Themes and Challenges

In its report to the Council of Australian Governments in December 2008, Infrastructure Australia highlighted the need to find ways to make better use of existing infrastructure, to remove the bottlenecks and gaps that are holding back Australia's growth, and to identify opportunities for new capital investment.  This must be done within the right regulatory and business environment to support increased investment in infrastructure and the timely delivery of major projects.

The full report is available here [PDF: 1917 KB] []

Themes

Infrastructure Australia has identified seven national infrastructure themes to provide a framework for action to meet the gaps, deficiencies and bottlenecks in our nation's infrastructure. The seven themes are:

Challenges

There are nine key challenges to the delivery of national strategic and economic benefits with infrastructure reform and investment initiatives. These are:

1. Deliver better governance: inefficiencies and inconsistencies in governance adversely impact infrastructure operations and investment in Australia.

2. Create competitive markets: regulatory complexity and competitive anomalies impede the operation of efficient and competitive infrastructure markets, including the development of a nationwide world-class communications network.

3. One nation, one set of rules: inconsistent rules, legislation and regulations governing markets impede productivity and create unnecessary costs.

4. Better use of existing infrastructure: changes in the operation, pricing or utilisation of existing infrastructure to solve problems without the need for investment in additional capacity.

5. Climate change: in addition to requiring a shift to a low carbon economy, climate change is increasing the demand for improved infrastructure, such as efficient public transport systems and low carbon intensive methods of power generation.

6. Supporting our cities: improving the livability, sustainability and productivity of Australia's major cities.

7. Boosting exports: increasing the productivity of Australia's international gateways, making sure that they can meet the rapidly growing freight task without adverse impacts on community amenity.

8. Supporting Indigenous communities: improving infrastructure in remote and regional Indigenous communities, and closing the gap in essential infrastructure and services between these and non-Indigenous communities.

9. Supporting rural communities: improving the quality of life and economic prosperity in rural and regional communities.