“Helping to shape and build great businesses with great people,” is how Consult Australia’s new Queensland Manager Tim Anderson describes his professional mission. Since joining us in April, Tim has begun shaping conversations and championing members’ interests across three dimensions.

When Tim recently relocated his family from Adelaide to Queensland, he made his own personal contribution to skills development. “We brought our son, an apprentice electrician, with us,” he says with a laugh.

An experienced civil engineer, Tim joins Consult Australia with a 35-year career in professional services under his belt. Tim takes the reins from Kristine Banks, who has taken on a new role as Consult Australia’s National Policy Manager.

In previous roles Tim provided advisory solutions to boards and business leaders, led a software company focused on water utilities, program managed the transfer of defence and aerospace systems engineering skills into energy and resources companies, and held senior strategic roles in large recruitment and legal firms. 

“We are thrilled to have Tim come on board, bringing business expertise, people skills and problem-solving to the big challenges facing our members in Queensland,” says Consult Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Cartledge.

Engineers are undoubtedly the world’s great problem solvers, and it is that ability to “identify the essence of the problem” that Tim is keen to tap into as he engages Consult Australia members in conversations. “Engineers have the ability to look at problems in silos, but then take a systems approach to see how everything is interconnected.”

Three interconnecting issues

Consult Australia’s advocacy work in Queensland is focused on three interconnecting issues, “pipeline certainty, skills and contracts,” Tim notes.

In its 14 May Federal Budget, the Australian Government directed new funding to several Queensland infrastructure projects, including $1.2 billion for the Sunshine Coast rail line and $467.2 million for the Bruce Highway Corridor. (Read more in Consult Australia's Federal Budget member briefing.) 

“There is some unease and uncertainty in the market as we lead up to the next state election. Without certainty, our members don’t have the confidence to invest.” 

On the skills front, Infrastructure Australia's Public Infrastructure Workforce Supply Dashboard sounds a clear warning bell. Skills supply isn’t forecast to meet demand until August 2027. “It’s not just about having enough skills. It’s about having the right skills in the right place at the right time,” Tim says.

Then there’s the perennial problem of unfair contracting. “With my background as a chief commercial officer, I have an appreciation of how contracting creates the environment to deliver technical excellence.” Consult Australia’s eight ‘model client’ behaviours are foundational to discussions with state and local governments, he says.

Connecting the dots

Tim’s early conversations with parliamentarians and policymakers have been “very positive”. Recent engagement at the Future of Construction Summit, held in Brisbane in mid-May, are an indication of where future opportunities lie, Tim says. 

“Much of the conversation was about digital design for construction. Our challenge is not to see digital technology as a ‘great piece of kit’ or some clever software but to look at how it integrates with people and the physical world. A digital model needs to be built – and that means practicality, pragmatism, and constructability.”

Overlaid with Tim’s own background in software are insights gleaned from the career trajectory of his daughter, who recently was in Singapore for induction for a new job she has taken up with Google in Sydney. “We have a cohort of fresh thinkers who have been immersed in digital technology since birth. It’s exciting to see.”

Many of Australia’s challenges are multifaceted – whether that’s meeting affordable housing targets, achieving net zero or building Olympics infrastructure on time. “We need whole-of-system thinking to solve these challenges. Part of my role at Consult Australia is to connect the dots to allow that whole-of-system thinking by our members – to bring together the right people to solve the big problems.”