2021 Australian infrastructure plan released
The 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan was published at the beginning of September, following a virtual launch by Infrastructure Australia, the nation’s independent infrastructure advisor. The plan outlines a reform roadmap to leverage the $110b infrastructure spend and drive national recovery.
It is intended to deliver a stronger Australia, and support our national recovery from the still-unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the bushfires, drought, floods and cyber-attacks that have tested our resilience in recent years
The document presents 29 reform recommendations that address the key challenges and opportunities facing infrastructure over the next 15 years.
Infrastructure Australia’s vision for 2036 is to have infrastructure that improves the sustainability of the country’s economic, social, environmental and governance settings, builds quality of life for all Australians, and is resilient to shocks and emerging stresses.
The 2021 Plan includes Waste and Social Infrastructure for the first time, alongside Energy, Transport, Telecommunications, and Water. It also focuses on three cross-cutting key themes Place (Cities, Regions, Rural and Remote Areas, and Northern Australia), Sustainability and Resilience, and the infrastructure Industry.
Recommendations focus on sustainability, an affordable transition to net zero emissions, prioritising safety and security of clean water supplies, ensuring equity in access to superfast telecommunications, a transition to a circular waste economy, and chief among them is the delivery of an integrated transport network.
Transport reform is recommended to improve regional connectivity, enable demand-response services that are fully integrated into public transport, bringing forward new mobility technologies to make electric vehicle recharging easy and commonplace and making road networks ready for connected and autonomous fleets.
The Plan and Executive Summary is available to download below and detailed plans for each of the six infrastructure sectors will also be available to download in the coming months.
https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/publications/2021-australian-infrastructure-plan