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"Faster, Better, Cheaper"

21 - 23 May 2025, Brisbane

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In 2025 we meet on the banks of the Maiwar (Brisbane River) to discuss all things construction law arising out of Brisbane’s push to prepare for the Olympics in 2032.

We acknowledge that we meet on the lands of the Turrbal people and we acknowledge their continuing connection to country and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

The SoCLA Conference Subcommittee is calling for papers for its 2025 National Conference to be held at Brisbane on 21-23 May 2025. 

As the nation comes down from its Olympic teams’ best ever performance in Paris the construction industry is ramping up for its own Olympic effort.  The effort of getting ready for the Brisbane Games in 2032. 

While 2032 feels like a long way into the future, the work that has to be done to get ready for the influx of the World’s best athletes, supporters and media is significant.  To the extent that getting ready for the Games requires the construction of new infrastructure that challenges the industry with an immovable deadline and for pieces of infrastructure which are novel.

So, with that inspiration in mind, the SoCLA Conference Subcommittee is calling for abstracts for papers to be submitted for one of the following streams:

• Higher: Papers in this stream should seek to stimulate a discussion about raising the standard of understanding and application of legal principles to the market beyond the realm of specialist construction law practitioners.  For example: What can be done to raise the understanding of the role construction law plays in the procurement of public and private infrastructure?  What should construction law practitioners say to their friends and colleagues about why their work matters?
• Faster: Every construction principal always wants their project delivered “on-time”.  However, it is rarely the case that a delay will have an impact on anything other than a convenience or finances.  Of course, procuring infrastructure for an event like the Olympic Games is different.  On 23 July 2032 the World’s attention will turn to Brisbane; “ready or not”.  Papers in this stream should be directed to the role construction law might play in meeting that challenge.  What novel approaches can be taken to the procurement and contracting methodologies employed.
• Better: Engineers are taught from day one that there is a trade off between time, cost and quality.  You can only ever get two.  If the deadline is fixed, it’s tempting to draw a swift conclusion that the quality of the infrastructure will suffer.  Papers in this stream will address this challenge and propose solutions to the “quality issue”. 
• Open Competition: Construction law is only one of the fields of legal endeavour that will be relevant as the nation gears up to host its third Olympic Games.  There will be a role for other legal and commercial disciplines in the next 8 years so papers in this stream will be drawn from those disciplines, be they legal, project management, management consulting or otherwise employment and reward, property and development, insolvency and restructuring or any other related endeavour. 

The questions posed above only cover a small sample of the myriad issues the SoCLA Conference Subcommittee hope to see addressed this year.  However, all abstract submittals should carefully consider and focus on the role that construction law will (or should) play as we seek answers to these questions. 

The SoCLA Conference Subcommittee is keen to offer legal practitioners the option to achieve a year’s worth of CPD points at one conference so encourages the submission of abstracts that will not only meet the substantive law requirements of the various regulatory regimes but also the ethics, practice management and professional skill requirements. 

While the preference is to have papers in the streams described above, the SoCLA Conference Subcommittee reserves the right to allow abstracts into the conference that are within the general scope of the conference even if they do not talk directly to one of the above streams. 

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ABSTRACTS DUE ON FRIDAY
31 JANUARY 2025 BY 5PM WST!

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TIMELINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS AND PAPERS

Submissions must be made before 5pm WST on the due date. 

Abstracts and/or papers received after the advertised closing date and time may not be accepted in the SoCLA Conference Subcommittee's absolute discretion.

All abstracts submitted will be subject to a blind peer review process which will guide the committee on acceptance of abstracts for presentation.  Peer reviewers will assess abstracts against the following criteria:

• Academic merit of the work;
• Originality of the work;
• Completeness of the information, including the description of results;
• Relevance to the conference theme; and
• Appropriateness for presentation (eg: not a company ‘advertisement’). 
  

RULES FOR ABSTRACTS AND PAPERS

By submitting an abstract the submitted confirms his or her agreement to comply with these rules for Abstracts and Papers.   

1. The abstract must be submitted online at SoCLA National Conference 2025 - Call for Papers (this webpage) via the online form below.
2. The abstract must be uploaded to the online submission page in an anonymous form to enable a proper peer review process to be undertaken.  There should be no way to identify the author from the abstract itself.  The abstract will be separated from the details collected via the online submission page during the peer review process and the peer reviewers will only review anonymous abstracts. 
3. All abstracts and papers should comply the formatting and citation requirements of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th ed). 
4. Abstracts should be entered into the online form under the headings:
   (a) Title of Presentation (one sentence)
   (b) Abstracts Theme
   (c) Alternative Abstract Theme
   (d) Background (max 150 words)
   (e) Approach (max 150 words)
   (f) Take Home Message (max 100 words)
   (g) Description of Presentation (for Program/App - max 150 words)
5. Word limits will not be strictly enforced but abstracts and/or papers that fall outside the word limits may be rejected.  That is the case even if an abstract has been accepted. 
6. The title of the abstract and paper must clearly characterise the issue to be presented.
7. The paper should identify (and be relevant to) the theme of the conference and a stream of discussion identified above. 
8. The paper must be an original work, not having been published elsewhere.  Although the committee reserves the right to accept previously published work where it is relevant and of exceptional quality. 
9. Where it is proposed to present the results of any empirical research the approach and the results must be clear from the paper.  In any event the paper must draw a clear conclusion.
10. The paper must contain sufficient information so that if published it will be a complete report independent of the presentation to be given at the conference. 
11. Papers containing brochures or advertising material will be rejected.  However, authors may associate themselves with a firm / company / university or other brand in the paper and during the presentation. 
12. Where the abstract is accepted:
    1. All of the author(s) who intend to present the paper at the conference must register (and pay) to attend the conference by the date stated in the call for abstract.  Failure to register (and pay) to attend the conference may result in the acceptance being withdrawn and the presentation spot being offered to another author(s). 
    2. The author(s) must submit a fully developed paper in accordance with these rules and any accompanying presentation to the conference committee by the date stated in the call for abstracts or such further date as may be agreed. 
    3. The paper must be presented at the conference by the presenter authorised by the committee.  Replacements or proxies are not permitted without the permission of the committee (which will not be unreasonably withheld where there are extenuating circumstances such as illness or other unforeseeable circumstances). 
    4. The author(s) authorises the conference committee to publish the paper and any accompanying presentation to the conference attendees and on the www.scl.org.au website and/or on the conference USB and/or via the Conference App. 
    5. The presenters will be responsible for their own accommodation, transportation and other fees or costs associated with attending the conference. 
    6. The first author named in the abstract submission will be the point of contact with the committee. 
    7. The committee will allocate the presentation time in the committee's absolute discretion. 
    8. The author(s) acknowledge that the conference committee may arrange for the presentation of the abstract to be recorded (video and audio).  The author(s) give SoCLA permission to publish the recording on the www.scl.org.au website or such other website as SoCLA decides in its absolute discretion. [If you do not agree to this clause you should note that clearly in the "other comments" section of the online submission page.]

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Please email admin@scl.org.au should you have any questions in relation to this event. We look forward to receiving your submission soon.

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PAPER SUBMISSION FORM