TMR–Infrastructure Industry Engagement Charter

In January 2021, a taskforce was established between the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Construction Skills Queensland and peak infrastructure industry associations, including:

• Australian Flexible Pavement Association (AfPA)
• Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) Queensland
• Consult Australia
• Infrastructure Association of Queensland (IAQ)
• Queensland Major Contractors Association (QMCA).

This taskforce was formed to develop and deliver a collaborative procurement and delivery model.

The taskforce found that a successful collaborative model needed shared culture and behaviours. The TMR–Infrastructure Industry Engagement Charter was jointly developed to support this.

The Charter outlines how we and the infrastructure industry will engage with one another to promote collaborative behaviours and improved ways of working.

On this page:

• Overview of the Charter
• The culture we commit to
• This is us
• Our 8 core commitments
• Living the Charter
  • Concept and Design
  • Procurement
  • Commencement
  • Delivery
  • Finalisation

Overview of the Charter

Watch the following for information about the Charter and its development.

The culture we commit to

Queensland has a strong and established transport civil infrastructure sector. Together, industry and the Department of Transport and Main Roads have delivered state and city-shaping projects that have improved our connectivity and liveability.

With a significant program of works to deliver together, including the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the need for a constructive, collaborative partnership between the department and industry is greater than ever before.

There is an opportunity now to make significant and lasting cultural change. By working together to improve how we deliver projects, we can meet this increased demand, enable innovation and maximise the social, economic and environmental outcomes for Queensland.

This Charter sets out a collaborative approach to infrastructure procurement and delivery and the behaviours everyone in our industry needs to commit to, to realise its benefits.

This is us

Our purpose is to achieve positive outcomes for our communities and economy through delivering transport infrastructure safely and sustainably.

• Our industry is a complex ecosystem of interconnected organisations and individuals who collaborate to deliver projects.
• In our healthy and sustainable industry, our people are engaged and supported, our organisations are thriving and we can see a strong future.
• We have a culture that embraces and fosters equality, diversity and inclusion.
• We have a planned, resourced long-term pipeline that attracts and retains capable, diverse workforces and supports a profitable industry with the capacity to deliver safely.
• We have a genuine appreciation of risk and opportunity and we innovate to drive positive outcomes.
• We understand we all need to achieve positive outcomes and these can vary between government, organisations and communities.
• We deliver a lasting legacy with benefits for all—a win for government, a win for industry and a win for public value.

Our 8 core commitments

1. We develop and provide effective and visible leadership, empower all team members to have a voice, ensure everyone owns the outcome and actively supports each other to achieve it.
2. We build trust in each other by communicating openly, honestly and transparently in a timely manner—even in challenging environments, situations and relationships.
3. We encourage and celebrate successful collaboration, share our learnings with each other and our industry and apply them in our future work.
4. We listen to understand and appreciate our different business models, drivers, roles, constraints and ability to take on risk.
5. We provide a safe space to challenge—where healthy challenge means maintaining respect, staying solutions focused and ensuring all feedback is listened to and acknowledged. We will help each other and act reasonably to resolve any challenges together.
6. We are flexible, open to change and able to compromise, with the understanding we need to be pragmatic.
7. We are accountable for our actions, follow through on our commitments and are proactive in raising issues as early as possible.
8. We actively pursue technological advancements, collect and share data and embed digital engineering to create common standards across the whole-of-life value chain.

Living the Charter

The vision for this Charter is to support our industry to embed a new way of working together in all aspects of our relationship. The framework outlined is a guide to how we can live our collective commitments in all our interactions.

Concept and Design

Identify project outcomes

• Provide appropriate forums to encourage industry collaboration and input.
• Ensure coordination between all areas of the department and current and future industry partners to:
  • help introduce innovation as early as possible
  • ensure timing estimates are realistic.
• Work with industry to identify and document desired project outcomes for all parties (government, industry, community).
• Tailor procurement to realise project outcomes, not just according to contract type.
• Provide clarity and seek feedback around proposed procurement strategies, including tender and evaluation processes (such as selected invitation lists).

Procurement

Communicate project outcomes

• Seek to understand prevailing market conditions and adapt approach if needed.
• Ensure post-tender feedback is available for all tenderers, including those who are successful.
• Increase transparency around evaluation processes.
• Provide tender assessment and award deadlines and stick to them.
• Identify risk allocation prior to contract award, including identification of critical risks for the project and risk categories into risk owner and responsibility.
• Provide a robust framework to option innovation.
• Establish Key Result Areas and relationship KPIs—potentially incentivised—from the outset for all projects, regardless of contract size.

Commencement

Reinforce project outcomes

• Leadership teams formed on all projects with leaders skilled in collaborative behaviours. Before project launch, conduct the following with leadership team:
  • relationship workshop to establish how to apply charter to project and gain commitment from all to live the charter every day and hold each other accountable
  • kick off meeting to:
    • set mutual expectations
    • confirm assumptions, critical risks and scope
    • establish escalation pathway
    • agree processes and ways of working that encourage sharing of information and early warning of potential issues (eg stand ups, toolbox talks)
• Document and share outcomes from the above.
• Identify opportunities to celebrate success.

Delivery

Deliver project outcomes

• Comprehensive onboarding of all new starters throughout a project including: culture, expectations and processes to support collaborative behaviours.
• Undertake regular relationship and culture health checks throughout delivery, measuring against agreed objectives and reset if required.
• Introduce contract reports—contractor reports plus allowing for 360° feedback of the department.
• Identify issues early and resolve according to agreed escalation process, to minimise unnecessary variations and claims.
• Ensure timely and transparent resolution of variations and claims following an agreed, fair process.
• Purposeful team building, including co-location where possible, to encourage collaboration.

Finalisation

Celebrate project outcomes

• Engage handover team early in delivery phase and establish clear handover requirements.
• Close out meeting/workshop to capture learnings.
• Share learnings within organisations involved in the project and with industry where relevant.
• Seek opportunities to celebrate success in a way that is appropriate for all parties.

Taskforce news

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