Prominence was engaged to assess a Market Led Proposal (MLP) for a Renewable Energy Training Facility (RETF) which was seen as a pivotal initiative in aligning Queensland’s commitment to renewable energy with the development of skilled workers in the electrotechnology sector.
The project involved two critical stages, each with its unique set of challenges and deliverables. During Stage 1, sensitive stakeholder consultation and thorough background research into future skills gaps were conducted, ensuring alignment with the Queensland Treasury Project Assessment Framework (PAF). The outcome of Stage 1 was a Preliminary Business Case that highlighted the need for further justification of the investment. In Stage 2, a comprehensive Final Business Case was developed, encompassing all PAF requirements, which recommended the project’s progression with a total investment cost of approximately $23 million.
One of the key strengths showcased in the execution of this project was the Prominence Consulting team’s adeptness at conducting sensitive stakeholder consultations and in-depth research into skills forecasting. Despite the challenges posed by confidentiality, our consultants successfully engaged with both government departments and private industry stakeholders in the renewables sector, facilitating informed decision-making. Furthermore, the Prominence team’s ability to develop detailed cost estimates, in the absence of detailed project designs and limited client input, demonstrated proficiency in financial analysis and project estimation. The robustness of the business case, which met all PAF requirements, underscored the consultant team’s competence in project development and governance. Finally, the utilisation of 3D visualisations added a layer of clarity and impact to the final presentations and business case, enhancing communication with stakeholders and decision-makers.
In summary, the project’s success in developing a compelling business case for the Renewable Energy Training Facility was the result of meticulous stakeholder consultation, adept cost estimation, thorough skills research, and the creation of a robust business case that adhered to the Queensland Treasury Project Assessment Framework. The success of this project ultimately led to the Queensland Government’s approval and a $17 million contribution, alongside a $6 million investment from Electro Group, solidifying its significance in the state’s renewable energy education landscape. This project not only aligns with Queensland’s renewable energy goals but also highlights the expertise and capabilities of the team involved, setting a strong precedent for future investments in the state’s infrastructure and workforce development.
NSW Ports engaged Prominence to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the economic impact of its operations and investments at Port Botany and Port Kembla. This included the need to accurately model the impact on the local, state and national economy and direct and indirect employment. The engagement also had a requirement to model the economic impact of a range of potential disruption scenarios at Port Botany and Port Kembla.
Prominence employed several strategies to meet its objectives, one of which being a Computational General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling to gauge the extensive economic impact caused by NSW Ports’ activities (presenting a more holistic and accurate economic picture). Key stakeholders, including members of NSW Ports’ leadership team, were engaged in interviews to provide essential contextual insights into the organisation’s operations. Additionally, a survey involving NSW Port’s tenants yielded valuable insights into their activities and economic contributions. Collaboration was maintained through regular check-in meetings with the client project team, including a pivotal verification meeting with the CEO and Project Sponsor. The project also included extensive desktop research to identify effective measures for communicating findings to a diverse range of stakeholders, such as government officials, employees, tenants, and the broader community.
Several key strengths characterised the project’s execution – effective communication strategies ensured complex economic concepts were made accessible to a broad audience; a collaborative approach involving NSW Ports and Prominence, with regular check-ins and verification meetings, ensured alignment and progress; disciplined project management and reporting practices were crucial in achieving project objectives; and high-quality report and analytical data, offering valuable insights into the economic impact of NSW Ports’ operations.
The project yielded valuable deliverables, including an intricate economic model that transparently detailed underlying assumptions and demonstrated how these assumptions led to the final economic impact outputs. The comprehensive report articulated the direct, indirect, and induced contributions of NSW Ports’ assets to the NSW economy. Additionally, a tenant survey report summarised key findings, shedding light on the tenant base’s economic influence.
The project harnessed a diverse skill set, including economic analyses and modelling, stakeholder engagement, disciplined project management, survey design, research, report development, and interviewing. These skills collectively contributed to the project’s successful execution and the delivery of its objectives.
Prominence was engaged by the Department of Transport and Main Roads to develop the WHS Management Plans for a $250m investment program which was geographically spread across Queensland involving multimodal transportation including road, heavy rail, light rail and ferries.
In developing the WHS Management Plans, Prominence engaged with a complex range of internal and external stakeholders and ensured the plans aligned with TMR’s corporate policies, frameworks, guides etc and also ensuring the plans aligned with TMR’s contractual and legal obligations. The plans were co-designed with input from TMR’s WHS teams and approved by the senior program executive team. The engagement also required Prominence to provide TMR with advice on WHS resource levels which would be required to successfully implement the plans and provide an appropriate level of support to the major project over the next two years.
Following the approval and implementation of the WHS Management Plans, Prominence was subsequently re-engaged to undertake site audits across South-East Queensland to ensure the principal contractor, main contractor and sub-contractors understood and were complying with the WHS Management Plans. This included undertaking site audits during silent hours (i.e. night shifts) and during weekend working. Realtime feedback was provided to TMR during the audit program so that any findings could be acted on promptly which added real value to the project by reducing risk at the earliest possible opportunity.
The engagement resulted in a comprehensive WHS audit report with key findings and recommendations to further reduce risk and improve safety. The report was presented to both TMR and then separately to the main contractor to ensure the findings were fully understood, accepted and acted upon.
Our services were reported to be a collaborative and integrated team approach that developed unique and pragmatic solutions within a changing and challenging environment.
At Prominence, we regard management of health and safety risks in workplaces (WHS) of the highest importance.
We have supported organisations such as the Department of Transport and Main Roads, the Port of Brisbane, and Queensland Health’s Metro South Hospital and Health Services with WHS management for specific projects, including service such as:
Artefacts we have created to plan, initiate, manage, evaluate and continuously improve WHS for our clients’ projects have included:
Prominence and our consultants have been conducting program and project assurance reviews since 2010 and we have completed over 150 assurance reviews including Gateway assurance reviews (across all gates), health-checks and deep dives. These assurance reviews have included high value, high risk ICT projects, infrastructure projects and organisational change programs and have been undertaken in a range of jurisdictions across Australia.
Each assurance review is undertaken using a small team of qualified and experienced consultants who have real-life experience of delivering similar programs and projects which means that they bring with them a deep level of understanding of how to successfully deliver these types of programs and projects and how to identify and mitigate key risks. We understand that each assurance review is subject to different requirements considering factors such as the applicable program and project assurance framework, assurance level required, program/ project history and the program/ project scope and complexity.
Where required, we provide real-time feedback to the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO)/ Project Sponsor as the review progresses to ensure that the findings are accurate, balanced and that the final report contains no surprises. Our assurance review reports are always succinct, provide an overall assessment and prioritised recommendations so that the SRO and project teams are kept focused on the key issues to ensure the program/ project delivers the required benefits and is kept within budget and on schedule.
Prominence was engaged by Brisbane City Council (BCC) Lifestyle and Community Services (LCS) division to review and benchmark an existing asset management model, policies and practices to identify gaps, overlaps, inefficiencies and risks to develop options and develop a new strategic asset management framework covering 700 of BCC’s assets.
The approach taken was to undertake workshops, interviews and associated activities with key stakeholders to review all aspects of BCC’s current asset approach to asset management including roles, responsibilities and accountabilities across the council. Benchmarking with other comparable local councils (in Queensland, New South Wales, and New Zealand) was also undertaken along with an alignment check against ISO 55000.
The key findings and opportunities were found in the areas of operating model, roles and responsibilities, tenant tiering, processes and tools, skills and capability and governance. The end deliverables included a report summarising the issues and opportunities, including a new asset management framework, operating model along with asset planning tools. The final deliverables were presented to the BCC executive team, well received and accepted for progression within the organisation.
In addition to our extensive experience in program and project assurance, Prominence has been engaged by both public and private sector organisations to undertake reviews of program management frameworks, processes and procedures and to design, establish and resource Project Management Offices (PMOs).
Our consultants who specialise in this area come with extensive qualifications and accreditation in project and change management (such as PRINCE2, PRINCE2 Agile, Australian Institute of Project Management certifications and PROSCI) and have personal experience of leading large and complex programs and projects. A number of our consultants also come with a background in civil engineering and have experience in developing business cases and delivering major projects including bridges, tunnels, roads, port expansions, residential, commercial and industrial development.
We have also provided resource augmentation to our clients in this area to help them establish and operate PMOs, develop their internal capability (people, processes and system), quickly mobilise new projects and recover projects which aren’t delivering in line with the organisation’s expectations.
Prominence has been engaged to provide strategic procurement advisory services to a wide range of public and private sector organisations covering complex procurements of goods and services including ICT, professional services, assets (including aircraft) and major panels for both goods and services.
These engagements require our consultants to undertake a range of complex and interrelated activities including
As well as providing advisory services to support specific procurement activities, we have also been engaged to undertake holistic reviews of procurement processes, operating models and organisation capability to strengthen the organisation’s internal ability to undertake complex procurement activities and vendor/ contract management.