01Summary
Who is Dominic Ogburn?
Forty-plus years in Australian construction — from Senior Construction Manager at Stuart Brothers in the 1980s, to founding a Sydney property inspection practice in 1987, to leading ABE Education since 2007.
Read the full biography
Dominic holds a current NSW Builder's Licence (369417C) and received the 2005 NSW Fair Trading Minister's Award for Consumer Advocacy from the Hon. Diane Beamer MP. He served on Standards Australia committee BD-038, contributing to AS 3740-2010 (Waterproofing of domestic wet areas). Operating his property inspection practice Access Property Inspections from 1987, he submitted expert evidence to the Senate Select Committee on Aircraft Noise in 1995, and in 2001 was cited by name in NSW Legislative Council Hansard during the Home Warranty Insurance debate.
Dominic is co-author of Your Home: Buying, Selling, Renovating, Building (Allen & Unwin, 2004) and has been cited as a construction-industry authority across six Sydney Morning Herald articles from 1995 to 2018. His 16-page inspection report on Regis Towers led directly to calls for a NSW parliamentary inquiry into building standards. As CEO of ABE Education since 2007, Dominic has trained 31,000+ students across Owner Builder and CPD courses, with government approvals in NSW, ACT, TAS, QLD, and WA.
02Credentials
What's been independently verified.
Sixteen credentials with documentary evidence — every claim cross-checked against a primary source (regulator, government archive, or publisher record).
Licensure & recognition
-
NSW Builder's Licence 369417C
Current contractor licence, expires June 2027. Zero disciplinary actions across jurisdictions.
-
2005 NSW Fair Trading Minister's Award for Consumer Advocacy
Awarded by the Minister for Fair Trading, Hon. Diane Beamer MP. Citation: "valuable contribution to raising awareness of consumer rights."
-
Standards Australia Committee BD-038
Technical committee member for AS 3740-2010 (Waterproofing of domestic wet areas). Certificate of Appreciation, 5 November 2010, signed by John Castles AM (Chairman) and Colin Blair (CEO).
-
Published Author — Allen & Unwin (2004)
Co-author with Harvey Grennan of Your Home: Buying, Selling, Renovating, Building. ISBN 1865088919 · NLA Bib ID 3067415. Held in public library collections nationally.
Parliamentary citations
-
NSW Legislative Council Hansard (2001)
Named twice in the NSW Legislative Council HIH Insurance Adjournment Debate, 27 March 2001 — directly by Rev. Hon. F.J. Nile MLC, and in a Linda Morris SMH quote read by Hon. I. Cohen MLC on insurance coverage gaps in apartment buildings.
-
Senate Select Committee on Aircraft Noise (1995)
Expert evidence to the Senate Select Committee on Aircraft Noise. 74-property values pilot study after Sydney Airport's third runway opened — documented at least 15% devaluation. Validated by McLennan Steege & Associates (registered valuers) and Macquarie University.
Media & expert citations
-
Sydney Morning Herald — six articles (1995–2018)
Construction-industry authority across six SMH articles spanning 23 years — including the 2001 "Towers of Trouble" Regis Towers investigation, where his 16-page inspection report led Sydney City Council to inspect 15 units and find 14 in breach of the Building Code of Australia.
-
Institution of Engineers Australia — AEES Newsletter 3/2001
"Towers of Trouble" reproduced in full in the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society Newsletter ("Nuggets" section) — the technical society of the Institution of Engineers Australia.
-
CHOICE Magazine — Featured Expert (2011)
Featured in CHOICE's investigation into house energy-efficiency ratings (live, last updated November 2025). Four direct quotes plus the Kozicki case study: Dominic's audit found $100,000+ of additional work required for compliance despite certified occupation — the vendor rescinded the sale.
-
Australian Financial Review (2002)
Referenced expert in "Big apartments and big problems" (13 April 2002). Full content paywalled.
03Approvals
Approved across five Australian jurisdictions.
Since 2007, as CEO of ABE Education, Dominic has developed Owner Builder and CPD training completed by 31,000+ students across five jurisdictions — each approval verifiable via the relevant .gov.au source.
ACT
Access Canberra
Approved Owner Builder course provider for the Australian Capital Territory.
accesscanberra.act.gov.au ↗
TAS
Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)
Approved Owner Builder & CPD provider for Tasmanian practitioners.
cbos.tas.gov.au ↗
WA
LGIRS — Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety
Course meets the owner-builder knowledge requirements of LGIRS Form 75 (Approval — Owner-builder). WA operates a knowledge-requirement model, not provider-approval.
wa.gov.au — Form 75 PDF ↗
QLD
Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)
Owner Builder training co-delivered with Edway Training (RTO 91401) per QBCC requirements.
qbcc.qld.gov.au ↗
NSW
NSW Fair Trading / Building Commission NSW
Online CPD training for builders & swimming pool builders meeting NSW Fair Trading's CPD criteria — 12 points/year across 8 topic areas (technical, sustainability, compliance, communication, dispute resolution, contracts, safety, business management).
nsw.gov.au — CPD criteria ↗
Scope boundary — Owner Builder & CPD courses ABE delivers directly are developed by Dominic. White Card and asbestos awareness training are delivered by ABE's RTO partners — Blue Dog Training (RTO 31193) or AlertForce (RTO 91826).
04Experience
40+ years in Australian construction.
Career began March 1980 at Stuart Brothers — one of the oldest construction firms in Australia, founded Sydney 1886 — and continues today as CEO of ABE Education.
-
1980 — 199111 yearsTrainee Cadet → Senior Construction ManagerStuart Brothers Pty Ltd · Sydney
Eleven years at one of Australia's oldest construction firms, founded 1886 by William and James Stuart. Progressed from Trainee Cadet / Quantity Surveyor / Estimator to Senior Construction Manager on commercial and residential projects up to $11M.
Project portfolio- 50 Miller Street North Sydney refurbishment $11M
- The Wintergarden Rose Bay luxury residential $7.5M
- 22 houses for NSW Department of Housing, Glebe Estate $2.5M
- Restoration of 652–662 George Street, The Rocks — Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority
- Commonwealth Bank Auto Bank Service and State Bank ATM network — initial rollouts
-
~1987 — 200720 yearsFounder · Building & Property InspectorAccess Property Inspections · Petersham, NSW
Property and building inspection practice servicing inner-west Sydney. Overlapped the later Stuart Brothers years.
Notable work- 1995 Senate submission — 74-property aircraft-noise study after Sydney Airport's third runway opened
- 2001 Regis Towers inspection — triggered the SMH "Towers of Trouble" investigation
-
2007 — present19 yearsFounder · CEO · Course DeveloperABE Education · Sydney
Founded May 2007 to close the gap in jurisdiction-specific Owner Builder and CPD training.
- Personally develops ABE's course content
- 31,000+ students trained across five jurisdictions
- Government approvals in NSW, ACT, TAS, QLD and WA
- Zero adverse findings from any Australian state regulator
05Verification
Every credential cross-checked.
Sixteen credentials independently verified against primary sources — government registers, parliamentary records, publisher catalogues, and physical certificates. Last full re-verification: 14 April 2026.
Verified
14 April 2026 · NSW Fair Trading licence register, NLA catalogue, NSW Parliament Hansard PDF, Senate Tabled Papers, Standards Australia certificate, training.gov.au RTO records, all five state regulator
.gov.au source pages.