NSW infrastructure report card 2010

• Engineers Australia

Image: Nico Nelson / flickr

09 May 2011Infrastructure in NSW underpins the delivery of services that affect every part of the lives of the community. Sustainable economic growth of the State is dependent on good infrastructure and high quality infrastructure delivers a high standard of living through improvements to social, environmental and economic outcomes.

In 2003, Engineers Australia released its first NSW Infrastructure Report Card, which rated the overall fitness for purpose of certain types of economic infrastructure. That Report Card found that while the State’s infrastructure was better than the national average at the time, it required significant enhancement to meet NSW’s current and future needs. Poor coordination, planning and the low priority given to infrastructure were seen as major impediments to the State having good infrastructure. Seven years on, this 2010 Infrastructure Report Card examines the current state of NSW’s infrastructure to determine whether it meets current and anticipated future needs.

The State’s infrastructure is under stress in many areas and needs major changes to be fit for its current purpose. It is in average to poor condition. Given the expected population rise over the next 40 years, the public and private sector will need to invest a significant amount of money to bring NSW’s infrastructure up to a reasonable standard. While planning has occurred in some areas, there still remains a lack of strategic planning, coordination and integration and a commitment to existing plans. NSW also suffers from a disparity between the quality of infrastructure in rural and urban areas. Sound asset management practices need to be adopted across all infrastructure sectors, and issues such as demand management and a focus on sustainability and the potential impacts of climate change must become a higher priority.

To download the full report please click on the links below:

Part 1: Contents, Communique, Overview (PDF 4MB)
Part 2: Transport (PDF 17MB)
Part 3: Water (PDF 8MB)
Part 4: Energy (PDF 5MB)
Part 5: Telecommunications (PDF 2MB)
Part 6: Appendices (PDF 723KB)

Image: Nico Nelson / flickr