Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association (TEFMA) Conference

Stonebank Director Tim Gunthorpe, attended the 2025 Tertiary Education Facilities Management Association (TEFMA) conference, held in September (14 - 17).

This was Stonebank’s inaugural year in attendance and provided a great opportunity to gain insight into the tertiary industry and a chance to collaborate and mingle with clients and peers. 

The theme of the event was Brighter Futures (Facilities for the future: Blending People, Property, Processes and Platforms) and saw a wide range of presentations over three days and reflecting the current key trends and challenges as follows:

• Environmental responsibilities – Developing and maintaining sustainable campus environments which meet environmental standards and promote ecological responsibilities.

• Technical advancements and integration – Keeping up with technological changes and integrating new systems into existing campus.

• Financial constraints and resource management – Balancing limited finance with campus and facilities maintenance and upgrades.

• Governance and regulation compliance – Evolving standards and regulations to ensure compliance across campus facilities.

• Stakeholder engagement and community expectations – Balancing needs and expectations.

Site tours were convened across multiple Brisbane feature sites, including the University of Queensland (images left, Plant Futures Facility) and Queensland University of Technology (images right, Science & Engineering Centre) campuses - which provided insight into current and recent completed project’s

lessons and benefits they have seen to the university.

Takeaways from the tours were collaborative project teams and strong engagement with stakeholders and end users remain key to success of projects.

The conference concluded with a moving presentation from Dylan Alcott giving insight to his own challenges and success in wheelchair basketball and tennis – highlighting the influence those in the room can have on delivering and managing facilities that allow all abilities to embrace the benefits of a university campus.

What you can do?

1.      Challenge your unconscious bias

2.      Listen to the lived experience

3.      Provide opportunities

The conference was a great success. Key takeaways included:

• Ongoing Recovery: Universities are still recovering from the impacts of COVID-19 and capital spends are reduced and challenging universities be strategic in delivery to maximise value.

• Project Prioritisation: Greater emphasis now on efficiency of existing assets, undertaking refurbishments and addressing backlog maintenance.

• Campus Life: Maintaining a strong campus heart and providing facilities and offerings that attract students to be present in person and encourage longer campus dwell times.

• Embrace the Community: Campuses evolving to provide opportunities for community use and services, beyond staff and students.

• Technology – Better tracking of data, asset and facility performance through new systems and tools – allows more accurate forecast and efficiency of spend/works delivered.

If you're interested in more information please reach out.

Tim Gunthorpe

Director

0416 977 367

Tim.Gunthorpe@stonebank.com.au