• Home
• Purchase
• Budget FAQ
• Help

• Budget Speech
• Budget at a Glance
• Budget Overview
• Budget Paper No.1
• Budget Paper No.2
• Budget Paper No.3
• Budget Paper No.4
• Appropriation Bills

• Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook
• Final Budget Outcome

• Portfolio Budget Statements
• Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements

• Ministerial Statements

Australian Government Initiatives in Cities

In releasing the National Urban Policy, the Australian Government is establishing a framework of goals, objectives and principles which it will apply in determining its future actions in Australia's major cities.

The Australian Government is dedicated to making a positive difference in our cities. We will build on the success of our cities to drive our economic opportunities and grow our social cohesion.

To ensure that the National Urban Policy achieves its goals and objectives, the Australian Government will introduce a number of new initiatives that complement our existing work program and increase the productivity, sustainability and liveability of our cities.

Productivity

Productivity is vital for Australia's future prosperity and wellbeing, and cities are crucial to Australia's productivity. They are centres of economic activity, where the workforce, businesses and institutions come together. Australia's major cities are home to four out of five jobs in Australia's high growth industries of construction, health care and social assistance — industries that have collectively contributed 34 per cent of jobs growth in the last 10 years.

Productivity gains can be achieved by facilitating efficient and effective connections between people, businesses and markets. How effectively economic and human capital is combined has a significant impact on the productivity of our cities and their contribution to the national economy. Cities, by their concentrated form, provide immense opportunity for productivity growth, but how large cities, in particular, are planned and managed can present challenges to productivity. For example the avoidable cost of congestion in capital cities is equivalent to 1 per cent of GDP and is forecast to more than double 2005 levels to reach $20 billion a year by 2020 if nothing is done¹.

In our cities, fostering flexibility and capability means integrating skills, innovation, creativity and infrastructure with industry development and transformation. This includes making the most of our education and training system so that supply and demand for training are better aligned with, and responsive to, structural changes to the economy. This will enable students to make more informed training choices that match future work opportunities.

The Government is investing in capabilities in our cities. Deepening Australia's skill levels will enable us to successfully adapt to change. COAG has agreed to a substantial reform agenda aimed at increasing opportunities for skill development. Through this agreement, we have key targets to increase human capital development, such as increasing year 12 completion rates to 90 per cent by 2015 and halving the proportion of Australians aged 20 to 64 without Certificate III or above by 2025. Key reforms to education and training include:

• implementing universal access to early childhood education;
• the Smarter Schools National Partnerships to boost foundation skills in schools;
• uncapping the number of public university places (from 2012) to allow universities to offer a place to eligible students; and
• implementing the Skills for Sustainable Growth Strategy 2010 and the 2011‑12 budget package, including measures to boost literacy and numeracy skills of Australians in the workforce.

The Government is also supporting industrial transformation by helping workers and entrepreneurs move into higher, value-added activities.

The Australian Government's investment in innovation, technology and entrepreneurship will build a competitive, high-skill economy into the future. Over the next decade the Powering Ideas agenda involves:

• reforming university funding arrangements and boosting investment with a focus on excellence and transparency, and increased support for postgraduate research students;
• investing in science and research infrastructure and taking an innovative approach to the commercialisation of research to enhance Australia's competitive edge; and
• improving innovation skills and workplace capabilities, including management and leadership skills.

This investment is underpinned by investment in infrastructure that maximises opportunities for new industries, such as Australian Government investment in the National Broadband Network, public transport, rail and roads. Better price signals in the use of infrastructure will also promote more efficient and effective use of and investment in infrastructure.

The Australian Government is committed to the implementation of national transport regulators that enable more seamless national regulation of the $61 billion transport industry. By 2013 there will be single national laws covering maritime safety, rail safety and heavy vehicles, reducing 23 regulators across the country to three.

These microeconomic reforms will improve safety, simplify the compliance task for transport operators and boast national income by up to $30 billion over the next 20 years. The 2011‑12 Budget allocates a further $25.2 million over two years to ensure that these historic reforms are implemented.

National Urban Policy Productivity Initiatives

More needs to be done to ensure cities can realise their productive potential. To help achieve our productivity goals, the Australian Government will:

• Apply the principles and objectives of the National Urban Policy to future investment in infrastructure, including the second Nation Building program and other Australian Government investment programs.
• Ensure that projects funded through the second Nation Building program are aligned with COAG capital city strategic plans.
• Require, as a condition of funding for the second Nation Building Program, that each capital city have in place by 2014, a 20 year freight strategy consistent with the National Land Freight Strategy to:
  • identify the key demand forecasts, key bottlenecks and pressure points;
  • ensure land use planning systems adequately provide for freight terminals and transportation corridors, including buffer zones, and take into account aviation freight hubs;
  • ensure that freight planning focuses on whole-of-supply chain productivity gains; and
  • identify investment plans, performance indicators and regulatory and pricing reforms to meet the forecast freight system demand.
• Establish a new funding program, the Liveable Cities program (see budget highlights) to facilitate tailored local solutions to urban design and infrastructure challenges in our 18 major cities. This program, along with the other Australian Government investment programs, will support:
  • public transport projects which facilitate increased residential density and employment nodes to improve transport connectivity within cities and accessibility to employment and services;
  • road and rail infrastructure projects which increase the capacity of our cities to function more efficiently and effectively now and into the future;
  • projects and reforms that deliver better use of infrastructure to ensure maximum benefit for Australian businesses and communities from government investment in infrastructure;
  • urban renewal projects which are linked to accessible public transport, and which provide mixed income housing, improved housing affordability and access to employment opportunities in our cities;
  • the development of 'second CBDs' in our largest cities of urban centres, such as Parramatta for Sydney, that will create a better distribution of opportunity and lifestyle choice;
  • the identification and preservation of sites and corridors for the future growth of our cities; and
  • projects which incorporate walking and cycling infrastructure to enhance local networks.
• Consider travel demand management policies to reduce congestion in our cities.
• Introduce a National Smart Motorways trial (see Budget Highlights) to retrofit our congested motorways in our capital cities with new technology which improves traffic flow, cuts energy use and emissions from idling cars, and achieves greater productivity from existing infrastructure.
• Commission Infrastructure Australia to further review how key transport, communication and energy corridors, sites and buffers in our major cities can be better planned, protected and managed, while minimising disruption to communities.
• Engage with capital city airport operators, states and local government on integrated planning on and around airports through existing Planning Coordination Forums. This will include planning and investment in public transport links to our airports.
• Use the outcomes of the 2011 joint Sydney Basin Aviation Capacity Study to inform policy, investment and decision-making for future aviation needs in the Sydney region. The study will address the short, medium and long term needs of Sydney, and will take account of both future aviation needs of the Sydney region and broader planning and infrastructure needs for residential growth and economic development.
• Work with States and Territories to implement the National Ports Strategy by August 2011, which will improve and reform port governance and planning. The National Ports Strategy covers both bulk commodity ports and container ports, identifying:
  • the most effective regulatory and governance frameworks;
  • ways to improve land planning and corridor preservation;
  • better use reforms to improve landside efficiency, reliability, security and safety; and
  • the future infrastructure requirements of Australia's ports, including road and rail links.
• Work with State, Territory and Local Governments to finalise the National Land Freight Strategy by the end of 2011. The Strategy is a blueprint for a truly national, integrated and multimodal transport system capable of moving goods quickly, reliably and efficiently.
• Work with States and Territories to plan and develop strategic intermodal freight hubs, including the proposed Moorebank facility in Western Sydney which is being assessed, and will improve freight flows and remove many large heavy vehicles from our urban roads.
• Continue to encourage the States and Territories in best practice use and delivery of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure procurement where these provide value for money, and investigate innovative approaches to managing patronage risk to encourage private investment in urban infrastructure.
• Improve labour and capital productivity in our cities by implementing comprehensive productivity reforms including the development of a Skills for Sustainable Growth Strategy, a National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce, Education Investment Fund, and Trade Training Centres in Schools Program as part of a productivity policy framework to build a high-skill, high tech, low pollution economy that will succeed independent of our mineral wealth.

Sustainability

Recent trends in population growth and urban development are intensifying pressures on our built and natural environments. Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of threatened fauna species from 312 in the year 2000 to 427 in 2009. As our cities grow, it is critical that governments and individuals maintain our natural environment and heritage for future generations.

Road transport has been the main source of transport emissions and accounted for 86.3 per cent (69.2 Mt) of 2008 transport emissions. Emissions from road transport increased by 27.5 per cent (14.9 Mt) between 1990 and 2008. Passenger cars were the largest source of transport related emissions, contributing 60 per cent of emissions from road transport (41.6 Mt), and increased by 18.2 per cent (6.4 Mt) between 1990 and 2008².

All capital cities have increased their mode share of travel by public transport in the past five years. Many cities, like Melbourne, have set targets of increased mode share to public transport of up to 20% by 2020 and demonstrated that this is realistic with an increase of public transport patronage from 9% to 14% in 2009. A small modal shift to public transport and active travel, (walking and cycling), can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to two thirds for peak travel³.

In this context, the Australian Government has been pursuing a broad range of policies and programs to improve the sustainability of cities by minimising their environmental impacts. The Government is committed to introducing a carbon price, a reform that will support a transition to a competitive, low carbon economy.

The Australian Government, through programs such as Caring for our Country, funds environmental management of our natural resources by supporting communities, farmers and other land managers to sustainably produce food and fibre whilst protecting Australia's terrestrial and aquatic environments.

The Australian Government is also committed to improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions in our cities by:

• implementing pricing and energy efficiency mechanisms for cost effective greenhouse gas emission reduction;
• supporting research and development of low emissions technologies;
• working in partnership with governments, businesses and the community to deliver improved energy efficiency through investment in low emissions transport networks including electric hybrid vehicles, and the Solar Cities program;
• working with governments and industry to improve the environmental performance of existing infrastructure by utilising smart technologies to cut congestion and urban emissions and to maximise use;
• increasing the energy efficiency requirements for new buildings and major renovations in the 2010 update of the Building Code of Australia and the Building Energy Efficiency Disclosure Act;
• the Government will also be consulting on the design and implementation of the Tax Breaks for Green Buildings policy which provides incentives for businesses to improve the energy efficiency of their building stock; and
• leading national reform to ensure cities are well placed to deal with the risks of climate change impacts, including through the provision of good science and information.

Many of our major cities are vulnerable to, and are currently experiencing, the impacts of climate change and natural disasters. The Australian Government continues to provide support to cities to build resilience to climate change and natural disasters via a wide range of environmental modelling, research and planning tools, as well as through local and community infrastructure programs.

National Urban Policy Sustainability Initiatives

The Australian Government is committed to furthering environmental sustainability in our cities. In applying the principles of the National Urban Policy to its future urban sustainability agenda the Australian Government will:

• Introduce a carbon price as a comprehensive measure to respond to the Climate Change challenge from 1 July 2012. This will provide incentives for our cities to lower their carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency.
• Reduce incentives for unnecessary driving by replacing the current tax formula for valuing car fringe benefits with a single statutory rate of 20 per cent, regardless of the kilometres travelled. This reform was recommended by the Henry review to simplify the tax system and remove incentives in the system for increased motor vehicle use.
• Continue to work with States and Territories to develop guidance, including spatial mapping, to help reduce exposure of urban assets to climate change risks.
• Further strengthen the role for Infrastructure Australia in undertaking cost-benefit analysis of proposals for infrastructure funding. This will include consideration of:
  • how to achieve better use of infrastructure to help improve the efficiency of critical infrastructure, such as transport and water; and
  • whether proposed infrastructure projects are well placed to deal with the risk of climate change impact.
• Continue implementation of the Water for the Future program to provide national leadership on water reform for all Australians. Water for the Future will enable Australia to better balance the water needs of communities, farmers and the environment.
• Pursue urban water reform through COAG following the agreement at the November 2008 meeting of COAG, which provides for a renewed approach to urban water reform by the Australian Government together with States and Territories, and addresses key challenges in urban water. An agreed set of National Urban Water Planning Principles provide governments and water utilities with the tools to better plan the development of urban water and wastewater service delivery in a sustainable and economically efficient manner.
• Implement the National Waste Policy, which heralds a new, coherent, efficient and environmentally responsible approach to waste management in Australia. The policy was agreed by all Environment Ministers in November 2009, and endorsed by COAG in August 2010. It will set Australia's waste management and resource recovery direction to 2020.
• Continue to work with industry and governments to improve air quality by the setting of product standards, urban design, public transport planning and climate change abatement measures.
• Apply more stringent mandatory air pollution standards for all new cars, 4WDs and utes sold in Australia. These tighter emission standards — known as the Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards - will target the pollutants responsible for the formation of smog over our major cities and health problems within our population, such as respiratory and cardiovascular disease. When fully in place the new standards package will cut a new car's maximum allowable emissions of:
  • hydrocarbons by up to 50 per cent;
  • oxides of nitrogen by up to 70 per cent; and
  • particulate matter by up to 90 per cent.
• Continue the Government's Green Vehicle Guide (GVG) website as a primary source for consumers wishing to make informed purchasing decisions regarding the environmental performance of new vehicles. The GVG covers all light vehicles (up to 3.5 tonnes) released onto the Australian market since late 2004 and is continually updated as new models are released. The GVG provides consumers with user friendly ratings on environmental performance of specific models, as well as fuel consumption data — thus enabling side-by-side comparisons of individual models on a common basis. The GVG also enables consumers to estimate annual fuel costs for individual models. The Guide is reinforced by the mandatory fuel consumption label which provides consumers with the comparative fuel consumption and CO2 emissions' values of individual models.

Liveability

Liveable cities offer a high quality of life and are socially inclusive, affordable, accessible, healthy, safe, and resilient to the impacts of climate change.

As our cities grow and change, so does the challenge of maintaining quality of life and well-being in our communities. This requires governments to work together to ensure access to social and economic opportunity, affordable living choices, and to support healthy, cohesive communities.

The National Urban Policy builds on the existing policy agenda and focuses additional efforts in improving the liveability of our cities.

It is important to ensure that everyone in cities has access to a full range of services that meet community needs. The Australian Government is supporting the liveability of our cities through:

• service delivery reform, including co-location of Government shop-fronts, to provide better support for people when they need it;
• coordinating the efforts of all Australian governments under the National Disability Strategy to meet the diverse needs of people with disability and their carers;
• the National Compact with the Third Sector which is working to strengthen the not-for-profit sector by reducing red tape so that these organisations are able to provide support to people in need; and
• developing strategies to support and expand volunteering, philanthropy and social investment as ways of building community resilience, social inclusion and liveability.

The Australian Government is also investing in a range of policies and programs targeted at helping all Australians remain engaged in their communities, making them safer, more productive and liveable places to work and raise families.

Since its inception, the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program (RLCIP) has made more than $1 billion available to local government authorities to build and modernise community infrastructure. This has resulted in more than 6,000 individual projects funded, and funds given to all of Australia's 565 councils and the Australian Capital Territory to assist councils build and modernise community facilities, including town halls, libraries, community centres, sports grounds and environmental infrastructure. The program has strengthened our communities during the economic recovery by supporting local jobs and provides long-term benefits to communities by renewing and upgrading local infrastructure.

Building on the success of the RLCIP, the Government recently announced the $1 billion Regional Development Australia Fund to fund projects that support the infrastructure needs, and will enhance the economic and community development, of Australia's regions. Program funds will be used to maximise outcomes through effective partnerships across all levels of government, and the business and not-for-profit sectors.

The Australian Government is supporting innovative models to improve urban liveability through projects such as the Adelaide Integrated Design Strategy. The project is identifying opportunities to improve the productivity, liveability and sustainability of Adelaide, as well as plan for future growth.

Housing plays a key role in establishing liveable and sustainable communities and is therefore a major priority for the Australian Government. Ongoing Australian Government programs, introduced in 2007, have established future directions for investment in affordable housing that can improve outcomes for low income households and communities to 2014.

The $5.64 billion Social Housing Initiative, under the Nation Building-Economic Stimulus Plan, supported both the construction of over 19,300 new social housing and the repair and upgrade of approximately 80,000 existing homes. The initiative assisted vulnerable households and encouraged the construction of mixed tenure and use developments that are located close to transport and support services, in addition to supporting the use of universal design principles to enable ease of access for older persons or persons with disability.

The National Affordable Housing Specific Purpose Payments provides $6.3 billion (over the 2010‑11 to 2014-15 period) in relation to the National Affordable Housing Agreement. This provides housing assistance to low and middle income Australians, including assistance for social housing and homelessness services and various mortgage assistance schemes. One of the key reform directions of the National Affordable Housing Agreement is to make better use of States and Territories significant public housing assets. The reforms will reduce concentrations of social disadvantage through appropriate redevelopment to create mixed communities that improve social inclusion.

The National Affordable Housing Agreement includes initiatives for homelessness and Indigenous Australians living in remote areas and social housing, which will build new or redevelop social housing dwellings, as well as fund support for vulnerable households. The White Paper on homelessness, The Road Home, sets out a national approach to reducing homelessness by 2020. Within this approach, the Government is implementing innovative programs including assertive outreach; Common Ground housing models; case management; and mentoring, under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.

The Australian Government is also continuing to work with States and Territories through the COAG Housing Supply and Affordability Reform (HSAR) agenda (due to report back to COAG mid-year) in examining the current constraints to housing supply and affordability.

National Urban Policy Liveability Initiatives

The Australian Government has a commitment to social inclusion and to secure the health and wellbeing of all Australians, and to better support people when and where they need it. It is committed to the development of accessible and affordable human services and cultural facilities, and affordable living in our cities. In support of these commitments, the Australian Government will:

• Work with State and Territory Governments to improve accessibility and mobility in cities, including improving overall travel times, costs and experience in cities through a number of means, including more compact and mixed use development, improved public transport and active transport options, and more efficient use of infrastructure assets.
• Establish new funding programs through the Sustainable Communities Package. Together, the Liveable Cities program and Suburban Jobs program (see budget highlights) will facilitate tailored local solutions to urban design and infrastructure challenges in our 18 major cities. This package will also deliver social and economic opportunity to city communities, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of suburban communities.
• Continue the roll out of the National Broadband Network.
• Prepare a national Urban Design Protocol that will provide Local Governments, developers, industry professionals and communities with a tool for designing, assessing and implementing better design and construction outcomes for our cities.
• Ensure that Australian Government housing outlays are targeted to support the objectives and priorities of the National Urban Policy, in particular to supply more affordable and accessible housing in attractive, inclusive developments, located close to centres and public transport interchanges.
• Work with the States and Territories to address impediments to the better functioning of the housing market to improve housing supply and affordability. This will include seeking reforms to:
  • improve planning and land release processes;
  • increase code assessment of development proposals;
  • improve spatial planning and setting an appropriate balance between infill and greenfields development;
  • reduce barriers to mixed use development and making greater use of multi-use zoning which permits a range of activities.
• Work with the States and Territories through COAG's Housing Supply and Affordability Reform (HSAR) agenda to examine issues such as zoning and planning approval processes, infrastructure charges, environmental regulations, and opportunities to identify currently 'underutilised' land.
• Consider best use of Commonwealth owned land to support the supply of housing, improved community amenity and new job creation through Commonwealth Property Disposals Policy.
• Ensure that housing assistance is adequate, targets those in need and supports participation incentives.
• Ensure that housing programs support the age-friendly objectives of the National Urban Policy, including progressively increasing the supply of housing that is adaptable and accessible, and built to universal design standards to ensure access for the elderly and people with disabilities.
• Support the priority approval and construction of aged care housing, including through high care developments that are well integrated with urban areas so that aged care facilities and places become operational more quickly.
• Support urban development that supports aging in place, is socially inclusive and is integrated with surrounding community facilities.

Partnerships for planning and management of cities

COAG identified the need for capital city strategic planning systems to ensure investment in cities is guided by long-term strategic objectives and national priorities. States and Territories will have in place capital city strategic planning systems which meet the COAG agreed criteria by 1 January 2012.

As part of its contribution to the productivity, sustainability and liveability of our major cities, the Australian Government is committed to supporting regional cities in developing comprehensive strategic plans in line with the COAG national objective and nine criteria. Regional cities often lack the capacity and resources to undertake comprehensive strategic planning, which has stifled their ability to attract capital and investment required for long-term economic growth, population and demographic change, meeting the service needs of their regions and addressing the long-term environmental challenges.

The Australian Government will support State, Territory and Local Governments in all major cities to:

• complete metropolitan plans that better deliver on the COAG criteria, not just in capital cities but in major cities across Australia;
• undertake detailed policy, planning, feasibility assessment, and/or design to implement components of metropolitan or city plans to deliver on elements such as maximizing the efficiency of land use and transport, facilitating housing affordability and diversity, increasing public transport and active travel, climate change mitigation and adaptation, facilitating social inclusion and economic participation, and identifying and protecting infrastructure corridors and sites; and
• improve coordination and governance arrangements within and between governments.

National Urban Policy planning and governance reform and monitoring initiatives

When making its own contribution to achieving more productive, sustainable and liveable cities, the Australian Government is committed to:

• Ensuring its policies, investment and other activities across government meet the objectives of the National Urban Policy and COAG cities' reforms.
• Working in cooperation and partnership with State, Territory and Local Governments, businesses and the community.

The Australian Government will continue to support the planning, development and management of cities through:

• Establishing an Urban Policy Forum with key stakeholders and independent experts to advise on the National Urban Policy implementation.
• Continuing to provide funding to local government for community infrastructure.
• Working with states and territories to address issues identified in the COAG Reform Council's review of capital city strategic planning systems.
• Supporting local government to undertake reforms to streamline administration and development approvals, and implement strategic spatial planning, in accordance with the National Urban Policy goals and objectives.

Given the importance of robust planning for all Australian major cities, the Australian Government will:

• Seek the support of states and local government, through COAG, to expand the use of the national criteria for Capital City Strategic Planning Systems to the planning of regional major cities.

The Australian Government supports governments, industries and communities involved in the planning, development and management of our cities through capacity building, community education, research monitoring, evaluation and reporting.

To further assist stakeholders in understanding what drives improvements in our cities' productivity, sustainability and liveability, the Australian Government will:

• Publish annual updates of State of Australian Cities report to track the progress of our cities in achieving objectives.
• Include research into urban systems, environments and communities into the Australian Government's National Research Priorities (NRPs).
• Produce a spatial report, to be updated every 5 years, which shows the land use and infrastructure impacts of population change and structural change. This will provide a key document to guide planning and improve community understanding of Australia's urban issues.

---

¹ Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (2007) Working Paper 71

² Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (2010) National Greenhouse Gas Inventory accounting for the KYOTO target, May 2010

³ Stanley and Barrett (2010) Moving people — solutions for a growing Australia BIC, ARA, UITP

• Copyright
• |
• Privacy
• |
• Disclaimer