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PODCAST

Building Tomorrow

Society of Construction Law Australia

Building Tomorrow is the official podcast of the Society of Construction Law Australia, bringing together the people shaping Australia"s building and construction industry. Each episode features conversations with leading lawyers, engineers, project managers, developers, academics and industry experts exploring the issues influencing construction today. From construction law, contracts and dispute resolution to infrastructure, sustainability, technology, leadership and innovation, Building Tomorrow

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All Episodes

56:24

Reforming construction law for consistency, with Sean...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/12/29

Sean Kelly is a Partner at Clayton Utz. Sean focuses on major projects and construction, and he has extensive experience in project delivery and dispute resolution. In this episode, Sean takes us through significant changes in construction law. He discusses the rationale for the changes, the nationwide discrepancies in adjudication, and how the excluded amounts regime seeks to address them. Sean also leaves us with important clarifications on how the laws will be applied, who they will apply to, and

en-AU

45:02

How lawyers and engineers can work together better,...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/12/15

Dr Paul Tracey is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School. Paul teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in construction law, as well as leading the Construction Law and Practice programme at the University of Salford. In this episode, Dr Tracey explores Cross-cultural collaboration. He breaks down how a power station project in Gaza became the catalyst for his research, compares Australian culture with other cultures, and gives advice on how to better prepare students

en-AU

15:26

Conference collection: The rest is… liquidated...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/12/01

Earlier this year at the annual Society of Construction Law Australia conference in Brisbane, we caught up with panellists and moderators from around Australia to discuss the biggest issues in the industry today. Matthew Bell is an Associate Professor and Co-director for Studies for Construction Law at Melbourne Law School, and Trevor Thomas is a Partner at Corr Chambers Westgarth. In this episode, Matthew and Trevor debrief their entertaining presentation on liquidated damages, where they used AI

en-AU

24:27

AI and the future of construction law, with James...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/11/17

James Macdonald is a Senior Associate for Dispute Resolution at Ashurst. Ashurst is a global law firm built and run on the primary motivation of staying ahead and driving innovation. In this episode, James talks about his paper, From Blueprints to Bytes: The Legal Implications of AI in Construction. You’ll hear him discuss the current state of AI within the Australian construction industry, the struggle of shifting traditional legal clauses to keep pace with AI, and the risks that misuse of AI

en-AU

28:19

Building the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, with Jane Hider,...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/11/03

Jane Hider is a Partner at King & Wood Mallesons, specialising in construction law and infrastructure project delivery. Nicole Whitby is a construction and engineering lawyer and a Partner at Pinsent Masons. She specialises in minimising risk within public-private partnership projects. Colin Fraser is a lawyer and a Partner at Pinsent Masons, with over 30 years of experience in infrastructure projects. In this episode, Jane unpacks the underlying legal nuances in procurement and delivery for the

en-AU

41:29

Does the culture of the construction industry need to...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/10/20

Kevin Porter is an Anthropologist and Culture Change Consultant who has extensively studied the Australian construction industry. Kevin has spent his career studying human behaviour and providing leaders with the information they need to make choices, grow their businesses, and improve workplace culture. In this episode, Kevin explains the concept of culture from an anthropological perspective and describes his observations from his time embedded in the construction industry. He outlines how

en-AU

33:36

Why dispute resolution is becoming more complex

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/10/20

Dado Hrustanpasic is a Partner at Holding Redlich and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School, where he lectures in construction dispute resolution. Dado has over a decade of experience in major projects and infrastructure disputes and is dual-qualified in law and civil engineering. In this episode, Dado explains the evolution of major project delivery in Australia and highlights the common triggers, resolution strategies and preventative measures for project disputes. He

en-AU

27:40

Conference collection: Michael Bleby, Harris Ashton,...

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/10/20

Earlier this year at the annual Society of Construction Law Australia conference in Brisbane, we caught up with panellists and moderators from around Australia to discuss the biggest issues in the industry today. Mia Timpano is a former journalist and final-year law student who describes herself as a “construction law enthusiast”.Harris Ashton is a Legal Research Officer at VCAT and the winner of the 2024 student Brooking Prize for his paper ‘Illegality and Quantum Meruit in

en-AU

37:14

2024 Stynes Address – Gabrielle Trainor AO

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/02/02

The Stynes Address is the Society of Construction Law Australia’s annual high-profile lecture related to the practice of law and the construction industry. In 2024 the Stynes Address was given by Gabrielle Trainor AO. Gabrielle Trainor has had a diverse career across the construction industry, but one of her most important roles has been as chair of the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce. This taskforce is a collaboration between the Australian Constructors Association and government agencies

en-AU

32:53

2023 Stynes Address – Justice Katie Stynes

Building Tomorrow ·

2025/02/02

The Stynes Address is the Society of Construction Law Australia’s annual high-profile lecture related to the practice of law and the construction industry. This is the inaugural address given in 2023 by SoCLA’s patron, Justice Katie Stynes, after whom the address has been named. In 2023 Justice Stynes talked to us about the procedural reforms she is leading from her role as judge in charge of the Technology, Engineering and Construction List of the Victorian Supreme Court.

en-AU

41:08

A Case Study: Superintendent's Duties, Delay...

Building Tomorrow ·

2023/04/26

Based on the V601 v Probuild case decided in the Victorian Supreme Court in December 2021, Ben McLeod presented this talk in Melbourne in February 2023. Ben was part of the team who acted successfully for Probuild in this matter and outlines a range of complex issues, including how Principals and Superintendents should ensure that a contractor’s claims are assessed fairly; the consequences that can flow from the Superintendent's independence having been compromised; and the Court’s approach to

en-AU

30:26

Complexity Theory - How It Can Help Us Think About...

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/12/11

Stepping back from a process to see the complex interactions happening between all of the parties can lead to insights that could prevent potentially catastrophic consequences. The failure of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University led to 6 fatalities. In this talk, Sean explore the failures in the design, peer review and construction phases of the project, and the need for investigations to look into organisational causes of failure as well as the technical causes. Sean Brady,

en-AU

28:31

Is NEC4 the Answer to Australia’s Broken Standard form ?

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/11/20

Is the Australian industry’s Standard Form broken? If so, why and can it be fixed? The training and learning involved to build confidence in a new industry contract should be considered when making changes. Scott Alden presents his talk “When opportunity knocks: Is NEC4 the Answer to Australia’s Broken Standard form ?” This talk was voted by attendees as one of the Top 3 highlights of our national conference “Getting Risk Right”, held in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022. Scott Alden, Partner -

en-AU

21:22

Collaborative Contracting - where are we now, and why ?

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/10/24

The past, present and future of collaborative contracting models. One of the audience-selected highlights of our national conference “Getting Risk Right”, held in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022. Sean Kelly and Yazmin Judd focus on the results of an anonymous industry survey which was completed by public and private sector employees, lawyers, engineers, consultants, contractors and subcontractors. Sean Kelly, Special Counsel https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-kelly-450296a4/ Sean is a commercial lawyer

en-AU

29:43

The role of the Legal System in Failures - The UK...

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/09/27

An exercise in highly paid lawyers dancing on the head of a pin. We deep dive into the roles the law, the lawyers and the courts played in this scandal. This wasn’t a case of a few bad apples, the whole system was stacked against the Subpostmasters. The system silenced, suppressed and hid information and nothing like justice was achieved. At some point the overriding duty to the court owed by lawyers got lost in a fog of protecting the client at all costs. The barrister acting for the

en-AU

30:14

Learning from IT Failures: Horizon, Bugs, and...

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/09/20

In the opening I introduced that the Horizon software was the main deliverable of a billion pound PFI project let by the Post Office. The contract was awarded in May 1996 to Fujitsu who won the job because of their winning offer to bear the software development costs in exchange for 8 years guaranteed transaction fee every time a customer of the Department of Social Service used their new swipe card in a Post Office. It doesn’t take long for the deal and the software to go off the rails. How on

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29:55

The Witch Trial of our Times - UK Post Office Scandal...

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/09/13

The UK Post Office Scandal – Megaprojects, IT Systems and the Law This story is about the most widespread miscarriage of justice in English history. The scale of this story exceeds the witch trials of the 16th and 17th century. This story is relevant to every construction lawyer in Australia because it is a story rooted in how we deliver major projects, how we think about technology and its reliability and how we compromise our fundamental obligation as lawyers to act in the best interests of the

en-AU

38:11

Tackling Human Rights Risks in the Australian...

Building Tomorrow ·

2022/08/08

Valuable insights into the health and wellbeing of those working in the Australian construction industry and what legal practitioners can do to improve the status quo. Dr. Natalie Galea presents the keynote for our 2022 national conference “ Getting Risk Right”, held in Hobart, Tasmania in May 2022. Fully titled “I would like to see my son more than I see my site manager: tackling human rights risks in the Australian construction sector”. Dr. Galea outlines her industry research project into

en-AU

37:22

FIDIC - Where the bloody hell are you?

Building Tomorrow ·

2021/08/09

For those who missed it, this podcast is a recording of our recent webinar featuring Kiri Parr, Tony Barry and Rob Nelson-Williams. In it, they discuss the internationally renowned and widely used FIDIC suite of Contracts and their potential for wider adoption in Australia. This podcast is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should always obtain legal advice about your specific circumstances. The views expressed in these

en-AU

31:49

Has the construction industry finally got a burning...

Building Tomorrow ·

2021/06/08

Jon Davies, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association, discusses the significant challenges facing the construction industry and ACA's plan to help fix them. --- This podcast is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. You should always obtain legal advice about your specific circumstances. The views expressed in these podcasts are the speakers' own. They should not be taken as recommendations of the Society of Construction Law

en-AU

67 results

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