The Independent Strategic Review (the Review) of the Infrastructure Investment Program (IIP) was announced on 1 May 2023 by the Catherine King, Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. As part of the announcement, the Australian Government committed to a ten-year, $120 billion infrastructure pipeline and ensuring that land transport infrastructure projects are nationally significant and nation-shaping.

The impetus for the Review, as set out by the Minister, was that the IIP contained a large number of projects which did not have sufficient funding or a strong enough business case to justify Australian Government investment. This has led to a clogged infrastructure pipeline that does not reflect current market capacity, particularly when considering that forecast IIP expenditure is projected to continue growing over the forward estimates, and that the current pipeline of projects carries over $32.8 billion in identified cost pressures.

The Review has found strong jurisdictional support for improvements in collaboration and the way the Australian Government manages its infrastructure investment pipeline.

Key findings:

• Based on the information provided to the Review, there is an estimated $32.8 billion in known cost pressures on all IIP projects, with a high risk of future, not-yet-quantified cost pressures. Of these, there are an estimated $14.2 billion in known cost pressures on projects not yet under construction, noting that many of these projects have not yet completed detailed cost estimates.
• The ten-year pipeline of projects cannot be delivered within the $120 billion allocation, even with current contributions from jurisdictions.
• The Australian Government cannot afford within the current program settings, to meet the identified cost pressures, nor add any new projects for delivery to the pipeline in the next ten years, without significant changes taking immediate effect.