Appraisal methodology techniques are subject to constant development, both in Australia and worldwide, reflecting a welcome emphasis on improving the understanding of an initiative's total costs and benefits. However, it is important to achieve an appropriate balance between, on the one hand, the desire to be as comprehensive as possible, and on the other hand, maintaining the methodological rigour of the appraisal process. There are a number of recent developments being currently debated, and Infrastructure Australia's approach to each is outlined below.
In all cases, Infrastructure Australia will consider these additional benefits/costs separately to the traditional and widely accepted benefit/cost analysis (treating each case on its merits), and the results should be presented separately in the documentation.