Prefab to Podium: How the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Could Catalyse Australia's MMC Revolution

Industry leaders and government officials explore how Queensland's Games preparation presents opportunities for lasting transformation for Modern Methods of Construction in Queensland and the opportunity to fundamentally reshape Australia's construction industry. But as a distinguished panel of industry leaders and government officials acknowledged, realising this potential requires coordinated action across capacity building and industry support, policy and regulatory environment, and long-term strategic thinking.

The panel brought together Jackson Hills from Q Shelter as MC, Matthew Mackey from Arcadis, Grant Perry representing the Queensland Government, and Sheree Taylor from BlueScope—with perspectives spanning social and affordable housing advocacy, infrastructure consulting, policy development, procurement and supply chain leveraging and manufacturing expertise.

The state government's $7.1 billion Brisbane 2032 commitment and much bigger $116.8 billion infrastructure program, create both enormous opportunities and risks to be managed. "There's a capacity delivery risk in this space, and there's a huge opportunity," noted Hills, highlighting the dual challenge facing the industry

Regulating for Growth, Not Just Risk

A central theme emerging from the discussion was the opportunity for the governments to shift from risk-averse regulation to policies that facilitate industry growth. Taylor referenced recent advice from the Brisbane Chamber of Commerce: "We should be regulating for growth or regulating for risk."

This philosophy extends beyond simple deregulation. "Industry and government could work together around getting the right policy setting, the right policy design that actually stimulates growth," Taylor explained. "It doesn't need to be an ongoing legacy subsidy that goes nowhere. Government and industry need to regulate for growth, not just risk."

The federal government's recent abolishment of 500 regulatory requirements for businesses represents movement in this direction, but the panel discussion suggested more targeted intervention is needed to unlock MMC's potential.

Building Capacity Through Collaboration

Face-to-face engagement between government and industry emerged as a critical success factor. "The relationship is fantastic. We've seen that through some of the government agencies in their energy sector. They literally got on a bus and went around to local suppliers because they wanted to shake up their procurement," Mackey observed.

This hands-on approach enables more sophisticated contracting arrangements. "Once you open that procurement relationship, you can really start to drive real conversation," Mackey noted. "We could potentially look at collaborative contracting. If we don't have Australian operators big enough, half a dozen fabricators could band together—competitors one day, collaborators the next—to structure a project so it doesn't go offshore."

Learning from International Experience

Australia's latecomer status to large-scale MMC adoption was acknowledged as both a challenge and an opportunity. "Australia is way behind. We need to learn from international frameworks and start thinking broader," Mackey emphasised.

However, this creates urgency around capacity development. The industry needs to "make mistakes in order to improve," but time is limited with multiple major projects competing for the same constrained resources.

Olympics Legacy: More Than Infrastructure

The panel identified the 2032 Games as a potential catalyst for lasting industry transformation beyond the immediate infrastructure requirements. "The legacy items from the Games come from the choices we make today. Standardisation of design could create a blueprint for a stronger MMC market," Mackey suggested.

This legacy thinking requires coordination across government departments and a longer-term vision that transcends electoral cycles. "We can't get scale and efficiency out of one project. Election cycles impact the long-term view in terms of derailing investment. We need to find a way to get a long-term view," Mackey warned.

Whole-of-Government Coordination Needed

The discussion highlighted the need for programmatic oversight to support Queensland’s current booming investment conditions. Coordinated planning will be critical for the Olympics delivery given the firm 2032 deadline.

Education, health, and social housing programs can all present opportunities for MMC, but require better coordination. "Everyone at the moment is sprinting. There’s an opportunity to coordinate a bit better to give a bit more sustainability to it," Perry noted.

The panel also referenced lessons from Queen's Wharf, where COVID supply constraints led to large structural elements being supplied through Design for Manufacture and Assembly. "Evolution comes through stress,"  observed, suggesting that a crisis can accelerate innovation adoption.

Evidence, Information, and Persistence

The path forward requires sustained engagement built on solid evidence. As Hills concluded, success depends on "evidence, information, and persistence"—qualities that will determine whether the 2032 Games become a transformative moment for Australian construction and manufacturing or simply another missed opportunity.

With the Queensland Government engagement already evident through recent ministerial announcements and procurement, the foundation exists for the kind of collaborative approach needed to deliver both Olympic success and lasting industry transformation.