Building Surveyors' Conference 2022
The Victorian Building Authority’s 2022 Building Surveyors’ Conference was held over two, half days and facilitated by building industry expert Bronwyn Weir.
It brought together all Victorian municipal and private building surveyors and their support staff to hear from industry experts, discuss emerging trends and take part in interactive forums.
The conference theme was Navigating the Evolution.
We operate in a continuously evolving sector, with transformational reforms underscored by increasing demand from growing populations, changing expectations and new technologies.
With this pace of change set to continue, the conference looked to explore how building surveyors, regulators and practitioners can navigate these changes and competing priorities, to embrace new ways of working that deliver the outcomes our communities need.
The conference agenda explored the challenges and greatest opportunities to surveyors with forthcoming reform changes, as well as new technologies that enable us and perspectives on industry growth and career sustainability.
Presentations
Michelle McLean is an experienced Board Director and an expert in finance, governance and people management.
She is Deputy Chair of the Country Fire Authority and Chair of its Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, and currently serves as a non-executive Director on the boards of East Gippsland Water and FrontierSI.
From 1995 to 2018, Ms McLean was an executive and managing partner of Cornwall Stodart Lawyers, where she held several roles, including Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Ms McLean is a life member of the Australian Legal Practice Management Association, where she served as national president from 2002 to 2005.
She also served on the executive council of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and as a Board member of the Mercy Health Foundation.
Sue Eddy is the Chief Executive Officer of Victoria’s principal building and plumbing regulator, the Victorian Building Authority (VBA).
She plays an integral role in ensuring Victoria’s building and plumbing industries operate effectively to produce safe, well-constructed buildings.
Sue is at the forefront of driving effective regulation, spearheading significant industry change, and protecting Victorians through her leadership of the Victorian Government’s world leading Statewide Cladding Audit.
Sue demonstrates unwavering commitment to strengthening the building and construction sector, empowering a future-ready industry to make Victoria a better place.
Like all industries, COVID has had a big impact on the building and construction sector. What has set the building industry apart through a period of immense uncertainty and change, is the unparalleled cooperation of industry stakeholders. Sue’s contribution alongside her Building and Construction Industry Task force colleagues enabled the continuity of workflow, positioning the sector to deliver unprecedented levels of building and construction work that will make a lasting contribution to the State’s economic recovery.
Under Sue’s leadership the VBA is bringing together the greatest minds from universities, leading companies, and industry leaders right across the globe to collaborate on real solutions to affect change.
As an Australian Building Code Board member, Sue is at the front line of the building industry’s national policy agenda, drawing on her decades of experience to improve the sector’s outcomes, ultimately benefiting Australian consumers.
Sue’s strong passion for lifelong learning and her commitment to helping the next generation of leaders can be seen in her roles as Council member, RMIT University and Executive in Residence, Melbourne Business School.
As the State Building Surveyor, Andrew is an industry advocate for building surveyors and building practitioners across Victoria. He brings a wealth of knowledge to this important role, with more than 30 years' industry experience as a building surveyor as well as roles in the private sector as a structural design engineer and as an adviser to the Government of South Australia.
Andrew is passionate about the industry and its future. He has led the creation and implementation of the Code of Conduct for Building Surveyors to improve standards, trust and oversight in the building industry and help keep Victorians safe. Andrew is also driving new career pathways to address the critical shortage of building surveyors.
Active participation with industry is fundamental to Andrew's role and he chairs several state government committees and engages regularly with industry associations, forums and working groups.
Keesje has completed a Bachelor of Construction Management from Deakin University and a Graduate Diploma in Building Surveying from the University of South Australia.
He has worked as a building surveyor in local governments in Western Australian, before joining the VBA in 2019 as a Building Auditor. In May 2021 he was appointed Manager, Building Audit.
Keesje is registered as a Level 1 Building Surveying Practitioner in WA
David Brockman is an executive with fifteen years’ experience leading large teams in a variety of regulatory and law enforcement settings. A law graduate, David’s early career focused on case management and investigation roles at Kent police in the UK and the Australian telecommunications industry ombudsman (TIO). His passion for leadership has seen him head-up large multi-disciplinary teams delivering enforcement, inspections, policy and stakeholder relations functions. David has held senior leadership roles at the TIO, State Trustees and, for the past three-and-half years, the VBA, where he leads the Regulatory Operations division.
Beginning with the VBA in March 2021, Todd's primary role as Chief Risk Officer has been to develop and enhance VBAs approach to risk management and overall assurance program. He also has responsibility for VBA's Vision27 implementation.
Prior to joining the VBA, Todd was a senior Executive and industry leader in the Australian Rail industry in the areas of assurance, governance, safety, and systems design and thinking.
Todd has a PhD in Human Factors, holds an appointment as an Adjunct Associate Professor at La Trobe University, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Certified Professional Ergonomist.