Construcciones Yamaro: How Australia can leverage international construction expertise
Australia’s construction workforce shortages show why international expertise should be assessed on capability, not geography, writes Ajay Adhikari.
By Ajay Adhikari, contract management and procurement professional.
Australia’s infrastructure pipeline is placing heavy demand on an already stretched workforce. Infrastructure Australia’s 2025 Infrastructure Market Capacity report projects that the infrastructure workforce shortage could exceed 300,000 full-time-equivalent workers by mid-2027.
Despite this demand, international construction expertise can be screened out through one familiar phrase: “lack of local experience”.
From international experience to local practice
Local experience can represent legitimate knowledge. Australian contract forms, legislation, procurement systems and workplace expectations all need to be understood. The problem arises when geography is treated as proof of competence and overseas experience is dismissed before its relevance has been assessed.
When unpacked, local experience in contract management can encompass four broad capabilities. Each can be identified, tested and, where necessary, learned.
1. Contract forms – assess the underlying capability
Australian projects use a range of standard contracts, including AS 4000 general conditions of contract and AS 4902 general conditions for design and construct. Related forms include AS 4901 subcontract conditions, with contracts commonly supplemented by project-specific amendments and special conditions.
Familiarity with these forms is useful, but contract management capability is not limited to knowing the wording of one Australian Standard.
The underlying work includes monitoring risk allocation, complying with notice requirements, maintaining project records, assessing payment claims, administering variations and extensions of time, managing defects and applying termination provisions. These responsibilities exist across many contract systems.
Contracts developed by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) provide one example. The Red Book is generally used for works designed by the employer, while the Yellow Book applies where the contractor undertakes the design. Both contain formal provisions covering notices, instructions, payments, claims, variations, time, defects and dispute resolution.
FIDIC-based conditions are also used in standard bidding documents for projects financed by organisations including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Experience administering a FIDIC contract is not identical to administering an Australian Standard contract. However, it can demonstrate knowledge of contract governance, procedural compliance, risk allocation, documentation and claims management.
That experience should be examined according to the scale and complexity of the projects delivered, the person’s responsibilities and the contractual issues managed. Any gaps in knowledge of Australian forms can then be addressed through targeted training and project induction.
2. Regulation – local knowledge can be learned
Construction professionals in Australia work within legal, regulatory and policy frameworks covering areas such as security of payment, licensing, work health and safety, and government procurement.
These frameworks vary between jurisdictions, while procurement undertaken by relevant Commonwealth entities is governed by the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.
A contract manager moving between Australian jurisdictions may therefore need to learn new payment legislation, procurement policies and administrative requirements. International professionals may face a larger transition, but the principle is similar: jurisdiction-specific knowledge has to be acquired and applied.
Professionals who have worked on government or multilateral development bank-funded projects may already be accustomed to procurement requirements covering technical capacity, probity, audit rights, anti-corruption controls and value-for-money assessments.
That background does not replace knowledge of Australian legislation. It can, however, provide a sound base for learning the applicable requirements.
Employers could distinguish between knowledge needed from the first day and knowledge that can be acquired through induction, formal training, mentoring and supervised project exposure. This would provide a more accurate assessment than rejecting a candidate because the legislation they previously applied had a different name.
3. Tender platforms – systems are not capability
Australia has several procurement portals and information systems. AusTender publishes Australian Government business opportunities, procurement plans and awarded contracts, while jurisdictions operate their own systems, including Tenders ACT.
Employers may regard unfamiliarity with a particular platform as evidence that someone lacks local procurement experience. However, learning to navigate a portal is different from learning how to plan and conduct a procurement process.
Procurement capability includes preparing suitable evaluation criteria, assessing technical and commercial submissions, managing conflicts of interest, maintaining probity, documenting decisions and selecting an offer that provides value for money.
These principles apply across many public procurement systems. A professional who has managed competitive tenders subject to government or external audit may possess relevant expertise even without previous access to an Australian portal.
Platform training can usually be provided. The harder capability to develop is the judgement needed to manage a fair, transparent and defensible procurement process.
Recruitment should recognise the difference.
4. Industry culture – important, but learnable
Every construction market has its own expectations around communication, negotiation, decision-making and the escalation of contractual issues.
Understanding how Australian project teams communicate, how responsibilities are divided and how commercial issues are approached can influence the effective administration of a contract. This aspect of local experience deserves attention.
However, cultural familiarity is developed through exposure, feedback and participation. It is not an innate capability held only by people who began their careers in Australia.
International contract managers may also have experience resolving issues through negotiation, early notification and formal dispute-avoidance procedures. FIDIC contracts, for example, provide structured processes for claims, determinations, dispute avoidance and formal dispute resolution.
The terminology and workplace expectations may differ, but the ability to communicate difficult contractual issues, maintain working relationships and pursue commercial resolution can transfer between markets.
Mentoring and project-based onboarding can help professionals learn local expectations while allowing employers to benefit from the experience they already possess.
Moving from a filter to an assessment
International experience should not be accepted without examination merely because Australia needs more workers. Employers still need to assess communication skills, technical knowledge, project history, professional judgement and understanding of the role.
However, “local experience” is too broad to serve as the assessment itself.
Employers could instead identify the capabilities that the role requires and examine candidates against them. For a contract management position, this may include the types of contracts administered, the scale and complexity of previous projects, responsibility for variations and claims, experience with payment and time provisions, procurement governance, dispute avoidance and audit requirements.
Any Australian knowledge gaps could then be identified directly. Some may require formal education or licensing. Others may be addressed through contract training, legal briefings, mentoring or experience on an Australian project.
This approach would allow businesses to maintain appropriate recruitment requirements without disregarding international experience that could be applied to Australian projects.
Australian projects can be affected by payment disputes, delays, extension-of-time claims and poorly administered contract provisions. These problems are not solved by geography alone.
They are addressed by people who understand contractual risk, follow the required procedures, maintain reliable records and manage claims before they develop into costly disputes.
By assessing those capabilities directly, the construction industry can make better use of international expertise while ensuring professionals acquire the Australian knowledge needed to perform their roles.
Ajay Adhikari is a contract management and procurement professional with more than 15 years’ experience across building, road, irrigation, flood management and hydropower projects. His work has included projects funded by the Government of Nepal, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, using international procurement frameworks and FIDIC contract forms.
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