Key messages

•  Meeting the infrastructure needs of smaller communities is often difficult, and some Small Towns, Rural Communities and Remote Areas face significant infrastructure deficits.

•  Infrastructure is more expensive to provide on a per-person basis in low population areas but these communities are more reliant on available infrastructure for productivity and wellbeing.

•  Improving infrastructure access can help these communities to better meet economic challenges, build resilience and improve quality of life, especially in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

•  Infrastructure investments for rural and remote communities should plan for, and respond to, population change and be underpinned by a shared vision for their long-term future.

•  Community Service Obligations (CSOs) play an important role in ensuring regional towns and remote communities receive infrastructure investment and can access the related services at reasonable prices. However, CSOs must be better designed, targeted, integrated and more transparent.

•  There are opportunities to share resources, skills and facilities between communities, and between smaller communities and larger metropolitan centres. This will reduce costs, improve access and lead to better-coordinated infrastructure delivery.