Over the years, governments have worked to develop a range of public-facing infrastructure pipelines and programs. While good progress has been made, more can be done. The infrastructure industry is the same as other sectors - it thrives on greater visibility and transparency.
" To be efficient, the infrastructure sector needs access to a single, dependable, predictable pipeline of projects so government and industry can understand future demand and plan with certainty. "
The industry-led Australia New Zealand Infrastructure Pipeline (ANZIP) collects relevant information to provide the definitive reference point for future projects across both countries.13 However, as it is based on publicly available information, it is limited by what governments release.
Similarly, Infrastructure Australia's Infrastructure Priority List is limited by its focus on nationally significant projects and initiatives in the planning (pre-funding and pre-delivery) stages.14 It therefore only provides insights into a limited segment that depends on the market's overall efficiency.
To be efficient, the infrastructure sector needs access to a single, dependable, predictable pipeline of projects so government and industry can understand future demand and plan with certainty.
The benefits of such a pipeline would be amplified if it harboured critical information from Jurisdictions. For example, basic scope descriptions, potential commercial models and indicative timing for key phases. The pipeline could be further bolstered if expanded to include sale and lease opportunities for currently operating infrastructure.
Together, these enhancements could increase industry visibility of upcoming assets and lead to greater coordination.
In this way, governments would improve scheduling, resourcing and training, which could then make project delivery cheaper and less risky.
Infrastructure users, taxpayers and governments would all benefit.15 There would also be far-reaching impacts for industry and skills development, knowledge-sharing and national productivity.