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- 28/08/2025
28/08/2025
🏗 🚧 🌏 🛠 🚀 🦺 ♻ 🤖 🧱 🏛 🧰
THE MORNING PAPER FOR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS AND TRADIES
🚨 Safety Updates
October is National Safe Work Month, promoting safer, healthier workplaces across Australia. This year’s theme, safety: every job, every day, urges all industries to prioritise safety daily. By doing so, we can reduce workplace injuries and fatalities, protecting workers and ensuring everyone gets home safely at the end of the day.
CleanSpace has revolutionised respiratory safety with its lightweight, breath-responsive AirSensit system. Delivering clean air only on inhalation, it ensures efficiency and protection. With 99.97% filtration and under 450g weight, CleanSpace respirators are ideal for mining, offering comfort, durability, and top-tier performance in the toughest environments, including underground operations.
Two workers sustained chemical burns in 2024 after exposure to sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) during a transfer operation. Preliminary findings suggest a hose dislodged, causing a splash. The chemical was being moved using a handheld electric pump. Investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the incident.
✒ Headlines & Industry
The new Delivering Net Zero Infrastructure: Workforce Report offers the first unified view of the skills needed to decarbonise Australia’s infrastructure. With infrastructure responsible for nearly half of national emissions, the report outlines four key recommendations—including a national training program—to grow a skilled, low-emissions workforce.
The policy decisions taken in the next decade will determine whether the Australia's building sector is still clinging to gas or fully part of the clean energy future.
Total construction work done rose 3% to $76.1 billion in seasonally adjusted terms. Engineering work led growth, up 6.1% for the quarter and 8.5% year-on-year. Building work rose slightly by 0.2%, up 1.6% annually. However, trend estimates show a 0.7% decline in total construction activity this quarter.
The Australian Department of Defence has appointed Mott MacDonald as a Project Delivery Services (PDS) Contractor under the Base Services Transformation Program (BSTP).
Australia’s transition to net zero by 2050 is at risk without urgent action to address workforce shortages across infrastructure sectors, a new report warns. Infrastructure Australia’s Delivering Net Zero Infrastructure: Workforce Report outlines a national game plan to identify, upskill and grow the “Infrastructure Net Zero Workforce” – a group of 130,000 workers currently engaged in activities that reduce infrastructure-related emissions.
Power availability is emerging as a critical challenge in Asia-Pacific construction, alongside materials, labour, and supply chain issues, says Linesight’s report. Energy constraints are quietly reshaping project risks in the race for smarter, faster, and greener building.
A construction site turned into a disaster when a crane buckled, slamming into a car and powerlines and trapping the operator.
🏗️ Projects
ACT
Dickson’s transformation centers on light rail, new shops, and residential projects like Mulberry, Kashmir, Calypso, and Vermillion by Art Group. The suburb features low-rise buildings around communal spaces with gardens, gyms, and EV chargers. It appeals to young professionals, families, and downsizers, offering diverse homes near schools, green spaces, and easy city access.
Construction started on a six-storey, A-grade office at 40 Brisbane Avenue, Barton. The building targets Net Zero, 5.5 Star NABERS, and 5 Star Green ratings, with 100% renewable power. It offers 16,562 sqm lettable space and 255 parking spots, aiming to attract government and related tenants.
NSW
Camden Council has welcomed the NSW Government’s announcement of more than $35 million for land acquisition, planning and design to support the delivery of vital schools and road connections in the Camden area.
City of Newcastle Council has announced it will seek a final tick of approval from the NSW Government for a $63 million plan to buffer Stockton’s coastline from erosion.
NT
QLD
Two offshore wind developers vying for a spot off the coast of Western Australia have resolved an overlap issue and been offered preliminary feasibility licences.
Brisbane City Council has approved a plan to transform the former Taubmans Paint Factory in Yeronga into Australia’s first fully integrated arts village. Spanning 34,000m², the precinct will include art spaces, a theatre, eateries, markets, and new homes—revitalising the site into a vibrant, mixed-use community hub.
The Queensland Government’s Residential Activation Fund will invest $53.5 million into three key projects to unlock over 6,250 new homes in the Burdekin region. Funding includes major infrastructure upgrades in Bowen and Townsville, and planning support in Ayr to enable future housing development and support regional growth.
VIC
Works to underpin the elevated rail line at Clayton for the new Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) station will begin soon. From 29 August to 6 September, buses and coaches will replace trains on affected lines. SRL East will transform Clayton into a major transport hub, boost housing, and create thousands of jobs.
WA
Three builders – PACT Construction, EMCO Building and Icon Construction – have been contracted to deliver 14 affordable and social build-to-rent apartment projects in metropolitan Perth. It is expected the project will create 1,146 new homes throughout the city, with apartments featuring one and two-bedroom variations.
An interesting opportunity has emerged to power the world’s largest radio telescope. The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) has opened a market survey for the design, build and operation of a hybrid Central Power Station to supply the SKA-Low Telescope in Western Australia’s Murchison region.
Pilbara Ports released its first Climate Action Plan (2025–2030), outlining steps to decarbonise port operations and support customer sustainability. Key initiatives include developing a Pilbara Clean Fuel Bunkering Hub, addressing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and exploring renewable energy solutions to drive a greener future for the region.
🧰 Construction Au Other
Amiblu Australia’s glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) pipe systems have been certified under the Australian Made logo, recognising over 20 years of local manufacturing in Lonsdale, SA. As the nation’s sole GRP pipe maker for trenchless technologies, Amiblu supports resilient, sustainable water and energy infrastructure across Australia.
In the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a newly launched initiative is looking to celebrate Brisbane’s 1959 Centenary Pool, designed by then-city architect James Birrell.
An accurate understanding of the porosity of structural backfill around arch-shaped attenuation chambers requires an awareness of storage volume, design and calculation.
Operating an excavator in Australia is not just about jumping into the cabin and grabbing the joysticks. As the technical skills and risks are involved, the operators must pass some legal and safety requirements. That is where the excavator ticket comes in.
Phenna Group, a Nottingham-based testing and compliance firm, acquired Australian geospatial company ISGroup, marking its 15th deal in 2025 and entry into geospatial services. ISGroup provides data and analytics for infrastructure and planning. The acquisition supports ISGroup’s growth and strengthens Phenna’s Asia-Pacific presence.
🚀 Innovation, Digital & Futuristic Technology
The China-based technology and solar infrastructure company has launched Buildex, a line of solar panel installation robots. A built-in forklift, a robotic arm and advanced automation software support its ability to carry, pick and place panels in a variety of terrains.
Digital technology boosts supply chain resilience by improving supplier collaboration, enhancing visibility, integrating risk management, automating incident response, and enabling continuous data-driven improvements—helping Australia’s infrastructure sector better prepare for and recover from disruptions.
Construction management software giant Procore Technologies has signed a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) with cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services (AWS). The SCA formalizes a joint commitment between the companies to co-invest in go-to-market activities and product innovation for the global construction industry, as well as in adjacent verticals that drive construction initiatives.
🌱 Sustainability & Environment
Jackie Trad, former Queensland Deputy Premier and Treasurer, is the new CEO of the Clean Energy Council. With 30+ years in policy and leadership, she’s known for driving renewable energy initiatives like CleanCo and reforming mining laws. Her expertise will guide Australia’s clean energy transition and stakeholder collaboration.
An academic research team in China has developed a new type of ‘supercool cement’ which could potentially reduce the dependence of concrete buildings on air conditioning while cutting embodied carbon emissions.
🌏 Around the World
The partnership was established under Malaysia’s Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) network in September 2024, which allows corporations to directly contract renewable energy with developers.
Architecture and engineering firm Egis has been appointed to supervise the “reactivation” of the King Abdullah Financial District transit system – a 3.6km driverless monorail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued Law No 7 of 2025 to encourage investment and regulate construction contracts in Dubai.
📖 Miscellaneous
When Australia’s central bank resolved to refurbish its 1960s-era Sydney headquarters in 2018, it hardly expected the project would fall victim to the complex construction rules that also hinder the country’s housing sector.
Energy Hubs integrate diverse clean power sources with storage and industrial use, addressing renewable intermittency and curtailment. They enhance grid stability, enable sector coupling like green hydrogen production, and support large energy users. Despite challenges in financing, supply chains, and stakeholder coordination, Energy Hubs are vital for scalable, reliable, low-carbon energy systems.
Looking at the annual trend, South Australia was the only state or territory to record an annual increase in ad volume (5.0%) with job ads rising m/m for the past 12 months. The Construction and Industrial sectors have played a large part in the annual growth for the state, with commencements rising significantly y/y according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Construction job advertised salaries in Australia saw slower growth, with national annual growth at 3.3%, the slowest since 2021. Demand weakened, especially in engineering roles linked to mining in Queensland and Western Australia. Despite slower growth, salaries still outpace living costs amid easing labor market tightness.
Australia is being flagged as a hub for data centres but there are concerns the nation is not ready to deal with the amount of water they need to function.
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