Victoria’s 30-year infrastructure strategy update
Infrastructure Victoria is preparing the next update of the state’s 30-year infrastructure strategy.
We asked Victorians to help set the objectives for the 2025 strategy update, define the major infrastructure challenges and opportunities, and propose infrastructure options and policies that address them.
Engagement on the strategy objectives was open to Victorians from February to June 2023. More than 500 individuals, groups and organisations took part in the first phase of the strategy engagement program.
More than 270 people completed a survey on their infrastructure needs and priorities. Our engagement partner MosaicLab prepared a supporting report that outlined the survey results and what they told us about how Victorians assess different and competing future options. 115 people and organisations responded to our call for ideas and written submissions.
We held 14 workshops in May to engage with stakeholders from infrastructure sectors and from regions across Victoria. These workshops focused on strategic infrastructure challenges and opportunities facing stakeholders and how shared challenges can manifest differently in rural and regional Victoria compared to Melbourne.
We ran a deliberative engagement forum for 39 young people aged 15 to 25. The forum provided an opportunity for participants to learn about and discuss the challenges and priorities for infrastructure over the next 30 years. MosaicLab facilitated the forum and prepared a report outlining its process and outcomes. The report also includes the 10 ‘big ideas’ participants formed to address the challenges they identified along with their views on what should feature in the 30-year strategy.
The Strategy objectives engagement report summarises what we heard from stakeholders, community members and young people through this first phase of engagement.
We are also working with First Peoples including Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to hear their perspectives and the goals important to them. This is part of an ongoing conversation to integrate Victorian First Peoples’ perspectives into the updated infrastructure strategy, and better understand First Peoples perspectives on all our work.
Infrastructure Victoria records and analyses all the information we receive. We will summarise and share the feedback in coming months and we have published ideas and submissions, where we have permission to do so.
Community and stakeholder feedback, along with technical assessments and additional evidence, will inform Victoria’s draft 30-year infrastructure strategy.
Victorians can provide feedback on the draft strategy when it is released in early 2025, and we will tell you how community and stakeholder input shaped the objectives and strategy update.
The 30-year infrastructure strategy is updated every 3 to 5 years and tabled in the Victorian Parliament. The Victorian Government is required to respond to our recommendations.
Victoria’s infrastructure strategy 2021–2051
Victoria’s infrastructure strategy 2021–2051 was presented to the Victorian Parliament on Thursday 19 August for tabling.
The updated strategy builds on the work of the first cross-sectoral infrastructure strategy delivered in 2016, and presents a vision for a thriving, inclusive and sustainable Victoria over the next 30 years.
It contains 94 recommendations for projects, policies, and reforms, spanning many types of infrastructure. They are based on extensive evidence, research and consultation and informed by innovative land use and transport modelling.
These recommendations represent a capital cost of around $100 billion over 30 years.
The strategy is divided into four themes focused on:
- confronting long term challenges
- managing urban change
- harnessing infrastructure for productivity and growth
- developing regional Victoria.
It identifies the top infrastructure priorities for Victoria’s nine regions – from the Mallee to Gippsland – to reduce disadvantage, build on economic strengths and address environmental risks.
It also tackles some big challenges facing Victoria over the next three decades including a growing and ageing population, technological transformation, a warming climate, and worsening congestion on our transport network.
Despite the immediate challenges of a global pandemic, Melbourne and Victoria will continue to grow and we must prepare now as well as respond to some immediate infrastructure challenges.
Every Victorian deserves good access to jobs, services, and public transport whether they live in Mildura, Melbourne, or Mallacoota.
By better connecting Melbourne to outer suburban growth areas and the regions we can get better use from the infrastructure we have and provide fairer access to jobs, transport, and services for all, regardless of postcode.
Victoria’s infrastructure strategy provides a practical roadmap for action over the next 30 years, in a range of public policy areas including energy, transport, social infrastructure, freight and housing.
You can watch a short explainer video on the strategy here:
You can learn more about infrastructure priorities for Victoria’s regions here:
You can read the infrastructure strategy and supporting documents below.
About the 30-year infrastructure strategy
In 2016 we developed Victoria’s first ever 30-year infrastructure strategy. This statewide, evidence-based strategy covers all types of infrastructure and was developed in consultation with stakeholders and the community. Many of these recommendations have since been adopted by the Victorian Government.
In the five years since the first strategy was published, Infrastructure Victoria has conducted a wide range of additional research, analysis and consultation.
In April 2019, we published Growing Victoria’s potential which examined the challenges and opportunities of Victoria’s population growth. The research includes an examination of the cost of infrastructure provision in different development settings and regional and metropolitan profiles which outline the unique strengths and challenges in different parts of Victoria.
To help inform our understanding of density done well, we asked community members from Footscray, Camberwell and Heidelberg, ‘what makes an area a great place?’. The findings reveal that across these three suburbs, residents are willing to embrace greater urban density if the area has good access to public transport, quality urban design, plenty of green open space, and walking and cycling options. Melburnians of all ages want to live in homes that range from houses, townhouses and apartments, which can be possible if density is done well.
In September 2020, Infrastructure Victoria released Fair move: Better public transport fares for Melbourne which shows how we can make Melbourne’s public transport system cheaper, safer and fairer and supports our ongoing research into the benefits of Transport network pricing. The report makes 13 recommendations to the Victorian Government to be implemented within the next five years.
In December 2020 we released Victoria’s draft 30-year infrastructure strategy for consultation. You can read more about the draft strategy here.
View our Resources page to read our latest reports.
Or you can learn more about the 2016 30-year infrastructure strategy here.
