Support Australians to enjoy a healthier, safer, more connected and fulfilled quality of life by facilitating targeted investment in the right physical and digital social infrastructure.
- No regrets
Key messages
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s social infrastructure adapted quickly to meet Australians’ needs. This transformation must continue, using technology and innovative delivery models to improve the accessibility, quality and efficiency of services.
New models, such as virtual health, are improving choice and access, providing health care closer to home and alleviating pressure on health facilities. Governments can continue transforming the health system and building the digital capacity of citizens and the health workforce through sustained investment and planning.
Education infrastructure must continue to adapt to contemporary needs, through embracing technology and digital learning. Training and higher education infrastructure should be strategically located to maximise learning and job creation opportunities.
To address the growing shortfall of social housing, government agencies should work with the sector to harness new investment options and provide high-quality social and affordable rental housing.
To create more liveable local areas, people should have increased access to high-quality green and blue public infrastructure and spaces.
Better alignment across arts, cultural and recreational planning will create new avenues for innovation, investment and growth, and build resilience in the face of future challenges.
What are the impacts?
Targeted investment in physical and digital social infrastructure assets will provide social benefits to Australians by enabling a healthier, safer, more connected and fulfilled quality of life.
Reorienting Vocational Education and Training (VET) facilities with student and industry needs will play a vital role in strengthening the economy after the pandemic.
Integrated governance across all relevant sectors and levels of government will improve access to arts and cultural spaces to make cities and regions more attractive. Improving the standing of these assets will enhance a sense of place and improve access.
While affordability will remain the same, delivering high-quality, well-functioning and adaptable social infrastructure is beneficial as it responds to the changing service needs of communities efficiently and equitably.
How easy is it to implement?
Governments have the capacity to use smart infrastructure to improve wellness and prevention, as demonstrated through the Australian Digital Health Agency. Enhancing digital health delivery will require initial upfront and ongoing investment but will reduce ongoing health costs.
While new agencies or processes are not required to implement the reform, there may be increased complexity. For example, state and local governments working together on increasing access to public spaces or the Australian Government and state health and education agencies aligning changes to national partnership agreements.
How certain are the outcomes?
Communities are likely to have high acceptance for place-based social infrastructure investments.
Governments can increase confidence in decision-making around contentious decisions by engaging with communities to identify gaps for investing in social infrastructure.
Governments don’t have control over community behaviour in response to improved infrastructure quality, however they can build awareness of whole-of-community benefits, using targeted engagement and education approaches.
| Social |
OECD Better Life Index
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| Quality |
Closing the Gap
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| Access |
Wait time for social housing
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View the Reform Impact Summary for Recommendation 8.1 in page 60 of the 2021 Reform Priority List.
Read more about this recommendation in 8.1 Transforming social infrastructure to enhance quality of life in the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan.
Reform implementation pathway
This recommendation comprises of outcomes and activities, which form the reform's implementation pathway.
The implementation pathway is designed to guide change agents on the supporting activities necessary to achieve the overall reform.
For each outcome and activity, we propose change agents to act as:
- Proposed sponsor: facilitate, coordinate and champion the recommendation
- Proposed lead: deliver specific activities or lead related outcomes
- Support: share ownership, contributions or knowledge to enable the reform process.
Improve equity of access and facilitate safe, high-value, high-quality care for all Australians by accelerating the transition to digital health service delivery. This will help to achieve National Health Reform Agreement 2020–2025 goals.
10-15 years
Improve the value and quality of virtual health care services by developing digital health infrastructure transformation plans that identify and prioritise enhancements to existing hospitals, health services and primary care services.
5-10 years
Provide seamless connections to existing state and territory digital health capabilities through a program to increase primary health providers’ digital capability.
5-10 years
Accelerate the adoption of high-quality virtual care across Australia by identifying and examining existing platforms, sharing successful digital health technologies, educating platform users and developing behaviour change programs based on learnings and practices.
5-10 years
Enable different digital health systems to work together and share meaningful information by developing a collaborative work program that integrates health services to provide targeted, patient-centred care across human services sectors, including disability, aged care and community welfare services.
10-15 years
Improve digital health literacy for citizens and the health workforce through targeted education programs, with a particular focus on vulnerable communities.
5-10 years
Ensure Australia is always fully prepared for pandemics across all jurisdictions by preparing an effective national pandemic health infrastructure response program.
5-10 years
Ensure consistent readiness for pandemics by retaining and continuously improving COVID-19 pandemic infrastructure planning and preparations for emergency response hospitals, and make ongoing national arrangements to access private hospital infrastructure during pandemics.
5-10 years
Ensure appropriate supply of emergency facility materials by establishing national contracts with major supply chain providers for personal protective equipment (PPE), critical medical devices and other essential facility materials.
5-10 years
Progress the recommendations in the National Review of Hotel Quarantine to ensure Australia has appropriate quarantine infrastructure to respond to emergency situations, emergency evacuations or urgent scalability needs.
5-10 years
Deliver higher-quality school and early childhood education facilities that are well maintained and readily accessible to their communities by embedding place-based planning and asset management best practice.
5-10 years
Enable more equitable access to early childhood education centres by facilitating cross-sectorial partnerships between centre operators and planning and transport departments to support better access and transport connectivity, especially in the planning of new centres.
0-5 years
Continue to develop state asset registers that identify the quality, condition and performance of early childhood education facilities, including best-practice asset performance methodology (such as a Value Rating Tool), to inform evidence-based decision-making on future infrastructure investment.
5-10 years
Extend the longevity of existing school infrastructure through long-term asset management plans to progressively address maintenance and refurbishment needs.
5-10 years
Ensure Vocational Education and Training (VET) aligns with industry-specific skills building and jobs growth objectives by designing, delivering and operating VET infrastructure appropriately.
10-15 years
Provide contemporary education facilities by investing in VET facilities that are appropriately located, integrated into the local area, fit-for-purpose and digitally enabled, and include contemporary industry equipment.
10-15 years
Deliver industry-specific VET skills training and tertiary programs in targeted industry precincts by developing and implementing more industry partnerships and programs that share infrastructure and learning spaces.
5-10 years
Ensure enduring skills development opportunities and jobs are created in line with the infrastructure pipeline by continuing to mandate industry-relevant onsite training facilities and skills legacy initiatives in infrastructure development programs.
5-10 years
Support workplace-based learning accreditation schemes in industry precincts by actively participating in developing micro-credential curricula and accreditation.
5-10 years
Enable greater social and economic participation by designing programs to increase the supply and improve the quality of social and affordable rental housing.
5-10 years
Expand the pipeline of well-located, high-quality social and affordable rental housing by prioritising and implementing efficient medium- to long-term financing programs.
5-10 years
Improve housing quality by developing and implementing innovative efficient programs to reduce the maintenance backlog of social dwellings within their remaining economic life while recycling stock that has reached or passed the end of its economic life.
5-10 years
Meet the Closing the Gap target for 88% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be living in appropriately sized housing by 2031 by:
- addressing maintenance and utility deficiencies for existing and future housing stock
- renewing life-expired housing stock and developing new housing stock
- addressing tenure issues
- providing infrastructure to prepare for land development.
5-10 years
Support community housing providers by continuing to develop and implement programs that build capacity and capability.
5-10 years
Support mental and physical health through appropriate investment in green and blue and recreational infrastructure.
0-5 years
Improve health and wellbeing by developing an appropriate methodology for analysing public space performance, including green and blue infrastructure. Review methodologies used in Australia and develop place-based access benchmarks across geographies.
0-5 years