Our advice aims to assist four key audiences responsible for our shared infrastructure futures: government, industry, civil society and investors. We focus on these key decision-makers and change-makers for their influential roles in both the infrastructure sector and, importantly, in the daily lives of citizens.
By: Sara Bice
Posted on 25 February 2025
Australia now faces the largest and most transformational infrastructure challenge in its history.
Executive Summary
Focus and action areas
The call to meet our future infrastructure needs is complex, urgent and critical.
In this Futures Briefing, I2S draws on nearly a decade of world-leading research to identify three major challenges for future-proof infrastructure. We articulate five priority areas critical to meeting these challenges. Policy and practice targeting these issues will benefit societies, shore up government and spark economies. We offer immediately available solutions and longer-term pathways to pursue, based on research evidence.
Our advice aims to assist four key audiences responsible for our shared infrastructure futures: government, industry, civil society and investors. We focus on these key decision-makers and changemakers for their influential roles in both the infrastructure sector and, importantly, in the daily lives of citizens.
The challenges we must rise to meet are:
- Future-proof infrastructure
- Project derisking
- Population-readiness.
The five priority areas for attention and action are:
- Integrated derisking
- Place-based approaches
- Politicisation, disinformation and public trust
- Climate-readiness and the circular economy
- Future-ready jobs and skills.
Recommended actions
I2S recommends that governments, industry, investors and civil society meet these challenges
through:
·Improved social risk management that integrates non-technical risk alongside environmental and economic risk management to achieve true-to-life investment analysis, policy decision-making and more fully informed project delivery.
·Social due diligence which systematizes placebased approaches to project delivery.
·Disinformation response that builds local government capacity to combat disinformation.
·Social licence baselines and monitoring to ensure robust understanding of citizens’ needs
and support project acceptance and community resilience.
·Advancing sustainable infrastructure choices that leverage emerging technologies to secure
intergenerational infrastructure and industries.
·Skills-led higher education to equip individuals, industry and communities with life-long skills
core to social inclusion and socio-economic growth.