Infrastructure Australia has simplified its Infrastructure Priority List to provide clearer investment advice to governments, industry, and community.
The changes are part of the mid-year update to the 2021 Infrastructure Priority List.
Rather than use the terms “projects” and “initiatives”, the list includes “proposals” at four different stages of the project lifecycle.
Infrastructure Australia has also removed the high priority classification to enable decisions based on factors such as timeframe, location, sector and category of the problem or opportunity.
Funded proposals were also removed to provide a focused list of potential investment opportunities.
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Infrastructure Australia Chief Executive Romilly Madew said it is vital that the Federal Government and other potential investors have access to clear, independent advice on the infrastructure investments that will help Australia build back stronger.
“The Infrastructure Priority List provides evidence-based advice to support an informed discussion about Australia’s investment priorities. It is a resource for governments as they look to respond to shocks and stresses such as the pandemic, natural disasters and security threats, but it also takes a forward-looking view to ensure we prioritise the right infrastructure investments, at the right time,” Madew said.
“Although the Infrastructure Priority List is published in February each year, since 2020 Infrastructure Australia has published a mid-year update to ensure the investment opportunities highlighted are current and able to be considered for funding by governments within existing budgetary processes.
“We recently published the 2021 Assessment Framework, which provides clear and best-practice instructions on how to develop strong business cases for major infrastructure proposals. With a new, user-friendly Assessment Framework in place, we are now simplifying the Infrastructure Priority List to improve its value, structure and readability and support better infrastructure decision-making in Australia.”