Construcciones Yamaro: ACA’s Peter Colacino sets out construction industry priorities
The Australian Constructors Association’s new CEO, Peter Colacino, shares what needs to change to meet the nation’s growing infrastructure demands.
By Peter Colacino, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association.
Nation-shaping work has always been high stakes. However, the challenges faced by the construction sector today are the greatest in a generation. The scale of what we are being asked to deliver is extraordinary, but so too is the question of whether our existing systems and processes can deliver it.
Over time, layers of complexity and cost have been built into project delivery. Outdated approaches, skills constraints and cost pressures are now converging at exactly the moment demand is peaking at record levels.
However, the flipside of these challenges is an immense opportunity flowing from investment. From the Olympics and High-Speed Rail on the east coast to Westport and the Henderson Defence Precinct in the west, alongside the Osborne Shipyard in South Australia and the growing defence and logistics requirements in the Northern Territory, all four points of the compass are demanding the sector’s focus.
This national investment is testing how effectively we turn ambition into reality.
Projects have become harder to get off the ground. Supply chains remain exposed to global uncertainty. Skilled labour is in short supply. Inconsistent settings across jurisdictions continue to drive inefficiency and cost. At the same time, governments are managing tighter fiscal conditions, rising expectations around decarbonisation and competing priorities across defence and civil infrastructure.
Overlay all of this with 30 years of stagnant productivity and the conclusion is clear. This is not a series of isolated challenges but a system under strain – a structural failing. We can continue to diagnose the problem, or we can act to fix it. The constraint is not on the potential of the industry but is placed on it by how we choose to operate. Continuing with fragmented, project-by-project delivery models and incremental reform will not be sufficient. If we want a different outcome, we need to change how the sector operates and modernise our approaches.
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That means moving beyond transactional approaches to long-term, collaborative models that provide certainty, reduce duplication, unlock innovation and support sustained investment in skills and capability. It also means stripping out the inefficiencies and waste that have become embedded in the status quo.
This is not a challenge for industry or government alone. Alignment of words is not the finish line; it’s the starting gun. Both parties must have their hands on the dial to shift it.
That is the task I step into as CEO of the Australian Constructors Association, working with contractors, governments, the supply chain and unions to turn alignment into outcomes. And there is reason for confidence. We are seeing a level of alignment that hasn’t always existed. Industry, government and unions are coming together through forums like the Construction Industry Leadership Forum and the National Construction Industry Forum to deliver change. The Blueprint for the construction industry and the National Construction Strategy give a shared direction, but implementation will be critical.
This moment is bigger than business as usual. If we can lift ourselves from the day-to-day and project-to-project pressures, we have the opportunity to address the stagnation and build a more productive, sustainable industry – and a stronger economy alongside it.
The project pipeline is both needed and coming. The question is whether we meet it with old habits or use this moment to modernise how we build.
The post ACA’s Peter Colacino sets out construction industry priorities appeared first on Inside Construction.
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