This is the first time the Australian Infrastructure Plan has included social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, parks, community centres and social housing.
The sector's inclusion acknowledges the critical role these physical spaces and assets play in supporting the nation's wellbeing and making Australia a great place to live.
A growing and ageing population, technological advances and life-changing events (such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic) are changing how Australians live and work, highlighting the value of social infrastructure in supporting viable communities.
By providing high levels of amenity and quality of life, these facilities and the services they deliver attract people to live in an area and enable them to stay there through all stages of life. Yet the substantial contribution social infrastructure makes to local and national economies is not fully recognised.
A robust, nationally consistent framework is required to capture and measure its real economic value and drive effective and balanced investment in facilities.