Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Social Sustainability) Bill 2017 (Cth)

On 13 February 2017, the Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Social Sustainability) Bill 2017 [CTH] (the Bill), a private member's bill introduced by MP Cathy McGowan, was introduced into the Federal House of Representatives.

The purpose of the Bill is to strengthen the social and community benefit considerations that are assessed when Infrastructure Australia looks at the value of infrastructure projects, auditing existing infrastructure, compiling lists of infrastructure priorities and developing infrastructure plans. It also requires Infrastructure Australia to consult with the community when developing corporate plans and consider the future needs of users when providing advice to the Minister, Commonwealth, State, Territory and local governments, investors in infrastructure and owners of infrastructure.

Role of Infrastructure Australia

The role of role of Infrastructure Australia is to provide advice on nationally significant infrastructure priorities by auditing, reviewing, evaluating, researching and promoting infrastructure proposals. The current Act has a strong focus on the economic and productivity considerations of infrastructure, with little attention paid to the social benefits of infrastructure proposals.

Amendments within the Bill

The Bill amends the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008 (Cth) to require Infrastructure Australia to evaluate the social and community benefits of Infrastructure projects, giving equal treatment to the economic and productivity gains. The intent is that, by Infrastructure Australia assessing the social benefits of infrastructure projects, that benefits connectivity (including public transport) would be considered a priority for rural and regional areas as well as for freight movement.

As stated by the Explanatory Memorandum, under the current arrangements, Infrastructure Australia consideration is heavily weighted towards the economic productivity gains of infrastructure and does not fully account for the social and community needs. The current infrastructure priorities list includes many rail project. Among those in rural and regional Australia the focus is only on improving freight movement and not providing passenger services. The driver for infrastructure outside of capital cities is measured in economic terms and not social good. This is unlike projects in the cities which largely focus on easing urban congestion, a clear social benefit.

In her second reading speech, the MP emphasised the impact of infrastructure proposals on rural and regional Australia.

The Bill now proceeds to Second Reading Debate in the House of Representatives.

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