Infrastructure Australia (IA) has published new guidelines to introduce greater transparency and accountability in decision-making for major infrastructure projects.
IA’s Infrastructure Decision-making Principles have been designed to ensure major public infrastructure investments deliver the best outcomes for the community and the best value for taxpayers, and reduce instances of major projects receiving funding before appropriate planning and assessment.
Outgoing Chief Executive of IA, Philip Davies said that too often there were instances of projects being committed to before a business case had been prepared, a full set of options had been considered, and rigorous analysis of the project’s benefits and costs had been undertaken.
“Ultimately, we want to ensure that community needs are properly understood, all options considered and communities consulted before projects are committed, Mr Davies said.
“This should include making better use of existing infrastructure by deploying new technologies or utilising the data we’re already collecting.”
He said the Infrastructure Decision-making Principles is intended to act as a guide for Australia’s Governments, “establishing clear lines of responsibility and accountability for major infrastructure projects and providing the broader community with a clear set of expectations with which to hold decision-makers to account”.
He said IA wanted to see Australia’s Governments do more to engage with communities, both in communicating long‑term infrastructure plans, problem identification and by incorporating community input in a meaningful way into the project development processes.
“Part of this involves being more transparent around project decision-making by publicly releasing the analysis and processes that form the basis of funding decisions,” Mr Davies said.
He said he was grateful for the opportunity to present the new guidelines as he completed his term as Chief Executive” and to establish clear standards — for Government and the community — of what should be expected from infrastructure delivery in this country”.
IA’s four-page guidelines can be accessed at this PS News link.
