List of recommendations

2.66The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool be utilised by the Australian Climate Service to examine projected impacts on strategic road network routes.

2.68The Committee recommends that clearer demarcation of climate data and sharing responsibilities between the Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and state and territory and local governments be established to facilitate adequate warning and risk mitigation.

3.186The Committee recommends that the Australian Government propose that road asset infrastructure resilience planning and investment frameworks be made a standing item on the Infrastructure and Transport Senior Officials’ Committee meeting agenda.

3.188The Committee recommends that the Australian Government propose that the Infrastructure and Transport Senior Officials’ Committee, in consultation with Austroads and other relevant stakeholders, progress the development of national road infrastructure resilience guidelines to inform asset management and project investment.

3.190The Committee recommends that the Australian Government establish a review into the distribution formula of the Financial Assistance Grants road component.

3.192The Committee recommends that the Australian Government review funding allocation to support road asset maintenance works under its Infrastructure Investment Program and consider other measures to incentivise increased investment in maintenance works.

3.194The Committee recommends that the Australian Government, as part of the development of a Federation Funding Agreements Schedule on transport infrastructure, assess options to improve the alignment and coordination of funding programs and application and approval processes with state and territory partner-funded bodies.

3.195The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state and territory governments to establish consultation mechanisms with local governments to consider road infrastructure priorities at the local level.

3.197The Committee recommends that the Australian Government review the funding approval timeframes as part of the joint Australian-State and Territory Government Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

3.199The Committee recommends that the Australian Government implement options for greater flexibility for betterment funding for resilient infrastructure builds, where structural, economic or social benefits are identified, through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements eligibility criteria following natural disaster events.

3.201The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate options to include flexibility to fund preparedness measures through Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements to assist in mitigating against future disaster events.

3.202The Committee recommends that the Australian Government’s National Emergency Management Agency increase awareness and education around betterment options under Category B Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

3.205The Committee recommends that the National Emergency Management Ministers’ Meeting include infrastructure resilience on its agenda to foster cross-agency collaboration and coordination across the Australian Government.

3.209The Committee recommends that the Australian Government encourage its state and territory counterparts to work with local governments to facilitate local council collectives to deliver road asset management projects and to guide voluntary road user agreement negotiations with industry.

4.155The Committee recommends that the Australian Government collaborate with state and territory governments, the scientific community, and industry to revise national road infrastructure design and construction standards, allowing for:

state and territory and place-based resilience requirements

contemporary and adaptive engineering and design principles

innovative and recycled technologies

local government assistance to access innovative technologies and recycled materials

consideration and identification of climate resilient corridors, including through the Australian Government’s Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport and Research Economics’ Road and Rail Supply Chain Resilience Review.

It is expected that the standards would be informed by Austroads Guides, National Transport Research Organisation research, Bureau of Meteorology and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation research, and industry standards.

4.157The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strengthen procurement requirements under the new Federation Funding Agreements Schedule on transport infrastructure for state and territory government co-funded project proposals to incorporate resilience design, minimum road construction requirements, and performance specifications to enable sustainable long-term resilience over an asset’s lifecycle.

4.159The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strengthen procurement project specifications under the new Federation Funding Agreements Schedule for state and territory government co-funded project proposals to include minimum or preferred requirements for the use of innovative road asset technologies and recyclable materials and methodologies to enable sustainable long-term asset resilience and support a circular economy.

4.161The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with its state and territory counterparts and industry to raise awareness and education of innovative technologies and recyclable materials and construction methods to support road asset infrastructure sustainability and support a circular economy.

4.164The Committee recommends all levels of Government to undertake a proactive approach to build and strengthen their data skills and capabilities to inform better decisions, particularly on road conditions and accidents.

4.165The Committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state, territory and local governments and road agencies, including Austroads and the National Transport Research Organisation, to address existing road asset data gaps by developing a comprehensive understanding of the road network condition and standardised road asset dataset, with agreement on the following:

a common definition of road asset data

a consistent format across road asset data collection and storage.

4.167The Committee recommends that the Australian Government encourage state and territory governments to work with local governments to develop skills-based networks across council collectives to support asset management training and education to address workforce skills shortages across road construction and maintenance.

6.8The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strengthen bilateral ties with New Zealand and Samoa, particularly in relation to disaster management and infrastructure issues.

6.9The Committee recommends that the Australian Government highlight opportunities for Australian partnerships with Samoa through Austrade and communicate opportunities for joint ventures with Australian organisations.

6.10The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider development opportunities between the Australian Volunteers Program for Samoa and the Australian Engineers Association mentoring program and other relevant Australian mentoring programs.

6.13The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider options for a formal exchange program between the New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency and the Australian National Emergency Management Agency.

6.20The Committee recommends that the Australian Government develop legislation to provide for the introduction of measures to protect the rights of insured persons living in areas at risk of natural hazards, giving consideration to New Zealand’s Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023.