QLD/NT President’s comment – July 2025
Advocacy focus
Our Advocacy Subcommittee is led by our Vice-President Adam Perrier, and supported by former Presidents Gilda Donegan and Rob Wesener. Rob is our Advocacy Advisor and an elected member of the Board of Architects, which helps us stay connected and on top of the issues and opportunities facing our profession.
We’re actively engaged with the Office of the Queensland Government Architect, working to strengthen the business of architecture in Queensland. Building good relationships with the right people means we can share our concerns, get advice, and ensure our advocacy efforts are well targeted and informed.
We also meet with the Board of Architects of Queensland regularly. These meetings go beyond regulation – they’re a chance to collaborate, work with our peers, and keep lifting standards across the profession. We are focused on making sure new candidates are ready for registration and that the profession keeps meeting the high standards that are expected in the construction industry and by the public. These connections also help us keep our members up to date with what the Board is focused on from registration and CPD to codes of conduct and compliance.
We also meet with the Australian Institute of Architects and Consult Australia to discuss, share and support advocacy efforts across the professions.
Our most recent advocacy submission was to the Queensland Productivity Commission’s inquiry into improving construction sector efficiency. We submitted a series of 24 recommendations. See details of our submission here. We welcome thoughts and feedback from our membership on these recommendations and how we can achieve our goals
Looking ahead
Our aim is for advocacy to be inclusive and genuinely representative of our diverse membership. It’s important to us that when we speak up, we’re truly representing everyone. We want to make sure we’ve listened to a wide range of members across the cities and regions, and have a strong understanding of the issues that matter to them. We need to bring the right stories and perspectives to the table, so our voice really is the voice of our members and the wider profession.
To help with this, we’re planning to set up a regular discussion forum – both online and in person – where interested members and others in the industry can share their experiences, knowledge and stories. This will help shape and strengthen our advocacy with government and directly shape our advocacy priorities with government and industry stakeholders.
We have also been working on a targeted advocacy survey to learn more about people’s issues and concerns on the ground. More to come on that soon.
Northern Territory
Our Northern Territory membership is smaller than in Queensland, but we’re well connected thanks to Joanna Rees from Ajar Architects on our Committee. Jo is insightful, energised and enthusiastic. She and a small group of architects in Darwin and nearby areas meet regularly to share issues and support each other. Jo keeps us updated on what’s happening in the Territory through our committee meetings. Like other regions, these include regulatory and compliance challenges, work pipeline and cost of business and support networks.
Challenges & opportunities in Queensland
The recent Pulse Check survey highlighted the pipeline of work as a big challenge for many practices. It’s hard to plan and invest in your business when you can’t predict future work. More and more projects are being split into smaller stages, and practices have to tender separately for each stage. This inevitably means more time and money spent on tenders, even if you’re the incumbent. Fee undercutting proliferates in this environment and over time, this eats into profitability, especially in slower economic conditions. Meanwhile, the cost of doing business continues to rise. Many practices are feeling the pressure.
On the positive side, the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and Paralympics are coming. This means major spending and a lot of upcoming work. There are many different scales of projects, not just direct Olympic spending but also additional government and local government projects for local sporting clubs. Increased spending on health, social infrastructure and housing projects is also on the horizon.
The state will need a huge workforce to deliver this work. We want to make sure opportunities reach across Queensland and are inclusive of regional practices. Local knowledge and expertise and regional opportunities really matter.
Regional practices face extra hurdles. Many students from the regions move to Southeast Queensland or Interstate to study architecture, and often don’t return home to work. This makes it harder for local firms to retain and develop a consistent team and plan for the future. The ACA, BOAQ and the AIA are facilitating conversations around this challenge and looking at opportunities to support universities.
“We’re proud of the advocacy foundations we’ve built and excited about deepening our engagement with members. Our goal is clear: to represent, support, and strengthen the profession across Queensland and the Northern Territory.”