By Michael Kilgariff, CEO, Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA)
Australia’s infrastructure ambitions are both vast and indispensable.
From the delivery of city-shaping transport corridors and regional development programs, defence, housing, and the nation’s transition to renewable energy, our collective future rests on a foundation that must be strong, scalable and sustainable.
Cement, concrete and aggregates form the literal and figurative bedrock of that future.
As the Chief Executive Officer of Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia, I represent an industry ready and able to lead this transformation. Our members span every state and territory, operate across a wide range of scales, and contribute directly to every major infrastructure initiative underway or on the horizon.
We are an essential and high-performing sector that contributes over $15 billion to Australia’s GDP each year, directly employing more than 30,000 Australians and supporting a further 80,000 jobs indirectly.
Yet, despite our critical role, construction materials are still too often treated as passive inputs – commodity resources rather than strategic enablers of infrastructure success. The reality is that without smart, secure, and sustainable access to heavy construction materials, national goals such as decarbonisation, productivity reform, and circular economy integration cannot be achieved.
That is why CCAA has led the development of several detailed, reform-oriented submissions in 2024-2025, including our April 2025 submission on the National Construction Strategy for Transport Infrastructure.
These submissions articulate the industry’s blueprint for integrating material supply, carbon reduction, and innovation into a coherent national framework – one that aligns with Australia’s economic and environmental aspirations.
The challenge before us is not just whether we can meet our infrastructure needs sustainably. The real test is whether we can move quickly and decisively enough to seize the moment – and to do so with the right policy settings, investment frameworks, and collaborative spirit.
Innovation through performance-based standards
One of the most significant barriers to sustainable progress in the construction sector lies in outdated and overly prescriptive technical standards.
Chief among these is AS 3972-2010, which governs General Purpose and Blended Cements. This standard continues to constrain the adoption of low-carbon cement formulations, including those with higher limestone content and increased use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, slag and new pozzolan types.
Reforming AS 3972 could cut embodied carbon in concrete by as much as ten per cent. But more broadly, a shift to performance-based specifications – embedded across planning, procurement, and compliance frameworks – is urgently needed. This approach empowers engineers and suppliers to innovate, reduces compliance complexity, and enables fit-for-purpose innovative solutions that lower costs without compromising safety or durability.
National harmonisation of standards is also a crucial goal. Suppliers operating across multiple jurisdictions currently face fragmented requirements that inhibit investment and limit productivity. Through industry collaboration, and close engagement with Standards Australia and relevant technical committees, we can align our specifications with international best practices and support a next-generation infrastructure sector.
Planning for materials, not just projects
A recurring theme in public discourse is the claim that material shortages are driving up costs and causing infrastructure delays. CCAA challenges this assertion. Our industry has the operational capability, technical expertise, and financial capacity to meet current and future demand. The true constraint lies in planning and regulatory bottlenecks.
A coordinated National Heavy Construction Materials Plan is needed to secure strategic resource access, protect proximity to high-demand areas, and streamline development approvals for extractive industries and batch plants. Urban encroachment, land use conflicts, and inconsistent local government conditions threaten the reliability of supply chains and increase transport-related emissions.
Our April submission on the Development of a National Construction Strategy for Transport Infrastructure recommends such a plan as a core pillar of the national strategy – backed by Infrastructure Australia’s own data showing rising supply pressures in several metropolitan and regional markets. Without strategic planning for heavy construction materials, we risk project cost blowouts, construction delays, and increased environmental footprints.
Circular economy and recycled material integration
Australia’s transition to a circular economy is gaining momentum, and the heavy construction materials industry has long played a leadership role in this space. Many of our members incorporate industrial by-products – like fly ash and blast furnace slag – into their production processes. Increasingly, recycled aggregates from demolition waste are being used to replace virgin materials in concrete and road base applications.
The use and processing of waste materials is a long-established practice for our industry. ‘Wastes’ of this nature are also used as alternate raw materials to be fed into the process itself to be co-processed and recycle the materials while reducing CO2 emissions.
But if circularity is to scale, it must be enabled by national procurement frameworks, harmonised regulations, and market-driven incentives. CCAA supports the creation of a nationally accessible database of recycled material availability and performance, alongside federal funding programs to support Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for cement and concrete products.
These measures not only help lower lifecycle emissions – they also allow for more informed procurement and specification decisions that are based on verified environmental impact data. EPDs are central to a performance-based, outcomes-driven infrastructure strategy.
Towards net zero: strategic decarbonisation pathways
CCAA has mapped out a practical, science-based pathway to net zero carbon cement and concrete by 2050, as outlined in our industry’s Decarbonisation Facilitation Plan and the landmark VDZ report, Decarbonisation Pathways for the Australian Cement and Concrete Sector. These documents reflect a whole-of-sector commitment to innovation, collaboration, and technological transition.
Key actions include accelerating the adoption of low-carbon binders, incentivising carbon capture, electrifying plant and transport fleets, and aligning policy settings to support alternative fuels and renewable energy uptake. Equally important is a lifecycle approach to carbon measurement – one that recognises the durability and recarbonation potential of concrete over time.
Government partnerships will be vital. We recommend that jurisdictions be rewarded through National Competition Policy payments for adopting performance-based construction specifications and supporting circular material plans. Without these mechanisms, we risk slowing progress at a time when acceleration is vital.
Workforce, safety and skills development
Beyond materials and standards, our industry knows that transformation depends on people. We strongly support the National Construction Strategy for Transport Infrastructure’s focus on workplace culture, safety enforcement, and workforce training. This includes targeted initiatives to upskill contractors and project managers in the use of low-carbon concrete products, and stronger enforcement of WHS and anti-harassment policies on worksites.
The shift to modern construction methods and materials must be supported by a skilled, inclusive, and future-ready workforce. This is not just a social or compliance imperative – it is fundamental to delivering high-quality, efficient infrastructure projects at scale.
A smart, sustainable future is within reach
Australia’s heavy construction materials industry is not standing still. We are evolving, decarbonising, digitising, and ready to scale. But we need government and industry to work together to unlock the full potential of this transition.
Let’s treat materials policy as infrastructure policy. Let’s embed sustainability into procurement, planning, and design. And let’s ensure that the road to 2050 is not only ambitious, but also achievable.
If we build with purpose – guided by data, enabled by reform, and inspired by innovation – Australia’s infrastructure legacy will be one of resilience, productivity, and sustainability.
To find out more about the industry’s decarbonisation facilitation plan, visit ccaa.com.au
