The Australian Constructors Association welcomes the release of Infrastructure Australia’s reform roadmap Delivering Outcomes to address Australia’s infrastructure sector challenges.

Australian Constructors Association CEO Jon Davies said the guardrails are in place for transformational change in industry productivity, innovation, and sustainability—it’s time to start driving.

“What is now needed is a mechanism to ensure the recommendations are implemented,” said Mr Davies.

“Owners and delivery agencies are positioned to implement the best practice framework but without a clear mandate at a national level, change will continue to be slow and piecemeal.”

The Australian Constructors Association has developed a way for the Federal Government to expedite these reforms through a new ratings initiative called the Future Australian Infrastructure Rating (FAIR). FAIR is proposed for implementation in the next iteration of the National Partnership Agreement.

“If implemented, the ‘FAIR’ initiative would create an environment where participating organisations work together to deliver the best possible outcomes for all,” said Mr Davies.

“Fair risk allocation, fair returns—the FAIR theme is dotted throughout Infrastructure Australia’s roadmap and the recent collapse of organisations like Probuild and Condev demonstrate the urgent need for a FAIR solution for the construction industry.

“FAIR would help ensure the implementation of portfolio approaches to drive investment in new technologies and solutions, use of integrated and collaborative teams to deliver projects more efficiently and effectively, a culture of continuous learning to support better, faster, cheaper and more innovative solutions and more.

“Productivity improvements have the potential to not only unlock $15 billion in savings but help address significant capacity constraints through smarter, more efficient ways of working.”

The Australian Constructors Association congratulates Infrastructure Australia for engaging with government and industry in developing this report and for providing a candid view of the operating environment. A quote published in the report from a government stakeholder sums it up— “There is a ‘screw them down’ type culture. We should be driving genuine fair value, fair price.”

More on FAIR.