As ageing infrastructure meets an engineering skills shortage, Lanco Group is helping Australian utilities deliver the critical upgrades communities depend on.
Australia’s water utilities are caught in a harsh dilemma. On one side, decades-old infrastructure is reaching the end of its design life just as population growth and climate variability push demand to new extremes. On the other, a nationwide shortage of experienced engineers means fewer hands are available to design the renewals, upgrades and expansions that communities desperately need.
It’s a challenge that can’t wait for market forces to correct—and it’s one that Lanco Group has spent more than 27 years helping utility providers to navigate.
Capacity when it counts
The engineering skills shortage isn’t an abstract problem for water utilities in particular – it’s an immediate constraint on their ability to deliver critical infrastructure. When experienced engineers retire faster than new graduates enter the sector, utilities face difficult choices about which projects to prioritise and which to defer.
For Lanco Group general manager – infrastructure Adrian Ognenovski, this has meant evolving from a traditional consultancy into something more essential: a reliable extension of utility engineering teams.
“Utilities don’t just need project-based consultants anymore,” he said. “They need partners who can step in with proven capability, maintain delivery momentum, and bring the kind of practical field experience that takes years to develop.”
That capability spans the full project lifecycle: from initial hydraulic modelling and civil design through to contract administration and construction auditing. It’s a model that lets utilities proceed confidently with renewals and major capital works, regardless of internal workforce constraints.
Of course, Lanco Group offers much more than simply the ability to fill gaps. The company has built its reputation on designs that are practical, compliant and, most critically, constructable. That final quality matters more than ever as utilities face pressure to deliver projects on time and on budget.
Innovation in action
What sets Lanco Group apart is how it integrates advanced engineering methods into everyday utility projects. Digital engineering and building information-enabled modelling have become standard practice, allowing the company to identify design clashes before construction begins and dramatically reduce on-site variations. For utilities, this translates directly to shorter delivery timeframes and fewer cost overruns.
“We’re seeing digital twins and scenario testing become essential tools for lifecycle planning,” Ognenovski said. “They help utilities make better investment decisions about renewals and understand how upgrades will perform before any ground is broken.”
The company’s hydraulic modelling capabilities include much more than the standard network analysis. High-resolution simulations allow utilities to test performance under various demand scenarios, particularly important as Australia faces both population growth and emerging loads from data centres and industrial development.
Combined with water sensitive urban design principles and recycled water integration, Lanco’s approach addresses both technical performance and community expectations around sustainability.
As Australia enters a critical period of water infrastructure renewal, the gap between what needs to be done and the engineering capacity available to do it continues to widen. Metropolitan and regional utilities alike are grappling with ageing assets that can’t be deferred much longer, even as workforce constraints make traditional delivery models increasingly unviable.
For Ognenovski, the solution lies in long-term partnerships rather than one-off or transactional consulting relationships.
“The utilities that are succeeding are the ones who’ve built trusted relationships with partners who understand their systems, their constraints and their communities,” he said. “That’s where real value gets created – when you’re working together over years, not just on individual projects.”
Lanco Group’s expansion from its Victorian base to a national presence reflects this partnership approach. As water infrastructure demands evolve – from climate adaptation to emerging industrial loads – the company continues to invest in both its people and its technical capabilities, positioning itself as a long-term partner in Australia’s water infrastructure future.
