Our story

Over 60 years of reliability and technical expertise

The story of Douglas Partners begins in the early 1960s, with Don Douglas who worked for a construction company called Frankipile Australia Ltd.

Don was a well-loved and respected figure in the industry, known for his friendly demeanor, approachability, and knack for establishing enduring relationships.

With the company on the verge of bankruptcy, Don bought out the geotechnical engineering part of the business under the name Ground Test to save the jobs of his many colleagues.

In 1983  D.J. Douglas & Partners (now Douglas Partners) was formed as a consultancy, along side Ground Test.

Don’s philosophy of “Keep it simple, get it right, do it well” remains a guiding principle that still influences our every action today. His integrity, technical prowess, and practical
solution-oriented approach continue to form the bedrock of our operations.

As we’ve grown and evolved, we never lost sight of the importance of our people. By focusing on our team and these guiding principles, we have grown into a company of more than 600 dedicated individuals spread across 20 locations nationwide, reinforcing our position as the country’s leading ground experts.

Douglas Partners' evolution

Our purpose

Grounded solutions for the built environment. 

Our values

People

People

  • Safety comes first in all we do.
  • We foster an inclusive and collaborative culture, enabling all to thrive.
  • We build trusted relationships and are defined by how well we take care of them.
  • We strengthen connections and make a positive difference where we work and live

Integrity

Integrity

  • We do what’s right for the environment, client and community.
  • Customers choose us because they trust our name, and people. We earn that trust by always acting honestly and with the highest level of integrity.

Improvement

Improvement

  • We’re proud of our industry-leading processes and are always looking for ways to improve.
  • We make improvement a daily habit as continuous improvements lead to sustainable innovation.

Excellence

Excellence

  • We pride ourselves on our high level of technical expertise.
  • We recognise quality is important in every step of the process.
  • We work together, utilising our collective knowledge and experience to provide grounded solutions.
SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability

Committed to sustainability, we align with UN Sustainable Development Goals, promoting water management, clean energy, resilient infrastructure, reduced environmental impact, and responsible purchasing. Our expertise supports environmentally responsible practices in projects such as ‘Star of the South’ solar farm.

Our Key People

At Douglas Partners, our key figures collaborate as a unified team, working together to drive our success.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Sustainability is our Responsibility

Douglas Partners recognises that with a footprint which extends across a wide range of clients, industry sectors and geography we have the opportunity to make a real difference to our communities and the environment, for now and for future generations.

That’s why we consider the community and environment in the way we conduct our operations and the advice we provide.  The ways we make a difference include:

  • minimising impacts from our site investigations;
  • minimising energy use and waste from our operations;
  • providing solutions that protect the health, safety and wellbeing of the community and environment;
  • pro-bono lectures for undergraduate studies at universities;
  • support of charitable endeavours; and
  • industry sponsor of ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering
HEALTH & SAFTEY

Health & Safety

We owe it to our clients to deliver on our services, but more importantly, we owe it to our employees and subcontractors to deliver on a healthy and safe work place.

At Douglas Partners our goal is that all people involved in our work go home safe and sound every day. We believe that the best way to achieve this outcome is to foster a positive safety culture. A culture where everyone in the business considers themselves a safety leader, where health and safety considerations permeate all that we do and where we work together as a team with everyone looking out for each other.

OUR AWARDS

Our outstanding client service make
us a consistent choice for clients.

We strive to provide outstanding client service on each and every project. Our commitment to consistency is evident through our continuous recognition as finalists in the prestigious Financial Review Client Choice Awards, organized by Beaton Consulting, since 2008, with twenty awards won over the last fifteen years.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Testimonials