Infrastructure Australia Director - Industry Policy, Sophie Fox

Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Check against delivery

Good morning everyone.  

I would like to first acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are all gathered today.

In doing so, I pay my respects to their Elders—past and present.

It’s a real privilege to be here, surrounded by so many people who are passionate about building a productive, healthy and future facing workforce.  

For my part in today’s conference, I am going to talk about one of the most urgent and transformative challenges of our time: delivering net zero infrastructure.

As we in this room all know, to build net zero infrastructure, it is going to take a lot more than just the type of steel and concrete we use.  

It is going to require a strong, capable and confident workforce.  

A net zero infrastructure workforce.  

All governments across Australia are committed to reaching net zero by 2050.

The construction industry has been tasked with the very important job of building the new generation of energy infrastructure that will produce the clean energy needed to power our future.  

Beyond our role as an enabler of this energy transition however, we are also one of the largest emitters.  

Today, infrastructure and buildings directly account for nearly one-third of our carbon emissions, and indirectly, over half.

In 2023 alone, these emissions totalled 303 million tonnes— that is the equivalent of running 70 coal-fired power stations.

Much of the emissions we produce today – when constructing our roads, rail and buildings, are front loaded, and will be locked in for decades to come.  

If we are serious about reaching net zero by 2050, it will take more than sending clean energy down the line every time you flick a switch — it means we need to fundamentally reshape the way we plan, design, build and operate infrastructure, today.

But is our workforce ready?

Let me ask you this – if you went into your office or site tomorrow and cast your eyes over your colleagues– whether they are engineers, project managers, or technicians - would you know who and how many of them are relevant to cutting project emissions? 

What activities are they responsible for, and what is their impact on reducing overall emissions?

Looking onwards into the next 20 years – what training will they need to uplift their net zero skills?

Two weeks ago, we released a report looking at just that.  

The Delivering Net Zero Infrastructure: Workforce Report was developed by Infrastructure Australia in collaboration with key government and industry bodies in this space – such as Build Skills Australia, who we’ve just heard from – thank you Rob!

The project was delivered as part of the Infrastructure Net Zero initiative under the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC).  

The report:

• Defines the ‘net zero infrastructure workforce’, that is – that occupations, roles and skills currently contributing to reducing emissions on infrastructure projects.
• Quantifies the number of workers this workforce currently covers; and
• Identifies key occupations with high impact on decarbonisation efforts

And now I’ll take you through some of the key findings of that report.

When we build a piece of infrastructure, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of opportunities to reduce emissions throughout the asset lifecycle.

Decisions made and actions taken by each and every one of us can have an impact to increase the uptake and normalise new low-carbon methods and processes in construction.  

This ranges from:  

• The materials you choose to use – can you substitute with lower-carbon, or recycled materials?
• The construction methods selected – can some parts be pre-fabricated?
• How the asset will be powered – can we maximise the use of renewable energy?  
• All of this, of course, needs to be balanced with cost, schedule and risk considerations  

So where are we at now?

We identified the activities carried out by workers today, that contribute directly to reducing emissions across the infrastructure lifecycle – that is, across planning, design, construction and operations and maintenance.  

These activities can be grouped into these four areas:

• Carbon economics & governance
• Procurement & material sourcing
• Material & waste usage
• Energy demand

We also mapped the activities to roles and occupations to identify the net zero infrastructure workforce.

We found there are 36 occupations that comprise this workforce.

These are occupations across:

• Engineers, architects, scientists
• Project managers  
• Technicians and trades workers
• Finishing trades and labourers  
• And what we call net zero specific roles – workers who would otherwise not be engaged by the infrastructure sector - such as economists, policy analysts, environmental planners  

And what skills are employers currently looking for from this workforce?

Listed here are the top ten net zero skills featured in job advertisements for net zero infrastructure roles.

As you can see, there is a strong emphasis on environmental expertise.

Environmental science is the most frequently mentioned skill, appearing in 18% of all job listings.

This is followed by a wide range of other environmental-related skills, including: environmental engineering, environmental planning, environmental compliance, environmental consulting, environmental management systems, environmental risk assessment, and environmental policy.

But it’s not just about the technical skills. Industry stakeholders also emphasised the need to uplift workforce competencies in the more generic digital skills and leadership skills that are key enablers to driving, advocating for, and unlocking new methods of low carbon infrastructure delivery.

Now, let’s look at how many people in today’s infrastructure workforce are currently contributing to reducing emissions on projects.

I’ll pause here first and ask you to do a bit of self-reflection.  

What is your occupation? Which occupations does your organisation represent?

Are you working with engineers, scientists and architects?  

If that office that you are walking into tomorrow has ten of them, almost nine would have roles that directly impact emissions outcomes.

These are the minds behind project planning and design—the early phases where the carbon management direction is more or less locked in.

Or is your team mostly technicians and tradies?  

Only about one in three would be in positions to influence emissions today.

Their work is hands-on, focused mainly on construction—bringing low-carbon decisions to life on the ground.

Do you represent infrastructure project managers?  

Then you’re looking at two out of three project managers making a real impact.

They are the glue—integrating carbon targets into governance, procurement, and reporting. They make sure low-emission options don’t get pushed aside by budget or timeline pressures.

And what about labourers?

87%—nearly nine out of ten—are contributing to net zero outcomes.

They’re the ones sorting offcuts, recycling broken pavers, and ensuring materials get reused instead of wasted. Their practical actions also matter.

Collectively, however, only half the current infrastructure workforce is engaged in net zero activities.  

That’s a missed opportunity.

Imagine the impact if we mobilised the rest.  

Now let’s look at impact.

We’ve identified three high impact groups in the current net zero infrastructure workforce—each with unique strengths and challenges when it comes to cutting emissions.  

Let’s break it down.

The first group of high impact workers are concentrated points of vulnerability.

They make the critical decisions that shape emission outcomes, particularly from the early planning and design stages.  

These roles include engineers, a range of environmental experts, and planners.

Their net zero skills are well-established, but supply is tight.  

When these roles are missing or stretched thin, the whole carbon strategy could fall apart before it begins.    

The second group are workers with high impact potential.

These are roles such as business case advisors, cost controllers, policy and procurement specialists.

These are critical to embedding carbon into decision-making, and oversee investment and compliance.  

Yet their carbon literacy is often overlooked—few job ads for these roles mention net zero skills.

The key challenge is to upskill these workers in infrastructure specific net zero competencies.  

The third group of high impact workers are roles that are in high demand and with numerous upskilling challenges.

These are roles that range from architects to technicians, construction managers, and engineers.  

They represent 40% of the engaged workforce and have enormous potential; however, they need urgent upskilling from a low base of net zero skills.

With targeted training, they could deliver greener projects more efficiently.

These high impact roles are productivity levers. More investment to lift their net zero skills will enable them to more efficiently design and deliver lower emission assets.

Right now, job ads show growing demand for net zero skills.

Those in the education and training sector—many of which are here today, recognise the need to uplift the construction workforce with net zero skills and related competencies.

Several targeted initiatives have been established around the country to address this need.

For example, Centres of Excellence and various TAFE initiatives, many of these are at the initial stages of needs definition and are testing the market demand for new or updated training offerings.  

Enrolment uptake and completion rates in these new courses have been mixed.

Our research found that professional roles can have the highest impact on reducing the overall emissions footprint of an infrastructure project.  

However, a recent survey in New South Wales has found that despite a high level of awareness of upfront carbon in the sector, respondents (over a third of government and a fifth of industry) have low confidence in their own capability to reduce upfront carbon.

Why is this so?

Stakeholders believe one reason, is that workers and employers alike lack clarity—what skills matter? Where are the career pathways? What’s the return on investment?

This is where government and industry can work together—coordinated action becomes essential.

Our report sets out a national game plan, with recommendations, to help the construction industry tackle workforce skills shortages that could be holding Australia back.  

A key recommendation is developing a ‘carbon fundamentals’ training program to upskill infrastructure professionals and leaders in the core principles of carbon reduction.

It will provide a common foundation on which carbon decisions are made.

In the short-term, this training program could cover critical carbon related activities that span various professionals during the planning and design phases (such as compliance and reporting, accounting, measurement, business case development, risk assessment, and procurement).

Over the long-term, the program could explore training modules to upskill trades workers and technicians who play a greater role during the construction phase of an infrastructure asset.

Momentum continues to build towards reaching net zero.  

In the next few months, we anticipate the release of milestone documents that will shape Australia’s path forward.

At the national level, the Net Zero Plan will guide our transition towards the legislated target of net zero emissions by 2050.  

It will be supported by six decarbonisation sectoral plans to capture emission reductions across the full breadth of the economy.  

Four of these sectoral plans will have an infrastructure component—transport, energy, the built environment, and resources.

All these sectors will be drawing from the same pool of construction workers to deliver on net zero infrastructure ambitions.  

This is a moment for leadership, for collaboration across sectors, and for investment in the people who will shape our net zero future—engineers, tradies, economists, architects, and everyone in between.

Meeting the net zero challenge isn’t just a necessity—it’s an exciting opportunity to embrace new skills and career pathways that will future-proof our industry, and our people, for decades to come.

That is the end of my presentation.

Thank you very much.