Queensland’s Productivity Commission has flagged a broad construction industry “reset” that could threaten existing enterprise bargaining agreements, arguing it may be required if the state is to build its way out of a housing crisis – and host the Olympics.
The commission released an interim report on Thursday into improving productivity in the construction sector that called on the Queensland government to permanently remove so-called “Best Practice Industry Conditions” (BPICs) from its procurement policy.
Adopted under the previous Labor government in 2018, BPICs outlined construction union workers’ pay and conditions for all major state projects. Union proponents claim BPICs improved safety and lifted standards and created apprenticeship opportunities for women and Indigenous workers – industry opponents complained it led to cost blowouts and worksite shutdowns.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
The Liberal National party deputy premier, Jarrod Bleijie, hit pause on BPICs in November until the re-established Productivity Commission completed its building industry review.
But the interim recommendations of that review go beyond a call to permanently scrap BPICs – arguing “a broader industry reset” was required if Queensland was to “meet the needs of its growing population, match infrastructure commitments and deliver the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.
The report cited industry stakeholders as blaming BPICs for a “a significant slowdown in site productivity on public construction” workplaces that had enabled similar conditions to “creep into the private sector through the rollout of BPICs-like conditions in [EBAs)]”.
“Removing BPICs alone is unlikely to be sufficient to shift construction productivity to a growth path or improve behaviours on government construction sites,” the commission wrote.
“Given that BPIC-like conditions now seem to be embedded in industry practice, including in enterprise bargaining agreements that are not due to be re-negotiated until mid-2027, it is likely that a broader industry reset is required.”
Asked at a press conference after the release of the interim report if the LNP would permanently scrap BPICs, the treasurer, David Janetzki, said he would wait for the final report before making any announcements.
However, the treasurer said that declining productivity “cannot be tolerated”.
The Queensland Council of Unions denies that BPICs affected worksite productivity.
In May it released a report it commissioned from University of Queensland emeritus professor of economics John Mangan that found post-Covid cost increases were primarily driven by global supply chain constraints and material shortages – not labour agreements or public procurement standards.
The QCU general secretary, Jacqueline King, said at the time that BPICs “did not drive up costs or damage productivity” but improved safety, lifted standards and created real opportunities for apprentices, women and Indigenous workers.
King said the commission’s interim report “missed the boat on the most important thing of all: people”.
The union secretary said “any serious conversation about lifting productivity” in the construction industry had to start with fixing what she said was a “crisis in building and retaining a Queensland workforce”.
“There’s no shortage of Queenslanders willing to work in construction but this is an industry stuck in the 1970s, with 55-hour weeks, inflexible work arrangements and poor workplace cultures driving people away,” King said.
“If we are serious about addressing the skills shortage and building the housing and infrastructure we need for our ever growing population in the lead-up to 2032 and beyond, we need to focus on how to attract a homegrown labour force instead of migrant workers.”
The peak national body for construction and infrastructure contracting companies backed the interim report as supporting “many of the reforms the industry has long been calling for”, including scrapping BPICs.
“Queensland has a once-in-a-generation infrastructure task ahead,” the Australian Constructors Association chief executive, Jon Davies, said. “This report confirms the need for urgent reform and gives us a clear roadmap to get started”.
The LNP is also pushing legislation to override more than a dozen planning laws – including heritage and environment protection laws – to build a swathe of venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
