AU [CBR] Government Forum [28 Jul 8.00am]

8.00am

Registrations

8.45am

Welcome

8.55am

Future Focus: From Aspirations to Action in Corporate Real Estate

Corporate real estate is ready to evolve. The question is what’s holding it back and what we do next. This session unveils the outcomes of the key findings from our 2025 Future Focus research.

From value versus cost and leasing innovation to skills gaps, data literacy, sustainability and collaboration, this session explores the real challenges facing the industry and the practical actions needed to address them.

We'll unpack what it takes to shift from aspiration to implementation, and how CRE can evolve into a more adaptive, connected and strategically influential function.

9.10am

From Compliance to Capability: The Reality of ESG Reporting

- Marco Gritti, National Director – ESG, Acumentis

- Karlien Bentley, Sustainability Manager, Canberra Airport Group

- Moderator – Pratik Shah, Director – Sustainability, Aston Consulting

Sustainability reporting is no longer optional. For many organisations, it is now a legislative requirement.

But beyond compliance lies a bigger question. Are businesses simply meeting obligations, or building the capability to drive long-term value?

This candid panel explores the practical realities of ESG and Net Zero reporting, with a focus on organisations preparing for Group 2 and 3 requirements. Drawing on real-world experience, the discussion will unpack what’s actually happening inside businesses today.

From readiness and resourcing to cost, capability and lessons learned, this session offers an honest, practical perspective on what it takes to move beyond reporting and embed ESG meaningfully within an organisation.

9.45am

Beyond the Physical: Designing for Experience, Inclusion and Neurodiversity

- Mat Toniolo, Associate Director – Total Workplace, Cushman & Wakefield

Workplace experience is no longer defined by space alone. As organisations shift from activity-based working to experience based working, the focus is moving towards creating environments that respond to the diverse and deeply personal needs of employees.

This session explores how workplace design can deliver more dynamic, inclusive and accessible experiences. Drawing on research into neuroinclusive design, it examines workplace experience through the lens of eight sensory stimuli, highlighting how different sensory touchpoints can impact individuals in very different ways.

From hypersensitivity to hyposensitivity, the session will unpack how understanding these variations can not only support neurodiverse employees, but enhance the overall experience for all.

10.20am

Morning tea

11.00am

CRE Metrics & Value Creation

- Katherine Divett, CEO, Puzzle Partners

The way we think about and measure success in commercial real estate is at an inflection point, yet many organisations are still measuring success using metrics that are no longer serving us well. Landlords focus on asset yield and occupancy, tenants on cost and utilisation, while employees want places which provide autonomy and connection, with little alignment between them.

Katherine will draw on Puzzle Partners’ work with public and private sector organisations across the Australian workplace landscape to challenge these conventions and introduce a new way of thinking about how we might together create value in CRE. She unpacks how different stakeholders define and measure success, where the disconnects lie, and what organisations should be asking instead.

Structured as a guided provocation, the session blends data-led insights with interactive reflection, encouraging attendees to question their own assumptions. It builds toward a practical, actionable framework for aligning metrics across the landlord, tenant and people ecosystem, equipping leaders with the tools to rethink how workplace performance is defined, measured and delivered.

11.30am

The State of the Office: Portfolio Insights from the Front Line

- Lora Radmilovic, Managing Director ACT, Senior Account Director Government, Cushman & Wakefield

- Alana Hannaford, Head of PDS Advisory, JLL

- Maurice Romero, Head of Leasing, EvolveFM

- Moderator – Nathan Munro, General Manager – Workspace, Ventia

Twelve months into managing some of the country’s most complex government portfolios, what are the people closest to the work actually seeing?

In this panel, representatives from leading property service providers come together to share real-time insights from across federal government portfolios. Moving beyond market commentary, this discussion dives into what’s happening on the ground, how strategies are evolving in practice, and where common challenges and opportunities are emerging.

From shifting utilisation patterns to cross-agency trends and the realities of portfolio optimisation, the session will unpack what’s changed over the past year and what it signals for the future.

12.00pm

Managing change while optimising workspace: Lessons from DCCEEW

Shaun Rogers, Director Workplace Change & Communications, JLL

Harriet Lovgren, A/g Assistant Director - Enterprise Change Management, DCCEEW

Workplace transformation extends far beyond property decisions - it requires a careful balance of space, people and technology. This session explores how the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) have managed significant property transitions while keeping operations running and staff meaningfully engaged throughout.

Harriet Lovgren and Shaun Rogers share practical insights from delivering organisational change at scale. They'll discuss working with departmental stakeholders, sustaining engagement across a distributed workforce, and how structured change management directly influences workplace outcomes and space utilisation.

Drawing from recent experiences, this discussion addresses both challenges and opportunities across a range of property transitions. Attendees will gain actionable strategies for engaging stakeholders, managing competing priorities and delivering workspace change solutions that balance operational efficiency with staff experience.

12.45pm

Closing

1.00pm

Lunch

1.45pm

Event concludes