QLD/NT Update – July 2022
QLD/NT President Gilda Donegan provides a recap of the first six months of 2022, where the branch committee has continued to learn to be adaptable.
The year kicked started not quite as we had hoped, with major floods in Brisbane and South East Queensland.
In Queensland and the Northern Territory, we have continued to build on our strong connections with our members and corporate partners, which has provided great insight to understanding the local, regional, national and global economic impact.
Highlights
The QLD/NT Committee welcomes four new members for the next term – Ben Madden (Cottee Parker), Mark Kennedy (Counterpoint Architects), Justine Ebzery (Fulton Trotter Architects) and Adam Perrier (Bloc Design), noting that two new members are from regional areas (as part of a strategic regional committee membership drive).
However, we sadly farewell our outgoing committee members – Carl Brooks, David Frost, Kerri May and Robert Wesener. They have all been instrumental in guiding the direction of the ACA QLD/NT branch through their commitment over many years. We thank them all very much for their important contribution.
We also farewell Executive Officer Louise Street after 10 years of commitment to the ACA QLD/NT branch and announce the appointment of our new EO – Sharon Knighton.
Formal monthly meetings have been established with the newly appointed OQGA Leah Lang in association with the Institute and BOAQ.
The ACA QLD/NT continues to have an active calendar of events – including regular site visits and lunchtime forums – all aimed at creating platforms for members to share experiences and create relationships. This year will also see a focus on events extending to the regional areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum has now been established for over 18 months and continues to build momentum thanks to the enthusiasm of the Forum Group, chaired by Justine Ebzery from Fulton Trotter Architects.
We continue to run a combined amount of face to face and online events, giving our members from all areas the opportunity for connecting and learning.
The 2022 ACA National Salary Survey has been completed and the key findings from the survey were delivered in a national CPD webinar in May. The National Salary Survey Report is now available for members to download from the website.
The Trivia Night was attended by a record number of members and Corporate Partners, and the Deep Knowledge Award Winners for 2022 were Populous and Macquarie Bank (combined table). A big thank you to Robert Wesener (Former ACA QLD/NT Branch President) as Trivia Master for hosting such a great night.
Events
From January to June 2022, we have had face-to-face activities with the trivia night and a lunch forum, as well as a series of webinars, including the Salary Survey findings, enabling us to reach members throughout Queensland, the Northern Territory and nationally. The program has included:
- Trivia Night
- OQGA Virtual Roundtable Discussion – presentation and Q&A
- Virtual Roundtable – Priorities for Regional Architects
- Specification Writing – A Critical Skill for Architects – Webinar
- AMWF – Rethinking Leadership
- Designing for the Circular Economy Lunch Forum
- Salary Survey Findings Webinar
- Macquarie Bank breakfast – Navigating the changing economic landscape for the built environment (a Corporate Partner event)
Advocacy
The ACA QLD/NT has continued to build strong relationships between the ACA, the Office of the Queensland Government Architect (OQGA), the Institute of Architects and Board of Architects Queensland and Department of Public Works, with formal monthly meetings convened and chaired by Leah Lang, OQGA.
The hot topics include Procurement, BAFO, Registration Framework and Risk allocation.
The Committee has representation on the following:
- Office of the Queensland Government Architect – Gilda Donegan
- AACA Expert Reference Group – Charmaine Kai
- Pathway to Registration Project – Denis Waring
- AIA Practice Committee – Brett Hudson
Corporate Partners
The ACA QLD/NT has welcomed four new corporate partners since September 2021: Armstrong Ceilings, Alspec, Laminex and Geberit.
QLD/NT now has ten annual non-competing Corporate Partners: Alspec, Armstrong Ceilings, Ashburner Francis, ASSA Abloy, Geberit, GWA Bathrooms & Kitchens, Interface, Kennedy’s Timbers, Laminex and Stokes Wheeler.
We greatly appreciate the ongoing support from our Corporate Partners for providing inhouse CPD programs and valuable feedback to the ACA and our members.
Kudos
During my second term as President, we look to further embrace the regional areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory, extending our engagement, growing the membership and collaborating to strengthen the profession.
I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Brett Hudson to the position of ACA QLD/NT Branch Vice-President and appreciate the support already offered by Brett in this role.
I look forward to working with my fellow Committee Members to continue to achieve our goals for the new financial year.
- Brett Hudson – Vice-President/AMWF – Peddle Thorp
- Charmaine Kai – Treasurer/Education – 8i Architects
- Denis Waring – Secretary/Education – PW Architecture
- David Brian – Events – dwp
- Justine Ebzery – AMWF – Fulton Trotter Architects
- Steven Huntingford – NT Representative – Huntingford Architecture
- Mark Kennedy – Regional Members – Counterpoint Architecture
- Ben Madden – Industrial Relations – Cottee Parker Architects
- Adam Perrier – Membership – Bloc Design Qld
- Mark Williams – Salary Survey/Corporate Partners – Mark Williams Architects
Membership in the Queensland and Northern Territory Branch is now at 137 members. We thank you for your ongoing support and look forward to your involvement in the year ahead.
Finally, if you have any issues or topics you would like the ACA to address, please contact Sharon Knighton at qld@aca.org.au.
Gilda Donegan
President, ACA QLD/NT Branch
2021–2022