Facing Australia's Major Infrastructure Challenges by Omesh Jethwani

INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA

at delivering a single asset. For example, realising the social and economic benefits of a hospital requires the physical buildings to be well integrated with transport infrastructure, so that people can access it. It’s about collaborating with communities, rather than informing them, to develop the strategic direction for their area, and getting buy-in early.

were awarded the World Green Building Council Chairman’s Award in 2017. You were named as ‘True Leaders’ by AFR BOSS Magazine’s and ‘100 Game Changers’ by Vogue Australia Magazine in 2018. How has your journey been? My career and life has traversed a variety of different roles from studying Agricultural Economics, owning a vineyard, winery and restaurant with my husband, working in a law firm, then real estate and now infrastructure as well as being a lifesaver. I have always been active in both my community and place of work, driven to make a difference. I have not sought the recognition, however I am honoured to have been, but I have not done it alone. Through it all I have been lucky enough to work with some amazing and talented people including my family. There is still much more work to be done in my new role so part of me feels like I’m just getting started on a new journey in my current role. What are the main core functions of Infrastructure Australia? Essentially we have two core functions. The first is to evaluate business cases for nationallysignificant investment proposals seeking more than $100 million in commonwealth funding, which is part of our work in developing and maintaining the Infrastructure Priority List.

FACING AUSTRALIA’S MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES Omesh Jethwani, Government Projects & Programs Manager in-conversation with Romilly Madew AO, CEO Infrastructure Australia on the major challenges and opportunities facing Australia’s infrastructure over the next 15 years and beyond. You have quite an impressive resume. You have held Board positions with the Currawong State Park Advisory Board, Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Surf Life Saving Foundation and Chief Executive Women. You have sat on numerous ministerial panels including the Cities Reference Group, National Urban Policy Forum and the China/Australia Services Sector Forum. How did you come to take on the role of CEO Infrastructure Australia? Through my previous role as Chief Executive of

Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) for 13 years, I had been involved in Infrastructure Australia (IA) since its inception in 2008. The opportunity arose in 2018 to consider joining IA and I jumped at the opportunity, starting my role with IA in April this year taking the reins on an ambitious research and reform agenda. I love a challenge and I am passionate about place-making. Already I have found that the work in my previous roles have resonated with the current work I am doing: similar ambitions and challenges, but in a different sector. At GBCA I was able to develop a strong appreciation of the value in working

MBA NSW | Issue Four | October-December 2019

collaboratively to achieve policy outcomes and I knew that would serve me well at IA. Now instead of just buildings, it’s the sustainability of cities and their productivity that dominates the agenda. You were the National winner of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards (TBWA) in 2009. You were named one of the ‘100 Women of Influence’ by the Australian Financial Review and Westpac in 2012. The US Green Building Council awarded you the International Leadership Award in 2015. In the same year, the Planning Institute made you an Honorary Fellow of Australia. You

The second is to set the agenda on the longterm opportunities for infrastructure investment and reform that will improve living standards and national productivity. Underpinning all our investment and reform recommendations are our four-yearly national infrastructure Audits – the most recent of which was released in August this year. With the inception of Infrastructure Australia in 2008, its remit included transport, energy, water and telecommunications. However, in 2017, it changed its remit to include social infrastructure. Why was that? Social Infrastructure was added to our remit in our last Ministerial Statement of Expectations in 2017. The 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit, which presents a forward-looking view of Australia’s infrastructure challenges and opportunities over the next 15 years and beyond, examines the infrastructure needs of the Australian community and industry – and yes for the first time that includes social infrastructure. This reflects our view that the liveability of our communities is not only about more access to transport, energy, water, and telecommunications – but access to a whole range of supporting infrastructure like health, education, housing, justice, cultural spaces and green space.

The Australian population is growing in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. More than 60% of Australia’s population is in those four fast-growing cities, of which 40% is specifically in Sydney and Melbourne. It is predicted that these cities will have more than 6 million residents by 2031. How will Infrastructure Australia resolve the road congestion, crowding on public transport, growing demands of social infrastructure, including health, education and open space? IA is the nation’s independent infrastructure advisor. Our role is to provide research and advice to governments, industry and the community on the infrastructure investments and reforms that will benefit all Australians.

Romilly Madew AO Chief Executive Officer, Infrastructure Australia Social infrastructure is critical for social inclusion and cohesion. It provides the essential services required for communities to function, helps make places liveable and improves quality of life for the people living there.

Throughout our bodies of work our rigorous and independent analysis identifies infrastructure needs and opportunities, to ensure that our infrastructure funds are spent where they are needed most.

However the ease of access, quality and cost of social infrastructure varies across the country and we need to close the divide.

In the 2019 Audit, to address congestion and growth of cities, Australia’s current infrastructure program must do more than plug the immediate funding gap.

The Australian Infrastructure Audit was released in August 2019. The Audit takes a forward-looking view at the decisive trends impacting Australia’s infrastructure over the next 15 years and beyond. What were some of the key findings, and what has changed since the 2015 Audit? The release of the 2019 Audit comes at a particularly important time for infrastructure investment. We are facing a changing climate, a re-ordering of the world economy, and a reshaping of global institutions and norms. Closer to home, our population is growing and changing, the structure of the economy is shifting, and rapid technology change is fundamentally reshaping our day-to-day lives. This will have significant implications for how we plan, build and deliver infrastructure. In addition to the inclusion of social infrastructure in this year’s Audit, we have also identified the need for a stronger awareness of place making and what integrated requirements are needed in the future planning of communities. We look at the growing recognition that infrastructure and social services do not end

Changing and growing demand, and a mounting maintenance backlog is putting unprecedented pressure on the infrastructure services we rely on. More than $123 billion of construction work has commenced since 2015, with a committed forward pipeline of over $200 billion but we maintain that the current investment program must be the new normal. Rather than a short-term boom, the historic level of activity we are seeing in the sector must continue for the next 15 years If we look at project commitments in the short and medium-term pipeline, as well as major long-term commitments that haven’t yet been funded, we think this level of activity is likely to, and will in fact need to, stay elevated for more than a decade and potentially beyond. There are 3.3 million (12%) Australians who do not live in urban areas. What are some of the issues affecting them, and how are these issues being addressed? Australia has always been a vast country but we have seen declining populations in regional, rural and remote areas and at

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We also know that over a third of housing in remote areas is overcrowded and emergency services response times can be four times longer. These are just some of the examples of the disparity that is being felt in remote areas. Into the future one of the biggest concerns will be how these smaller towns are to stay connected to our cities. Truly staying connected will require not only transport options that are safe and efficient but we will need to keep pace with technology and ensure that our towns and smaller regional communities have the same access to telecommunications as the rest of Australia.

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On 14 February 2019, Infrastructure Australia had released the 2019 Infrastructure Priority List, presenting 121 nationally significant infrastructure proposals and a $58 billion project pipeline designed to guide investment towards projects that will deliver the best outcomes for Australia’s growing communities. What and who were involved in developing this list? The Priority List is a consensus list of nationally-significant investment opportunities that address critical gaps in our nation’s infrastructure. It is based on data from the Australian Infrastructure Audit, and submissions from state and territory governments, industry and the community, and importantly, the Priority List is a ‘living document’, which means it is continually updated as we assess new submissions. We have in place an Infrastructure Australia Assessment Framework, which provides detailed guidance on how a business case should be prepared and how we evaluate proposals. Our Infrastructure Audits also form the evidence base for the investment opportunities we identify in the Priority List.

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In releasing these pieces of work our aim is to promote a broader conversation about the infrastructure investments and reforms that will best serve our growing communities, so that industry and governments can strategically plan for Australia’s future. The 2020 Priority List is due to be released early in the first quarter of next year.

We also have a shortage of key professional skills in the rail sector, including drivers and signalling technicians, as well as shortages in electricity transmission construction and maintenance, and emerging technology sectors.

With twenty-five new infrastructure proposals included in this year’s publication, the 2019 Priority List identified a total of 8 High Priority Projects, 10 Priority Projects, 29 High Priority Initiatives and 74 Priority Initiatives. Care to elaborate for our readers? The current Priority List is the largest and most diverse list of investments we have ever produced in our decade-long history. Spanning across sectors, the 2019 Priority List identifies 125 nationally-significant proposals and a $60 billion project pipeline, made up of 22 Projects and 103 Initiatives. Projects are proposals for which we have seen and assessed a fully-developed business case, whereas initiatives are early-stage proposals that require further development. In the past four years, we have assessed projects totalling more than $100 billion of infrastructure investment. Many of this year’s new additions to the Priority List reflect the need for forward-thinking, ambitious solutions to support Australia’s future prosperity – such as the delivery of a national electric vehicle fast-charging network, which was identified as a High Priority Initiative. There are inherent skill shortages where infrastructure is concerned. What measures are being implemented to address these skill shortages? Right now, the Australian Government has a $100 billion, 10-year infrastructure program, and we are seeing substantial funding commitments by state governments across the country as well. In addition to driving community buy-in for this investment program, a key challenge that comes with sustained growth is ensuring that the infrastructure sector is actually equipped to deliver the projects we need. In particular, the Audit finds that addressing skill constraints across the infrastructure sector must be a priority for both governments and industry. In terms of delivering major projects in our fast-growing cities, the largest skill constraints are among professional project managers, bid

Despite the growth in infrastructure volumes and greater visibility over the national infrastructure pipeline, fewer people are commencing and completing apprenticeships. This is one of the key challenges that we have identified in our 2019 Audit. Further, the August COAG Communique states that “Delivering Australia’s infrastructure Pipeline.” Leaders committed to delivering a record pipeline of infrastructure investment that will significantly boost construction, create jobs, support Australia’s productivity and improve the amenity of our cities and regions. COAG discussed the benefits of increased or accelerated construction activity, and the need to manage cost and capacity pressures while maintaining the quality of construction. Leaders asked the COAG Transport and Infrastructure Council to commission analysis and provide advice on infrastructure market conditions in each jurisdiction to COAG by the end of 2019.” In your opinion, how do you think the concept of the built environment, technology, construction, productivity, liveability, sustainability, climate change, carbon emission, green buildings and infrastructure align with each other? It comes downs to quality of life and integrated place making. No longer can we look at construction without a better understanding of sustainable living or technology. Everything must feed into each other. Infrastructure is underpinned by all of these trends and forces because that is what effects how, where and the way we live. What is Infrastructure Australia aiming to achieve in the next decade? Our focus is on raising the quality of infrastructure planning and delivery throughout Australia. We aim to continue to do this by working closely and collaboratively with stakeholders across government and the infrastructure sector. We are charged with the responsibility to take a forward-looking view of the challenges and opportunities shaping our nation but it’s also about striving for best practice across planning, resourcing, procurement and contracting practices to better accommodate this sustained level of activity.

Issue Four | October-December 2019 | MBA NSW

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teams and skilled labour.

times this has resulted in funding shortfalls for vital infrastructure and assets from hospitals to schools. These lower population densities have reduced demand, making it difficult for local governments to secure funding to maintain green, blue or recreation infrastructure.