A leading member of the Commonwealth Games Federation says the next six months will be crucial for Gold Coast organisers as they aim to learn all they can from next year's event in Glasgow.
Visiting the Coast for the first of eight regular meetings with organisers of the 2018 Games, federation vice-president Bruce Robertson said learning from Glasgow will prove hugely beneficial.
"Planning progress is where it should be all though we feel strongly, and GOLDOC agrees, it should now accelerate strategically in a couple of key areas before Glasgow," Robertson said.
"The next six months will be critical to GOLDOC and partners leading up to Glasgow.
"That opportunity really needs to be taken advantage of."
Gold Coast organising committee chairman Nigel Chamier said several measures were being undertaken to learn all they could from the 2014 Games.
"This is the last opportunity we have to learn from the Glasgow experience," Chamier told reporters.
"Every single aspect of what they're doing, we're monitoring very closely and we will have a team of people in Glasgow next year to watch the event unfold and to learn from it."
Robertson was heading a delegation from the Commonwealth Games Federation which will regularly travel to the Gold Coast to assess progress and preparations for the 2018 event.
The Canadian said most aspects of the planning were on track so far with the level of local and state government cooperation particularly advanced.
Robertson said GOLDOC's budget plans were "adequate" for the project although they will continue to be monitored very closely, particularly once sponsorship funds are added.
"There's 41 functional areas and the right ones are progressing well," he said.
"The organising committee has done a very good job of picking the important ones and progressing those reasonably far."
The federation's next visit with Gold Coast organisers is scheduled for October next year when Chamier says several infrastructure projects, including the Southport Aquatic Centre, should be completed or underway.
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