2.3 Recommendation 

Build community trust in infrastructure decision-making and institutions by ensuring infrastructure decisions are transparent, and reflect place-based community needs and preferences. 

Proposed sponsor: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications 

Supported by: Infrastructure investment assurance and assessment agencies, state and territory treasuries and state and territory infrastructure bodies

When this should impact:

Where this should impact:

2.3.1 Improve community sustainability and build trust by embedding the quadruple bottom line in government decision-making and assessment. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments 

Supported by: State and territory infrastructure bodies

Facilitate participatory community engagement and build trust by clarifying consistent engagement and reporting requirements, resourcing plans and measurement mechanisms. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

Ensure consideration of the quadruple bottom line by adding engagement standards across assurance process stages. 

Proposed lead: Infrastructure investment assurance and assessment agencies 

Supported by: State and territory treasuries and state and territory infrastructure bodies

Increase transparency and maintain social licence by reporting on activities as part of Environmental, Social and Governance and Corporate Social Responsibly reporting processes using existing standards and measures. 

Proposed lead: State and territory treasuries

Improve the business case for community engagement by conducting research on the benefits of effective engagement. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

Understand the effectiveness of engagement activities in meeting quadruple-bottom-line outcomes, including equity and accessibility, by producing public reports on the impact of community feedback on decisions. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

2.3.2 Make more transparent and consistent decisions throughout infrastructure projects and services by responding to, and understanding, place-based community needs and preferences at state and territory, regional and local government levels. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

Align decision-making with community needs and preferences by incorporating decision-makers, communities, infrastructure owners and operators into early strategic planning stages. Collect information by conducting audits, assessing place-based community data and publicly releasing findings. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments 

Supported by: Local governments and state and territory infrastructure bodies

Facilitate transparent place-based decisions by creating a framework to support the collection and public release of reliable, meaningful and comparable data across agencies and local governments. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments 

Supported by: Local governments and state and territory infrastructure bodies

2.3.3 Build community trust by providing transparent, timely and clear information about infrastructure decision-making and post completion assessments. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments 

Supported by: Infrastructure investment assurance and assessment agencies, state and territory treasuries and state and territory infrastructure bodies

Increase transparency by committing to, developing and releasing post completion reviews. Establish delivery dates for staged reviews when the project begins. Include information on whether the economic case in the project's business case was realised, lessons learnt, and whether the project was on time and within budget. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

Improve transparency and community trust and understanding by publicly releasing key information supporting infrastructure decisions, subject to privacy and data sovereignty considerations. 

Proposed lead: The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications 

Supported by: State and territory infrastructure departments

Encourage national consistency and cross-sector coordination by developing a national report highlighting best practice, including case studies based on publicly released data. 

Proposed lead: Infrastructure Australia 

Supported by: State and territory infrastructure bodies, infrastructure investment assurance and assessment agencies, state and territory treasuries and industry representative groups

2.3.4 Improve community certainty and confidence and meet long-term community needs by sequencing infrastructure delivery. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

Ensure the acquisition and management of corridors in the long-term interests of users and taxpayers by identifying high-value corridors, conducting corridor feasibility studies and establishing joint funding and governance arrangements. 

Proposed lead: State and territory planning departments

Allow infrastructure co-location, precinct development and agency cost-sharing by centrally managing land acquisition and management. 

Proposed lead: State and territory government property agencies

Meet infrastructure costs while maintaining community support by developing transparent, hypothecated levies on adjacent land and infrastructure service catchments, such as the Western Australian Government's Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax. 

Proposed lead: State and territory treasuries