Despite strong progress, several recommendations for best practice reform in the 2016 Plan are still a priority for the infrastructure sector.
Post-completion reviews: One such area is for governments to fund nationally significant projects if proponents agree to develop a post-completion review. While there is high level of support across the sector, in practice, these reviews are not consistently completed.
Skills plan: Another area where progress has been slow, but remains a high priority, is for an infrastructure skills plan to ensure Australia has the right people with the right skills to deliver infrastructure to 2031 and beyond.
Infrastructure Australia has been tasked by the First Secretaries Group of the National Cabinet to report on the capacity and capability of the market to deliver the forward infrastructure pipeline. This will help the industry to better plan future resourcing and skills needs.
Digitalisation: The Australian infrastructure sector lags the broader economy in productivity. It continues to undertake largely bespoke, project-to-project design and delivery and has been slow to adopt the digitalisation of construction that is increasing efficiency and productivity overseas.
With one in every five dollars spent in the economy linked to infrastructure, the opportunity to reform the sector to support economic productivity remains substantial.