It's a time of great ups at the moment in terms of salary nego but as per previous experience, it can crash after one to two years.
Do you have contract or permanent employment?

Actually OGA is the kind of event where you meet old acquaintances. If you are fresh in the industry, you can meet some exhibitors but mostly are from business development or marketing background whereas you might be on technical career path.
I would suggest to learn and gain experience and connection from your other structural engineers in the consultant....
If they leave, they can recommend you to other companies or consultants.

Set up contractor company & bid for small scale project as side income.

Yes and be wary if you are in Worley as they have massive oversupply of projects and unlikely to be repeated in the future 😔