Infrastructure is important for providing Australians with the means to go about their lives and participate in society. Differences in the level of service provided by our infrastructure networks therefore have an impact on the opportunities available to individuals.
These service differences reflect important, yet difficult, questions around what society considers an appropriate level of universal service provision, and how this should be funded. This is a particularly challenging debate in relation to the servicing of more remote areas, where the costs of providing a service are typically higher than providing the same service level in towns and cities, and where the number of potential users is likely to be small.
Funding the provision of infrastructure to meet a prescribed level of service is a similarly challenging question, and one where there is unlikely to be universal agreement. Across the country, these issues have their most notable expression in outer suburban areas and in remote communities.
Outer metropolitan areas often have limited public transport systems and comparatively few local jobs. As a result, those living in outer suburban areas commonly face longer journeys to work, and higher transport costs. Families on lower incomes often have few, if any, practical options other than to use their cars for transport.
Audit finding 35. Access to transport remains a critical social equity consideration, particularly for the outer suburbs of Australia's cities and most parts of regional Australia. These areas generally have an undersupply of transport services (especially public transport) and of local employment options. |
The difference in level of service delivered by various infrastructure providers is an important area of public policy consideration, one which will be assisted by efforts to agree upon and publish the desired (and actual) service levels within each sector.
Minimum service levels have recently been set in the telecommunications sector. The Statement of Expectations issued to the NBN Co in April 2014122 sets a service level requirement of a download speed of at least 25 megabits per second to all premises, and at least 50 megabits per second to 90 per cent of fixed line premises, as soon as possible.
There are similar issues around the acceptable cost, standard and reliability of services for water and electricity provision. Advances in technology are changing how these questions are addressed. For example, the option of communities going 'off the grid' for electricity generation is becoming more viable, and may be the most efficient way to provide this service for some remote communities.
These changing factors are part of a debate around the trade-off between equity of access to infrastructure and how to pay for it.
Audit findings 36. Telecommunications have become a highly important part of people's lives, for social as well as economic reasons. The National Broadband Network (NBN) is expected to materially improve service levels and the ability of households in rural and remote regions to connect with their wider social networks. 37. Following completion of the NBN roll-out, governments will still need to consider what steps are required to provide appropriate and equitable services in rural and urban telecommunications services. |
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122. NBN Co (2014)