Left: Tasmanian Women in Civil Ball represented by Tasmanian State and Federal Govt, Opposition and Independents. Right: CCF Tasmania stand at the HomeFest and Built Form Expo.

Over the past month our national office has hosted our annual CEO and Board strategy day, we have hired our staff and now getting into the swing of national advocacy and forming national committees to bring the best expertise across the country to put our minds to the challenges initially across, IR, Skills, Procurement, Communities, Environment/Energy Transition.

We have had meetings with Ministers, Shadows and cross benches and had engagements  with Government and opposition. In the past week we have been in Tasmania with the Government and Opposition ahead of their State election where CCF Tasmania has done a great job secured support for civil funding from both sides irrespective of the result.

Up on the Hill here in Canberra, the Federal IR legislation, that after nearly two years of consideration and significant industry opposition and representations, passed the Senate which now has new and uncertain requirements to disconnect from the workplace. The other key features with this bill includes:

• Right of Entry for Union Representatives
• Permanent provisions for casuals
• Minimum standards for gig workers
• Employee right to switch off

Changes afoot for workplace delegates’ rights, and right of entry for union representatives are expected to have impacts to operations and less reason for entry which is potentially to be challenging for business and requires further unpacking. CCF as a Registered Organisation under the Fair Work Act is employing an IR specialist who will be based in New South Wales but be able to assist our advocacy and influence at the national level. They will also be able to assist around the working arrangements of IR changes taking place.

In terms of Skills and Training:

• BuildSkills Australia Jobs Plan – BuildSkills has expressed an interest in closer engagement with CCF particular around the development of the national Jobs Plan which is currently being developed for the Federal Government. This Jobs Plan when completed should have influence on prioritisation and training incentivisation into the future with opportunity to boost prioritisation for civil. As Founding Members of BuildSkills Australia, CCF National look to strengthen the feedback for civil training/funding and see our occupations increasingly prioritised.
• Apprentice incentives review –Submissions are due in May for the recently released Strategic Review of the Australian Apprentices System with a draft response now in development based on the solid work from across the CCF Branches. We have a national working group coming together with expertise of Members to represent the critical training and funding needs to inform the review response.
• Migration Strategy – The Federal Government is reconsidering its migration strategy amidst record arrivals coming into the country without planned infrastructure, particularly housing and communities. CCF are providing feedback to the development of this strategy as to the roll out of infrastructure, skills and training required. Fast tracking of visas has been suggested to increase the labour pool to meet the gaps, but really this doesn’t fix the longer-term systemic problem of skilling a sustainable civil workforce that needs to be in place before every, hospital, school or home can be delivered.

In terms of cost of living and housing which are issues at fever pitch in the media, the difficulty we have with blockages in housing supply and community infrastructure is the shortcomings of not having invested and prioritised the upskilling of the local workforce. Some recent advocacy includes Australian Financial Review attached/seen here: Post | Feed | LinkedIn starts to represent what civil is to ensure we are the first consideration of government investment.

After decades of neglect culminating in a housing crisis, the Federal government has a once in a generation opportunity to provide increased government funding toward civil training and an ABS review of the ANZSCO Codes to include relevant and non-prioritised civil occupations.

Civil is crucial to communities and governments need to recognise what our industry does, particularly when the cost of living is the national challenge that the late 2024 (or early 2025) Federal election will be fought over. When there is non-prioritization and lack of skills funding for civil occupations today, it is no wonder subdivision, water, sewerage, roads, energy transformation and essential infrastructure are compounding the lack of housing underway.

In simplest terms not one dollar in housing can be spent until a dollar has been spent in civil and we are just not getting our head around this as a country.

In regards to the Environment/Energy Transition, CCF National has attended EPBC Act lockups  in Canberra to consider the restructure of the legislation. Whilst these consultations are bound confidentially by agreement, there will be change to consider in the way the amendments to the Federal environmental legislation operates. Further detail will be provided when the proposed legislative changes are released.

In exciting news we will be bringing Members to Canberra in late November for our conference and National Earth Awards. Dates and information will be released soon, but rest assured the Members will be heard in Canberra as we get much louder in the lead up towards a Federal election that is likely to be held as we arrive in the nation’s capital.