Australia’s key construction industry associations have written a joint letter calling for procurement processes to be closed over the holiday period to allow the industry to have a substantial break.
Writing to all government procurement agencies across the nation, industry leaders have raised the importance of giving everyone the opportunity at all levels of the industry to have a well-deserved, uninterrupted rest.
Detailed in the joint letter is a request to close live procurement processes by Friday 17 December 2021 and commence new procurement processes on/or after Wednesday 5 January 2022.
The signatories of the joint letter, comprising Consult Australia, Australian Constructors Association, Australasian Railway Association, Engineers Australia and Roads Australia, are running a social media campaign to acknowledge the support received from the request.
Consult Australia CEO, Nicola Grayson, said the industry is acutely aware of the ongoing impact that the pandemic, together with the huge volume of projects, is having on the wellbeing of workers.
“Together, we have the power to provide a window for people across the industry to put aside work for this short period and recharge,” Ms Grayson said.
Australian Constructors Association CEO, Jon Davies, said the break is also vital to making our industry an attractive and mentally healthy place for everyone to work within.
“People are the industry’s most valuable asset, especially given the massive pipeline of infrastructure projects that we must deliver in the years ahead,” Mr Davies said.
In 2020 Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads led the charge implementing a four week tender blackout over Christmas.
Similarly, the Department of Defence has a policy that running a live tender process through Christmas will be a rare exception, not the rule.
