A PROFESSIONALS AUSTRALIA INDUSTRY NEWSLETTERINFORMER

IN THIS ISSUE• Advocacy; Improving the Industry; and Viewpoint. • Roads and Rail Industry Outlook

Roads and Rail

Issue One

Aerial View: Tonkin Highway / Roe Highway – August 2014

INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER

• Latest Advocacy 3

• Working for a Better Future 4

• Industry Outlook 6

• Workplace Advice 11

• State Industrial Updates 12

NOV 2014 / Issue 1

1

Welcome to the Professionals Australia industry newsletter for members working in road and rail.In the pages that follow, you’ll find the latest industry information to help you get ahead in your field.

Around the country, Professionals Australia members have come together to initiate the first stages of the Better Infrastructure campaign. Over 300 engineers and technical professionals have attended information sessions with the vast majority signing a pledge of support for the campaign.

Professionals Australia is working with infrastructure professionals to continue the push to rebuild governments’ capacity to scope, design, deliver and maintain critical infrastructure.

Members have said to us loud and clear, that they don’t just want to be dealing with the symptoms of problems – the redundancies and restructures. Members want to have a voice in fixing problems at their heart. There is little point in negotiating only with local managers when it is senior bureaucrats and politicians that make decisions affecting job security, work-loads, and the projects which engineers undertake. Victorian organiser Mallory doing her bit for the Better Infrastructure campaign.

If you’re interested in contributing to these newsletters, or you have an update you think other members would be interested in, please do not hesitate to get in touch.Contact the Better Infrastructure team at: betterinfrastructure@professionalsaustralia.org.au

IN THIS ISSUE

Roads and Rail

Viewpoint

President’s Report Bill JacksonWelcome to the first issue of the new Roads and Rail industry news. There has never been a more demanding and politically-charged time to be working in the sector.

On one hand billions of dollars are being invested in the construction of new road and rail infrastructure and on the other we see state governments restructuring and reducing their workforce. As always, the workforce lives and breathes the moving feast that is operations and maintenance budgets – the ugly duckling of infrastructure funding.

In time gone by, redundant government engineers would move into private sector consulting. Through the GFC, this trend continued as many held off their retirement date to help rebuild lost superannuation. Now, those engineers are packing up their vast experience and calling it a day. The en masse flow of skilled engineers into the private sector has all but stopped.

Governments across the country are investing significantly in major road and rail infrastructure. Rarely do we see so many projects of such a large scale simultaneously coming online. Just consider that over the next decade we will be delivering; East/West Link (Vic), North West Rail Link (NSW), BaT tunnel (QLD), WestConnex (NSW), Toowoomba range crossing (QLD), Perth Freight link (WA), South Rd upgrades (SA), and Midlands Highway upgrade (TAS).

These are just a few of the projects that are either commencing, underway or in an advanced planning stage. There isn’t a state in the country without a funded (or partially funded) project below the $0.5 billion mark. There are at least five projects coming online with an estimated final value of over $10 billion.

Demand in the sector for highly skilled professionals will boom with peak demand predicted to occur in 2018. We are only just around the corner from what could be another engineering and technical skills shortage.

We know that problems with skills availability, whether they are shortages or mismatches, create project issues such as delays and blowouts. We also know that they mean long hours and professional frustration for those on the ground.

Our board is committed to ensuring that our organisation and our members work hard to achieve respect, recognition and reward in the roads and rail sectors, now more than ever.

Bill Jackson, National President

CEO’s Report Chris WaltonFor decades our association has ensured that its members were networked by industry. Industry newsletters like this were the norm and a great opportunity for delegates and members to share information about industrial activity as well as professional issues.

To me, it has always been clear that to be a successful organisation we must ensure that members are able to communicate, network and engage with others in their industries across the country.

Members must be able to share workplace challenges, actions and victories. At our core, we must ensure that individuals and workplace groups are treated fairly across the country. The sharing of strategic and tactical experience is critical in ensuring we are able and ready to conduct this work in the workplace. It would however, be remiss of us to limit our activity purely to our immediate environments.

More than ever, our professional and workplace issues are linked to broader industry and political challenges. The issues inherent in a redundancy process for an individual, the skills retention and development problem for industry and the technical capacity issues for government – these are three components of a single broader challenge. It is our task to build an active, professional and engaged association capable of dealing with challenges at each of these levels.

It is undeniable; our association must change to win. Some of these changes will see us venture into areas formerly uncharted by us. Some other changes, like this newsletter, will be a revisiting of things that have worked in the past.

Either way, by working together we are heading in the right direction.

Chris Walton, CEO

2

Recent Advocacy

Professionals Australia Contributes to the National Infrastructure AuditProfessionals Australia has provided input into Infrastructure Australia’s discussion paper on skills issues relevant to the infrastructure sector. The paper will inform policy approaches of the National Infrastructure Audit.

In Professionals Australia’s response, we argue that there is a critical lack of engineer capacity in government, and as Australia’s demand for infrastructure increases, we find ourselves on the precipice of a new engineering and technical skills shortage.

Our essential argument is that pre-empting this shortage by increasing engineering input and capacity in government will lower the risk of infrastructure problems and result in safer outcomes for the community, and the more efficient use of taxpayers’ dollars.

Better Infrastructure PlanningIn our submission to the Senate Committee considering the “Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Cost Benefit Analysis and Other Measures) Bill 2014”, we advocated that to achieve proper workforce planning in the private and public sectors, it was critical to have proper independent assessment of infrastructure projects removed from the political sphere.

Professionals Australia supported the legislation to mandate cost benefit analysis of major infrastructure projects, but also advocated for Infrastructure Australia to:

• Have adequate internal capacity and expertise to undertake and/or review complex analysis, that requires an adequate supply of professional engineers;• The removal politics from this vital area of public policy;• Ensure transparency and proper planning in infrastructure delivery;• Encourage the leveraging of procurement to ensure there is investment in the technical professional workforce as a result of infrastructure projects.

The Project Appraisal Framework: Removing the Politics from Infrastructure DecisionsIn September, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon. Jamie Briggs MP, released for public comment a proposed project appraisal framework, developed by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, in consultation with state and territory governments.

The paper was the outcome of the Federal and state and territory governments agreeing to consult to develop a more sophisticated and consistent framework to assess and evaluate major infrastructure projects.

Professionals Australia submitted a response to this paper for consideration by the Department, and we look forward to seeing our comments included in the final framework.

To read a copy of our submission, visit: www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/advocacy/submissions

Other Advocacy ActivitiesBriefing the Hon. Anthony AlbaneseNational Vice-President, Andreas Marquart, briefed Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, The Hon. Anthony Albanese, on Better Infrastructure.

Community stakeholder meeting in NSWProfessionals Australia hosted stakeholders in the transport infrastructure sector to discuss important issues.

Victorian roads engineers meet at roundtableEngineers from VicRoads met with shadow ministers for roads and transport at a Professionals Australia hosted roundtable.

Engineering leaders meetSouth Australia’s state director Sarah Andrews, raised engineering concerns on a rail project with Director of DPTI.

Briefing the GM of MainRoads WANational campaign director Bede Payne, outlined the Better Infrastructure campaign to the General Manager of MainRoads WA.

Karene Walton, West Australian director speaking at the Better Infrastructure meeting

3

Working for a Better Future

Engineers are Fundamental to Better InfrastructureProfessionals Australia’s Bede Payne spoke to Mornings presenter Jon Faine on ABC 774, about the importance of engineers in building Better Infrastructure.

Mr Payne explained that, “Engineers want to see change in the selection, scope, design and delivery of projects”.

Mr Payne said that public sector engineers were “the defenders of the public interest. However, engineering capacity in governments has been stripped to the bone and is no longer performed the way the public expects”.

“Right across the country we see political parties using infrastructure to win marginal seats. In doing so, they ignore engineering advice on what should be

built and when - that’s why we continue to call for change”. Thanking Bede for his insights, Mr Faine said that his audience was “far better informed” for the conversation. Listen to the complete interview - http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au

Registered Professional Engineer (RPEng)Determining who is a qualified engineer can be costly. The greatest risks to the public result from engineering practitioners attempting to undertake work without adequate skills or competencies. We have seen the results of engineering failure over and over again, for example, the Lane Cove Tunnel collapse.

One solution, Professionals Australia and its members believe, is the introduction of national, mandatory registration of engineers. Statutory registration enables appropriate standards of competency to be set and assessed, thereby removing incompetent engineers from the system.

Professionals Australia has advocated long and hard for the introduction of a scheme of this type, but Australian governments have been reluctant to budge. This is one reason why Professionals Australia launched its Registered Professional Engineer (RPEng) scheme.

By demonstrating to governments that engineers themselves are dedicated to registration, and understand its importance, we hope to move more governments towards a mandatory system. The cost-effectivness of the scheme should also help the case.

www.RPEng.org.au

Members Leading ChangeHave your say in the future of your profession and industry - get involved in our lobbying efforts.

As the work we do to represent members becomes more robust, so does the need for leadership from the membership.

Bill Jackson and Chris Walton sign the first Registered Professional Engineer testamur.

RPEng - the practical mark of quality

National VP Andreas Marquardt meets with Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Anthony Albanese

In addition to the significant workplace activities Professional Australia undertakes, we are also engaged in extensive legislative review, political lobbying, stakeholder engagement and strategic planning.

Much of the work we do requires extensive technical and engineering insight in order to get things right.

We are always looking for members who want to get involved in policy, strategy or lobbying activities.

We want your skills, knowledge and experience - to make our campaign efforts stronger and provide industry insight.

Join the teamGet involved and make a difference to the future of your profession and industry: betterinfrastructure@professionalsaustralia.org.au

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Salaries Across the States

Salary Comparisons: Graduate Engineer Rates and Senior Engineer RatesThe following rates are the indicative agreement rates at each employer. The graduate rate is the rate that an individual with a four year professional engineering degree would be initially employed. The top rate is more complex to define. Listed below is the top rate that an individual can achieve while still engaged through an enterprise agreement negotiated by Professionals Australia, excluding purely senior executive roles. Broadly speaking, employers all have mechanisms to remunerate senior engineers and managers above these agreement rates. The level at which these mechanism start to apply can vary drastically between states. As such it is impossible to compare these top rates exactly.

Roads

DTMR

RMS

VicRoads

VIC

DIER

TAS

DPTI

SA

MainRoads

WA

TAMS

ACTQLD NSW

$58,849

$114,998

$165,645

$69,550$61,789 $54,760 $58,268

$69,474

$148,300

$116,534$116,622

$146,434$125,203

$49,452

Graduate Engineer Senior Engineer

Rail

QLD Rail Aurizon

Transportfor NSW

SydneyTrains

NSWTrains

Metro

VicTrack

DIER DPTI

PTA WA

TAMS

QLD QLD NSW NSW NSW VIC VIC TAS SA WA ACT

$55,164

$120,449

$55,240$67,107

$131,245

$67,107

$135,850

$67,107

$135,850$139,146

$128,543

$58,730 $54,760 $58,628 $62,899$49,542

$125,203

$62,830

$116,622 $116,534

$143,892

$121,006

Graduate Engineer Senior Engineer

5

SummaryMuch of Australia’s transport infrastructure has been in place for many years but as our population grows and the nature of industry changes, our roads and railways need to keep pace.

The public sector has traditionally funded major road and rail projects but is now directing more of its budget towards services like health and education while utilising public private partnerships to encourage private investment in transport infrastructure. As a result of these changes plus significant private funds pouring into mining infrastructure, private investment in the industry has grown from 30 per cent in the 1990s to more than 80 per cent today.

After a strong decade of growth in the 2000s however, overall investment in transport infrastructure has fallen nationally, except for New South Wales and Victoria where there is major arterial road building activity.

Wages and salaries in road construction have remained steady in recent years, but have fallen for employees of toll road companies and rail services, driven by cost-saving measures, contracting, and job-replacing technologies. More than half of all road construction workers, for example, are contractors. Employment growth is slow for rail and falling in toll roads, with the latter expecting a rocky future. One of the big employment challenges concerns the role of 457 Visas and how many new jobs will go to domestic workers.

Here we give an overview of road and rail and outline some of the key issues for each part of the transport industry.

Road OverviewAustralia’s road and bridge building industry is large and thriving. It generates $14.6 billion per annum, pays $1.9 billion in wages to around 35,000 workers and last year made a profit of $1.2 billion. It is comprised of public authorities (the Department of Transport NSW holds the greatest slice of market share of all public and private operators), large firms that work on major freeway and highway projects (for example Leighton Holdings and Lend Lease), and many small companies that work on local roads in new housing estates.

Major construction activities include earthmoving, asphalting, concreting, landscaping, steel erection and line painting and recent investment has been in large-scale projects like tunnels, freeways and toll roads.

The majority of roads are managed by state authorities and local roads are managed by local government. Toll roads make up a large section of the industry and are primarily managed under a ‘build, own, operate, transfer’ (BOOT) model.

Figure 1: Value of road work done 2013-14

Roads and Rail Industry Outlook

NSW

SA

VIC

TAS

WAQLD

ACT

37.0%

26.8%

14.0%

12.5%

6.6%

1.2% 1.0%

6

Rail OverviewThe rail industry is diverse. It caters for heavy industries, like the mining and resources sector which relies on rail to transport freight like iron ore from its mines in remote parts of the country to ports for export. In our cities, it caters primarily for commuters who travel in and out of the CBD during peak periods and secondary students, who often travel distances to and from school each day. Although intercity routes exist in Australia, the lack of any fast rail means that the vast majority of passengers fly between capital cities and interstate passenger rail is used primarily by tourists. Nevertheless, as house prices soar in the capital cities, more commuters are choosing to live in regional areas within commuting distance of the CBD and regional train lines are well patronised.

The industry is predominantly government-owned and funded and is highly regulated. It requires significant investment in infrastructure, something which is exacerbated by the rising age of some trains and rail networks.

The biggest players in Australian passenger rail (the Department of Transport NSW, Public Transport Victoria and Queensland Rail Limited) are based in the populist eastern states. Sydney’s network transports the highest proportion of its population, but Western Australia’s industry (Public Transport Authority of Western Australia) is increasing in size. The Mandurah line in Perth, which opened in 2007, shows that when new lines are built, demand from commuters can jump substantially.

A small number of foreign-owned operators have entered the market since the privatisation of passenger networks in the 1990s. Metro Trains which operates Melbourne’s network is a joint venture between two Australian groups and Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation. Great Southern Railway is a British-owned operator that runs the Indian Pacific, the Ghan and the Overland.

Figure 2: Passenger rail organisations by location and population

Figure 3: Passenger rail – market share

POPULATIONS

ORGANISATIONS

Department of Transport NSW

Public Transport Victoria

Public Transport Authority of Western Australia

Queensland Rail Limited

Other

37.4%

26.1%

23.4%

8.8%4.3%

7

Road and Rail ConstructionRoad and bridge building peaked late last decade. Major road projects completed during that time include the Hunter Expressway and improvements to the Pacific Highway in New South Wales (2010). Not far behind roads and bridges, rail investment was also at record levels in the same period driven by unprecedented private investment in resources projects.For all the talk at election time of investment in rail to cope with congestion in our sprawling cities, however, the same cannot be said of Australia’s passenger rail construction industry. If the IBIS World series of industry research reports is anything to go by, rail construction activity outside of transport systems for the mining and resources sector is negligible, at least as far as any significant revenues or employment goes and specific statistics about the performance of rail construction are hard to come by.

Though there was a surge in investment in roads and public transport as a result of the 2009 Commonwealth stimulus package, much of public transport’s share went into improved bus routes, particularly in Brisbane and Sydney, instead of rail because of the relative ease of adding new services quickly.Even so, state governments are investing in rail. Expansion is underway in New South Wales, with state government investment in the North West Rail Link, including new stations and tunnels confirmed and due for completion in 2018-19. In Victoria, the Regional Rail Link project is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2016. This will speed up travel times on regional lines to places like Bendigo and Geelong by separating them from urban tracks. In addition, rolling stock is being replaced by Waratah trains in Sydney and Metro and V/Line in Victoria.

Road and Rail OperationsTolls Roads

Toll roads have come a long way since the days of throwing coins into a bucket at the gateway to Melbourne’s Westgate or the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Toll roads are now a source of private profits, generating 2.3 billion in revenue each year and growing by 3.9 per cent in the past five years.Toll roads are concentrated where traffic congestion is at its greatest, in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Many of the nation’s newest projects have been built in Brisbane (Transapex consisting of five new river crossings) in the past five years. While these have added to construction revenues in the state, their operation has not been so profitable and many have been placed into administration. Melbourne’s Eastlink, on the other hand, has been better patronised as the surrounding population has increased and the toll-road concept has become more readily accepted as a value-for-money fee-for-service. An increasing segment of toll-road users is made up of freight operators who often travel in off-peak periods.

Passenger Rail

Demand for passenger rail has been soaring over the past decade because of increased expenses associated with driving to work (petrol prices, parking fees, toll roads and traffic jams). The rapid growth is unlikely to continue however because rail operators will struggle to maintain service levels without significant investment in infrastructure. Problems already apparent include cancellations, trains skipping stations in an attempt to adhere to timetables, ageing trains and signalling systems, and network-wide failures during extreme weather. Rail funding has been slow to materialise in government budgets over the past five years and rail projects can take up to a decade to become operational after funding is made available.

Revenue from fares only partially covers the costs of running a rail network. The industry relies on government subsidies for around 75 per cent of its operational expenses on top of capital investment and network expansion. The industry is not profitable and any reported profits tend to indicate the extent of government subsidies received rather than true profit made.

High demand for rail construction in the minerals and energy sector during its construction phase drove an increase in the value of rail construction work of 13.1 per cent over the past five years. Projects completed include:

• The $70 million Solomon Rail Spur built in the Pilbara for Fortescue metals, completed in November 2012

• Duplicating 60 kms of the existing Cape Lambert to Emu railway and upgrading the existing Emu siding facilities near Karratha for Rio Tinto

• Quadruplicating the Kingsgrove to Revesby rail line on Sydney’s rail network

• ‘Goldlinq’, Queensland’s first light rail, which opened in the Gold Coast in July 2014

There has been almost no expansion of our capital city passenger heavy rail networks in recent years. One notable exception is the Epping-Chatswood line in Sydney (2009) which is the first link of its type in Australia — a metro-style line that runs across the city rather than radiating from the CBD. (Melbourne’s proposed Metro tunnel is also a sign that Australian rail may yet embrace systems that support commuters wanting to travel across the city).

Figure 4: Investment trends in road and rail 2010-11 – 2013-14

RAIL

ROADS

8

Current PerformanceTotal infrastructure work won grew by a very healthy 32.4% in 2013-14 led by a 29 per cent increase in transport spending. However, this figure remains around 14 per cent below the prior 10 year average during which new privately funded road commencements peaked.

Despite slowing in the past year, road construction remains at record levels as the nation strives to accommodate an ever increasing population and repairs damage from extreme weather. Recent projects include the Federal-stimulus-funded Kempsey Bypass, and the Hunter Expressway in New South Wales and the Ipswich Motorway in Queensland. Other recently completed projects include the Geelong Bypass and Peninsula Link in Victoria. In addition to these new projects, major repair work after the 2011 Queensland and Victorian floods is estimated at 2.7 billion over the three years to 2013-14.

Railway construction surged by 13 per cent over the past five years mainly in response to the resources sector. Meanwhile passenger rail operators have reported losses over the same five-year period. The main problem with passenger-rail profitability is the inefficient nature of the service and the huge demand during peak periods compared with off-peak travel.

There has nonetheless been an increase in weekend travel in the past decade mostly because of the deregulation of the labour market and longer retail trading hours. Rail operators have put on extra services in response which has in turn led to increased usage as more frequent services make train travel on weekends more convenient than it once was.

Revenue from students travelling on concession is lower than that from commuters but tourists pay the highest price per trip for train travel. The Sydney airport link, for example, earns multiples of normal suburban routes. The personal travel market has contributed less to revenues relative to commuters over the past five years partly because of the aging population and travel concessions offered to seniors.

Figure 5: Passenger rail by peak and off-peak service patronage

Figure 6: Revenue generated by passenger rail market segments

Urban peak hour trips Urban weekday off peak

Regional servicesUrban weekend

Commuters Students

Personal travel

Employment and wages

Much of the road and rail construction workforce is comprised of subcontractors (skilled tradespeople, equipment operators, professionals like civil engineers and surveyors, and technical consultants), many of whom are sole proprietors and partners. For instance, while around 35,000 people are employees in the road building industry, the total industry workforce is estimated at more than 80,000.

Employees in road construction can expect to be paid $54,614 per annum on average. This rate of remuneration has maintained pace with inflation over the past decade and looks set to continue to remain steady in coming years. It does not however include the high number of contractors working in the industry.

The average annual wages of a Toll Road employee dropped slightly to $78,797 from a peak of $80,069 in 2011-12 and the number of jobs dropped by 3.2 per cent last year, compared with strong growth in previous years (8.9, 17.0, 21.5, 31.3 and 20.0 per cent growth). Wages also fell after strong growth in previous years. The forecast looks equally rocky with moderate rises next year being off-set by falls again the year after.

Employment growth in railway operations has been slow because the privatised rail operators have undertaken ‘labour reducing measures’. On the up side, the 30,500 or so workers who have managed to keep their jobs in the industry tend to be highly skilled and are well paid—commanding wages of $83,943 on average. Still, this has dropped from $89,028 in 2009-10 and looks likely to continue to decline over the medium to long term, forced down by increased automation.

50.9%

26.7%

9.0%

13.4%

55.6%

23.0%

21.4%

9

The OutlookThe outlook for road and rail is mixed, with some areas continuing to perform strongly while others slow.

Short term

Resources-related private rail construction investment will decline markedly in the short term as the sector transitions into mining production phase. BIS Shrapnel predicts that transport work done will retreat over the course of the current year to $1.9 billion and IBIS World forecasts a 30 per cent fall over the next three years, particularly in Western Australia and the Northern Territory where job losses are expected to be severe.

Conversely, government funding for passenger rail is forecast to increase in the next 12 months, leading to higher revenues in the years that follow. Projects like the North West Rail Link in outer Sydney will mainly create work for the large contracting firms but have little benefit for smaller firms and subcontractors. Small contractors in the road building part of the industry are likely to fair better as they will be needed in the construction of new housing developments.

Medium term

IBIS predicts moderate growth in passenger rail stemming from continued population growth, increased domestic oil prices and job creation being centralised in the capital cities. Revenue is forecast to grow at 2.8 per cent per year over the next five years, taking it to a total of $9.8 billion by 2018-19. Job opportunities are expected to increase as a result.

Road construction and operation are also showing stronger trends. The number of cars per household is stabilising but the increasing population ensures more and more cars on the road. Struggling new toll roads are expected to recover as fuel prices and congestion increase. Established toll roads are expected to grow at 2.5 per cent over the next five years. The construction industry is projected to grow at 5 per cent in the same period driven by proposed major projects like improvements to for the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns (funded by Federal grants of $6.7 billion plus $8.5 billion from the Queensland Government over the next 10 years), the $2.3 billion Goodna Bypass, the Sydney to Brisbane Motorway, the Bells Line of Road upgrade, and Melbourne’s East West Link, plus new housing developments. The proportion of public spending is forecast to grow by 4.1 per cent while private investment will drop by 3.3 per cent.

Long term

The long term outlook for the industry is for an overall slowing down.

IBIS forecasts slower growth in passenger rail as the industry’s ability to differentiate from private vehicles and roads is diminished by overcrowding and delays during peak hour. Passenger rail’s contribution to the national economy (industry value added, or IVA) is forecast to grow by 3.4 per cent over and above inflation over the next 10 years.

Slower growth in road construction commencements in 2014-15 suggest that work done will also decline in the longer term.

The outlook for road and rail is mixed, with some areas continuing Ambitious toll road projects in Melbourne and Sydney (East West Link and NorthConnex) are surrounded by uncertainty, carry a high risk of delays and may take many years to build. As a consequence, IBIS makes conservative estimates on their contribution to industry revenues in the medium-to-long term.

It will be interesting to see how much of this future activity translates into jobs for locals. Some debate has taken place recently in Victoria as to just how many locals will be employed on the East West Link project. A small-scale scandal erupted when a job website advertised a position for a 457 visa coordinator for the project, sparking speculation that the winning consortium intends to import cheap labour on mass.

Brendan Lyon, CEO of Infrastructure Partners Australia, told ABC radio in October ‘There are some major roadways yet to be built in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane but we can’t keep building roads forever. We need more mass transport’. He sees a role for the Commonwealth in setting the agenda. Although the states have primary responsibility and fund 80 per cent of transport investment, they ‘can be encouraged by the Commonwealth. Canberra can drive reform.’ This was clearly demonstrated during the Rudd Government’s 2009 stimulus which saw road construction boom.

Referenceshttp://www.propertyoz.com.au/Article/NewsDetail.aspx?p=16&id=6801

http://www.abigroup.com.au/News-Publications/Abigroup-News/?ItemID=326&count=1

http://www.nrw.com.au/getattachment/15487039-0ac1-4e24-873c-cce562008a1f/.aspx

http://clients1.ibisworld.com.au.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/reports/au/industry/home.aspx

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Workplace Advice and Support

Workplace Advice StatisticsIn the past 12 months, Professionals Australia’s Workplace Advice and Support (WAS) team has helped over 500 members in roads and rail resolve issues they experience at work.

Of all road and rail matters:• 25 per cent were related to redundancy/restructure matters;

• 8 per cent were related to bullying;

• 10 per cent were related to performance/discipline related matters; and

• 16 per cent were related to contractual, Award or EBA related disputes.

Members have reported a diverse range of experiences, including:

• Management disputing medical certificates provided by employees;

• Staff reporting that they are set up to fail with unrealistic expectations;

• Staff being made redundant where the job continues to exist in the new structure;

• Disputes are related to the employer not providing conditions as per agreements or contracts; and

• Staff being ambushed with discipline matters with no prior indication that a problem exists.

Restructures : What to Watch forRestructures in roads and rail are very common occurrences faced by our members. Most engineers who are affected by these restructures are covered by enterprise agreements that provide for consultation processes and reasonable redundancy packages.

Recently, Professionals Australia ran a successful case in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) against a rail industry employer who made a number of engineers unfairly redundant. The employer required individuals to apply for their own jobs in a new structure, but only made appointments based on a so-called ‘best person’ analysis. While new jobs remained unfilled, a number of engineers were made redundant because they were deemed not to fit the ‘best person’ criteria.

Professionals Australia was concerned this process was being used to target individuals in the workplace.

The Fair Work Act makes it clear that it is illegal to apply a ‘best person’ principle if there are going to be vacant positions at the end of the process.

In response, we prepared a detailed submission on behalf of the aggrieved engineers. When the employer became aware of the magnitude and strength of our case they conceded they should have never made these individuals redundant. As well as a fair financial settlement, affected individuals will now have access to future vacant positions in the organisation.

Issues facing members in Roads and Rail

Redundancy

Bullying

Performance

Contract

25%

8%

10%

16%11

State Industrial Updates

Professionals Australia members in VicRoads face internal and external challenges.Restructuring of the agency in several areas has rendered responsibilities in a range of roles unclear. Members are finding it frustrating to renegotiate work territory on a daily basis. Furthermore, the loss through job cuts of administration support staff means less time for professional work and more time in administrative tie-ups.

In the South West and Eastern Regions of the state, members are seeing Maintenance Services Alliances roll out to replace existing maintenance models. The North East region transitioned to this model recently, and problems presented in the transition with hundreds of staff being asked to reapply for their own jobs.

“Why cut hundreds of technical jobs in the past 24 months, only to bring in an Alliance structure to address the lack of in-house technical capacity? Can we be sure taxpayer money is being wisely spent here?”

~ Victorian Director Sharelle Herrington

New EBA in RailSydney Trains and NSW Trains EBA approved. Payrise 3 per cent, 3.1per cent, 3.2 per cent over three years.

RMS Engineers Award

Despite a legal battle conducted by Professionals Australia, the Profession Engineers Award at RMS was abolished pushing engineers back into coverage under the general workplace agreement.

Restructures Push Experienced Staff outCurrently, Professionals Australia is challenging the Sydney Trains approach to restructures. The current process invariably results in the creation of new positions where existing staff need to compete with external candidates to win back what is essentially their old job.

Often these changes manifest in the watering down of the technical requirements for a role. We believe that government agencies should be retaining technical skills and implementing systems to ensure those skills are maintained and transferred.

Bargaining Underway at Aurizon RailAurizon Rail has recommenced bargaining with Professionals Australia. Complexities were met when Aurizon announced that staff would be voting on a new agreement while Fair Work Commission proceedings were still in session in relation to the termination of current agreement.

Toowoomba Range SuccessWork has now been completed on the DTMR Toowoomba Range Reconstruction Project. The $60 million project involved 43 engineers from both government and consultants and had a total of 22 RPEQ engineers employed. Engineers involved in the project said that the project was important for road safety and community access to Toowoomba. Engineers encountered several obstacles around drainage, commuter disruptions and unknown illegal asbestos dumping grounds. Professional Australia members believe that the high number of registered Professional Engineers on the project ensured that the project was delivered on time and with minimal to no budget blow outs.

Roll-over Results in Rise in MarchThe current agreement is in effect until 2017 after a roll-over deal was achieved earlier in the year. The next pay rise due is 2 per cent in March, 2015.

Tasmanian Members Stave Off Pay FreezeThe Tasmanian government proposed a pay freeze for the Tasmanian Public Service. This proposal passed the Lower House but was defeated in the Upper House after concerted lobbying for various groups, including Professionals Australia.

VICTORIA QUEENSLAND

TASMANIANEW SOUTH WALES

12

State Industrial Updates

EBA Getting CloseDue to bureaucratic changes within ACT government, finalisation of the ‘Territory and Municipal Services Agreement’ has stalled, despite agreement having been affectively reached. The current pay offer is 8.5 per cent spread over three years.

A.C.T.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Yes Vote on EBAThe new Public Sector EBA has been voted in with the key outcome being that ‘tenure’ has been lost. The approval rate for the agreement has dropped by 20% this time around – a massive shift. Delegates and members are again frustrated, although not surprised, that their voice has been ignored. The reduction in personal job security could expedite a loss of knowledge and technical expertise in the State public sector.

More Restructures for SA EngineersDepartment of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) has embarked on another organisational restructure with minimal consultation with engineers. Members hold concerns that technical and engineering capacity will be lost through this process.

“The current negotiation in conjunction with the restructure has left a sour taste in the mouths of engineers and technical staff. The very people DPTI should be aiming to retain if they want to deliver better infrastructure.”

~ South Australia Director Sarah Andrews.

Negotiations are UnderwayEBA negotiations are underway MainRoads WA. There is currently no substantive pay offer.

Western Australian Government Slashes Maintenance BudgetThe Western Australian government has announced a 15 per cent reduction to the recurrent maintenance budget. Western Australia is reported to have have a roads maintenance backlog of more than a billion dollars and this cut will hamper MainRoads ability to reduce this deficit.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

13

A PROFESSIONALS AUSTRALIA INDUSTRY BRIEFINGINFORMER

CONTACTProfessionals Australia (formerly APESMA) Lvl 3, 163 Eastern Rd, South Melbourne, VIC 3205

info@ProfessionalsAustralia.org.au

ProfessionalsAustralia.org.au

Phone 1300 273 762

Roads and Rail

Issue One