Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Professional Edge is the magazine for Professionals Australia members. We believe that it is only by working together we can achieve greater respect, recognition and reward for professionals.
Citation preview
1Issue 03 August 2014
DEGREES OF DOUBT: STEM DEGREES NEED TO BE OFF-LIMITSSCIENCE
PROFESSIONALS AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES RPENG
THE AGE OF INFRASTRUCTURE POLITICS
ENGINEER REGISTRATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
2
Publishing Details
Professionals Australia (registered as the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia).
GPO Box 1271, Melbourne, 3001. Level 1, 163 Eastern Rd, South Melbourne, VIC 3205. Telephone: 1300 273 762 Email: [email protected] Web: professionalsaustralia.org.au
Professionals Australia Board of Management
President Bill JacksonSenior Vice President Andrew RussackVice President Maria FuchsVice President Col HackneyVice President Andreas MarquardtSecretary Robyn PorterTreasurer Olaf ReinholdChief Executive Officer Chris Walton
Professional Edge
Professional Edge is published by Professionals Australia.Editorial contributions and feedback welcome. Contact [email protected] for electoral comment is taken by Chris Walton, 163 Eastern Rd, South Melbourne, VIC 3205.The pages of Professional Edge are open to contributions from all members and from other sources. Comment in these pages does not necessarily reflect the opinions or polices of Professionals Australia or its officers.
Creative Commons Licence
The text of Professional Edge, being the magazine, is licensed under Creative Commons. The images cannot be republished without prior permission. www.creativecommons.org
Cover photo:
Science committee member Stephen Long recently joined other members to create a series of three careers advice videos for young professionals.
Watch the videos here: http://tinyurl.com/careersadvicevideos
The videos asked senior members to talk about what has contributed to their success; what they would change and their best piece of advice for recent graduates.
3
32
Contents
6 2412
26
Professionals Australia launches RPEng
The age of infrastructure politics
Employment outlook for technical professionals
Infrastructure politics
Building the integrity of the profession
Professionals Australia launches RPEng
Check your payslip: Workplace delegate helps member
Latest news
Employment outlook: Technical professionals
Managing a large IT project
Degrees of doubt
Still the clever country?
Industry briefing: Engineering consulting
Staff performance: Are you investing enough time in feedback?
The age of the infrastructure government has arrived
Call for industry awareness on Pharmacy Industry Award
Getting back to first principles in Defence
Finding a universal solution
Member Advantage
Interns and graduates: Know your rights
4
5
6
9
10
12
15
18
19
20
22
24
26
27
29
31
32
Call for industry awareness on Pharmacy Industry Award
4 Professionals Australia
Infrastructure politics
We need to: 1. Rebuild professional expertise in governments – where engineers and other professionals are obliged to get the best value for the public; 2. Invest in long-term planning, strategy and capacity building in infrastructure; 3. Build engineering and other professional skills across the private and public sectors; 4. Recognise and accept the advice of technical experts – the people that know how to scope, build and design infrastructure and 5. Lock-in capital and maintenance funding.
It’s clear that we can’t loosen the grip that politics has on infrastructure project selection or priority.
However, given the economic imperative to build productivity in our economy and our community’s need for better infrastructure, surely its time governments took a first step and equipped themselves with appropriate levels of engineering and technical capacity.
If it means better, cheaper infrastructure for everyone, surely they have a responsibility.
Chris Walton Chief Executive
Stop for a minute and imagine what we could build with another $4 billion in the infrastructure pot.
As a nation this year we will spend $32.9 billion on infrastructure.
Recent data from Deloitte Access Economics found on average, major infrastructure projects blow-out by 12.7 per cent. This means that governments will waste $4 billion this year.
If our governments made a comparatively minute investment in engineering and technical expertise, much of this waste could be mitigated.
It is penny wise and pound stupid for governments to reduce and erode engineering expertise from their ranks – we know these are the professionals who will achieve best value for the taxpayer.
Imagine renovating your house without a plan and giving the builder a blank cheque. This is what our infrastructure-hungry governments are doing, albeit with much bigger sums of money.
Multiple parliamentary inquiries and reports, industry stakeholders and even members of governments (granted, sometimes only in private) agree about governments need to stop this gargantuan waste.
Governments want to define their legacies by the ribbons they cut and the size of the projects they deliver – but at what cost?
Chris Walton, CEO
Related article:The age of infrastructure politics has arrived, page 24.
5Professionals Australia
Building the integrity of the profession
In a sign of the quality of the scheme, RPEng has received government approval as an assessment entity for the only mandatory engineering registration scheme in Australia – the Registered Professional Engineers of Queensland (RPEQ).
For those of you who already hold RPEQ, CP or CPEng - you are automatically eligible for RPEng, at no further cost.
We believe that there is a fundamental link between greater uptake of professional registration and our capacity to achieve respect, recognition and reward for engineers.
Just as the registration of medical doctors provides patients with peace of mind; greater registration of engineers will provide the community with safety and confidence in the roads, rail, bridges and energy infrastructure that engineers oversee and deliver.
We look forward to working with our other professions to progress similar initiatives.
Bill Jackson National President
Professional engineers perform vital work that supports the prosperity and safety of our nation. We apply high levels of knowledge and skills to solve complex challenges, build the products our communities need and provide the services we all rely on.
High standards of conduct and practice are vital to keeping our communities safe and the engineering profession itself strong.
So it gives me great pleasure to welcome the introduction of Professionals Australia’s engineering registration scheme - Registered Professional Engineer (RPEng).
By providing a high-quality, yet affordable registration scheme, we hope to increase the number of engineers who obtain registration and in turn, promote high standards of ethical practice and professionalism across a broad range of engineering practice.
RPEng has been developed in close collaboration with our own Professional Engineers Division, members and industry.
This connection will ensure that RPEng remains responsive to the needs of industry and that our members remain at the forefront of professional practice for many years to come.
Professionals Australia has launched the Registered Professional Engineers (RPEng) scheme, to deliver benefits to the economy, community and engineering profession.
Bill Jackson, National President
Related article:Professionals Australia launches RPEng, page 6.
Professional Engineers6
Professionals Australia launches RPEng
How is RPEng different? Quality, affordable registration.
Dario: One of our big goals with RPEng is to provide working engineers with a high-quality and affordable way to become registered. RPEng has been developed in close consultation with industry, and has been approved by the Queensland government to operate as an assessment entity for their registration scheme, the only mandatory engineer registration scheme in Australia. RPEng’s rules and guidelines (these are officially referred to as By-Laws and can be read in full at www.rpeng.org.au) have been developed by our Professional Engineers Division - harnessing vast experience and knowledge across many fields of practice.
Members now have a high-quality and affordable way to become registered. We are running RPEng on a cost recovery basis.
We want to boost the gravitas of the profession and support career progression of individual engineers. RPEng is an important step.
Does RPEng have anything to do with RPEQ? Bill: Professionals Australia has been approved by the Board of Professional Engineers Queensland (BPEQ) to conduct competency assessments for Registered Professional Engineer Queensland (RPEQ). You can apply for RPEQ assessment simply by ticking the box on the RPEng application form.
Professionals Australia has launched a new registration scheme to provide a quality, affordable way to ensure professional engineering standards and deliver benefits to the economy and community.
What do I need to provide for RPEng assessment? Dario: You will need to provide substantial documentation. This includes certified copies of academic documents, a complete CPD log and a resume with checkable references.
All of these will be checked by an RPEng Assessor. The Assessment Committee then considers recommendations for accreditation and issues a testamur.
How long does it take to become an RPEng?Bill: RPEng’s rules and by-laws mandate that all applications for registration must be responded to within four weeks and that all applications must be assessed within eight weeks of receipt unless varied by notifying the applicant in relation to barriers to the processing of the application. In practice, we hope and expect the process to be completed well within that time frame.
Why has Professionals Australia introduced RPEng? Bill: Professional engineers have for a long time agreed that high standards of conduct and practice are vital to keeping our communities safe and engineering as a profession, strong. Professionals Australia has advocated for registration of engineers as a key part of advancing the community’s interests and protecting the integrity of the profession.
We’ve introduced RPEng to provide members with a high-quality, fully-accredited form of registration that is affordable. We hope that by offering a quality, affordable option we encourage far greater numbers of engineers to register – which we see as important to building the integrity and future of the profession.
Bill Jackson Dario Tomat
Professional Edge spoke with National President Bill Jackson and Chairman of the RPEng Assessment Committee Dario Tomat to learn more about the launch of the Registered Professional Engineer Scheme, RPEng.
7
Professionals Australia launches RPEng Once registered, is there any ongoing requirement for continuing professional development (CPD)?Dario: To be registered and maintain RPEng status, you will have to provide proof of the completion of 150 hours of CPD in the discipline you are registered in, every three years. CPD hours can be accumulated via a variety of activities and are calculated based on the categories detailed in RPEng’s by-laws. A personal CPD log is provided on the website and I would encourage you to keep it current.
How much does registration cost?Bill: At this stage the initial registration fee is set at $300. We are anticipating a lower renewal rate, as we run the scheme on a cost recovery basis for the benefit of members. If we can charge a lower fee, we will. You only have to pay a fee every three years, when you renew.
Does the assessment process involve an interview?Dario: Yes. One of our assessors will contact you and your referees by phone.We have specialist Assessors in each discipline that we provide accreditation in. Assessors must have at least 15 years experience as a professional engineer in the discipline they are assessing in and hold RPEng status.
Why don’t you just leave Engineers Australia to do this?Bill: Over many years members have expressed their frustration at the cost of registration. It was clear that members believed in the importance of registration but cost was a barrier. We have responded to their demand for competition, with a scheme that requires high professional standards, but at an affordable price. The Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland, allows competition between assessment entities, which we view as a good thing.
What is the difference between RPEng and CPEng?Dario: The two schemes are run by different engineer organisations. Engineers Australia runs CPEng, and Professionals Australia runs RPEng. Both are quality schemes.
Professionals Australia has long-supported the registration of engineers as demonstrated by our work with Engineers Australia and Consult Australia on the establishment of the National Engineers Registration Board.
We believe that to support the careers of working professional engineers and to better protect the public, there should be a statutory framework to support registration which is fairly priced for working professional engineers.
Are RPEng and CPEng of the same quality?Bill: Like Engineers Australia, Professionals Australia is an accredited assessment entity for the only statutory mandatory professional engineering registration scheme in Australia – Registered Professional Engineers of Queensland (RPEQ). This means you can be assured that RPEng is of high quality and meets statutory registration criteria in Queensland.
Does RPEng allow entry onto the NPER register?Dario: The NPER (National Professional Engineer Register) is run by the National Engineer Registration Board (NERB), of which Professionals Australia is a member. We are strongly advocating for persons who hold RPEng status to be afforded entry onto the NPER. The NPER is not a government or industry register - Engineers Australia currently provides the secretariat for NERB and manages NPER. Members in Queensland are eligible for RPEQ without being on the NPER.
What about international qualifications? Bill: To achieve RPEng status, you should have a domestic bachelor degree, historical equivalent or a shorter qualification with additional education and training can be considered. A qualification gained elsewhere recognised under “The Washington Accord” for recognition as a professional engineer is also acceptable. For qualifications from countries who are not signatories this accord, we do not provide RPEng accreditation.
Does RPEng carry a post-nominal?Bill: People who achieve RPEng status can add the post-nominal RPEng after their name. This should be followed by an abbreviation of the discipline they are accredited in, such as RPEng (Civ) – Registered Professional Engineer, Civil.
Find out more or apply for registration:www.rpeng.org.au
8
QualificationsYou must meet one of the following requirements:
• A four-year full-time Bachelor Degree (or part-time equivalent). Where a degree is less than four years in duration, the Assessment Committee may consider additional education and training as equivalent to a four year degree; or
• A previously recognised historical equivalent qualification; or
• A qualification gained elsewhere that satisfies the requirements of the Washington Accord for recognition as a Professional Engineer.
Work experience• You must have at least five years relevant work experience in
the discipline you wish to be registered in. This work experience must have been gained within the last seven years.
References• You must provide the details of a minimum of three professional
referees who can verify the your work experience.
• You must have undertaken a total of 150 hours continuing professional development over the past three years. This is equivalent to 50 hours per annum.
Currently registered?
• If you already hold CPEng or CP or equivalent accreditation with another professional engineering organisation, you are automatically eligible for RPEng status at no cost.
Steps to registrationRegistration builds the integrity of the profession and will help you get ahead. Here’s the criteria for RPEng:
Respect
Recognition
Reward
Apply today:www.rpeng.org.au
NOWREGISTEREDGET
9
A little concerned by what he saw on his payslip, Alex spoke to his workplace delegate Robyn - who subsequently took steps to retrieve Alex a significant amount of backpay. Purchased leave is a common option for employees wishing to take more leave, or lower their annual salary.
It works like this: an employee purchases leave in addition to their entitlements, usually, between two and four weeks. The equivalent amount of salary is then deducted from their take home pay.
In Alex’s case, when he checked his payslip, the total accrued hours were significantly less than he anticipated, meaning Alex was out of pocket by several thousand dollars.
This apparent oversight prompted a more detailed examination of his payslip.
“It wasn’t until I noticed the accrued purchased leave error, that I realised my employment classification was incorrect, and also that recent EBA changes had not been passed on,” said Alex.
“I approached Robyn and explained the situation and asked what action could be taken.
“Robyn explained that we could work together, to raise the issue with our HR department. It was really helpful that Robyn had a good relationship with them and knew the best way to approach resolving the issue.
Check your payslip
“I was extremely grateful to Robyn for taking my issue on and working with the company to fix the errors,” said Alex.
“As a delegate, Robyn is fantastic. She has years of knowledge and experience and a real tenacity for working to overcome issues members may be experiencing.
Robyn said, “It turned out that the purchased leave error affected many more people than just Alex, but luckily it was simply an oversight. The company promptly resolved the matter, and Alex’s entitled leave was restored.
“The incorrect employment classification was also resolved, meaning he was paid a due increase from a recent EBA, along with back pay,” said Robyn.
When civil engineer and member Alex looked at his payslip he noticed a peculiarity with his purchased leave. What happened next provides a great reminder about the benefits of being a member of Professionals Australia.
Member Profile
Workplace delegates, Robyn, Vince, and Rino.
Alex’s story is a valuable reminder to all members to regularly check your pay slip.
If recent employment or EBA changes have occurred, make sure these changes are reflected.
“This whole episode shows the value of being a Professionals Australia member.
“I really appreciated having someone with a positive relationship with my organisation, being available to advocate on my behalf.
“In the end the amount of back pay I received was far in excess of the cost of membership over several years,” said Alex.
If you think something on your payslip is incorrect, contact your delegate or the Workplace Advice Support team at Professionals Australia.
Workplace delegate helps a member get backpay
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/support
10 Latest News
Latest news
Professionals Australia slams TasWater $1.1m on consultants
Professionals Australia’s Tasmanian Director Luke Crowley has condemned TasWater’s spending of $1.1 million on consultants in the past year, at the same time technical staff faced redundancy.
Mr Crowley said that the spending was “outrageous” and offended staff who worked hard to ensure the state’s water assets were properly managed.
“It is wasteful in the extreme to engage extremely expensive international consultants to develop a new structure when TasWater has a board, a CEO and a management team that could this work.
In a survey of senior staff, less than 20 per cent of respondents felt that TasWater had sufficient internal capacity to keep the state’s water assets functioning effectively. Mr Crowley said that Professionals Australia would continue to scrutinise spending at the water entity.
Scientists salary report out now
Our Professional Scientists Australia remuneration report shows moderate growth (3.3 per cent) in the last twelve months.
This growth was marginally higher than CPI (2.6 per cent) and wages generally, with the ABS Wage Price Index rising by 2.9 per cent.
Professionals Australia CEO Chris Walton said that the science survey was a vital tool for members preparing for a salary review.
“This report provides members with detailed information on what they should be earning based on their experience, their sector and their industry. It is a comprehensive guide that looks at all aspects of what goes into a remuneration package and is simply a must-read, before you begin negotiating your next salary review,” said Mr Walton.
Read the Professional Scientists Australia Salary Report here - http://tinyurl.com/ScienceSalaryReport
Centennial Coal: Have a heart
Thank you to all Professionals Australia members who recently signed the Centennial Coal: Have a Heart petition. Members also hit the streets (pictured left) and have well over 3500+ signatures.
Centennial Coal has refused to pay redundancy entitlements to workers over 60 years of age, leaving mature workers financially high and dry.
Director Catherine Bolger said that members would pursue their rights in the courts - to ensure this could not happen to other older workers.
Centennial is the only company in the Australian coal industry that is not paying proper entitlements to workers over 60, even though it reports its Australian operations generated a $213 million (USD) profit in 2013.
Show your support - sign the petitionwww.coworker.org/petitions/have-a-heart
11
Sarah Carroll
Dr. Tsai Tse Yin Dr. Clem Powell
Sarah CarrollSarah has an earth sciences background and believes that scientists are severely underrepresented on the boards of ASX Top 100 companies. Sarah will use her scholarship towards her study of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.
Dr. Tsai Tse YinTsai is a Victorian-based vet who is planning to undertake an abdominal ultrasonography course with the money she receives from the scholarship.
Tsai explained that this course would “make me a better clinician in my medical, surgical and emergency cases.”
Dr. Clem PowellClem plans to undertake a Certificate IV in Frontline Management, after realising that while he was highly-educated with a PhD in chemical science, he needed to obtain formal training in the management of people.
Congratulate our scholarship winners
It is with great pleasure that we announce three winners of the Continuing Professional Development Scholarships for science and management members.
This year the Science Division was so impressed with the calibre of applications it received, it awarded two scholarships. Science president Robyn Porter said that CPD was vital for scientists and emphasised the need for scientists to develop the ability to convey the importance of science to key decision-makers.
Managers’ Division President Rob Miller said that the development of management skills alongside technical skills is critical to ensuring professionals maximise their career path options down the track.
Congratulations to this year’s winners.
Calling all community pharmacistsPharmacists know that 2014 is a pivotal year in pharmacy – with the review of the Pharmacy Industry Award and the negotiation of the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement. In recent weeks Professional Pharmacists Australia have been holding discussion forums in capital cities and online. Now is the time to join our effort for fairer pay and a better model for pharmacy.
We’re looking for members who can help strengthen our case and share the campaign with their colleagues, and we’ve been encouraged with the response from members so far.
For more information or to get involved, email: [email protected]
How are your negotiation skills?
Young Professionals are invited to join a series of seminars in September and October that are specially-designed to help you develop your negotiation skills.
These seminars are perfect for anyone approaching a performance review or thinking about asking for a pay rise.
Come and learn more about the deft art of negotiation – it could pay off for you very soon.
Register today: www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/events
12
Download this articleThe full version of this article is available for download, including all graphs and references.
Workforce snapshot
Technical professionals earn significantly more than average weekly earnings in the economy. Of technical professionals, collieries’ staff, geologists and ICT managers are the highest paid, yet they also work the longest hours.
The ABS reports wage growth across technical professions as ‘steady-to-stagnant’ rising by 1.6 per cent (2013).Compared with overall wage growth across the economy of 2.5 per cent.
Employment Outlook: Technical Professionals
Jobs growth
Australian Government job numbers/predictions show technical professional jobs are expected to reach their highest-ever levels within the next five years.
Projections show strong jobs growth in medical science and ICT business and systems analysis.
This is good news for Australians seeking work in these professions.
Occupation Females (%) Full time jobs (%)
Weekly gross income (2012)
% of average weekly earnings
Average weekly hours worked
Architects 32.7 80.2 $1600 139 41.4
Collieries n/a n/a $2891 250 48.6
Scientists
Geologists 23.3 88.9 $1826 158 45.2
Medical laboratory scientists 63.6 80.6 $1500 130 38.8
Pharmacists 63.6 75.5 $1384 120 38.7
IT professionals
Programmers 15.2 93.1 $1500 130 39.5
Business and systems analysts 29.1 92.8 $1700 147 38.2
ICT support and test engineers 22.1 100 $1878 163 38.5
ICT managers 25.9 93.6 $1923 167 42.0
Table 1: A snapshot of the technical professions workforce and earnings
Employment outlook:Architecture - Collieries - ICT - Pharmacy - Science
Technical professionals work in a wide range of disciplines from architecture, collieries, ICT, pharmacy and science. In this article, we explore what is ahead for each professional group.
Influence of migration
Employers do continue to bring in high numbers of technical professionals from overseas. Demand for skilled migration in each occupation is reviewed regularly (e.g. pharmacists were removed from the skilled occupation list in 2010, added in 2011, and then removed in 2013) and caps on the number of visa grants allowed for each occupation were implemented on 1 July 2012. In contrast to temporary work visas, which require employer sponsorship, there are no plans to lift these caps.
13
The outlook for the technical professions
ArchitectureThe outlook for the construction industry, a recognised predictor of conditions for architectural services, is patchy, with forecast improvement for residential and engineering construction, but not for non-residential construction.
The industry has seen fewer architects employed by the larger architectural services firms and in many of the state public sectors.
Since the global financial crisis in 2007, architects have experienced a scarcity of work, pressure on fees and tight profit margins on both commercial and residential projects.
In addition, 1000 new architects graduate each year, 31 per cent of whom are currently unable to find full-time work.
The industry is characterised by firms operating in specialised markets, few large scale national players, a growing reliance on contractors (around 40 per cent of the workforce), many architecture firms merging and the viability of small and medium-sized architectural practices threatened by consulting firms offering architectural services as part of a broader range of services.
Despite these conditions, various industry stakeholders believe that the labour market is characterised by skills shortages and gaps and architects are included in the 2013 skilled occupation list in response. This perceived shortage is also at odds with the latest IBISWorld forecast of job growth around 1,500 jobs in the five years to 2017-18.
CollieriesIt is no secret that the coal industry is experiencing a downturn. The combination of falling prices, weaker demand from China and the strong Australian dollar have caused several mines to move to care and maintenance mode, investment decisions to be put on hold and a continuing drive towards operational efficiencies.
The Collieries’ Staff and Officials Association (CSOA) Employment and Remuneration Survey Report describes the downturn from the point of view of a collier’s pay packet. The average salary increase this year was 3 percent (compared with 5.5 per cent in 2011), 30.5 per cent of collieries received no pay increase, and only 14.9 per cent of collieries received a pay increase of 5 per cent or more.
In an effort to revive the coal industry’s fortunes, the Federal Government’s Budget included new funding for clean coal projects anticipated to generate hundreds of new jobs in areas such as Victoria’s La Trobe Valley. Recent joint announcements by the Federal and Victorian Governments include $20 million for Ignite Energy Resources to trial the production of synthetic crude oil and coal slurry and $30 million for Coal Energy Australia to build a demonstration plant to produce fertiliser and various oils.
Information and Communications TechnologyThere are 461,800 ICT workers (4.1 per cent of the workforce) in Australia all contributing specialist skills and capabilities required to deliver and manage technological change across every industry.
A report into the ICT sector by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency predicts more than 30,000 new jobs will be created in the next four years, but there’s a shortage of local talent—particularly women.
For Australia to keep up with digital technology, it desperately needs to train ICT professionals.
Philip Bullock, the chair of the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency says, ‘IT suffers from being seen as too technical, a bit boring and a bit isolated.’
The message of the Agency’s report into the ICT sector, released in July 2013, is clear: If Australia is to maximise the potential of digital technologies and the Asian century, it needs more people choosing IT as a career.
The requirement for people to fill roles in the industry is not currently being met by domestic supply. It is estimated that roughly 10 per cent of the workforce is made up of either permanent or temporary skilled migration.
Architects
Geologists
Medical la
boratory
scientist
s
Pharmacist
s
Software & applica
tions
programmers
ICT business a
nd
systems analysts
ICT support a
nd
test engineers
ICT managers
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
32.7
23.3
63.6 63.6
15.2
29.1
22.125.9
Chart 1: Females in the professions (%)
14
Still, many ICT graduates experience difficulty finding employment in the sector and many use their qualifications to pursue careers outside. Despite the young age profile of the workforce, there are a limited number of entry-level positions for 20 to 24 year olds.
This shortage of entry-level opportunities contributes to the relatively high level of occupational wastage for ICT graduates. In 2011, only 37 per cent of ICT graduates aged 20 to 29 years were employed in ICT while 51 per cent were employed in other occupations.
Another issue hindering local supply is the male dominated workforce and the image this presents.
Less than 20 per cent of the overall ICT workforce is women so it’s not drawing on the broadest possible talent pool available.
Women working in ICT say the industry is much more interesting and diverse than the image of the IT nerd would suggest. At the time of the report’s release, ABC radio featured an interview with one woman who has worked in the ICT industry for 20 years. ‘It’s great—I’ve worked in financial, retail, and merchant banking, and now in sport. My job has been particularly flexible while having children,’ she said.
PharmacyThe pharmacy workforce has changed significantly since 1996. There has been a 60 per cent increase in the number of pharmacists, an increasing proportion of female pharmacists by 19 percent, a reduction in average age and a five-hour fall in average weekly hours worked.
The majority of pharmacists work in community pharmacies (63 per cent or 13,454 in 2012).
Pharmacists also work in hospitals (18 per cent or 3762 pharmacists), primary care settings, as consultant pharmacists or as industrial pharmacists.
In 2012, 86 per cent (18,446 pharmacists) earned their first pharmacy qualification in Australia. The percentage of Australian-born pharmacists fell from 76 per cent in 1996 to 58 per cent in 2011. Overseas students represented more than one in five graduates in 2012.
The ABS Labour Force Study shows that between 1996 and 2013 employment remained steady (1.5 per cent growth). The number of commencing pharmacy students grew between 2008 and 2012.
The Pharmacy Planning Workforce Study by Human Capital Alliance does predict decreases in future supply from the continual decline in average hours, and the internship bottleneck, particularly in rural areas.
Increases in demand are anticipated for clinical pharmacy services, new pharmacy roles in primary care resulting from an aging population and increase of long-term chronic disease, increasing need of hospital pharmacists to handle increasingly complex arrangements for medicines, and the potential for pharmacists to be employed as immunisers and for repeat prescribing.
ScienceThe Federal Government has announced quite savage cuts to science in the Budget. Job cuts have already begun at CSIRO, and other agencies.
Professionals Australia’s report Still the Clever Country? provides insight into scientists’ perceptions of the sector. Recognition of the work of scientists is low among the community, government and industry. There is an alarming increase in the politicisation of research and a lack of understanding of the importance of science within government.
Scientists are concerned that Australia faces the prospect of a ‘brain drain’.
The report highlights changes in Australian science over the last 20 years including the application of commercially-driven business models, mechanisation and automation, globalisation and the decline of the manufacturing sector.
Importantly, there is widespread frustration at the declining regard for an objective evidence-based approach to policy and decision-making. Particular concern surrounds the trend towards managers with no qualifications in science, making decisions in science-related areas and the resulting degradation in advice to government.
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au
Architects
Geologists
Medical la
boratory
scientist
s
Pharmacist
s
Software & applica
tions
programmers
ICT business a
nd
systems analysts
ICT support a
nd
test engineers
ICT managers
12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.00.4
1.8
10
4.5 4.3
9.7
1.8
6.5
Chart 2: Projected jobs growth to 2017 (%)
15Information and Communication Technology
The golden rule of project management is that a project must achieve its objectives, on time and on budget.Even projects where scope and scale have been modified along the way can meet these criteria - as long as changes have been matched by agreed budget changes, resourcing and timeframes.
Unfortunately, the evidence indicates that the likelihood of a large IT project being a success is slim.
In many cases unanticipated complexities, unplanned delays and associated cost blowouts combine to produce outcomes from large IT projects that disappoint or even fail completely to meet objectives.
While complex projects always present a range of technical challenges, people-related problems are far more likely to impede progress and, in worst case scenarios, derail a project. There is plenty of evidence that it is possible to beat the odds by being knowledgeable about:
• People-related factors which increase the likelihood of a large IT project’s success; and
• The people-related pitfalls to avoid.
Project scopingDetermining a project’s scope is an essential part of project planning. A project’s scope is the ‘fence-line’ that defines the boundary between what is included in the project and what is outside the scope. The likelihood that a large IT project will succeed is increased when the project’s overall scope is
clear to everyone concerned, as well as the scope of their own contribution. Project scope and many other aspects of project management are covered in the Professionals Australia Guide Project Management which explains concepts of project management and their application to projects large and small.
Change managementChange management involves the processes, tools and techniques to deal with the people aspects of change. It is an essential element of IT project management. When large projects fall short of expectations or fail completely, deficient change management is far more likely to be a cause, than poor project management.
The article Change management and IT projects explains the dimensions of effective change management including the significance of leadership, communication and human responses to change, all of which contribute to the likelihood of successful project outcomes.
Effective change management ensures that there is an understood vision for what the project is to achieve and that leadership is spread across the various parts of the project - without loss of accountability for the project as a whole.
It also ensures that all relevant stakeholders are engaged appropriately according to their role in the project.
For more insight into change management, the article The people problem in IT implementations offers a rundown on the people-related issues that tend to derail IT projects, and offers a checklist of do’s and don’ts. For instance, it explains the importance of gaining people’s commitment to a project and how to deal constructively with resistance to change.
LeadershipAlthough leadership is an important component of change management, it is also a major contributor to project success. Leadership needed for major IT project success includes the role of the project’s sponsor, leadership in the particular community who will benefit from the completed project (and whose engagement is necessary during the project’s implementation) and leadership in any organisations where parts of a project are outsourced. Projects easily go off track when any aspect of leadership is missing or inadequate.
For guidance and ideas about leadership of large IT projects see Five steps to effective leadership which looks at the roles leaders play and leadership styles, as well as providing guidance on how to assess a person’s leadership style.
Increasing the likelihood of success
Members will find a wealth of material on our website. These materials have been designed to help develop your understanding of the people-related factors associated with IT project success. By following the links in this you can access significant knowledge and experience areas.
Managing a large IT projectWith the size and complexity of IT projects growing steadily, Dr Janet Fitzell has developed a guide to help IT managers achieve strong results.
16
Leading change takes a more in-depth look at what people expect from change leaders and what leaders provide, compared with managers.
CollaborationLarge IT projects call for collaboration in a number of ways. For example, collaboration between business units, between external organisations and collaboration between people from different disciplines on the project team.
The article Collaboration and the manager’s role differentiates collaboration from cooperation and includes a step-by-step guide to building and managing collaborative effort.
TeamworkLarge IT projects usually involve multiple groups, and a diverse range of people with skills across a range of differing professional areas. For successful outcomes, project managers need each team to be functioning well. In addition, relationships between teams that need to interface with each other must be productive and constructive.
The article Getting the best out of your team focuses on how to make the most of team member diversity in its various forms and suggests some professional development options for team leaders and managers who want to lead highly effective teams.
Managing people with different personalities provides some practical tips on how to create a working environment that is conducive to differing personalities working constructively together.
Egos and emotions at work looks at the importance of emotional intelligence at work and how workplaces benefit from appropriate expression of emotions at work rather than expecting people to present only their rational thinking self.
Managing knowledge workers explores how to get the best performance out of knowledge workers without telling them how to do their job.
Avoiding the pitfallsAll IT projects contain plenty of traps for the ill-prepared and most of them relate far more to people than technology. One of the differences between large and smaller projects is that with large
projects, the cost of falling into one of these traps can escalate exponentially. Some potentially costly pitfalls include:
GroupthinkGroupthink refers to a state of mind that can easily develop in teams that have become comfortable working together.
In order to remain loyal to team colleagues, members support policies and ideas even in the presence of warning signs that intended actions may have unintended consequences.
In a project environment, you can guard against groupthink in a range of ways. For example you can use a ‘devil’s advocate’ approach to project reviews and ensure that the team composition includes individuals who are willing and able to articulate and justify an alternative opinion when necessary.
Confusing scope creep and changeScope change is usually inevitable on large projects with long timeframes. While it can enable better outcomes than originally anticipated when appropriately resourced and approved by the project’s sponsor, it can also compromise project outcomes.
17
SCOPE
SCOPE
collaboration
GROUPTHINKGROUPTHINK
CHANGECHANGE
leadership
visionvision
teamw
ork
Scope ‘creep’ refers to a series of ad-hoc changes that are agreed to outside of formal project control processes, each of which is assumed to have little impact on the project. However the effect is unauthorised, uncosted scope change.
Scope creep can easily occur when powerful individuals push for changes they need, bypassing project control processes to satisfy their own needs.
The difference between communication and commitmentLarge projects usually involve a comprehensive communication strategy enabling all stakeholders to be variously informed, involved and committed according to their role in the project.
A common pitfall in projects is that communication designed to keep people up-to-date is assumed to have gained their commitment. For example, project updates, newsletters and widely published lists of FAQ’s can make a significant contribution to keeping people abreast of progress.
People’s commitment to change how they work is more likely to be forthcoming when they are presented with opportunities to assess how their work practices need to change.
Resistance to the changes needed to accommodate a new IT system often has much more to do with people feeling it has been imposed on them and that they are powerless in the project.
While some resistance to change is inevitable, negative reponses are avoidable with a respectful approach to securing people’s commitment.
Janet Fitzell is an organisational consultant, coach and facilitator, who specialises in organisational leadership development, governance and performance improvment, and team planning and development. FourLeaf Consulting (www.fourleaf.com.au)
Note: This article was written to be read via our online platform. If you are reading this in a print edition, please refer to the IT Professionals Section of the Professionals Australia website for access to the links.
Looking for more ideas?In addition to the links contained in this article the following articles are relevant for managing large IT projects:
• Soft skills for IT professionals
• Negotiating skills
• Improving workplace morale
• Managing diversity
• Power in the workplace: what managers need to know
• Motivation and the manager’s role
• Resolving conflict at work
• Managing innovation
• What motivates IT professionals?
• IT projects: dealing with unrealistic expectations
• When people and systems clash: the role of the IT professional
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/groups/information-technology
18
The Government’s proposal to deregulate the university sector has resulted in howls of protest from students, concern from parents and growing unease from science professionals.
Rising fees will turn away future generations from specialist careers in science, technology and engineering.
Polling undertaken by the National Tertiary Education Union showed that 69 per cent of voters did not support “significant increases in university fees”.
Indeed, when we ask our student members if rising university fees would deter them from entering science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) degrees, the answer is almost universally, yes.
Now leaders and professionals in science are expressing their growing concern that soaring fees will inflict significant damage on higher-cost, specialist STEM programs and see students from low income backgrounds look to more viable career options.
This is a disaster for Australian research, science and innovation.
We already face uphill challenges in enticing young people towards STEM. In recent years, educators and technical specialists have worked to foster scientific curiosity in our children, to help teenagers imagine careers in physics, research and the natural environment.
As a nation, our future economy depends on the discoveries and innovation that come from research endeavour. If faced with burgeoning debts the next generation may vote with their heads, not their hearts, and Australia’s capacity to compete and prosper globally will be significantly eroded.
Already, science and maths are challenging career choices. Professionals typically experience insecure work, the impact of intermittent and insufficient research funding, increasing international competition and years of moderate pay in order to build a career.
It is difficult to imagine that our best and brightest will be prepared to take on increased debt, in light of these existing challenges. We face the prospect of science becoming a pursuit for those that can pay, rather than those with the drive and desire to solve complex problems and improve how we all live.
Analysis by the Australian Veterinary Association has revealed that under the Government’s proposed changes, vet science student debts could soar to $250,000 (a 150 per cent increase) and take some graduates a lifetime to pay off. This is because vet science degrees are long, graduates face low starting salaries.
80 per cent of veterinary science graduates are women, who may take time off to have children and as a result delay repaying all-the-while-growing debts.
Research by the Grattan Institute, reports that in a deregulated market, science degree fees would immediately rise by a minimum of 59 per cent.
Universities are expected to raise fees toward the levels they charge international students, while fees at elite universities would be higher still.
Professionals Australia strongly opposes what is being proposed.
We call on the Government to invest in the future of Australian science, research, design and innovation.
Science, technology, engineering and maths degree fees need to be off-limits under any changes to higher education.
In the 2000s when there was a shortage of nurses and teachers, successive governments lowered degree fees to encourage students into those programs – this needs to happen now for STEM.
We call on this Government to act to ensure Australia remains a globally-competitive, innovative economy - our future depends on it.
Degrees of doubt
For the sake of Australia’s economy, Professionals Australia CEO Chris Walton is calling for STEM degrees to be off-limits in the face of university deregulation.
www.professionalscientists.org.au
Science
19
Degrees of doubt
Members are encouraged to hang up our new posters (pictured right) in their workplace. The posters highlight the importance of valuing the science workforce; they call for investment and structural reform of innovation industries and advocate for our Government to invest 2.4 per cent of GDP in science.
Role of science in the futureIt is no secret that science and R&D are essential to Australia’s economic progress and central to a fairer, healthier, safer and greener world.
Our science workforce is a national asset and absolutely fundamental to building and maintaining Australia’s status as a clever country.
However, our status as a clever country is not a given. It is vital that policy makers acknowledge science and R&D is central to economic strategy designed to drive innovation and productivity.
Urgent need to investIf we are to compete with others in our region and globally, we need to invest in our scientific capability.
To do this, we need to understand emerging industries as well as labour market demand, and trends in the supply of science professionals. This is essential in informing policy.
Still the clever country?
Valuing the work of professional scientists is critical to attracting our future STEM workforce and will determine whether Australia remains a clever country.
Only by acknowledging that investment in science and R&D is fundamental to innovation-driven productivity improvement, will we be able to make any claim to being a clever country.
It is vital that Australia remains ‘clever enough’ to compete globally, to ensure policy is informed and strategically-driven and that our scientific effort remains vibrant, agile, balanced and diverse.
It is critical that policy makers understand the very serious implications of losing our place as a clever country.
A sustainable STEM workforce and well-resourced science and R&D infrastructure is essential to virtually every goal we have as a nation.
Properly funding science and R&D is central to positioning Australia as a future science and innovation leader and driving economic growth.
Professional Scientists Australia is launching a workplace poster campaign to raise awareness of the issues that face the science professionals.
Workplace postersSend us an email and we’ll happily send you a bundle of posters for your workplace, simply email:
www.professionalscientists.org.au
20
For most of this time, the businesses of those providing consulting services – the architects, engineers and surveyors – also grew rapidly. In recent years, however it is clear that this growth has slowed.
Although total new construction – driven primarily by engineering construction - increased by 4.6 per cent in 2012/13 and is forecast to increase again in 2013/14, business conditions for consulting firms have deteriorated markedly.
There are two key signs that calendar 2013 and first half 2014 have been difficult:
• Mining companies deferred projects, scaled back their capital expenditure and decided to use existing assets, rather than expand them.
• Statistics show that in the year to March 2014, the number of engineers, architects and surveyors fell by 6 per cent, from 290,000 to 273,000.
Even though there was a fall in non-residential building and construction across 2011-13, engineering construction revenues continued to grow strongly. In fact, over those two years engineering consulting revenues grew by 42 per cent to reach $37.5 billion in 2012/13.
Engineering consulting: Industry ProfileConsult Australia reports that the engineering consulting industry today consists of some 48,000 firms that employ 270,000 people and generate revenues of around $42 billion a year.
Nearly half of these firms are sole practitioners; and of the remainder, 93 per cent are small, employing fewer than 20 people. Only about 1,700 firms employ more than 20 people and, of these, only 96 firms employ more than 200.
Economic growthEconomic growth slowed in all states in 2013. Graph 1 shows economic growth from 2007 - 2018.
In the five years to 2017/18, Australia’s economic growth is forecast to average 2.9 per cent a year. Growth in Western Australia is expected to average 3.5 per cent a year and in Queensland 4.1 per cent a year.
Growth in New South Wales is forecast to accelerate from 1.9 per cent a year, over the past five years, to 2.4 per cent a year; and in Victoria from 1.9 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Growth in South Australia, more dependent on manufacturing that any other state and hit hard by the decline of the automotive industry is expected to slow from 1.8 per cent to 1.2 per cent.
Construction project pipelineIn the March quarter of 2014, fifty-two new projects, valued at $14.3 billion, were added to the list of definite and planned projects valued at $20 million or more maintained by the Deloitte Access Economics, Investment Monitor.
At the end of March, Investment Monitor recorded $432.7 billion of definite projects (under construction or committed) and $435.4 billion of projects in planning (under consideration).
Consult Australia compared the number of engineering construction projects listed as definite a year earlier and found that there were big increases in the value of road, rail and recreation projects.
Industry briefing:
Over the ten years to 2012/13 the Australian economy grew by an average of 3 per cent per year. Over the same period, new engineering construction grew at more than twice that at 7.7 per cent.
Industry Briefing: Engineering Consulting
Engineering consulting
Source: ABS 5220.0, author’s forecast
07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18
Graph 1: GDP growth, Australia and selected statesIndex base: 2007/08 = 100
WA
Qld
Aust
NSWVic
SA
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
21
Industry briefing:
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au
The total value of projects was 9 per cent greater than a year earlier, and there was a significant increase in projects under planning.
Professionals Australia welcomed the $50 billion worth of infrastructure commitments announced by the Federal Government in the May Budget, as it provided a strong pipeline of work, particularly in the roads sector.
The first part of this funding will commence with a $5 billion investment in projects in the next twelve months. This spending announced in the Budget will be funded to a large extent by the Government’s Asset Recycling Initiative and a $3.7 billion Infrastructure Growth Package.
Engineering consulting outlookWith more and more engineers considering the transition from working in the public sector to potentially consulting, it is useful to look across the sectors to identify areas of potential growth in the next five years.
Graph 2 Engineering Construction Activity, Australia, highlights engineering construction activity forecast for roads, bridges, rail, electricity, water,
telecommunications, and mining, in the years immediately ahead (in comparison with 2012) across Australia.
Interestingly, the six biggest markets over the next five years are all engineering construction markets rather than building markets.
Because of the large amount of work already underway, mining and heavy industry do continue to dominate the scene.
Road and highway construction; electricity and pipelines; and bridges, railways and harbours are all large markets and will continue to demonstrate solid growth.
As shown in Graph 3 Ten major markets for engineering consulting in Australia, the roads sector is the only sector that shows growth in engineering consulting service fees.
Consult Australia research forecasts significant growth in engineering consulting fees earned particularly in the roads sector.
This includes: ACT (from $31m in 2013 to $36m in 2017); New South Wales (from $1050m in 2013 to $1,150m in
2017); Queensland (from $750m in 2013 to $850m in 2017); South Australia (from $150m in 2013 to $190m in 2017); Tasmania (from $25m in 2013 to $35m in 2017); Victoria (from $375m in 2013 to $520m in 2017) and Western Australia (from $450m in 2013 to $490m in 2017).
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Graph 2: Engineering Construction Activity, AustraliaValue of construction work done, by type, at current prices
$ billion
Recreation & other
Mining & heavy industry
TelecommunicationsWater & sewerage
Electricty, pipelines
Bridges, railways, harbours
Roads
05/06 07/08 09/10 11/12 13/14 15/16 17/18
Graph 3: Ten major markets for consulting, AustraliaEstimated consulting engineering fees earned
Roads
Electricity pipelines
Bridges, railways, harbours
Water & sewerage
Recreation & other construction
Industrial
Health & aged care
Telecommunications
Education
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
Average 2013/14 - 2017/182012/13
22
Done well, feedback fuels people’s motivation, helps them develop professionally and provides impetus for continuous improvement by individuals and the organisation as a whole.
Without adequate feedback, people’s performance easily gets out of step with what is needed and frustrations grow both for managers and their staff. Wide-ranging adverse effects usually ensue.
Having a rigorous formal performance review cycle in place and in use is an important vehicle for feedback at work. Crucial too, is the informal feedback that acknowledges a job well done or provides constructive advice about needed improvement. But feedback is only truly effective when managers take the lead in ensuring that sufficient time is devoted to it.
Performance can only be optimal when managers make sure they invest sufficient time in inviting feedback about their own performance, and giving attention to their feedback preparation.
Inviting feedback
A manager’s performance is as much dependent on feedback as anybody else’s. In fact, managers are much better-placed to help others lift their work performance when they themselves have experienced feedback processes that work.
Constructive feedback from your boss is part of the equation but you can also benefit greatly by obtaining feedback from the people who report to you and from people external to the organisation.
Soliciting as well as receiving feedback that is offered to you enables you to enquire about aspects of your performance that others might find difficult to raise. It also signals to others your interest in better understanding aspects of yourself that they might have assumed you already know well enough. The ability to invite feedback is important in settings where feedback is not part of the culture.
The keys to being in a strong position to invite feedback are:
Build trust in relationships
Trust and respect between colleagues, including when it is the boss you are asking for feedback from, allows feedback to be provided without fear of adverse consequences.
Ask open and targeted questions
This means asking questions in a way that invites more than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer and being specific about the sort of information that would be helpful. For example; a response to “What did you understand to be the key messages in my presentation yesterday?” is likely to yield far more helpful feedback than a simple “How did I go yesterday?”.
Acknowledging feedback
Inviting feedback does not mean that you are obliged to act on it but people are far more likely to respond to a future request if they feel they have been helpful. A simple “thank you - that’s given me a new perspective on things” acknowledges the response without making a commitment to do anything.
It also paves the way for soliciting more feedback further down the track.
Avoiding a defensive reaction
When you’ve asked for feedback and it’s less positive than you hoped for or openly critical, it’s important to resist any urge to defend your position. Another’s perspective can cast light on your own blind spots and be a basis for valuable learning if you are open to it. For a widely used instrument that allows you to check you own receptiveness to feedback, look up ‘Johari Window’ online.
Feedback preparation
Feedback is far more likely to be helpful if you have devoted enough attention to your preparation.
Ensuring that the people who report to you are aware of the organisation’s performance management processes in general and the role of feedback in particular. They should understand the potential for them to contribute.
Preparing for formal feedback• Make sure that you are thoroughly
familiar with the process including how to deal with a situation in which a staff member’s self-assessment is significantly at odds with your own.
• Careful preparation before the meeting to ensure that you are clear in your own mind about your assessment of the person’s performance and that you have specific examples to help substantiate your feedback.
Staff performance:
Feedback can equip individuals and groups with a valuable source of insight into their effectiveness, how they are perceived by others and how others are impacted by them.
Management
Are you investing enough time in feedback?
23Management
Staff performance: • Set aside sufficient time for the formal review meeting and make sure that you will be free of interruptions. Your investment in feedback is diminished when staff are left with the impression that you consider it less important than other aspects of your role.
• Make sure you create a manageable workload for yourself. Trying to undertake back-to-back reviews with no allowance for one or more to run over and without planned breaks to help you give each person the attention they deserve, is likely to produce disappointing results.
• Create an environment that is conducive to conversation between you and each staff member. This means being in a frame of mind for listening to what they have to say and being ready to participate in a constructive conversation that is helpful to them and to you, whatever the nature of the feedback under discussion.
Informal feedback
Informal feedback works best when you provide the feedback in a timely way. For example if you want to offer feedback about changed behaviour, offer it as soon as possible after you observe an incident. To do this you need to invest some time in being a keen observer of people at work.
It is a good idea to have at your disposal a repertoire of expressions from which to compose constructive feedback, even when you need to discuss performance improvement. For example; “I noticed that ...” and I’m impressed by ...” followed by something specific about what you have observed.
It is important to provide informal feedback regularly and with genuine intent. Most people have a finely-tuned insincerity detector.
It is important to be clear and not use ambiguous language. For example, if you want to point out an area needing improvement, avoid the old ‘sandwich’ method of prefacing constructive criticism with a compliment and following it up with another compliment.
It might feel easier to be offering twice as many compliments but the risk is that only the compliments are heard!
Get return on your investment
Take our quiz on feedback.
1. To what extent are your people meeting or exceeding the expectations you have set?
2. How do they know whether or not they are meeting your expectations?
3. When was the last time you asked for feedback on your own performance at work? From your manager? From your people?
4. What did you learn?
5. Thinking about the people who report to you, when was the last time you informally acknowledged something they had done well? And what did you say or do?
6. What did you observe about their reactions? Immediate? And later?
7. Would you have said or done anything differently?
Platinum ProgramEVOLVE. EXPAND. EXCEL.Graduate Certificate in Management
Powered By
Chifley Platinum Program is the platform for premium career development. Through a Graduate Certificate in Management and a series of exclusive world-class conferences, members walk away with the skills and capabilities needed to ensure success in a senior management or leadership function.—The Chifley Platinum Program affords the unrivalled opportunity to hear from some of the world’s most successful business leaders and develop an elite professional network to accelerate development and enable continual improvement.
For more information please visit: www.chifleyplatinum.edu.au
TM
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au
Janet Fitzell is an independent consultant coach and facilitator - www.fourleaf.com.au
24 Infrastructure
Australians want infrastructure delivered. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia estimates that as a nation we have a $770 billion infrastructure backlog.
If all the projects that comprised the $32.9 billion that Australian governments spent on infrastructure in 2013 were delivered effectively with the community’s interest at the heart, perhaps spending on infrastructure would be justified.
However, the shortage of infrastructure experts employed in the ranks of governments around Australia means the ability to scope, design and deliver the projects effectively and efficiently has been lost. Our governments have become uninformed purchasers, and it is costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
The scale of the bill is gargantuan.
When the Prime Minister famously announced his intention to be known as the Infrastructure Prime Minister, he effectively delivered a fiscal shot in the arm to the business community and bolstered jobs in the economy.
For an economy slowing as a result of a rising dollar and the easing of the mining boom, this shift created much-needed activity in construction.
It was also welcome news for Australians who wanted better transport connections; access to high quality hospitals; and for our children to be educated in world class schools.
However, while supportive of the idea of better infrastructure, the community expects that any infrastructure is delivered in a sustainable, cost effective manner.
While infrastructure delivery is one of the bigger challenges facing governments, it is a reasonable expectation that enough planning, consultation and analysis takes place to get it right.
Yet 90 per cent of engineers believe that governments lack the engineering expertise they need to operate as informed purchasers.
Instead what engineers see is that short-term political gains have taken priority, and governments nation-wide are struggling to deliver on their big promises.
Impressive projects are being rushed through to approval, while little consideration is given to the realities of long-term maintenance costs.
In the build up to a November state election, the Victorian Government committed $800 million to a new rail extension - before it finalised a business case. The need to win votes, trumped project fidelity.
This is one example, however any conversation with a member working for a major asset owner or in infrastructure delivery will tell you the same story.
What’s worrying, is what this will lead to.
The age of the infrastructure government has commenced, as evidenced by staggering announcements in both the Federal and State spheres.
The politics of infrastructure is preventing long-term planning and effective asset management. Bede Payne discusses how this is leading to significant waste.
The age of the infrastructure government has arrived
25
Deloitte Access Economics has reported that 6.5 per cent of all spending on infrastructure projects is wasted and inadequate government expertise is a major contributing factor.
Focussing on major infrastructure (projects over $1 billion), by their nature more complex and expensive, this number blows out to 12.7 per cent. If you apply this to the current infrastructure spend, governments will waste $4.18b of taxpayers’ money.
In these financially constrained times, this waste shouldn’t be let go on.
If governments are to effectively deliver and maintain infrastructure in a way that brings maximum social benefit from a limited pot of money, then we must equip them with the tools to undertake the task.
Politics trumps logic
The top priority for many politicians is to win votes and stay in government. This, combined with increasingly indecisive and politically disengaged public, has led to a situation where short-term wins trump long-term success.
While this happens across the breadth of government services, most waste occurs through changes to infrastructure projects. As political terms cycle, so do the items on governments’ and oppositions’ infrastructure agenda.
The politics of infrastructure is preventing long-term planning and logical and effective asset management.
Instead of decisions being established on project longevity and cost-effectiveness, they are made to suit election campaigns, to win marginal seats and timed to achieve maximum political leverage.
The advice of engineers is being put aside, when it is critically important.
When we consider that major infrastructure projects have asset lives measured in decades and centuries, it is misguided to structure the deliver and maintenance of these assets over three or four year terms.
New infrastructure
As internal engineering capacity continues to be cut, so does the ability of governments to adequately advise, review and manage new infrastructure projects, which are the main priority of most election commitments.
Without that capacity, the likelihood of errors significantly increases: a poor project scope will lead to a poor design or be ignored, which will lead to construction variations and errors, which leads to increased project costs and disputes, and an outcome unsuitable for its purpose.
This loss of internal capacity has resulted in substantial parts of the scoping, design and delivery of infrastructure being outsourced by governments. And in their frenzy to outsource, governments have lost their ability to effectively manage and deliver large-scale infrastructure projects.
Maintenance
There is a fundamental disconnect between how much governments fund new infrastructure and how much they direct towards asset maintenance. Maintenance is often the first thing to suffer when budgets contract.
Just as it is very difficult to engage the public on questions and needs pertaining to maintenance, so is it difficult to engage politicians. As a result, maintenance often becomes the last, or a forgotten, consideration in many infrastructure projects.
To ensure that the infrastructure we have delivers the maximum benefit and lifespan from our financial output, adequate funding needs to be spent on maintenance. At the extremes, infrastructure which should have been maintained is left to deteriorate to the point that it has to be completely rebuilt – becoming a new infrastructure project.
And the cycle of waste begins again.
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au
26
Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) is calling for greater industry awareness of the important changes to the Pharmacy Industry Award that came into effect on 1 July 2014.
Professional Pharmacists Australia has received a range of calls from pharmacists who have experienced problems in the transition to the new arrangements and wants to ensure pharmacists are aware of their new rights.
PPA President Dr Geoff March said that the most significant change was that all pharmacists previously working as permanent casuals must now be moved to either permanent full-time or permanent part-time arrangements.
“The new arrangements give employee pharmacists greater certainty and benefits such as annual leave. These are important improvements for employee pharmacists and we want to ensure all pharmacists are now receiving their correct pay and entitlements.
“In the past few weeks we have had many pharmacists seeking our help to work out their rights and responsibilities under the new arrangements. Unfortunately there have been many cases where pharmacists have been poorly treated and proper annual leave entitlements withheld by employers.
“We have even had a case where a pharmacist was terminated because their employer did not want to transfer them to permanent employment.
“I encourage anyone who is confused or experiencing poor treatment to get in touch with PPA.
Our workplace and advice and support team of lawyers can help ensure you are being paid properly.
“It is also important that pharmacists take some time learn about the new arrangements. Make sure your colleagues understand the changes and then if necessary, have a conversation with your employer,” said Dr March.
Pharmacy Industry Award Changes - What You Need to Know• Changes to the Pharmacy Industry
Award Changes came into effect on 1 July 2014.
• Employees cannot be employed on a casual basis if they work reasonably predictable hours.
• Casuals moved to permanent status will accrue annual and personal leave, and other entitlements.
Moving from Casual to Permanent: What the Changes Mean for You If you have recently moved from being a casual to permanent, you will no longer receive a 25 per cent salary loading.
Instead, you will receive:
• Four weeks annual leave each year (pro-rata for part-time employees).
• 10 days personal/carer’s leave (pro-rata for part time employees) which can be accessed when you or a member of your immediate family is suffering a personal illness or injury;
• Payment for public holidays that are not worked, if they fall on a day that the employee would normally be required to work;
• Two days paid compassionate leave when a member of the employee’s immediate family or household is diagnosed with a life threatening illness or sustains a life threatening injury or dies; and
• Up to 10 days make up pay when required for jury service.
Call for industry awareness on Award
Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) is calling for greater industry awareness of the important changes to the Pharmacy Industry Award
www.professionalpharmacists.com.au
Pharmacy
27
The HMAS Kanimbla, one of the Australian Navy’s key supply ships, lost power entering Sydney Harbour and narrowly missed coming aground. The Kanimbla and its sister ship the Manoora, were retired.
This failure led to a review (the “Rizzo Review”) that exposed the high level of risk caused by the loss of engineering capability by Government agencies.
In Defence it was hardly the first review to identify the risk and neither has it been the last.
Prior to the Rizzo review the need to rebuild civilian engineering capability had been identified in the Naval Civilian Engineering Review in 2010. Similar issues were identified in Deloitte’s engineering workforce review in 2012 and in the Senate Inquiry into Defence Procurement in 2013.
The Coles Review identified the substantial problems with submarine maintenance, including the capacity to retain and develop engineering skills, with a recruitment freeze. Warning bells sounded further back with the Sea King and Westralia disasters.
Fast forward to 2014 and the Government is embarking on a “first principles review” of Defence.
Yet before the review had been commissioned, commenced, or made recommendations, the Government decided to cut Defence’s civilian workforce by a further 2,200 employees.
The Minister infamously said that the workforce was a bit too “fat and happy”.
A useful ‘first principle’ might have been to fully understand what the organisation needed to deliver and maintain, and profile the workforce accordingly.
Another useful ‘first principle’ might have been to look at the preceding reviews and implement recommendations.
One of the most telling graphics in the Australian National Audit Office Report into Capability Development Reform is that which shows Defence mapping of recommendations from major reviews (pictured above). It’s unreadable.
The financial and safety risks associated with not addressing engineering capability are becoming more serious rather than less so.
As the Naval Civilian Engineering Review put it, “sound independent engineering saves money and most importantly lives and reputation”.
Yet Governments continue to erode and dilute in-house technical expertise.
It is well established that the tide started to turn for technical expertise in government in the 1980s, when it became fashionable for governments to trim budgets and outsource their technical capacity to the private sector.
Less understood, is what this expertise depletion means today.
Without technical capacity, our governments simply cannot manage or assess what the private sector is selling them – they’ve effectively become cashed-up, uniformed purchasers.
Taxpayers are being gamed by infrastructure-hungry, knowledge-poor governments who simultaneously pump out rhetoric about the need for fiscal prudence in hard times.
Yet, mega waste across governments is just the tip of the iceberg of this depletion of skills.
There is a perfect storm building in Defence; and the risks, costs, dangers and scale of this storm demands intervention from the highest level.
Getting back to first principles in Defence
Four years ago serious engineering maintenance problems were exposed and forced the early retirement of $500m in maritime Defence capability. David Smith takes us back to some first principles.
Defence mapping of recommendations from major reviews, National Audit Offiice (2013)
Defence
28
http://professionalsaustralia.org.au/campaigns/integrity-in-defence/
As the Deloitte engineering workforce review found, without a competent Australian Public Service engineering and technical workforce, the probability of materiel failures or unplanned retirements of capability greatly increases, with large financial consequences.
Problems are coming to a head that directly threaten operational capacity across Defence.
The first problem is Defence’s challenge to effectively managing complex infrastructure procurement. Recent reports have revealed that the $8 billion Air Warfare Destroyer project is $500 million over budget and expected to be delivered two years late. With the spectre of more cost blowouts and waste to come, the Government has questioned Defence’s capacity to manage the acquisition of ships and submarines and is exploring off-shore options.
However, the reality is that of the 3,000 strong workforce on the AWD program, less than 90 are from Defence, and regardless of how sincere their effort, there is no way staff can enact effective oversight of such a large project with so few resources.
The Deloitte workforce review in 2012 identified that 55 per cent of Defence engineering vacancies were critical, or provided a risk, to engineering capability.
Yet since then, we have seen a recruitment freeze and significant actual, and planned reductions, in engineering and science staffing across all Defence domains. Even in Navy, where the Rizzo Review had at least minimised engineering workforce reductions, significant reductions are planned for the engineering and technical workforce in the Australian Maritime Warfare Centre.
Cuts to the technical workforce in Defence might appear to be penny-wise, but they are long-term, pound-stupid.
A senior Defence engineer identified the crux of the problem in a recent survey:
“Under resourced projects due to FTE cutbacks will mean that there will be often one engineer working on a large body of work and if they leave or are sick there is no one to pick up the work. Corners are being cut due to projects being under-resourced.”
Successive cuts to engineering, scientific and technical expertise have now created real and dangerous capacity gaps that risk both our national security and operational safety.
Technical specialists - already under immense pressure to do more with less - know this and are extremely concerned.
In response to the submissions about the outsourcing of maintenance and deskilling the organisation the then Shadow Minister said that the submissions “highlight the symptoms of what is fundamentally wrong”.
The prospect of more job cuts in Defence is ‘death by a thousand cuts’ in the truest sense.
To make matters worse the Government’s approach to enterprise bargaining is likely to have unintended effects on engineering and science capability across Defence. While the general approach to pay and conditions has rightly caught the headlines, there are other aspects of the Government’s approach to bargaining that will have adverse effects.
The Government is intent on removing agency specific work level standards and related classifications. In Defence, this will undermine the developed engineering and science competencies that underpin classification structures and make it difficult to progress agreement approaches that recognise and value expertise, experience, mentoring and knowledge transfer.
Enterprise agreements should be workplace enablers rather than ideological straightjackets.
But let’s return to first principles.
A succession of reviews have all come to similar conclusions. A more secure Australia relies on greater sophistication and specialist expertise, not less. Deep cuts to jobs, pay and conditions will not fill the skills and capability gaps.
Engineering and technical expertise needs to be recognised for the significant contribution it makes to national security and to keeping our forces operational. This is not a new or individual view - there is a chorus of industry voices calling for adequate engineering expertise in the public sector.
It is time for the Government to act on the advice before them.
The disappointing quirk to all of this is that, while uniform members of the ADF see the reduction of technical expertise as a complete disaster and are highly critical of it, politicians and bureaucrats wilfully ignore it. Uniform members of the ADF understand the integral role these specialists play in operations and have been vocal in defending them.
The Minister can no longer pretend he doesn’t know. He was a member of the Senate Committee that inquired into procurement procedures for Defence capital projects in 2012.
The Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, explained the value of engineering and technical staff when he said, “We have for far too long viewed engineering as an overhead and not as a mission enabler.”
29
Utility pits are dug into our footpaths and contain the telephone and TV cables, gas connections and water pipes that keep our communities functioning.
For Rob Banek, an engineer and Professionals Australia member with over 35 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry, dealing with the myriad of pit issues was so annoying - he came up with a better idea.
“The pits you see on footpaths are old, dirty, broken and create delays when workers find them damaged, full of rubbish or in disrepair,” said Mr Brack.
“The scale of pit maintenance is huge and utility companies and councils simply don’t have the time or resources to fix pits of all shapes and sizes.
“At the moment, if a pit lid is 20 or 30 years old and is broken, you need to replace the whole pit – so it’s a wasteful situation.”
Mr Banek saw a way to transform how street-level utilities interact.
“Imagine how much time and money could be saved by having one type of pit that would house all items for all service providers. Then imagine it could be raised or lowered and have replaceable parts.
The idea of eliminating waste and double-ups, along with Mr Banek’s desire to ‘take infrastructure forward’ lead him to develop the Adjustable Enclosure System (AES), in a bid to fix “fractured, costly and ineffective systems”.
A key benefit with Mr Banek’s pit system is its height flexibility. The system sits on a round plastic spiral base that can be can be raised or lowered as required, or it can be used as an underground pit or an aboveground pedestal.
“This has lots of benefits. If the pit becomes flooded, it can be temporarily raised to allow it to dry. In new building developments, it can be lowered below ground level to avoid breakages during building and then reinstated some months later to normal footpath height once building work has been completed.
“Previously, footpath subsidence could make a pit a tripping hazard and unsafe. However this system enables the pit to be raised or lowered by small fractions as frequently as required.
Additionally the pit’s lid can be replaced if damaged. For example in the case of bushfires, the lid may become scorched. The components are modular, so the lid could be replaced easily and cheaply, without needing to discard any other elements of the pit itself.
In an era where maintenance budgets are shrinking and infrastructure needs replacing, this idea presents some compelling arguments for adoption by local government and utility companies as a means to reducing the impact on managing street furniture.
Mr Banek explains that the his invention could help the rollout of NBNCo fibre. With a new, simpler pit there would be better deployment options which could help transform the management of our connection to new technologies.
The universal enclosure can be used above or below ground.
Finding a universal solution
Next time you are walking down the street, take a moment to look down. You will see numerous utility pit covers in various shapes, sizes and states of disrepair.
Member profile: Rob Banek could be about to transform street furniture
www.adjustableenclosuresystem.infoTo find out more visit:
Member Profile
30
THE CARD THAT’S WORTH ITS WEIGHT
The Professionals American Express® Gold Credit Card
Up to
2:1
Hurry, offer available for a limited time.Apply today at partnersamericanexpress.com/professionalsgold14
* Terms and Conditions apply. Minimum spend criteria applies. Please visit partnersamericanexpress.com/professionalsgold14 for full details. Credit provided by American Express Australia Limited (ABN 92 108 952 085), Australian Credit Licence No. 291313. ® Registered Trademark of American Express Company.
AMEX1629 (05/14)
To be eligible for this offer simply:•
•
•
2:1Up to
13,500 points *
Your choice of Rewards program
• Choose to enrol in MembershipRewards Ascent* and receive13,500 Membership RewardsBonus Points*.
• Choose to enrol in QantasDirect* and receive 8,000Qantas Points*.
Up to 2 points per dollar spent • Earn up to 2 points
per $1 spent on eligible purchases in yourpreferred Rewardsprogram.
$0 annualCard fee
Pay no annual Card fee
• Complimentary enrolmentin your choice of Rewardsprogram (save $80 p.a.) aswell as no annual Card feeon Supplementary Cards*
(save $20 p.a. per Card).
AMEX1629 A4 Gold Press Professionals Ad_A4_11.indd 1 9/05/14 3:53 PM
It’s easy to access your benefits through Member Advantage. Everyday we assist Professionals Australia members to take advantage of savings on a wide range of products and services such as accommodation, airline lounge memberships, credit cards, movie tickets and online shopping.
The savings can quickly add up - so if you are curious about how you and your family can maximise your benefits, just pick up the phone, call 1300 853 352 and start saving today!
professionalsaustralia.org.au/member-savings
How can your membership give you more than $2,404 in value?
Our Services Your Benefit Your Savings $$ p.a.
Pre-purchased Gift Cards 5% off your weekly bills, such as groceries and petrol $1,040.00
Private health insurance 5% discount on current HCF health insurance products $255.30
Gold Credit Card Save on fees and extra benefits $200.00
Movie Tickets Save on adult, student and childrens’ tickets $290.40
Computers and IT Save on Dell, Lenovo and HP products $619.00
and much more Enjoy savings on services all year round Endless
Total saving $2,404.70+
The savings in the above table are calculated on the average family requirements in 2014. Gift Cards savings based on average spend $300 per week on groceries and petrol at $100 pw, not inclusive of 1% credit card surcharge. Private Health Insurance savings calculated based on QLD Family Top Plus Cover nil excess and Super Multicover, 2014 HCF rates, including the 30% government rebate. Credit Card savings based on no annual fee, no rewards program fee, and no supplementary card fee on take up of two extra cards. Movie Ticket savings based on 12 purchases of 2 Adult Hoyts tickets at a saving of $7.55 and 2 Student Hoyts tickets at a saving of $4.55. Computer saving based on purchase of a Dell Latitude Laptop using a Powerbuy coupon code. Current as of 29/04/2014.
Apply by 30 September 2014 and be approved.Spend $500 on eligible purchases within the first two months of Card Membership.Ensure you are not an existing Card Member and have not held any American Express Card in the last 12 months.
THE CARD THAT’S WORTH ITS WEIGHT
The Professionals American Express® Gold Credit Card
Up to
2:1
Hurry, offer available for a limited time.Apply today at partnersamericanexpress.com/professionalsgold14
* Terms and Conditions apply. Minimum spend criteria applies. Please visit partnersamericanexpress.com/professionalsgold14 for full details. Credit provided by American Express Australia Limited (ABN 92 108 952 085), Australian Credit Licence No. 291313. ® Registered Trademark of American Express Company.
AMEX1629 (05/14)
To be eligible for this offer simply:•
•
•
2:1Up to
13,500 points *
Your choice of Rewards program
• Choose to enrol in MembershipRewards Ascent* and receive13,500 Membership RewardsBonus Points*.
• Choose to enrol in QantasDirect* and receive 8,000Qantas Points*.
Up to 2 points per dollar spent • Earn up to 2 points
per $1 spent on eligible purchases in yourpreferred Rewardsprogram.
$0 annualCard fee
Pay no annual Card fee
• Complimentary enrolmentin your choice of Rewardsprogram (save $80 p.a.) aswell as no annual Card feeon Supplementary Cards*
(save $20 p.a. per Card).
AMEX1629 A4 Gold Press Professionals Ad_A4_11.indd 1 9/05/14 3:53 PM
It’s easy to access your benefits through Member Advantage. Everyday we assist Professionals Australia members to take advantage of savings on a wide range of products and services such as accommodation, airline lounge memberships, credit cards, movie tickets and online shopping.
The savings can quickly add up - so if you are curious about how you and your family can maximise your benefits, just pick up the phone, call 1300 853 352 and start saving today!
professionalsaustralia.org.au/member-savings
How can your membership give you more than $2,404 in value?
Our Services Your Benefit Your Savings $$ p.a.
Pre-purchased Gift Cards 5% off your weekly bills, such as groceries and petrol $1,040.00
Private health insurance 5% discount on current HCF health insurance products $255.30
Gold Credit Card Save on fees and extra benefits $200.00
Movie Tickets Save on adult, student and childrens’ tickets $290.40
Computers and IT Save on Dell, Lenovo and HP products $619.00
and much more Enjoy savings on services all year round Endless
Total saving $2,404.70+
The savings in the above table are calculated on the average family requirements in 2014. Gift Cards savings based on average spend $300 per week on groceries and petrol at $100 pw, not inclusive of 1% credit card surcharge. Private Health Insurance savings calculated based on QLD Family Top Plus Cover nil excess and Super Multicover, 2014 HCF rates, including the 30% government rebate. Credit Card savings based on no annual fee, no rewards program fee, and no supplementary card fee on take up of two extra cards. Movie Ticket savings based on 12 purchases of 2 Adult Hoyts tickets at a saving of $7.55 and 2 Student Hoyts tickets at a saving of $4.55. Computer saving based on purchase of a Dell Latitude Laptop using a Powerbuy coupon code. Current as of 29/04/2014.
Member Advantage
Interns and graduates: Know your rights
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au
Workplace Advice and Support
Got a workplace issue?
Contact our Workplace Advice and Support team – 1300 273 762 or visit www.professionalsaustralia.org.au
Joanna, a member of our legal team
* Due to the confidential nature of this case, this is not the member’s real name.
Everyone knows that interns and graduates are swamped with new things to learn. So, we wanted to share a recent case, to ensure everyone is aware of their rights and responsibilities at work.
Professional Australia’s workplace lawyer Joanna recently helped a pharmacy intern get pay that he was owed by a ruthless employer.
“The main thing interns and graduates need to know is that you have rights and responsibilities – even if you are employed as a casual - your employer still needs to pay you properly and treat you fairly,” Joanna said.
Pharmacist intern Mark came to his union for help when he was in his final six months of his internship and he received a text saying “don’t come back to work tomorrow”.
It wasn’t the first time Mark’s employer had behaved badly towards him; however the nasty text prompted Mark to seek help.
Among other things Mark had been paid an hourly rate of $20 as a casual, regardless of whether he worked at nights, weekends or public holidays.
He had also been required to work without breaks, was given a uniform that didn’t fit and his employer did not make any superannuation payments on his behalf.
Joanna found that when she reviewed Mark’s case it was clear that he was owed both wages and superannuation.
“Mark had worked on quite a lot of Saturdays, when pay rates are much higher than $20 per hour. Mark had also worked without meal breaks. So we looked at the pay rates and conditions in his industry Award and calculated exactly what Mark should have been paid.
Joanna explained that once Mark’s case was reviewed and the amount he was owed was calculated, the Workplace Advice and Support team wrote to his employer.
“Negotiations with the employer retrieved all the money Mark was owed – which included some back-pay for hours worked on Saturdays and public holidays, superannuation payments and payment in lieu of missed lunch breaks,” said Joanna.
“In the end Mark was very happy. Hopefully this case example helps someone else avoid the same problems.”
www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/support
