2021 Reform Priority List - 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan August 2021
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August 2021 2021 Reform Priority List 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Infrastructure Australia™ is an independent statutory body that is the leading source of research and
Results
advice for governments, industry and the community on nationally significant infrastructure needs.
Infrastructure Australia has a mandate to prioritise and progress nationally significant infrastructure
investments. It leads reform on key issues including means of financing, delivering and operating
infrastructure and how to better plan and utilise infrastructure networks.
1. Place
Infrastructure Australia has responsibility to strategically audit Australia’s nationally significant
infrastructure, and develop 15-year rolling infrastructure plans that specify national and state
level priorities.
Online
2. Sustainability
ISBN: 978-1-925352-58-0
Ownership of intellectual property rights in this publication
Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this publication
is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia (referred to below as Infrastructure Australia).
© Infrastructure Australia 2021
3. Industry
Disclaimer
The material contained in this publication is made available on the understanding that the
Commonwealth is not providing professional advice, and that users exercise their own skill and
care with respect to its use, and seek independent advice if necessary.
4. Transport
The Commonwealth makes no representations or warranties as to the contents or accuracy of
the information contained in this publication. To the extent permitted by law, the Commonwealth
disclaims liability to any person or organisation in respect of anything done, or omitted to be done,
in reliance upon information contained in this publication.
5. Energy
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With the exception of the Coat of Arms, the copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence.
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence is a standard form licence agreement that allows
you to copy, communicate and adapt this publication provided that you attribute the work to the
6. Water
Commonwealth, clearly identify any changes or adaptations you have made to the work, and abide
by the other licence terms. A summary of the licence terms is available from http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en
The full licence terms are available from
7. Telecommunications
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode
and digital
This publication should be attributed in the following way:
© Infrastructure Australia 2021
Acknowledgements
Infrastructure Australia would like to acknowledge and thank the contributors to the 2021 Plan.
infrastructure
8. Social
David Tang, Helen Machalias, Inaara Jindani, James Robertson, Jim Chesterfield, Jonathan Cartledge,
Mark Merrick, Matthew Faber, Nadeia Romanovski, Peter Colacino, Robert Glennon, Rory Butler,
Sarah Holdsworth, Steve Brogan, Suzie Carruthers, Tim Mumford.
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
2
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Results
1. Place
2. Sustainability
3. Industry
4. Transport
5. Energy
6. Water
Acknowledgement of Country Note on the artwork
Infrastructure Australia acknowledges the Traditional The artwork Moving Along Pathways was created by
Custodians of Australia, and pays respect to their Elders Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding, specifically
past, present and emerging. We pay respect to their for Infrastructure Australia’s first Reconciliation Action
7. Telecommunications
continuing connection to land, and the continuation of Plan. The artwork depicts examples of Australia’s first
and digital
their cultural, spiritual and educational practices. infrastructure.
In preparing for the future of our infrastructure, we Pathways and river systems are prominent in the
acknowledge the importance of looking beyond the artwork and reference the pathways First Nations
immediate past to learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples formed on land and water for transport and
Islander people’s unique history of land management communication of knowledge and stories. Images
infrastructure
8. Social
and settlement, art, culture and society that began over of waterholes, campsites and boomerangs within the
65,000 years ago. artwork acknowledge First Nations cultural practices,
technology and places for gathering that continue to be
operated today.
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
3
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Table of contents
Results
I. Introduction 5
1. Place
II. How we assessed reform impacts 8
III. Reform recommendations 19
2. Sustainability
IV. Results and prioritisation 21
V. Reform impact summaries 35
1. Place-based outcomes for communities 36
3. Industry
2. Sustainability and resilience 40
3. Industry productivity and innovation 43
4. Transport 48
4. Transport
5. Energy 52
6. Water 55
7. Telecommunications and digital 57
8. Social infrastructure 60
5. Energy
9. Waste 63
Icon glossary 65
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
4
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
I. Introduction
Results
1. Place
At a glance
• The 2021 Reform Priority List is a new publication • With the impacts of COVID-19 yet to be fully
from Infrastructure Australia and is designed to realised, and with increasing global uncertainty
support the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan and rapid change, recommendations are also
2. Sustainability
(2021 Plan). assessed against future development scenarios
informed by 2019 Audit future trends and findings
• Multi-criteria analysis has been used to
in Infrastructure beyond COVID-19.2
qualitatively assess the expected impacts of
each of the 29 recommendations from the • Reforms to Transport, Telecommunications
2021 Plan against a consistent set of criteria that and digital, Social infrastructure, Energy,
3. Industry
examine their impact on infrastructure services and Sustainability and resilience perform
for users, community sustainability, ease of highly against future scenarios. Water, Waste,
implementation and risks to success. Place-based outcomes for communities, and
Industry productivity and innovation reforms
• These criteria were chosen, and weighted, by
also perform well.
1800 people and 200 businesses. They represent
4. Transport
the community’s priorities for areas of reform. • All 29 recommendations feature in the top 5
listing of at least one of the 13 assessments,
• Multi-criteria analysis has identified Place,
demonstrating the breadth of impact expected
Industry and Water reforms as having the
from implementing all of the 2021 Plan’s
largest positive impact on outcomes that matter
recommendations.
to the community.
5. Energy
• Water reforms feature in the top 5 listings more
• In addition to the community the recommendations
frequently than any of the other reforms.
were assessed against 5 Australian Government
policy priorities, 6 future scenarios and for the • Each recommendation’s detailed assessment,
simplicity of deliverability. and its supporting evidence base, will be
included in detailed plans that will be released for
• Reforms to support infrastructure Industry
6. Water
each of the six infrastructure sectors and three
productivity and innovation and Water
cross-sector themes.
performed most consistently against the
Australian Government policy priorities as
outlined in Infrastructure Australia’s Statement of
7. Telecommunications
Expectations.1 Sustainability and resilience, Energy,
and digital
Telecommunications and digital, Transport and
Place reforms also performed strongly.
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
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References
5
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
The Reform Priority List is designed Every recommendation in the Plan is subject to impact
Results
assessment through multi-criteria analysis, as well as
to help guide decision-makers theory of change, which has been used to identify
The 2021 Plan, supported by the 2021 Reform Priority reform pathways and articulate the activities that build
List and 2021 Implementation Pathway, provides a towards this change.
detailed evidence-based plan for governments to Theory of change articulates how the activities in each
1. Place
implement reforms that will create meaningful outcomes recommendation will lead to the intended outcomes by
for all Australians. linking the logical steps together over the 2021 Plan’s
The 2021 Reform Priority List assesses the relative 15-year timeline. Multi-criteria analysis identifies the
impact of proposed reforms. It is intended to help expected impacts of each recommendation.
2. Sustainability
policymakers understand the positive impacts,
trade‑offs and implementation challenges through a A pathway to reform that is
wide‑ranging set of criteria and is supported by analysis
in the detailed plans.
pragmatic and practical
Infrastructure Australia has developed the 2021 Plan
To help inform government prioritisation and
using a user-centred design process, as shown in
planning, the 2021 Reform Priority List also:
3. Industry
Figure 1.
• identifies where reforms align with stated
Australian Government policy priorities The 2021 Plan is founded on the discovery and definition
of issues and evidence set out in the 2019 Audit, which
• indicates where reforms would be expected to have describes Australia’s infrastructure challenges and
greater impact under different future scenarios. opportunities.
4. Transport
The first phase of the 2021 Plan developed a
The right tools for policy development vision for Australia in response to these challenges
The 2021 Plan draws on established policy development and opportunities by engaging and partnering
frameworks to identify deliverable reforms that support with stakeholders with deep knowledge of the
quality of life for all Australians, including theory of required changes.
5. Energy
change and multi-criteria analysis. The potential reforms were then refined and prioritised
The 2021 Reform Priority List employs multi-criteria by applying a theory of change approach. This
analysis to identify the expected impacts of each reform resulted in the 29 recommendations in the 2021 Plan.
recommendation. Reforms have been defined by recommendations,
outcome and activities, with each assigned a time
Multi-criteria analysis is a tool used in policy and project
6. Water
period, a geographic impact and a change agent.
prioritisation processes to assess and compare options.
Change agents are categorised into:
It is often used to complement and target quantitative
analyses such as cost–benefit analysis and regulatory • proposed sponsor: facilitate, coordinate and
impact statements, which should be undertaken by champion the recommendation
7. Telecommunications
agencies implementing a recommendation. • proposed lead: deliver specific activities or lead
and digital
For the 2021 Plan, Infrastructure Australia has used related outcomes
multi-criteria analysis to assess: • support: share ownership, contributions or
• the trade-offs between beneficial impacts for knowledge to enable the reform process.
community sustainability and services for users, Multi-criteria analysis has been used to assess the
infrastructure
against the ease and risk of implementation
8. Social
impact of reforms. These assessments are included
• the impact of reforms against a set of criteria in the 2021 Reform Priority List.
designed to identify these benefits, risks and
challenges
• alignment of recommendations with a set
9. Waste
government policy priorities
• the recommendations that are likely to be resilient to
a set of future scenarios.
In addition to using multi-criteria analysis to assess
Icon glossary
the recommendations in the 2021 Plan, Infrastructure
Australia has recently included multi-criteria analysis
guidance in the refreshed 2021 edition of the
Infrastructure Australia Assessment Framework.3
References
6
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Figure 1: User-centred design makes the reforms in the 2021 Plan relevant and actionable
Results
Activities
Issue Evidence Stakeholders Outputs Outcomes Impacts
and input
1. Place
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Reforms to meet
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infrastructure needs 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan
Discover Define Infrastructure beyond COVID-19
A national study on the impacts of the pandemic on Australia
An Interim Report for the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan
Develop Deliver
December 2020 Produced in collaboration with 1
Priorities and
Reforms for our
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3. Industry
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4. Transport
Challenges and Reform Impact assessment
opportunities recommendations of reforms
Subsequent detailed work should inform implementation
5. Energy
Together, the 2021 Plan and the 2021 Reform Priority These assessments will then be the basis for
List present an evidence-based plan for achieving policy assessment processes such as regulatory
better outcomes for all Australians. These documents impact statements and cost–benefit analyses, and
should inform subsequent detailed assessments should be used to drive the subsequent design and
of the activities and options required to implement implementation of reforms.
the recommendations.
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
7
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
II. How we assessed reform impacts
Results
1. Place
Assessing the impact of policy recommendations
Multi-criteria analysis is often used in policy and It provides a strategic framework for qualitatively
project prioritisation processes to complement assessing the potential impact and implementation
and target quantitative analyses (for example, challenges of each reform. Our aim is to help inform,
2. Sustainability
cost–benefit analyses) that should be undertaken before rather than replace, a quantitative assessment such as a
implementing significant reform. business case or regulatory impact statement before a
decision is made.
Infrastructure Australia has used multi-criteria analysis as
a framework for qualitatively identifying the impacts and This qualitative analysis is particularly important in
trade-offs for the recommendations in the 2021 Plan. the context of policy recommendations, where it is
3. Industry
We have also recently included best-practice guidance essential to consider impacts that are difficult or costly to
on its use in the Infrastructure Australia Assessment monetise. These include:
Framework.4
• impacts related to governance or social equity
This multi-criteria analysis framework identifies the issues, such as service availability across different
impacts of the recommendations across benefits for places
4. Transport
service users and community sustainability, risk and
• challenges, such as governance capacity
ease of implementation.
• risks, such as community acceptance, that could not
be captured in a quantitative analysis.
5. Energy
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
8
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Results
Where else is multi-criteria analysis used?
Multi-criteria analysis is used frequently by • The Victorian Guide to Regulation, which identifies
government agencies to assess projects and policies. multi-criteria analysis as an appropriate tool for
Examples include: assessing policy effects that cannot easily be
monetised, such as social equity outcomes.7
1. Place
• Transport for NSW’s Principles and Guidelines for
Economic Appraisal of Transport Investment and • The Queensland Government’s Smarter
Initiatives, which describes multi-criteria analysis Solutions: Multi-criteria Analysis Tool, which
as an evaluation tool used for decision-making provides decision-makers with a framework
between a range of projects or options that are for undertaking multi-criteria analysis, ensuring
2. Sustainability
not easily quantifiable.5 that a consistent approach is applied and that
the structure of decision problems effectively
• The North East Link Business Case Options
captures the benefits and impacts of low-cost and
Assessment, which used multi-criteria
non‑infrastructure solutions.8
analysis to test the strategic merit of options
before quantitative cost–benefit analysis
3. Industry
was undertaken.6
4. Transport
Principles and Guidelines for Economic Appraisal
of Transport Investment and Initiatives
Transport Economic Appraisal Guidelines
Victorian Guide to Regulation
A handbook
for policy-makers
Appendix D
C
in Victoria
M
Y
Options Assessment
CM
MY
CY
CMY
5. Energy
K
February 2018
B
Smarter solutions
Multi-Criteria Analysis Tool – User Guide
June 2019
March 2016
6. Water
Source: Transport for NSW (2016), Victorian Government (2016, 2018), Queensland Government (2019)
7. Telecommunications
and digital
Impact criteria focus on what matters to the community
The multi-criteria analysis framework contains • Ease of implementation, which helps governments
33 criteria in 13 impact categories, against which understand the potential delivery challenges and
infrastructure
each recommendation has been assessed. trade-offs across the costliness and complexity
8. Social
of the reform, and the capacity of government and
The criteria were selected through specialist input
industry to deliver it.
and by empowering 1,800 people and 200 businesses in
a focused engagement process to prioritise criteria that • Risks to success, which indicate risks for the
are most meaningful to the community. implementation of policy recommendations across
community and stakeholder acceptance, the level
9. Waste
As shown in Table 1, these criteria provide a framework
of confidence in the analysis of impacts, and the
for qualitatively assessing impacts across:
extent of government control over the success of the
• Service users, categorised into impacts on quality, reform.
access and affordability of services, which was the
framework applied by the 2019 Audit.
Icon glossary
• Community sustainability, assessed through a
quadruple-bottom-line approach to economic,
environmental, social and governance impacts for
community sustainability, as outlined in Infrastructure
Australia’s Sustainability Principles.9
References
9
Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Table 1: Each recommendation is assessed against 33 impact criteria
Results
Impact themes Impact categories Impact criteria
Service users Quality 1. Provides a fast service that is easy to use
1. Place
2. Services available with minimal disruption and variance in quality
3. Enhanced safety and security for users
Access 4. Comparable services across all places
2. Sustainability
5. Services on demand when users need them
6. Improved access for disadvantaged groups
Affordability 7. Pricing reflects usage and costs to deliver the service
8. Affordability for an average Australian household
3. Industry
9. Costs distributed fairly based on users’ ability to pay
Community Economic 10. Improved efficiency
sustainability
11. Improved access to a higher-quality workforce
4. Transport
12. Increases national employment or Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Environmental 13. Supports waste reduction and circular economy
14. Reduced harmful air and water pollution
5. Energy
15. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
Social 16. Opportunities for education and employment
17. Reduced anti-social behaviour and crime
18. Improved health outcomes
6. Water
Governance 19. Improved planning and decision-making within government
20. Transparency of decision-making
7. Telecommunications
21. Consideration of the needs of local communities and businesses
and digital
Ease of Costliness 22. Minimises upfront and ongoing costs
implementation
23. Minimises financial burden on the taxpayer
Complexity 24. Minimises time to implement
infrastructure
8. Social
25. Minimises complexity of implementation
Capacity 26. Capability of government to implement
27. Capacity of industry to deliver
Risks to success Acceptance 28. Community acceptance
9. Waste
Confidence 29. Expected impacts are clear
30. Confidence that benefits will be achieved
31. Confidence that reform will be successful during COVID-19 recovery
Icon glossary
32. Quality and availability of supporting evidence
Control 33. Extent of government control over success of reform
References
10Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Impacts assessed on a five‑point scale
Results
Each recommendation is scored against the 33 criteria It shows the extent to which the suggested
as having a high negative, low negative, neutral, low recommendation minimises the upfront and ongoing
positive or high positive impact, as shown in Table 2. costs of implementation.
Scoring is a qualitative assessment of the impact, based The scoring and evidence for each of the 33 criteria
1. Place
on available evidence and supported by specialist will be included in the detailed plans for each sector
judgement. or cross-sectoral issues.
As an example of how the five-point scale is applied, the Infrastructure Australia will also be releasing a guidance
table includes the intended qualitative meaning of each note on how impacts have been assessed against the
2. Sustainability
score for an example criterion. five-point scale in each criterion. This will be available
on the Infrastructure Australia website.
Table 2: Each criterion is graded on a five‑point scale
3. Industry
Qualitative Score Description Example criterion: ‘minimises
rating upfront and ongoing costs’
Large reduction in the total
High 5 High positive support for meeting the criteria costs from what would
4. Transport
otherwise be spent
Small, or potential, reduction
Low 4 Low positive support for meeting the criteria in financial cost, compared to
business as usual
5. Energy
No net change to financial cost,
No impact 3 No support for meeting the criteria (N/A)
compared to business as usual
Requires some further investment,
Low negative 2 Low negative support for meeting the criteria
above business as usual
6. Water
Requires substantially more
High negative 1 High negative support for meeting the criteria financial resources than would
otherwise be spent
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
11Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Evidence-based qualitative assessment
Results
While the impact assessment scores are qualitative, they Evidence for long-term reforms is often qualitative or
are evidence-based. circumstantial, but we encourage and support change
agents to undertake more detailed and quantitative
Our analysis is complemented by examining detailed
assessments as part of implementing the reforms.
studies, pilots and deployments of the proposed reforms
1. Place
domestically and in other jurisdictions. This evidence Table 3 shows how the scoring and use of evidence will
is set out in the forthcoming detailed plans for each be presented in the detailed plans.
sector and cross-sector, which will be released after the
2021 Plan to provide further evidence to support our
case for reform.
2. Sustainability
Table 3: C
riteria are supported by justifications and evidence
Impact criteria Score Justification Evidence
3. Industry
‘Minimises upfront and Qualitative scale, Provides a qualitative justification for the References as evidence that supports the
ongoing costs’ as per Table 2 impact assessment score that draws on assessment of the criterion
relevant evidence where appropriate
4. Transport
Making impact assessment work for policymakers
To help inform policy decision-making, we have used These survey results also helped us to understand the
multi-criteria analysis to be able to compare the reforms. relative importance of each criterion relative to each
5. Energy
We prioritised reforms in 13 different ways, in order to other. We used the average of the importance ratings
indicate how they deliver on the Australian community’s (out of 5) to produce weightings for each criterion,
priorities, align well with Australian Government policy adding to a total of 100%. By using this to produce
priorities, and impact under potential future scenarios. aggregate scores for each reform, we were able to
determine which reforms have the greatest impact on
Identifying which reforms best the balance of community priorities.
6. Water
deliver on community priorities We found that the community placed high importance
on most criteria, which meant that most criteria
To understand how the Australian community contributed equally to the total. In summary, for
7. Telecommunications
prioritise costs, risks and benefits of infrastructure, assessing reforms against community priorities, we
we conducted a 2,000-member community survey
and digital
used these community priorities weightings:
conducted in June 2020.10 We asked individuals and
businesses to rank and rate the importance of four • service user impacts: 25.6%
impact themes (service user impacts, community • community sustainability impacts: 25.6%
sustainability impacts, ease of implementation and
risk), as well as a long list of impact criteria that • ease of implementation: 23.8%
infrastructure
8. Social
were relevant to them (service user and community • risks to success: 25.0%
sustainability impacts). We used these results to inform
which criteria were most important to the community, The 6 ease of implementation and 6 risk criteria were
resulting in the 33 impact criteria shown in Table 1. equally weighted within their impact theme, while we
used the survey results to set the weightings of the 21
service user and community sustainability criteria.
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
12Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Reforms can align with different policy priorities
Results
As the successful implementation of these • provides or underpins services that deliver economic
recommendations depends on government action over and social benefits to Australians
a long time, recommendations have been assessed
• has an important role in shaping cities that are
for their alignment to the explicit policy priorities of the
productive and liveable
Australian Government.
1. Place
• provides connectivity to regional and remote parts of
Infrastructure Australia’s Statement of Expectations
Australia.
provides a useful reference point for understanding
these priorities.11 These have been translated into five policy priorities
against which to assess the impact of recommendations,
2. Sustainability
As well as the community-weighted baseline assessment,
as shown in Table 4.
we assessed recommendations against the stated
Australian Government objectives that infrastructure:
Table 4: How policy priorities translate from the Statement of Expectations
3. Industry
Policy priority Description
Recommendations most likely to provide economic benefits to Australians, including
4. Transport
Economic benefits
increased national employment or GDP
Recommendations most likely to increase quality of life to Australians, including improved
Social benefits access for disadvantaged groups, health outcomes, affordability, and opportunities for
education and employment
5. Energy
Recommendations most likely to make cities more productive, through efficiency benefits,
higher-quality workforce or greater services on demand
Productive cities
Only recommendations relevant to Fast-growing Cities or Smaller Cities and Regional Centres
are considered
6. Water
Recommendations most likely to make cities more liveable, through addressing social,
environmental and governance outcomes
Liveable cities
Only recommendations relevant to Fast-growing Cities or Smaller Cities and Regional Centres
7. Telecommunications
are considered
and digital
Recommendations most likely to increase connectivity and equality of outcomes between
Connected regions regions
Recommendations that only impact Fast-growing Cities are not considered
infrastructure
8. Social
A multi-criteria analysis framework allows weighting • de-weight or ignore criteria that are not relevant to
adjustments to reflect different priorities. This has been it (for example, ‘increases national employment or
applied to the five policy priorities. Adjusting weightings Gross Domestic Product’ is ignored in the ‘social
for priorities maintains the evidence-based impact benefits’ policy priority weighting profile).
assessments in the 33 criteria while increasing or
9. Waste
Changing the weightings still draws on the same
decreasing the weighting of the impact according to
evidence-based impact assessment scoring as the
what aligns with each policy priority.
community-weighted baseline.
We assessed the impact against each policy priority by
To determine performance against the policy priorities,
re-weighting the 33 criteria to either:
the reforms were assessed against the same criteria
Icon glossary
• increase the weighting of criteria that support with new weightings.
the priority (for example, ‘improved access for
Table 5 explains how criteria have been re‑weighted
disadvantaged groups’ is strongly weighted
under each policy priority
under the ‘social benefits’ policy priority
weighting profile); or
References
13Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Table 5: Each policy priority emphasises specific criteria through weightings
Results
Impact Impact Impact
themes category criteria
Economic Social Productive Liveable Connected
1. Place
benefits benefits cities cities regions
Service users Quality 1. Provides a fast service that
is easy to use High Low
2. Sustainability
2. Services available with
minimal disruption and High High
variance in quality
3. E
nhanced safety and
security for users Low High
Access 4. Comparable services
3. Industry
across all places Low Max
5. S
ervices on demand when
users need them High High Low
6. Improved access for
disadvantaged groups Max
4. Transport
Affordability 7. Pricing reflects usage
and costs to deliver the Low High
service
8. Affordability for an
average Australian Low High Low
5. Energy
household
9. Costs distributed fairly
based on users’ ability High
to pay
Community Economic 10. Improved efficiency
sustainability Low Max
6. Water
11. Improved access to a
higher‑quality workforce Low High
12. Increases national
Max Low
7. Telecommunications
employment or GDP
and digital
Environmental 13. Supports waste reduction
and circular economy Low
14. R
educed harmful air and
water pollution High
15. Reduced greenhouse
infrastructure
Low
8. Social
gas emissions
Social 16. O
pportunities for
education and High High
employment
17. R
educed anti-social
behaviour and crime Low High
9. Waste
18. Improved health
outcomes High High
Governance 19. Improved planning and
decision-making Low
Icon glossary
20. Transparency of
decision‑making
21. C
onsideration of the
needs of local communities High Low High
and businesses
References
14Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Results
Impact Impact Impact
themes category criteria
Economic Social Productive Liveable Connected
benefits benefits cities cities regions
1. Place
Ease of Costliness 22. Minimises upfront and
implementation ongoing costs High
23. Minimises financial
burden on the taxpayer Low
2. Sustainability
Complexity 24. M
inimises time to
implement
25. Minimises complexity
of implementation
Capacity 26. Capability of government
3. Industry
to implement Low
27. Capacity of industry to
deliver Low
Risks to Acceptance 28. Community acceptance
success Low
4. Transport
Confidence 29. Expected impacts are
clear Low
30. Confidence that benefits
will be achieved Low
5. Energy
31. C
onfidence that reform
will be successful during High High
COVID-19 recovery
32.Quality and availability of
supporting evidence
Control 33. E
xtent of government
6. Water
control over success of
reform
Note: Only the criteria that are most relevant for addressing the policy priority retains a weighting. The relevant weightings are then redistributed from the
7. Telecommunications
community priorities weightings, according to a tiered hierarchy of their relevance. In order of importance, the tiers are Max, High and Low, and the weightings
by policy priority sum to 100%.
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
15Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Some reforms may be easier Different future developments could
Results
to implement affect these impacts
The risks and ease of implementation impacts were Infrastructure Australia’s Statement of Expectations also
included in the multi-criteria analysis to allow for asked Infrastructure Australia to consider a range of
consideration of the challenges and trade-offs of possible future developments.12
1. Place
implementing the recommendations.
We developed five scenarios depicting possible futures
It is also useful to consider the deliverability of to consider their potential effects on recommendation
recommendations. This helps policy-makers consider impacts (see Table 6).
which reforms are likely to face the lowest barriers
In line with the qualitative nature of multi-criteria analysis,
2. Sustainability
to implementation, and those reforms that could be
scenarios describe how the world could be qualitatively
accelerated.
different to our current baseline assumptions.
The reforms assessed through the multi-criteria analysis
The assumptions used in the baseline assessment were
as having a relatively high-ease, low-risk implementation
drawn from the Australian Government 2021–2022
are identified as ‘low-hanging fruit’.
Budget Paper No. 1.13 The scenarios were qualitatively
3. Industry
This assessment only considers the 12 criteria within the defined using the seven future trends identified in the
impact themes of ‘risks’ and ‘ease of implementation’. 2019 Audit, as well as COVID-19 recovery scenarios,
as identified in Infrastructure Beyond COVID-19
(see Table 7).
4. Transport
Table 6: Five future Australian scenarios that could affect the impacts of recommendations
Future state Description
5. Energy
Budget 2021–22 Outlook.14 Recent record rates of economic growth are expected to moderate but
Baseline
remain higher than global averages, and COVID-19 vaccines are fully available by the end of 2021.
Bounce back to Faster global and local recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fast population growth, greater
6. Water
rapid recovery centralisation in cities, trend economic growth and greater return to cities and offices.
Longer-lasting global pandemic and additional domestic outbreaks. Slower population growth,
7. Telecommunications
Slow recovery from
below trend economic growth for the medium-term, significantly less international movement of
a sustained pandemic
people and some trade effects.
and digital
Faster population growth in regions. Lower demand for inner city business and residential locations
Regionalised Australia
and significantly more working from home. infrastructure
8. Social
Faster adoption of digital technologies by consumers and society. A higher rate of digital
Digital Australia
transformation, faster-closing digital divide, greater digital and technological literacy.
9. Waste
Increased risk and impacts of disaster. Greater incidence of natural disasters, increased political
Destabilised world
instability, increased cyberwarfare and cybercrime.
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References
16Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Table 7: T
he five future scenarios are qualitatively defined
Results
Future trend Baseline Future scenario
1. Place
Bounce back Slow Regionalised Digital Destabilised
to rapid recovery Australia Australia world
recovery from a
sustained
2. Sustainability
pandemic
Quality of life Household consumption Faster rising Greater Shocks reduce
and equity returns to trend in 2022. Greater quality of life inequality; quality of life
impacts on young and female lower quality
Australians.15 of life
3. Industry
Cost of living Wage growth remains low until Higher income Lower income Lower cost of
and incomes at least 2022. CPI moderate. growth growth living pressure
Unemployment 5.5% 2021 to in cities, but
4.5% 2024.16 higher in
regional areas
4. Transport
Community Trust in government highest in Higher trust in Lower trust in Greater Lower trust in
preferences and 13 years at 55%.17 government government participation government
expectations due to due to and due to
successful ongoing transparency ongoing crises
response issues through
technology
5. Energy
Economy and GDP expected to grow by Faster growth; Slower Higher Shocks reduce
productivity 4.25% in 2021–22 then higher growth; lower productivity productivity
moderate to 2.5%. Slow productivity productivity growth due and GDP
productivity growth.18 growth growth to technology growth
adoption
Population and Population growth is expected Faster Slower Population
6. Water
participation to fall to 0.1% in 2020–21 and population population growth
0.2% in 2021–22, the slowest growth and growth and centred in
growth in over a century.19 net overseas net overseas regions rather
migration migration than cities
7. Telecommunications
Technology No unexpected step changes Faster change
and digital
and data in adoption. Technology and adoption;
changes with trends over time, higher literacy
with Australia behind global
best practice.
Environment Some increased recurrence Faster Slower Greater Faster Faster climate
infrastructure
and resilience of natural disasters, consumption consumption exposure of change and change;
8. Social
environmental degradation growth growth population adoption of bigger
continuing. increases reduces to natural low-emissions disasters;
degradation degradation disasters technologies more frequent
shocks
COVID-19 Localised outbreaks occur Faster Slower
but are largely contained. return to return to
9. Waste
A population-wide Australian international international
vaccination program fully in mobility; mobility;
place by end 2021. 20 faster global slower
economic global
recovery economic
recovery
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References
17Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Different future developments may alter the assumptions This analysis is only intended as an indicative
Results
that underpin scoring in a multi-criteria analysis, so exploration of how the evidence-based assessment
have not been re-weighted in the baseline scorings to could change under different potential future
account for future developments. Our analysis therefore developments, and can be used to inform more detailed
reconsiders individual scoring. analysis during implementation.
We indicatively scored each recommendation
1. Place
against the 33 criteria to determine whether its impact Some reforms maintain their impact
would be better, worse, or unchanged if each scenario across all different versions of the future
eventuated. These five scenarios represent different versions of the
Using the baseline weightings, the more criteria that future, which may or may not come to fruition. In light of
2. Sustainability
were assessed as better or worse for a recommendation this uncertainty, recommendations that remain impactful
under a scenario, then the better or worse that regardless of what manifests have also been identified.
recommendation ranked under the future scenario. This ‘no regrets’ assessment has been made where a
We undertook this process separately from re‑weighting recommendation’s impact is only better, or unchanged,
the evidence-based baseline assessment and based it across all five scenarios. The overall impact of the
recommendation is considered for this assessment. This
3. Industry
on the judgement of sector specialists.
means that while a recommendation’s impact may be
It would not be feasible to compile a full evidence base reduced for one or two criteria, it can still be considered
like the community-weighted baseline assessment for no regrets if this is outweighed by more improvements
another five future scenarios, within the 2021 Plan. It is in impacts for other criteria.
therefore important that further evidence is gathered to
4. Transport
guide final decision-making and implementation.
5. Energy
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
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References
18Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
III. Reform recommendations
Results
1. Place
Table 8: L
ist of all recommendations
Rec Theme Chapter Page
2. Sustainability
Place-based outcomes for
1.1 Rethinking our Fast-growing Cities 36
communities
Place-based outcomes for
1.2 Strengthening Smaller Cities and Regional Centres 37
communities
3. Industry
Lifting access in Small Towns, Rural Communities Place-based outcomes for
1.3 38
and Remote Areas communities
Unlocking opportunity in Northern Australia Place-based outcomes for
4. Transport
1.4 39
and Developing Regions communities
2.1 Infrastructure planning for an uncertain future Sustainability and resilience 40
5. Energy
2.2 Technology-led sustainability Sustainability and resilience 41
Transparency and collaboration build trust
2.3 Sustainability and resilience 42
in decisions
6. Water
Industry productivity and
3.1 Improving planning, portfolios and pipelines 43
innovation
7. Telecommunications
Industry productivity and
3.2a Enhancing project outcomes 44
innovation
and digital
Industry productivity and
3.2b Enhancing project outcomes 45
innovation
infrastructure
Industry productivity and
3.3 Digital by default 46
8. Social
innovation
Industry productivity and
3.4 Next generation infrastructure investment 47
innovation
9. Waste
4.1 Getting the most out of our transport investments Transport 48
4.2 Connecting regional and remote Australia Transport 49
Icon glossary
4.3 Mobility choice made possible Transport 50
References
19Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Results
Rec Theme Chapter Page
4.4 A fairer price for every journey Transport 51
1. Place
5.1 Putting customers first Energy 52
5.2 A smart, affordable, reliable grid Energy 53
2. Sustainability
5.3 Powering a cheaper, cleaner future Energy 54
6.1 Securing our water future Water 55
3. Industry
6.2 Valuing water to create liveable communities Water 56
Improving the resilience of Australia’s
4. Transport
7.1 Telecommunications and digital 57
telecommunications
Putting customers at the heart of digital
7.2 Telecommunications and digital 58
infrastructure
5. Energy
7.3 Enabling Australia’s digital future Telecommunications and digital 59
Transforming social infrastructure to enhance
8.1 Social infrastructure 60
quality of life
6. Water
8.2 Partnerships to build communities Social infrastructure 61
7. Telecommunications
8.3 Social infrastructure is economic infrastructure too Social infrastructure 62
and digital
9.1 Valuing resources to enable a circular economy Waste 63
infrastructure
9.2 Waste data to drive innovation Waste 64
8. Social
Community-
weighted baseline Policy priorities
9. Waste
Community priorities Economic benefits Social benefits Productive cities Liveable cities Connected regions
Icon glossary
Deliverability Future scenarios
Low-hanging fruit Bounce back to Slow recovery from a Regionalised Digital Australia Destabilised world No regrets
rapid recovery sustained pandemic Australia
References
20Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
IV. Results and prioritisation
Results
1. Place
What the results mean
Infrastructure Australia has assessed the impact of each We expect the anticipated impact of each reform to vary
recommendation using multi‑criteria analysis. We have in response to the changing infrastructure environment,
used the theory of change methodology to ensure the so the resilience of reforms has been considered.
2. Sustainability
recommended reforms are structured to deliver impact.
We have not attempted to identify the single strongest
The multi-criteria analysis has been applied at performing reform, but rather reforms aligning with the
the recommendation level, incorporating the community’s priorities and a series of scenarios that
recommendation alongside its supporting outcomes warrant further planning.
and activities.
The results highlight the reform recommendations that
3. Industry
The results of the multi-criteria analysis highlight do well under certain criteria and scenarios. However,
which of the 29 recommendations proposed by the while these assessments highlight relative performance,
2021 Plan are most impactful under a range of future every reform included in the 2021 Plan is critical to a
developments and against the infrastructure policy particular sector or issue.
priorities of the Australian Government.
4. Transport
5. Energy
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
21Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Reforms that deliver on the community’s priorities
Results
Community priorities
Recommendations with the most beneficial impact on community priorities.
1. Place
In the Australian Government 2021–2022 Budget • Governments should strive to act as a model client
2. Sustainability
Outlook,21 recent record rates of economic growth are providing a clear and consistent long-term direction
expected to moderate but remain higher than global on next generation infrastructure investment. This
averages, and COVID-19 vaccines should become reform supports the increased alignment of the various
fully available by the end of 2021. Under this outlook, levels of Australian Government to ensure increased
the five recommendations that have the strongest capability, alignment and collaboration. This will involve
impact against the balance of community priorities the identification of a common vision for infrastructure
3. Industry
share commonalities in meeting the needs of the next and the sector that supports it.
generation through infrastructure planning that keeps
• Driven by water-literate communities, Australia must
them in mind (see Table 9).
enter a new phase of water efficiency to adapt to
• The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity an unpredictable future and to ensure urban, rural,
to rethink the role of our Fast-growing Cities, to environmental and cultural users have secure, long-
4. Transport
embed the positive behaviour changes associated term water supply. A consistent approach to measuring
with COVID-19 and to reshape the planning of water security risk enables stronger planning to support
cities for the future. Collaborative governance better health and environmental outcomes, with
aligns investment priorities to improve economic reduced frequency and intensity of water shortages.
development and support future employment
• In addition to being critical to the health of people, the
patterns.
5. Energy
environment and communities, water is a key driver of
• The infrastructure industry is large and globally it economic prosperity. It transforms urban environments
does not have endless capacity. Improved planning, into desirable places to live, work and visit. All
portfolios and pipelines enable Australia to remain Australians have a right to high-quality water for
an attractive market for investment. Investing in healthy communities. This is essential to strengthen
governance will improve affordability, unlock significant outcomes for health, wellbeing, economic prosperity
6. Water
economic productivity gains and lift industry capacity. and sustainable development.
Table 9: Community priority reforms
7. Telecommunications
and digital
Rec. Theme Chapter Page
1.1 Rethinking our Fast-growing Cities Place-based outcomes for communities 36
3.1 Improving planning, portfolios and pipelines Industry productivity and innovation 43 infrastructure
3.4 Next generation infrastructure investment Industry productivity and innovation 47
8. Social
6.1 Securing our water future Water 55
6.2 Valuing water to create liveable communities Water 56
9. Waste
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References
22Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Reforms aligning with the Australian Government’s infrastructure priorities
Results
Infrastructure Australia has assessed reforms against • has an important role in shaping cities that are
the Australian Government’s three objectives productive and liveable
for infrastructure, as defined in our Statement of
• provides connectivity to regional and remote parts of
Expectations.22 Namely, that infrastructure:
Australia.
1. Place
• provides or underpins services that deliver economic
We translated these objectives into five policy priorities then
and social benefits to Australians
assessed the impact of recommendations against them.
2. Sustainability
Economic benefits
Recommendations most likely to provide economic benefits to Australians, including
increased national employment or GDP.
3. Industry
Under the conditions detailed in the Australian and innovation in the infrastructure sector recognises
Government 2021–2022 Budget Outlook, reforms the the strong focus on the sector to supporting recovery
reforms most likely to strongly increase Australia’s and continuing to operate during potential COVID-19
economic performance are reforms to the functioning of outbreaks. Access to water and clean, affordable and
the infrastructure sector, as well as the energy and water reliable energy is also critical to Australian businesses
4. Transport
sectors (see Table 10). The strong focus on productivity and households.
Table 10: Reforms to deliver economic benefits
Rec. Theme Chapter Page
5. Energy
3.2b Enhancing project outcomes Industry productivity and innovation 45
3.3 Digital by default Industry productivity and innovation 46
3.4 Next generation infrastructure investment Industry productivity and innovation 47
6. Water
5.3 Powering a cheaper, cleaner future Energy 54
6.1 Securing our water future Water 55
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
23Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Social benefits
Results
Recommendations most likely to increase quality of life for Australians, including
improved access for disadvantaged groups, health outcomes, affordability, and
opportunities for education and employment.
1. Place
Reforms to support the quality of life of Australians are seen as central. So too, enhancements to infrastructure
fundamental to the 2021 Plan. Reforms in many sectors resilience and supporting growth in Northern Australia
are impactful against this vision, however hold a common and Developing Regions are priorities. This assessment
thread of supporting community choice and flexibility assumes economic conditions consistent with those
2. Sustainability
in access to infrastructure (see Table 11). Enhanced detailed in the Australian Government 2021–2022
customer-centricity, both business and household, in Budget Outlook.
telecommunications and digital, water and transport are
Table 11: R
eforms to deliver social benefits
3. Industry
Rec. Theme Chapter Page
Unlocking opportunity in Northern Australia and
1.4 Place-based outcomes for communities 39
Developing Regions
4. Transport
2.1 Infrastructure planning for an uncertain future Sustainability and resilience 40
4.3 Mobility choice made possible Transport 50
6.2 Valuing water to create liveable communities Water 56
5. Energy
7.2 Putting customers at the heart of digital infrastructure Telecommunications and digital 58
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
24Introduction
2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan 2021 Reform Priority List
Productive cities
Results
Recommendations most likely to make cities more productive, through efficiency
benefits, higher-quality workforce, or greater services on demand.
Only recommendations relevant to Fast-growing Cities or Smaller Cities and Regional
Centres are considered.
1. Place
The Australian Government has prioritised supporting should be given to managing the pipeline of large
the productivity of Australia’s cities. The reforms to infrastructure projects, electricity transmission rule
2. Sustainability
support the productivity of cities, is closely aligned to changes and supporting the electricity distribution grid
enhancing the economic performance of the country to cope with rapid electricity system decentralisation if
as a whole (see Table 12). However, added emphasis city productivity is to be prioritised.
Table 12: Productive cities reforms
3. Industry
Rec. Theme Chapter Page
3.1 Improving planning, portfolios and pipelines Industry productivity and innovation 43
3.3 Digital by default Industry productivity and innovation 46
4. Transport
3.4 Next generation infrastructure investment Industry productivity and innovation 47
5.2 A smart, affordable, reliable grid Energy 53
6.1 Securing our water future Water 55
5. Energy
6. Water
7. Telecommunications
and digital
infrastructure
8. Social
9. Waste
Icon glossary
References
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