Infrastructure Australia (IA) is calling for submissions to the February 2022 publication of the Infrastructure Priority List, having recently announced a major refresh of its Assessment Framework.
Infrastructure Australia makes investment recommendations to the Australian Government after evaluating business cases for projects worth more than $250 million.
IA’s revised Assessment Framework guides the development of high-quality infrastructure proposals by providing nationally consistent assessment criteria.
IA recently launched its 2021 edition of the Assessment Framework, which allows for more holistic review of a proposal’s potential benefits, in addition to those that can be monetised through traditional cost-benefit analysis.
IA’s Chief Executive, Romilly Madew said the 2021 edition was prepared in response to input from stakeholders, aligning with state and territory approaches, and building on our Infrastructure Australia’s research and experience from assessing infrastructure proposals.
“One of the clear messages we have heard from stakeholders around the country, is that they wanted the Assessment Framework to provide more support for the consideration of broader community benefits that can be delivered through major infrastructure investment,” Ms Madew said.
Among key changes, the latest edition of the Framework proposes a simpler, four-stage process that aligns with state and territory frameworks and offers a clear and transparent definition of what makes a proposal nationally significant.
The launch of the Framework follows the release of Infrastructure Australia’s new Sustainability Principles in April. It also follows the 2019 Infrastructure Audit, which found Australian governments often fail to incorporate sustainability or resilience into their infrastructure projects, but by doing so could become world leaders.
The 2021 Assessment Framework will take effect immediately for Stage 1 submissions, with Stage 2 and Stage 3 submissions expected to align with the new guidance from 1 January 2022.
Read more at Roads & Infrastructure Australia