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News Almost half of all state roads in Victoria are in bad condition despite the state’s record investment in transport infrastructure, a report has found. The Victorian Auditor General’s Office (VAGO) has released the 2026 edition of its report on the condition and maintenance on state roads. The report assesses the performance of the Department of Transport and Planning in managing the repair and maintenance of state roads.

News Housing in Australia is less affordable than at any other time on record, two new reports have found. Published on Friday, two separate reports have laid bare the affordability challenges which confront those seeking to enter the housing market. First, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) published its HIA Affordability Report. The report includes the HIA Affordability Index, which is calculated on for each of the eight capital cities and seven regional areas on a quarterly basis.

Tunnelling has commenced on Melbourne’s largest railway project.Tunnelling starts on huge Melbourne rail project But questions remain about the project’s cost. The Victorian Government has announced that tunnelling has begun on the Suburban Rail Loop East project (SRL East). Tunnel Boring Machine ‘Alice; (TBM Alice) is now tunnelling from Burwood to Glen Waverley. The second machine, ‘Hacia’, Is in the ground and will start excavating the second twin tunnel in coming weeks.

News Sydney’s International Convention Centre is set to become home to the largest solar farm in any central business district in the South Hemisphere. The NSW Government-owned International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) has revealed plans to expand its rooftop solar network across the Convention Centre, Exhibition Centre and Entertainment Centre.

Australian steel fabricators have slammed an interim finding which suggests that conditions to warrant emergency trade protection from low-cost imports have not been met. The Productivity Commission has released the interim report of its investigation into whether safeguard measures such as tariff-rate quotas against imports of a range of fabricated structural steel products are warranted.

News One of the biggest challenges facing construction across the globe is the shortage of skilled people. Australia is a clear example of the scale of the issue, with major investment in housing, infrastructure, the energy transition and preparations for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games all increasing demand for construction workers.

Construction and infrastructure projects are built on disagreement. Engineers, architects, contractors, clients, commercial teams and project managers bring different expertise, responsibilities and priorities to the table. We see risk differently. We challenge assumptions. We argue for different solutions. That is not necessarily a problem. On complex projects, we need people willing to say, “I see this differently.” The challenge is keeping useful disagreement from becoming destructive conflict.

Universal Design has become part of the language of contemporary design. We reference it in policies, strategies, design briefs and presentations. We talk about designing for everyone, going beyond minimum compliance and putting people at the centre of design. But how often do we actually do it? Universal Design is hardly a new concept. Its origins go back decades, and the seven Principles of Universal Design were developed in the 1990s.

News The adoption and integration of technology is the most significant challenge for large and medium-sized design and construction firms around the world, a report has revealed. Cloud-based collaboration software manufacturer Revizto has released the 2026 edition of its Bridging the Gap – The Digital Design and Construction Report.

The recovery in Australia’s home building sector appears to have stalled as new data confirms that that the flow of projects has slowed as confidence has fallen. And housing industry economists warn that the situation could further exacerbate supply and affordability challenges. Two sets of data which have been released over the over recent weeks have confirmed that the rate at which new housing projects are entering the construction pipeline across Australia has slowed.