Construction in transition: What are tomorrow’s growth drivers?
Melbourne | 25 Feb 2025, Sydney | 27 Feb 2025, Online | 5 Mar 2025
Register
Australia Construction Conference 2025
Join us for an insightful session on the evolving landscape of building and construction in Australia. Industry leaders will cut through the noise to look at the expected impacts of emerging growth sectors such as data centres and renewable energy, alongside challenges from capacity constraints and cost pressures. We will also cover how policy shifts and global resource demand are shaping the future of construction and discover strategies to best position your business for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
The Rendezvous Hotel Melbourne
328 Flinders Street Melbourne VIC 3000
Agenda
2:40 PM | Registration
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Insightful session on below topics followed by drinks:
The Key Questions for Australia in 2025
Sean Langcake, Head of Macro Economic Forecasting, Oxford Economics, Australia
A changing of the guard for building construction growth drivers.
Timothy Hibbert, Head of Building & Property Forecasting & Maree Kilroy, Senior Economist Construction & Property
- 2025 is primed to be a big year for policy that will shape the timing and opportunities ahead. What would a change in the Federal Government mean for building?
- Green shoots are now showing for housing. How much will institutional investment contribute to the residential upturn?
- Considerable friction is ahead by sub-sector for non-residential building. What are the risks and where is it best to position for growth?
How much further can engineering construction activity grow?
Nicholas Fearnley, Head of Global Construction Forecasting
- The publicly funded infrastructure boom slowed over FY24. When will activity peak and what happens next?
- Renewable energy investment continues to grow strongly. What asset classes will grow the fastest, and can we still achieve our climate targets?
- The global economy continues to transition towards net zero. What does growing global demand for critical minerals and hydrogen mean for the construction outlook?
Will costs and capacity stop the next construction upswing?
Adrian Hart, Head of Construction Consulting
Key downside risk to the forecasts.
- What are the capacity risks? What states/regions/sectors?
- What are the potential solutions, and what happens next?
- What is the outlook for costs?
5.00-5.30 PM I Networking & Drinks
Venue: The Mint
10 Macquarie Street, Sydney New South Wales 2000
Agenda
2:10 PM | Registration
2:30 PM | Welcome & Opening Remarks
David Walker, Managing Director, Oxford Economics, Australia
2:30 PM – 5:00 PM: Insightful session on below topics:
Growth or Stagnation: The Key Questions for Australia in 2025
Sean Langcake, Head of Macro Economic Forecasting, Oxford Economics, Australia
- Will the Federal election bring a reset in the drivers of growth in the economy?
- Can the labour market keep defying the slowdown in growth, or is a harder landing imminent?
- Will Australia be able to stay on the sidelines as trade tensions rise across the globe?
A changing of the guard for building construction growth drivers.
Timothy Hibbert, Head of Building & Property Forecasting & Maree Kilroy, Senior Economist Construction & Property
- 2025 is primed to be a big year for policy that will shape the timing and opportunities ahead.
- What would a change in the Federal Government mean for building?
- Green shoots are now showing for housing. How much will institutional investment contribute to the residential upturn?
- Considerable friction is ahead by sub-sector for non-residential building.
- What are the risks and where is it best to position for growth?
How much further can engineering construction activity grow?
Nicholas Fearnley, Head of Global Construction Forecasting
- The publicly funded infrastructure boom slowed over FY24. When will activity peak and what happens next
- Renewable energy investment continues to grow strongly. What asset classes will grow the fastest, and can we still achieve our climate targets?
- The global economy continues to transition towards net zero. What does growing global demand for critical minerals and hydrogen mean for the construction outlook?
Will costs and capacity stop the next construction upswing?
Adrian Hart, Head of Construction Consulting
Key downside risk to the forecasts.
- What are the capacity risks? What states/regions/sectors?
- What are the potential solutions, and what happens next?
- What is the outlook for costs?
4.00-5.00 PM I Networking & Drinks
Register Now
Add to your calendar
Walk-ins will not be accepted, please register ahead of the event.
12:00 PM | Welcome & Opening
David Walker, Managing Director, Oxford Economics, Australia
12:00 PM – 2.00 PM | Insightful session on below topics:
Growth or Stagnation: The Key Questions for Australia in 2025
Sean Langcake, Head of Macro Economic Forecasting, Oxford Economics, Australia
- Will the Federal election bring a reset in the drivers of growth in the economy?
- Can the labour market keep defying the slowdown in growth, or is a harder landing imminent
- Will Australia be able to stay on the sidelines as trade tensions rise across the globe?
A changing of the guard for building construction growth drivers.
Timothy Hibbert, Head of Building & Property Forecasting & Maree Kilroy, Senior Economist Construction & Property
- 2025 is primed to be a big year for policy that will shape the timing and opportunities ahead. What would a change in the Federal Government mean for building?
- Green shoots are now showing for housing. How much will institutional investment contribute to the residential upturn?
- Considerable friction is ahead by sub-sector for non-residential building. What are the risks and where is it best to position for growth?
How much further can engineering construction activity grow?
Nicholas Fearnley, Head of Global Construction Forecasting
- The publicly funded infrastructure boom slowed over FY24. When will activity peak and what happens next?
- Renewable energy investment continues to grow strongly. What asset classes will grow the fastest, and can we still achieve our climate targets?
- The global economy continues to transition towards net zero. What does growing global demand for critical minerals and hydrogen mean for the construction outlook?
Will costs and capacity stop the next construction upswing?
Adrian Hart, Head of Construction Consulting
Key downside risk to the forecasts.
- What are the capacity risks? What states/regions/sectors?
- What are the potential solutions, and what happens next?
- What is the outlook for costs?
Speakers
David Walker
Managing Director, Oxford Economics Australia
+61 (0) 2 8458 4234
David Walker
Managing Director, Oxford Economics Australia
Australia
David is the Managing Director at Oxford Economics Australia and heads the office for Australia and New Zealand. In August 2013 he moved to Sydney to establish the firm and is continuing to grow the business in this region as well as leading key projects within Australia.
Before moving to Australia David worked as part of Oxford Economics’ business development team in London. Prior to joining Oxford Economics he worked for KPMG as a management consultant, specialising in financial risk management including stress testing and scenario analysis. During this time he was also seconded to the main Financial Services regulatory body, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He completed his degree in Economics at Nottingham University and also studied the chartered institute for securities investment diploma.
Sean Langcake
Head of Macroeconomic Forecasting, Oxford Economics
+61 (0) 2 8458 4236
Sean Langcake
Head of Macroeconomic Forecasting, Oxford Economics
Sydney, Australia
Timothy Hibbert
Head of Building & Property Forecasting, Oxford Economics
+61 (0) 2 8458 4270
Timothy Hibbert
Head of Building & Property Forecasting, Oxford Economics
Sydney, Australia
Timothy Hibbert leads the property, building, and demographic forecasting at BIS Oxford Economics. He has over 15 years of experience as an industry economist, working across government, consultancy, and subscription services.
Nicholas Fearnley
Head of Global Construction, Oxford Economics
+61 (0) 2 8458 4262
Nicholas Fearnley
Head of Global Construction, Oxford Economics
Sydney, Australia
Dr Nicholas Fearnley is the Head of Global Construction Forecasting, based in Sydney. Nicholas oversees the teams that produce the various construction, mining, and maintenance studies. He works over the full construction spectrum, and regularly presents and provides commentary for both the construction and mining industries.
Nicholas joined Oxford Economics in 2019 after working at Macromontor, where he was responsible for producing regular Australian building construction forecast reports, and bespoke cost escalation and material demand forecasts. |
Prior to joining Macromonitor, Nicholas completed a PhD at the University of Sydney with a thesis titled: “A Critical and Quantitative Analysis of the Relationship between Informal Institutions and Economic Development.” He was awarded the Walter Noel Gillies Prize for best PhD thesis in Economics, and his thesis was accepted without edits.
Nicholas has undergraduate degrees in both Accounting and Applied Finance from Macquarie University, and a first class honours degree in Accounting from the University of Sydney with a thesis titled: “Culture and the Measurement Decision Offered by Investment Property”.
Adrian Hart
Director, Construction and Infrastructure, Oxford Economics
+61 (0) 2 8458 4233
Adrian Hart
Director, Construction and Infrastructure, Oxford Economics
Sydney, Australia
Adrian has over 25 years of economic analysis and consulting experience with Oxford Economics Australia, focusing on the infrastructure, building, maintenance and mining industries. Adrian has undertaken a wide range of consultancy projects for the public and private sector based on his detailed understanding of construction, mining and maintenance markets, their drivers and outlooks, the range of organisations operating in this space and the issues they face. This work includes deeper industry liaison, contractor and competitive analysis, pipeline analysis, demand and cost escalation forecasting, and industry capacity and capability projects for the public and private sector. He is the lead author of major reports but also undertakes briefings and workshops for senior management, board members and industry associations, leads in-depth stakeholder consultation, and facilitates and chairs roundtables between government and industry.
Maree Kilroy
Senior Economist, Construction & Property Forecasting, Oxford Economics
+61 (0) 2 8458 4283
Maree Kilroy
Senior Economist, Construction & Property Forecasting, Oxford Economics
Sydney, Australia
Maree is a senior economist in the property and building forecasting team at Oxford Economics Australia, analysing demographic trends, housing markets and policy shifts. Having worked in industry economics for 10 years, Maree’s primary responsibility is residential and renovation construction forecasts which are distributed through our subscription products, most notably the recently released ResRadar.
| Sydney (In Person) | Melbourne (In Person) | Online |
The Mint 10 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 | Rendezvous Hotel 328 Flinders Street Melbourne VIC 3000 | Go To Webinar Live and On-Demand |
| Thursday 27th February 2025 | Tuesday 25th February 2025 | Wednesday 5th March 2025 |
| Register Now | Register Now | Register Now |
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