Leaders from around the Australian construction industry have united in a commitment to rebuild the industry’s poor culture in the wake of the CFMEU corruption, bullying and harassment allegations.
More than 75 building industry leaders signed an agreement recognising the key issues currently facing the Aussie construction sector, committing to a collaborative effort to overcome them.
The meeting took place at the Australian Constructors Association’s first inaugural ‘Foundations and Frontiers’ forum held in Sydney, bringing some of the industry’s biggest players together to discuss solutions to some of our sector’s biggest challenges.
Planned long before the 60 Minutes CFMEU exposé, which has continued to make national news since its release last month, the forum has inadvertently become the perfect opportunity to address some of the concerns raised in its fallout.
Australian Constructors Association CEO Jon Davies told Buid-it the forum’s timing was advantageous in addressing key issues and concerns that had reached a boiling point over the last month.
“Industry forums are important for bringing stakeholders together to discuss the challenges but importantly to collaborate in mapping out a path towards a more sustainable future,” he explained.
“Foundations and Frontiers 24 was conceived over a year ago, but the events of the last few weeks provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accelerate the pace of change and finally create a more sustainable construction industry for the benefit of workers, employers and all Australians.”
“The name of the forum recognises that we are not starting from scratch. The foundations for a more sustainable industry are already there, but we need to push the frontiers for acceptable outcomes in areas like industry culture, diversity, productivity and profitability, and we need to do this quickly.”
During the event, key decision makers from the Electrical Trades Union, Australian Workers’ Union, and Plumbing & Pipe Trades Employees Union all acknowledged the vital role they and other law-abiding unions play in the industry and discussed how the industry could work together to shape a positive future.
Early polling from the day highlighted poor industry culture, a lack of productivity and financial instability as the most prevalent concerns facing the sector, with discussions then held on how these challenges can be confronted.
“This forum was not supposed to solve all industry’s problems in one go. It was designed to start a movement for change, and in that respect, I think it was an overwhelming success,” Mr Davies said.
Members of the Federal Government also attended the event to discuss how developing a new federal funding agreement with the states would support opportunities within the construction sector, such as skills development and workforce diversity.
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King highlighted the importance of increasing the number of women in the construction industry to address current workforce shortages.
Female workers could hold key to culture overhaul
Prior to the event, ACA CEO Jon Davies said boosting female worker numbers was critical to addressing workplace culture and productivity concerns.
“At a time when industry productivity is at its lowest in 60 years, the demand for construction workers has never been higher,” he said.
“At the same time, the industry is facing significant workforce imbalances.”
“Just 12 per cent of the construction workforce are women, highlighting a significant underutilisation of half of the potential workforce, and more people are leaving the industry than joining it.”
“In the eyes of the next generation of workers, construction is an industry stuck in the past.”
“If the construction industry is to survive and thrive, we need to find ways to attract more people into the industry, keep them in the industry for longer and deliver more projects with them when they are working.”
