Last week, Lidiar Group’s Darren Cave, Niall Callan, Julio Bara, and I attended the Australian Energy Producers Conference & Exhibition in Adelaide, one of the sector’s most significant annual gatherings and a conference representing organisations responsible for approximately 95 per cent of Australia’s oil and gas production.

Across three days of technical sessions, industry presentations, exhibitions and networking events, a clear theme emerged:

Australia’s energy sector is aligned in direction. The challenge now is delivery.

From gas and LNG through to carbon capture and storage, AI integration, operational efficiency and emissions reduction, the industry is rapidly evolving. What became increasingly clear throughout the conference, however, was that project success is no longer driven solely by technical capability.

Execution, stakeholder confidence, regulatory navigation and delivery certainty are becoming equally important.

An Industry Entering a More Complex Delivery Environment

The conference showcased an industry investing heavily in technology, operational performance and long-term energy security.

Sessions explored:

• Carbon capture and storage pathways
• AI-driven operational capability
• Workforce safety systems
• Methane reduction technologies
• Regulatory reform
• Late-life asset management
• Exploration and development opportunities

While the technologies and technical capabilities continue to advance rapidly, the broader operating environment is becoming more complex.

Approvals pathways, social licence, stakeholder expectations and policy uncertainty are increasingly shaping whether projects proceed successfully and on schedule.

Across many discussions, there was a growing recognition that the energy sector is entering a phase in which integrated project delivery capability matters more than ever.

Beyond Engineering: The Importance of Project Delivery

One of the strongest takeaways from the conference was that successful energy projects now require more than engineering excellence.

They require alignment across:

• Community and stakeholder engagement
• Social impact considerations
• Procurement and supply chain management
• Governance and compliance
• Workforce capability
• Tender strategy and project planning

These are no longer peripheral project functions. They are becoming central to project feasibility, approvals and long-term operational success.

For businesses operating across the oil and gas sector, the ability to manage complexity across the full project lifecycle is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage.

Supporting Industry Across the Full Project Lifecycle

For Lidiar Group, the conference reinforced the importance of practical delivery-focused support across major energy and infrastructure projects.

As the sector continues to evolve, organisations are looking for partners who understand not only the technical environment but also the operational, regulatory, and stakeholder challenges that surround it.

Our experience supporting projects across:

• Exploration and development
• Project and approvals support
• Social impact and community engagement
• Procurement and supplier management
• Tender strategy and delivery

positions us to support clients operating in increasingly high-spec and high-accountability environments.

The conversations throughout the conference reinforced that industry is seeking delivery partners who can help navigate complexity while maintaining strong safety, governance and operational outcomes.

From Industry Alignment to Industry Action

This year’s conference demonstrated that Australia’s energy sector is not lacking direction.

The industry is investing.
Technology is advancing.
Transition pathways are accelerating.

But the defining challenge over the next decade will be turning strategy into successful project outcomes.

That means balancing innovation with execution, technical capability with stakeholder confidence, and operational performance with social licence.

For Lidiar Group, it reinforced the importance of remaining closely connected to industry conversations while continuing to support practical, on-the-ground project delivery across Australia’s evolving energy sector.

An Aboriginal and Veteran executive leader with more than 30 years’ experience across mining, energy, resources, industrial services, facilities management and major projects, Scott brings an exceptional blend of strategic leadership, operational expertise and Indigenous engagement capability to the role.

Throughout his career, Scott has led major commercial portfolios, delivered exceptional business growth and worked closely with Boards, CEOs and executive teams to align operational performance with long-term social and community impact outcomes.

His experience spans Australia, Canada, the United States and Papua New Guinea, where he has successfully delivered multi-site operations, Indigenous engagement strategies, ESG initiatives, governance frameworks and workforce capability programs in complex and high-risk environments.

Lidiar Group Managing Partner Darren Cave said Scott’s appointment reflects the organisation’s ongoing commitment to strategic growth, operational excellence and meaningful industry leadership.

“Scott is an outstanding addition to the Lidiar Group team,” Darren said.

“He brings an incredible depth of experience across strategy, commercial governance, Indigenous engagement and operational leadership, as well as a genuine passion for building strong relationships and creating long-term value for clients and communities alike.

“As Lidiar Group continues to grow, Scott’s leadership, experience and strategic insight will play an important role in supporting our next phase of growth and helping us continue to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients and industry partners.”

Scott has built a strong reputation for developing Indigenous engagement strategies, strengthening governance and delivering commercially grounded solutions that create sustainable impact for organisations and communities. During his career, he has worked with some of Australia’s leading organisations and Tier 1 resource clients including BHP, Rio Tinto, Santos, Shell QGC, INPEX and FMG.

Prior to joining Lidiar Group, Scott held senior leadership positions with organisations including Onsite Rental Group, MSS Security, ATCO Structures & Logistics and Morris Corporation, where he led major business transformation, operational improvement and strategic growth initiatives across national and international markets.

Scott said he was excited to join an organisation with a strong reputation, clear vision and genuine commitment to people, partnerships and performance.

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Lidiar Group at such an important stage of the organisation’s growth journey,” Scott said.

“Lidiar Group has built a fantastic reputation across the industries and communities it supports, and there is a genuine commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes while maintaining strong values and relationships.

“What really attracted me to the organisation was the opportunity to contribute to a growing business that values strategy, innovation, people and long-term partnerships.

“I’m looking forward to working closely with Darren and the broader team to support continued growth, strengthen capability and help create new opportunities for clients, partners and communities across Australia.”

Scott’s appointment further reinforces Lidiar Group’s commitment to building a high-performing leadership team capable of supporting clients across increasingly complex projects, operational environments and strategic challenges. With extensive experience in governance, operational leadership, Indigenous engagement, ESG, and business development, Scott is expected to play a key role in driving the organisation’s continued evolution and long-term growth strategy.

The “watermelon problem”.

Green on the outside, red on the inside.

It is a simple way of describing a complex issue: when reported safety performance looks healthy, but the lived experience of work tells a different story.

Julio Bara said, “We rely on data, but we do not always test whether it reflects what is actually happening.”

That tension matters because most organisations already have plenty of data. Lag indicators, lead indicators, audits and reporting packs all offer structure. But structure is not the same as truth. Good-looking data can still sit alongside unease, inconsistency and risk that people on the ground feel long before leaders see it.

Julio said, “Positive indicators should prompt confidence, but they should also prompt us to ask deeper questions.”

That was one of the Summit’s strongest reminders.

If leaders want a clearer picture of risk, they have to look beyond what is easy to count. They have to understand what work actually feels like; where the pressure points are, where the disconnects sit, and where systems sound stronger on paper than they feel in practice.

Julio said, “If we are not hearing uncomfortable feedback, we are unlikely to be seeing the full picture.”

This is where trust plays a central role in this process.

In many workplaces, trust exists within crews or immediate teams, but it does not always extend to the wider organisation. That shapes what people say, what they hold back, and whether issues are raised early enough to matter.

Julio said, “People will share what they feel safe to say, not always what needs to be said.”

That is why the answer is not to abandon metrics. It is to test them against lived experience. To pair data with direct engagement. To create ways for individuals to speak honestly. And when they do, to act visibly enough that people believe the effort was worth making.

Julio said, “Listening without action reinforces the belief that nothing changes.”

That point lands because it is true in more than safety.

The quality of insight a business receives is shaped by what people believe will happen after they speak up. If the feedback disappears into process, trust shrinks. If something changes, even in a small and practical way, credibility starts to build.

That is where the watermelon analogy becomes useful. It reminds leaders not to be seduced by the surface.

What looks green on the surface may not be healthy underneath, and data only matters if it reflects the reality of the work.

At this year’s OHS Leaders Summit, the most useful conversation steered away from the hype and focused on discipline. The real issue was whether organisations were adopting AI with sufficient clarity, governance, and respect for where human judgement must still sit.

Julio Bara said, “There is a tendency to focus on what AI might become, rather than what it can reliably do today.”

Right now, the most practical value of AI in WHS is not replacing professionals. It is reducing low-value administrative load, helping people work through information faster, and creating more time for the work that still depends on human judgement, context and conversation.

Julio said, “The real benefit is enabling safety professionals to spend more time where they add the most value, which is with people.”

But the Summit also made clear that many organisations are moving faster on experimentation than they are on governance. Tools are being tested. Outputs are being used. Yet the boundaries around accountability, verification and appropriate use are often still immature.

Julio said, “AI can support decisions, but it cannot own them. Accountability remains with people.”

That is where the real risk sits.

The issue is not simply whether AI works. It is whether people are clear on what it should be used for, where it can add value, where it must be checked, and what should never be handed over to automation in the first place.

The organisations seeing the most value are not starting with the technology. They are starting with the problem.

Julio said, “The starting point should be the problem, not the technology.”

That sounds simple, but it changes the whole approach. Instead of trying to find a use for AI, they identify a clear friction point, test a narrow use case, build verification into the workflow and keep a human decision-maker firmly in the loop.

Just as importantly, they bring people with them.

If a tool is introduced without context, without engagement and without clarity around its limits, trust starts to erode before value has a chance to build.

Julio said, “If people are not engaged in how technology is introduced, it creates resistance rather than improvement.”

That may be the most practical lesson of all.

AI will have a growing role in safety, but its value will not be determined by novelty. It will be determined by whether it helps people make better decisions, protects judgement where it matters, and improves the way work is actually done.

Many organisations are investing heavily in supporting individuals, while leaving the conditions of work largely untouched.

Wellbeing programs, support services and resilience initiatives all have a role to play. But the Summit kept returning to the same underlying question: what if the real issue is not the person, but the way the work is designed?

Julio Bara said, “We are putting a lot of effort into supporting individuals, but not enough into addressing the conditions they are working in.”

That is what makes psychosocial risk such an important leadership issue.

The most common drivers are rarely mysterious. They sit in plain sight; workload intensity, role ambiguity, competing demands, poorly managed change and systems that create more friction than support. These are not soft issues. They are structural ones.

Julio said, “You cannot resilience-train your way out of poorly designed work.”

Too often, organisations respond only after harm becomes visible. By then, the pressure has already been building through the way work is planned, resourced and managed. The stronger opportunity is to move further upstream and examine the design of the work itself.

That means asking harder questions.

Are workloads realistic? Are responsibilities clear? Are change programs being layered too quickly? Are frontline leaders equipped to spot pressure before it becomes injury, disengagement or attrition? Are the data sources already sitting across the business being connected in a way that helps leaders act earlier?

Julio said, “Most organisations already have the information they need. The gap is how that information is used to improve how work is designed.”

The Summit made it clear that psychosocial risk cannot sit neatly inside a single team. It cuts across project delivery, site leadership, People and Culture, organisational development and WHS. That is why fragmented ownership tends to produce fragmented action.

Julio said, “This is not a safety issue in the traditional sense. It is a business issue that requires alignment across multiple functions.”

The organisations making real progress are not necessarily building more layers of process. They are tightening the basics. They are reviewing job design, improving role clarity, integrating psychosocial thinking into change and performance routines, and applying the same discipline to these risks that they already apply to physical hazards.

Julio said, “The goal is not to create more process. It is to improve how work is already being designed and delivered.”

That is the real shift.

Prevention does not start when someone is already struggling. It starts much earlier, in the way work is structured, led and supported.

Fix the system, and you change the conditions for everyone.

Work Health and Safety is still being invited into digital transformation too late.

By the time WHS is asked to review a system, platform or technology change, many of the most important decisions have already been made. Key choices around workflow, functionality and implementation have been made, and the downstream effects on workload, usability and role clarity are already starting to play out.

Julio Bara said, “We’re still seeing safety brought in as a checkbox. If we want better outcomes, we need to be in the room in the earlier planning conversations where those decisions are first taking shape.”

That was the heart of what the Summit described as the great safety correction: a shift from participation to influence.

For years, WHS has too often been framed as the function that reviews risk at the end. But digital transformation is forcing a different expectation. When technology reshapes how work is done, safety cannot sit on the sidelines waiting to respond. It needs to help shape the conditions of work from the outset.

Julio said, “If safety is only about stopping things, we’ll always be sidelined. The real opportunity is showing how WHS can simplify work, reduce friction and improve performance.”

That is where the conversation becomes more commercially relevant.

This is not just about compliance. It is about design quality – whether a new system makes work clearer or more complex, whether it supports better decisions or creates more confusion, and whether the human impact has been considered before the rollout begins.

That was especially clear in the Summit discussions around psychosocial risk. Technology decisions do not just affect process. They shape pressure, pace, ambiguity and the everyday experience of work.

Julio said, “Every new system, every new process, it all shapes how people experience work. If we’re not assessing that upfront, we’re missing the biggest risk in the room.”

The stronger message from the Summit was that this cannot be treated as a separate safety overlay. The best organisations are not building parallel WHS processes around technology. They are embedding safety thinking into the decision pathways that already exist; project assurance, investment approvals, change processes and post-implementation reviews.

That is where WHS starts to move from reviewer to contributor.

Julio said, “The organisations that get this right don’t operate in silos. Safety, tech and operations solve problems together.”

This is also when the role of WHS begins to shift, with less emphasis on gatekeeping and greater influence over the decisions that shape work, before risk becomes embedded in the system.

Because better technology does not automatically produce better outcomes.

Better decisions do.

Environmental risk rarely announces itself loudly at the start of a project.

More often, it sits quietly in approval conditions, design assumptions or materials schedules, only becoming visible when construction is underway and options are limited. By that point, the consequences are usually felt in delays, cost escalation and strained relationships with regulators and communities.

This is where environmental management has changed most over the past decade. It is no longer about reacting to issues as they arise. It is about anticipating them early enough that they can be designed out, planned around or managed deliberately.

Across infrastructure and renewable energy projects, environmental requirements are now deeply embedded in how projects are assessed and approved. Conditions can be extensive and highly specific, particularly where biodiversity, water, waste, heritage or community impacts are involved. The challenge for many project teams is not a lack of intent, but translating those conditions into practical, on-site actions.

From experience, the greatest risk is not non-compliance by choice, but misunderstanding. Approval conditions are often read narrowly or treated as something to deal with later. In reality, they frequently shape construction methodology, staging and even commercial outcomes.

The projects that perform best are those where environmental considerations are brought into the conversation early. When environmental specialists are involved at the concept and design stage, mitigation measures can be integrated into layouts, sequencing and procurement decisions. This shifts environmental management from a reactive control function into a planning tool.

There is also a growing recognition that environmental performance affects more than regulatory outcomes. Poor environmental management can erode community trust, damage reputation and limit future opportunities. Conversely, projects that demonstrate consistency and care build social capital that extends well beyond a single asset.

In renewable energy projects in particular, this has become increasingly visible. While these projects are often viewed positively, they still operate within sensitive environmental and community contexts. Managing vegetation, waste, water and biodiversity thoughtfully is essential to maintaining momentum and confidence.

Environmental management will never remove all risk from a project. What it can do is ensure risks are understood early, communicated clearly and addressed deliberately. In an industry where time and certainty matter, that foresight is often what keeps projects moving.

“When I first started studying environmental engineering, I thought my work would be mostly about ecosystems,” she says. “But very quickly, I realised the biggest impact happens inside industry, where the decisions are made and the systems are run.”

That insight shaped her career. Olenka began working in the mining sector, drawn to the scale and complexity of industrial operations and the opportunity to influence environmental outcomes from within.

“A mine is like a small city,” she explains. “You’re managing energy, waste, water, and people. If you improve the systems, you can make a real difference, especially in how you protect land and waterways over time.”

What continues to drive her is the practical side of environmental work: understanding the receiving environment and reducing real impacts on the ground. She is particularly interested in how projects manage water quality, erosion and sediment control, waste streams and long-term rehabilitation outcomes.

Before joining Lidiar Group, Olenka built strong experience across corporate sustainability, ESG frameworks, climate strategy, Net Zero commitments, carbon footprint calculations and environmental management systems. At Lidiar Group, she continues that trajectory, supporting clients with environmental approvals, EMS uplift, ISO 14001 implementation and sustainability advisory services.

Olenka’s role sits at the intersection of regulation, strategy and day-to-day delivery. She helps clients translate high-level sustainability commitments into practical actions, from developing fit-for-purpose procedures to establishing KPIs that teams can genuinely use.

“Not every business needs hundreds of documents,” she says. “The key is understanding what really matters for that industry and that project, the actual risks to the environment, and building systems people will actually follow.”

She works with both large organisations, often driven by investor expectations and sustainability ratings, and smaller businesses that are at an earlier stage of their environmental journey.

“For some clients, this is completely new,” she says. “Our role is to ask the right questions and help them build systems they can grow into, rather than overwhelm them.”

Olenka is particularly passionate about the role environmental management plays in reputation, community trust and long-term resilience. She sees sustainability as something that must be demonstrated in practice, not just described in reports.

“Stakeholders are much more informed now,” she says. “If you say you are doing something for the environment, you need to be able to show it.”

Her ideal projects are those where she can work closely with operations teams, leadership and communities to deliver outcomes that balance environmental protection and social responsibility.

“It is all connected,” she says. “Environment, people and business. If one is ignored, the others feel it.”

As we head into 2026, here are my takeaways from the QMCA 2025 Queensland Major Projects Pipeline Report and thoughts on the region and the projects that will ensure the region remains a powerhouse for Queensland industry.

A Region With Scale and Momentum

Fitzroy is one of Queensland’s powerhouse regions, home to 242,000 people and a total major project pipeline valued at $22.7 billion. More than half of that pipeline, 56%, remains unfunded, highlighting the volume of opportunity still waiting to be unlocked.

Despite that, the region already has $10 billion in committed work, giving it the third-largest funded pipeline in the state. This mix of certainty and future potential positions Fitzroy as a central contributor to Queensland’s industrial and economic trajectory over the decade ahead.

Key Funded Projects Shaping the Region

Several major projects are already progressing and reshaping the region’s transport, resources and clean-energy foundations, including:

• Bruce Highway – Rockhampton Ring Road (Stage 2) – $851m
• Queensland Beef Corridors – $375m
• Theodore Wind Farm – Stage 1 – $500m
• Bowen Gas Project – $847m
• Blackwater South – $729m
• Ensham Expansion – $230m
• Rolleston Phase 2 – $292m

These projects reflect a region that continues to modernise while retaining its industrial backbone.

Unfunded Projects Driving Future Potential

The forward pipeline contains some of Queensland’s most significant prospective developments, including:

• Port of Gladstone – Second Shipping Lane ($532m)
• Wiggins Island Coal Terminal Stages 2 & 3 ($327m)
• North Queensland Super Hub ($7.2b)
• Moah Creek Renewable Energy ($2.7b)
• Boomer Green Energy Wind Farm ($2.1b)

Together, they show how critical Fitzroy will be to the state’s transition into low-carbon energy production, export diversification and industrial renewal.

Sectors Driving Growth

Across the next five years, two sectors will shape the region’s activity profile:

• Roads and Bridges
• Mining and Heavy Industries

Major project activity is expected to peak at $3.2 billion in 2026/27, stabilising to an annual average of $2 billion. This consistent volume of work reinforces the region’s long-term momentum.

Workforce Implications

Fitzroy has the highest construction labour demand in Queensland, requiring around 5,400 workers every year. Much of this pressure is driven by electricity projects (59%), mining (20%) and transport investment (14%).

Securing and sustaining this workforce will be vital to ensuring the region’s pipeline is delivered safely, efficiently and to the standard Queenslanders expect.

A Personal Reflection on Fitzroy’s Importance

Every time I’m in Fitzroy, whether meeting with a client in Gladstone, supporting a delivery team in Rockhampton or visiting industrial operations across the Bowen Basin, I see the same thing: capability, pride and the drive to get things done.

This region is built on people who turn complex, large-scale ideas into reality. They are practical, skilled and deeply committed to the industries that have shaped Central Queensland for generations. As someone who works closely with these teams, I have enormous respect for how they balance heritage with ambition, maintaining the strength of today’s mining and industrial sectors while preparing for tomorrow’s hydrogen, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing opportunities.

At Lidiar Group, we’re proud to work alongside the businesses and project teams that make Fitzroy such a critical part of Queensland’s future. The work underway here doesn’t just build regional infrastructure; it builds state-wide capability, economic resilience and long-term prosperity.

For Managing Director Darren Cave, the defining word for 2025 wasn’t “growth”, it was sustain.

“This year wasn’t about growing headcount or chasing overly ambitious goals,” Darren says. “It was about consolidating our team, strengthening our capability and making the most of the capacity we already had.”

Rather than pursuing scale, the focus throughout the year was on delivering well, supporting clients in increasingly complex environments, and laying the right foundations to perform sustainably into the future.

“We worked hard, stayed focused on productivity, and became more seamless and integrated as a team,” Darren says. “That’s what allowed us to support our clients as their markets and projects became more complex and nuanced.”

Sustaining performance in a demanding year

2025 began at pace, with a major engagement on a vital national transport project alongside ongoing work across energy, renewables and resources. Throughout the year, Lidiar Group supported solar and BESS construction programs, asset operational planning and improvement initiatives, mining and resources projects, environmental rehabilitation works, commercial building, defence and communication projects, indigenous community support initiatives, health and safety delivery for major organisations, and systems improvement work with regional councils.

“Productivity and efficiency were probably the defining themes for us this year,” Darren reflects. “We had a nimble team and clear methodologies that allowed us to take on new work without ever impacting existing commitments.”

The result was a strong year, reinforcing the importance of continued investment in leadership capacity and support structures so the team remains challenged, supported and positioned to succeed.

Leadership that stays connected to delivery

One of the strengths reinforced in 2025 was Lidiar Group’s ability to operate across every layer of an organisation, from executive advisory to site-based delivery.

“I’ve personally enjoyed this year more than some previous ones,” Darren says. “I’ve been back in projects, working directly with clients and staying close to delivery. It’s demanding, but it’s also where the work is most rewarding.”

That hands-on approach extends across the business. Lidiar Group’s people are equally comfortable engaging with executive teams as they are working alongside project and operational teams on site.

“That ability to move between the boardroom and the site is a real strength for us,” Darren says. “We are embedded in a project from planning and procurement to delivery and commissioning. It provides our clients with perspectives you get by being under the skin of a project, which differs greatly from consultancies that operate at an arm’s length.”

Seeing the bigger picture

A strong understanding of market context underpins Lidiar Group’s work, including how individual projects fit within broader systems, regulatory frameworks and economic pressures.

“We put a lot of effort into maintaining that helicopter view,” Darren explains. “Understanding how projects sit within energy supply, resources demand, policy and regulation really matters to our clients.”

This perspective also underpins Lidiar’s continued focus on private sector energy and resources work.

“There’s a lot of attention on major public infrastructure and the Olympics,” Darren says. “For us, the decision has been to stay focused on private sector energy and resources, where the problems are complex, the operating environments are demanding, and our experience genuinely adds value.”

Impact beyond delivery

Beyond technical and operational outcomes, Lidiar Group contributed to initiatives with broader impact in 2025, including Indigenous supplier engagement and capability-building programs in the energy sector.

“Those programs make a real difference,” Darren says. “Supporting Indigenous businesses to build capability and win meaningful work isn’t just good for industry. It strengthens the communities we operate in.”

This work reflects one of Lidiar Group’s core values: active participation.

“We don’t sit on the sidelines,” Darren says. “We actively participate in our clients’ projects and operations. It’s reciprocal. Our clients benefit, and so do we, but the focus is always on helping them succeed.”

Building deliberately for 2026

Looking ahead, the word for 2026 is build.

“It’s not about growth. It’s about building,” Darren says. “That means bringing in the right people, strengthening senior capacity and making sure our support structures are fit for the next phase.”

The aim is to protect what makes Lidiar Group effective, while creating space for people to perform at a high level and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

As the business builds into 2026, Lidiar Group is seeking people drawn to infrastructure and construction for the challenge.

“It’s a game,” Darren says. “Every day is a problem to solve. We’re looking for people who enjoy that, who like working with others, rolling their sleeves up and delivering real outcomes.”

For experienced professionals seeking meaningful work, strong leadership and the opportunity to be genuinely involved, Lidiar Group offers the chance to work on complex, high-impact projects with people who care about how the work gets done.

“If you care about quality, enjoy solving difficult problems, and want to work with people who take ownership, then we’re keen to hear from you,” said Darren.

Looking ahead with optimism and back with thanks

As 2025 comes to a close, Lidiar Group thanks its clients, partners and people for a demanding and rewarding year and looks ahead to 2026, focused on building what comes next.

“2025 was demanding, but it was also incredibly rewarding,” Darren says. “I’m grateful to our clients for the trust they place in us, and to our team for the commitment and professionalism they bring to every engagement, every day. As we head to the end of the year, I’d like to wish everyone a safe, relaxing and enjoyable break and a 2026 that builds on all of our achievements in 2025.”