Infrastructure Australia has called on Australia's governments to renew their commitment to infrastructure reform in a new report that outlines what has been achieved since the release of the Australian Infrastructure Plan in February 2016.
Prioritising Reform, a progress report on the key recommendations made in the Australian Infrastructure Plan, finds that while there has been clear improvement across the Australian infrastructure sector in the past two years, there is still much to do.
The Australian Infrastructure Plan made 78 recommendations to address today's infrastructure gaps and meet the future needs of Australia's growing population. It provides a reform and investment roadmap for Australia's governments to ensure our infrastructure drives productivity, improves our standard of living and delivers world-class services in our cities and regions.
"The reform agenda we put forward in the Australian Infrastructure Plan is ambitious and politically challenging, but these proposed changes to the way we plan, deliver and use our infrastructure will deliver enduring benefits for all Australians," Infrastructure Australia Chief Executive Philip Davies said.
"Over the past two years, it has been pleasing to see progress in heavy vehicle road charging, business case development, integration of land-use and transport planning and corridor protection. However, our progress report finds there are also clear instances where more action is needed."
The Plan recommended that the Australian Government initiate an inquiry into the potential benefits and impacts of road market reform, with a view to transitioning to a fairer and more efficient user-pays approach. The Australian Government signalled its support for this proposal in November 2016 when it delivered its official response to the Plan but no inquiry has been forthcoming.
"Road market reform has the potential to deliver significant improvements in network performance and address fairness issues, while also establishing a secure and sustainable source of funding for our roads. Given the significance of this change and the scale of community consultation and consensus-building involved, it's vital that governments move forward on this important opportunity for reform," Mr Davies said.
"Australia has never lacked vision, but we must keep up the momentum on reform if we are to meet our upcoming infrastructure challenges.
"Our hope in releasing this progress report is to encourage Australia's governments to embrace this national reform agenda to secure the social and economic benefits of great infrastructure for many generations to come."
Infrastructure Australia will deliver the next Australian Infrastructure Audit in 2019 and the next Australian Infrastructure Plan in 2021.