Chairman's introduction

Our infrastructure challenges

Australia has many great advantages. We have an impressive natural and built environment, a highly educated population and a diverse business and employment base. We have enjoyed many years of prosperity and social progress.

But the nation's ability to deliver the infrastructure we need to sustain - and deepen - those advantages is being severely tested. A costly shortfall of infrastructure has seen congestion, bottlenecks and queues constrain economic performance, depress productivity and limit improvements in our living standards.

Experiences of transport networks failing to keep pace with demand, water quality standards being uneven, energy costs being too high, telecommunication services being outdated, or freight corridors being neglected are now so common that they necessitate a strategic response.

It is therefore timely that the Australian Government commissioned Infrastructure Australia to undertake the first ever audit of the nation's infrastructure.

Infrastructure is important to us all because our infrastructure aspirations are a reflection of our ambition as a country. Delivered and operated well, it enhances our nation's competitiveness and provides a foundation for a sustainable future. So there is one particularly compelling reason for us to act. If we get our infrastructure right, we will protect Australia's quality of life at a time of population growth and global economic change.

The Australian Infrastructure Audit examines our asset base and studies the drivers of future demand. It will be followed by a 15 year Australian Infrastructure Plan, which we are developing now and will present to the Government later in 2015.

The Audit highlights ten particular challenges that Australia will face:

Productivity - national productivity levels need to be increased through regular strategic investment in economic infrastructure

Population - huge population growth, particularly in our major cities, will necessitate the delivery of new and renewed infrastructure

Connectivity - modernised infrastructure networks and gateways are needed to link businesses, boost trade and improve access to workplaces

Funding - reforms are essential to increase the total pool of funds made available for infrastructure, especially by facilitating private investment

Competitive Markets - national infrastructure markets must operate to improve investment decisions and give consumers choice

Governance - integrated planning, transparent project selection, and stakeholder consultation are essential and all have to improve

Sustainability and Resilience - we will need to cut environmental impacts and improve resilience, using new technology to run our infrastructure better

If we get our infrastructure right, we will protect Australia's quality of life at a time of population growth and global economic change."

Regional - we must see how infrastructure improvements can enhance local service standards and facilitate rural and regional growth

Indigenous - across the nation we can do more to achieve equity and close the infrastructure gap faced by remote communities

Best Practice - a uniting theme is how to pursue best practice procurement and delivery, and encourage whole-of-life asset management.

Investment in infrastructure is required to address these issues and allow new economic and social opportunities to be realised. Funding constraints therefore present a core challenge.

Existing institutional arrangements, especially in the transport sector, do not provide sufficient funding to address the required infrastructure needs. The combined expenditure of the public and private sectors on infrastructure will need to be expanded, all at a time when spending by governments is being constrained by other legitimate demands (notably for health services and welfare).

The Audit also highlights the importance of good governance and modern regulatory settings that get the best out of our existing and new infrastructure.

Transparency in decision making can help us prioritise the choices we face. Efficient markets will drive higher standards of service delivery. Greater sharing of information on infrastructure performance and outcomes will improve long-term decision making.

We should, in an ambitious but practical way, seek to fill the nation's infrastructure gaps by continuously improving the way projects are planned, constructed and operated.

By forming a comprehensive picture of our existing infrastructure, and making informed projections about our future, we have the opportunity to consider where we want to be as a nation. Seeing our future will allow us to shape it.

Infrastructure Australia is committed to working with governments, business and the community to ensure that Australia's infrastructure - and the planning behind it - is working in the national interest.

A central purpose of the Audit is to motivate public discussion and encourage input into the forthcoming Australian Infrastructure Plan. I therefore welcome your comments on this report.