On Wednesday evening I attended the gala dinner to celebrate 100 years since Standards Australia was established. One hundred years for any organisation is impressive, and Standards Australia can justly feel proud for undertaking such essential work for Australia during that time. All of the industry representatives who have served on standards committees during that time also need to be applauded.
Further, on Wednesday I attended an event hosted by ACIF member, Master Electricians Australia, to discuss the affordability and accessibility of Australian Standards. Master Electricians’ media release on this issue explaining their position can be read here, and is supported by a number of other organisations. ACIF members will discuss this at our next meeting on 28 November.
The next ACIF Forecasts will be released on 15 November, and ACIF’s Construction Forecasting Council will meet twice over the next two weeks to discuss these. My thanks to the Construction Forecasting Council, but also Peter Downes of Outlook Economics and the team at FTI Consulting who do such a stellar job with our forecasts. My thanks also to CoreLogic who provide the Major Projects Database. There are some global economic headwinds at the moment, and we await with interest the Federal Budget soon to be released. The Treasurer will deliver the 2022-23 October Budget on Tuesday 25 October.
Federal and State and Territory Skills and Training Ministers met in person on Friday last week to progress a number of key vocational education and training reform matters. The Ministerial Skills Council discussed the Australian Jobs and Skills Summit, Jobs and Skills Australia, National Skills Agreements, and the VET Workforce Capability Blueprint. The communiqué can be read here. Skills shortages are of course a very pressing issue for the construction industry and ACIF welcomes that governments are meeting to address the issue.
Construction has now started on Australia’s newest city, Bradfield City Centre, which is forecast to create more than 17,000 jobs and stimulate the growth of new advanced manufacturing, research and innovation in Western Sydney. Work is underway on the first building, a 3,840 square metre multi-purpose building that will house office, exhibition and event spaces, Hitachi’s Kyoso Creation Centre and the first stage of a new Advanced Manufacturing and Research Facility. The NSW Government is looking for industry partners for Bradfield, and more information can be read here.
Stay well,
Dr James Cameron
ACIF Executive Director