CPEE Attends CCF Victoria’s Infrastructure Breakfast: Celebrating Industry Insights and Partnerships.

On 24 June 2025, CPEE was honoured to attend the Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) Victoria’s Road & Rail Infrastructure Breakfast, held at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. The event brought together an influential gathering of ministers, major project leaders, contractors, and infrastructure specialists to explore the current and future state of Victoria’s transport landscape.

CPEE was proudly represented by CEO Madeleine McManus, along with several CPEE Board members, staff, and alumnae, demonstrating the organisation’s strong and growing connection with the civil construction and infrastructure sector.

The breakfast provided an invaluable platform to engage with government and industry leaders, discuss sector trends, and affirm the shared commitment to building capability and knowledge across the infrastructure workforce. CPEE extends its sincere thanks to CCF Victoria for the invitation and for curating a dynamic and thought-provoking event.

Event Highlights Included:

• Josh Bull MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Transport & Infrastructure Delivery, spoke about the growing importance of transport investment across the state.
• Duncan Elliott, CEO of Major Road Projects Victoria, outlined progress on flagship infrastructure projects such as the North East Link and West Gate Tunnel.
• Sean Bonham, Executive GM at ACCIONA, shared insights from more than 40 years in the rail industry.
• Andrew Cooper, Director at River to Reef Rebuild, contributed valuable perspectives on project delivery challenges and innovation.
• Lisa Kinross, CEO of CCF Victoria, launched the Civil Construction Outlook: Transport Infrastructure white paper in collaboration with Oxford Economics Australia — revealing that transport construction spending is expected to peak at around $16 billion in FY2025.

Key Themes Discussed:

• Updates on the delivery and timelines of major road and rail projects
• The importance of balancing large-scale developments with shovel-ready projects to sustain jobs
• Workforce capability, skills development, sustainable procurement, and the evolving regulatory environment

This pivotal gathering highlighted the sector’s shift from a period of rapid growth to one of strategic and sustainable investment. For CPEE, it reinforced the critical role of education and training in equipping professionals to meet the demands of this next phase — with innovation, collaboration, and capability development at the forefront.

CPEE looks forward to continuing its close engagement with CCF Victoria and industry stakeholders to support the sector’s long-term success.