Infrastructure Australia released its annual Infrastructure Priority List in late February, which highlights approximately $58 billion worth of nationally significant projects and initiatives. The 2020 Infrastructure Priority List includes six high priority projects, 17 priority projects, 36 high priority initiatives and 88 priority initiatives as well as 37 new infrastructure proposals.
High priority and priority projects are advanced proposals that already have a full business case and have been assessed by Infrastructure Australia as capable of addressing a nationally significant problem or opportunity.
On the other hand, high priority and priority initiatives are projects that have been determined by Infrastructure Australia to have potential to address a nationally significant problem or opportunity.
For the last instalment of our 2020 Infrastructure Priority List blog series, we will cover National projects and initiatives as well as for Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory.
| Project | Status | Description | Timeframe |
| National: Inland Rail (Melbourne to Brisbane via inland NSW) | Priority project | Freight connectivity between Melbourne and Brisbane | 5 - 10 Years |
| Tasmania: University of Tasmania (Hobart Science and Technology Precinct | Priority project | Opportunity to stimulate economic growth and productivity in Tasmania | 0 - 5 Years |
| Tasmania: University of Tasmania (Northern Transformation Program) | Priority project | Opportunity to stimulate economic growth and productivity in Tasmania | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Regional road network safety improvements | High priority initiative | Safety on regional roads | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Town and city water security | High priority initiative | Water supply and resilience for town and city population | 0 - 15 Years |
| National: National water security | High priority initiative | Strategic planning for water capture, use and management | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Coastal inundation protection strategy | High priority initiative | Sea-level rise and flooding impacts | 10 - 15 Years |
| National: National waste and recycling management | High priority initiative | Waste management and recycling challenges | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: National road maintenance strategy | High priority initiative | Maintenance backlog and preventative maintenance | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Network Optimisation Program (Rail) | High priority initiative | National urban rail network congestion | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Network Optimisation Program (Roads) | High priority initiative | National urban road network congestion | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy (Implementation) | High priority initiative | National strategic planning for future freight initiatives | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Corridor preservation for East Coast High Speed Rail | High priority initiative | Future rail connectivity between east coast capital cities | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Remote housing overcrowding | High priority initiative | National remote housing conditions | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: National Electricity Market (Future connectivity and reliability) | High priority initiative | Connectivity of the National Electricity Market regions | 5 - 15 Years |
| National: National electric vehicle fast-charging network | High priority initiative | Enabling infrastructure | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Indigenous art and cultural facilities program | Priority initiative | Opportunity for a national program of Indigenous art and cultural centres | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Mobile telecommunications coverage in regional and remote areas | Priority initiative | Mobile telecommunications connectivity in regional and remote areas | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Advanced Train Management System implementation on the interstate rail network | Priority initiative | Rail freight capacity constraint on the interstate rail network | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Sydney-Canberra rail connectivity and capacity | Priority initiative | Rail connectivity between Sydney and Canberra | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: Connection between eastern gas markets and gas suppliers | Priority initiative | Constrained east coast gas market | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: National Electricity Market (Near-term optimisation) | Priority initiative | Optimisation of the National Electricity Market | 0 - 5 Years |
| National: East coast deep water container port capacity | Priority initiative | Capacity for large container ships on the east coast of Australia | 10 - 15 Years |
| Tasmania: Derwent River crossing capacity | Priority initiative | Tasmania Derwent River crossing capacity | 5 - 10 Years |
| Tasmania: Burnie to Hobart freight corridor improvement | Priority initiative | Freight network planning | 5 - 10 Years |
| Tasmania: Tasmanian sewerage infrastructure upgrades | Priority initiative | Tasmanian waste water treatment environment compliance | 0 - 5 Years |
| Tasmania: Tasmanian irrigation schemes (Tranche 3) | Priority initiative | Opportunity to develop industry and agriculture in Tasmania | 5 - 10 Years |
| ACT: Canberra public transport improvements | Priority initiative | Canberra public transport capacity | 5 - 10 Years |
| NT: Enabling infrastructure and essential services for remote NT communities (Wadeye, Tiwi Islands, Jabiru) | Priority initiative | Infrastructure services for remote Northern Territoty communities | 0 - 5 Years |
| NT: Tanami Road upgrade | Priority initiative | Constrained access to the Tanami region | 0 - 5 Years |
| NT: Darwin region water supply infrastructure upgrades | Priority initiative | Darwin water supply security | 5 - 10 Years |
*Note: Timeframes for projects are indicative of estimated time the project is likely to be delivered or completed, while timeframes for initiatives indicate the time the proposed projects are likely to become nationally significant.
Over the past week, we have covered in a series of posts the different projects and initiatives across Australia that were included in Infrastructure Australia’s 2020 Infrastructure Priority List. You can check out the other posts in this series here - New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia.
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Source: Infrastructure Australia