McBride, Vanessa

Vanessa is a recognised construction and infrastructure expert with extensive experience in Commonwealth procurement, negotiation and contract drafting. She has over 19 years’ legal experience advising the Commonwealth and New South Wales Government on complex construction and infrastructure projects and associated property transactions, including leases and licenses.

This experience is complemented by a strong reputation for working collaboratively with senior stakeholders, and market-leading knowledge of Public-Private Partnerships, Design, Construct, Operate and Maintain (DCOM), Managing Contractor, Alliance, the Australian Standard for Defence Contracting (ASDEFCON) suite, and other contracting structures.

Vanessa has been identified as a “Next Generation Construction Lawyer” in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific rankings.

Relevant experience

Vanessa’s relevant experience includes:

• Advising the Department of Infrastructure for the $5.3 billion Western Sydney Airport project and aerotropolis with a specific focus on the interface between airport services and rail services during construction and operation phases.
• Advising the Department of Defence on questions in the implementation of Australian Industry Capability requirements in a number of major projects. This involves a full review of all of Defence’s template ASDEFCON and construction documents, as well as a number of negotiated contracts for major projects.
• Advising the Department of the Environment on its property arrangements for the National Halon Bank and how the facility can be made available to any service provider selected through a new approach to market process.
• Advising the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) on various legal matters in connection with the National Resting Place Project to establish a physical site for repatriated ancestral remains of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• Advising Geoscience Australia on liability risks associated with a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS).  SBAS augments and corrects Global Navigation Satellite System signals to improve the accuracy of positioning data and makes it available across Australia and its maritime zones without the need for mobile phone or internet coverage.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Laws, University of New South Wales, 2005

Bachelor of Social Science, University of New South Wales, 2005

Recognition

Legal 500 Asia Pacific: Next Generation Construction lawyer, 2017

Commonwealth Procurement Award for Excellence in the category of ‘Delivering Innovation through Procurement’, 2020