Small Businesses!

Future Leaders Program Launches in Sydney and Melbourne

The highly anticipated Consult Australia Future Leaders Program has officially kicked off in both Sydney and Melbourne, welcoming a new cohort of inspiring young professionals ready to make their mark on the industry.

This year’s participants are a diverse and passionate group, united by their ambition to grow as leaders and shape the future of consulting in Australia. Over the coming months, they will develop key leadership skills, learn how to influence change, build commercial acumen, and strengthen their understanding of business strategy and stakeholder engagement. The program also offers invaluable networking opportunities with senior industry leaders and peers alike.

While the Sydney Scholarship place has already been filled, there is still one spot remaining in Melbourne — and it’s not too late to join. If you’re a small business in Melbourne with a rising star on your team, this is a unique opportunity to support their professional development, free of charge

For more information or to express interest, please contact Linda at linda@consultaustralia.com.au

Did You Know? Consult Australia Now Offers Online Short Courses!

Staying up to date with industry best practices has never been easier!

Consult Australia now offers convenient, online short courses designed to fit into your busy schedule. Each course is just one hour long, making professional development more accessible than ever. Covering key topics such as contract law, risk management, leadership, and business strategy, these sessions provide practical insights and expert guidance to help you stay ahead in the industry.

No travel, no downtime—just bite-sized, high-impact learning from wherever you are. Explore our courses today and take your skills to the next level! You can enrol here

Join Us for the Next SME Forum – Thursday, 6 May 2025, at 1 PM (AEST)

Our next SME Forum is just around the corner!

Our SME Forum’s are your opportunity to take a moment from your day and raise and escalate those most important issues and challenges your business is facing directly with our team. These are always a great discussion: the exchange with your peers from around the country on issues of interest sees shared perspectives and experiences from consulting businesses operating around Australia.

In May we will be joined by Matt King with recruitment and HR tips and tricks.

Matt’s recent video includes valuable recruitment tips and tricks specifically tailored for our Small Business Members. Matt will join us for a live discussion and to answer your questions.

And for those in Queensland: a reminder that May is Queensland Small Business Month! Some great events happening across the state to check out here.

Jonathan Cartledge our CEO, and Kristy Eulenstein our Head of Policy and Government Relations look forward to seeing you on 6 May. Add this teams link to your calendar.

Links

Contact

info@consultaustralia.com.au

02 8252 6700