A Federal Budget Impact Survey by the Association of
Consulting Architects (ACA) Australia elicited a predominately pessimistic
response.
Only five per cent of architects think the Federal Budget
will have a positive effect on the profession, while just seven per cent thought
it would help their practice.
Conversely, just over two-thirds said it will have a
negative effect on the profession, while 26 per cent believed it will have both
positive and negative effects.
The results of the survey identify a high level of concern
in the industry. While there was a relatively small sample of about 100 respondents,
it includes a large proportion of ACA members, many of which chose to add
comments to the questions.
Overall, they painted a dim view of the Government’s plans.
For example, one architect comments, "Fee bargaining,
redundancy, rising construction costs in materials and labour. Unless your
market is the ultra-wealthy, you're stuffed. Unless of course you cut your
services. Or write sneaky fee agreements where the lack of detail is not
revealed until the client realises they have been shafted or need detail. Not
my way of doing things ...”
Those respondents working in the sectors of affordable
housing, education, health and sustainability were the most concerned, while
those in transport and infrastructure were most optimistic. However, as the ACA
points out, this optimism was tempered by comments that the emphasis on
infrastructure-as-roads would mean little work for architects.
Major concerns included that any rise in business confidence
and improved investment climate would not flow on to architectural practices as
capital expenditure reduces in many sectors.
Long-term there were fears for how the rising cost of
university education to effect the profession.
All the survey result can be viewed on the ACA website,
including geographic breakdowns and many of the comments from respondents.
