Since the 2016 Australian Infrastructure Plan, governance and oversight in the Australian infrastructure industry has improved.2
Increasing transparency has been an important step and has helped to provide the insights that shaped the 2021 Plan.
The creation and evolution of infrastructure bodies in all states and territories has provided a framework for strengthening collaboration. The benefits were highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with infrastructure bodies in all Jurisdictions supporting Infrastructure Australia's Ten Principles of an Infrastructure-led Recovery.3
While there has been broad progress against the key reforms identified and promoted in the 2016 Plan, there are still some high priority areas to address that will drive reform.4 They include skills planning, collecting data throughout the project lifecycle, embedding positive behaviours and innovation, and optimising the use of existing infrastructure rather than promoting costly new builds.
As regulators, purchasers and benefactors of public works infrastructure, governments can be catalysts for positive change within the sector. This role complements, rather than replaces, the actions required of other change agents, including industry, academia and the supply chain. It is critical that they also play their part in implementing the recommendations in the 2021 Plan to transform the sector, either directly or through representative bodies and associations.