Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the 2024-25 Federal Budget on Tuesday evening, announcing a $9.3 billion surplus and a raft of new spending measures.
Alleviating cost of living pressures, addressing housing affordability and supporting a future made in Australia were the key focus areas.
Total federal infrastructure funding was down 3% on the previous year at $60.5 billion over the four years to 2027-2028, however there were new transport investments for each state and territory.
The Government emphasised that new funding was allocated in line with the principles of the Infrastructure Policy Statement released at the end of last year – prioritising investments that improve productivity, liveability and sustainability.
The view from Roads Australia
Roads Australia is pleased to see the Government deliver on its promise of pipeline certainty in the face of ongoing market capacity constraints.
Certainty over the infrastructure pipeline will allow industry to respond to demand, and ensure we have the skills, materials and capacity to deliver the projects Australia needs.
Investment in transport infrastructure is critical to our country’s future success, particularly as our population and economy grows.
As industry looks to partner with government to support the productivity growth our nation needs, visibility over the pipeline and total demand across infrastructure, housing, energy and defence will be key.
Productivity-enhancing infrastructure
The Budget provides $16.5 billion over 10 years from 2024–25 and $9.5 billion over the forward estimates for new and existing transport projects.
Most of the funding ($10.1 billion) was directed towards existing projects in the Infrastructure Investment Program including:
- $3.3 billion for North East Link in Victoria
- $1.2 billion for the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line in Queensland
- $1.4 billion for METRONET projects in Western Australia
- $578.6 million for projects in New South Wales, including $112.0 million for the M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace
- $431.7 million for the Coomera Connector Stage 1 (Coomera to Nerang) in Queensland
- $133.6 million for projects in South Australia, including $100.0 million for the South Eastern Freeway Upgrade
- $113.1 million for projects in Tasmania, including $50.0 million for the Mornington Roundabout Upgrade
- $35.9 million for projects in the Northern Territory, including $25.0 million for the Carpentaria Highway Upgrade
- $27.1 million for the William Hovell Drive Duplication in the Australian Capital Territory
The Budget provided $4.1 billion over seven years from 2024–25 for 65 new priority infrastructure projects. This includes several projects that had been delayed as a reuslt of the Government’s review of the $120 billion infrastructure investment pipeline.
- $1.9 billion for projects in Western Sydney, including $500.0 million for the Mamre Road Stage 2 Upgrade and $400.0 million for Elizabeth Drive – Priority Sections Upgrade
- $300.0 million for the METRONET High-Capacity Signalling Program – Automatic Train Control – Stage 1 in Western Australia
- $72.0 million for the Port Keats Road – Wadeye to Palumpa (Nganmarriyanga) in the Northern Territory
- $134.5 million for the Mt Crosby Road Interchange Upgrade and $42.5 million for Bremer River Bridge (Westbound) Strengthening on the Warrego Highway in Queensland
- $115.0 million for Zero Emission Buses Tranche 1 Infrastructure – Macquarie Park Depot in New South Wales
- $80.0 million for the Lyell Highway – Granton to New Norfolk in Tasmania
- $64.0 million for the Berrimah Road Duplication – Stuart Highway to Tiger Brennan Drive in the Northern Territory
- $120.0 million for the Mount Barker and Verdun Interchange Upgrades in South Australia
- $54.0 million for the Regional Road Safety Program – State Roads in Western Australia
- $53.6 million for the Great Northern Highway – Brooking Channel Bridge Replacement in Western Australia
- $50.0 million to plan for Stage 2B of the Canberra Light Rail in the Australian Capital Territory
- $17.6 million for projects in Victoria, including $12.0 million for the Bridgewater Road and Portland Ring Road intersection upgrade
The Government will also reprofile $2.1 billion to beyond the forward estimates to better align with construction market conditions and project delivery timeframes.
Looking ahead, the Budget includes $1.7 billion to continue vital road infrastructure and maintenance programs beyond 2033-34, $158 million for the Major Projects Business Case Fund to support planning for nationally significant projects.
Increased investment in road safety
The Budget delivers on commitments made by the Australian Government to significantly increase funding for road safety initiatives following recommendations in the Infrastructure Investment Program Strategic Review (IIP Review), published in November last year.
The IIP Review recommended an increase in funding for the Black Spot Program while providing greater flexibility for funding by widening the scope of projects, in cost, time and nature.
Funding for the Black Spot Program which will increase from the current commitment of $110 million to $150 million per year.
Further supporting safer transport infrastructure is a boost in funding for the Roads to Recovery Program, progressively rising from $500 million to $1 billion per year. This funding will support local governments to maintain local infrastructure and fund projects that are difficult to fund with existing funds.
As previously announced and recommended in the IIP Review, the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and the Bridges Renewal Program have been merged into a new Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program with at least $200 million available each year.
Funding to be phased in over the forward estimates to avoid putting pressure on inflation, supply costs and the construction labour market.
The Budget contains $10.8 million in 2024-25 for a one-year National Road Safety Education and awareness campaign, and $21.2 million over six years from 2024-25 to improve the reporting of national road safety data via the National Road Safety Data Hub, as announced by the Federal Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Catherine King at Roads Australia’s Transforming Transport Summit at the beginning of the month.
This Data Hub is designed to support more harmonised road-safety data that be used more effectively by stakeholders, including decision makers in all states and territories.
In support of an integrated transport system, the Budget includes $100 million for a new Active Transport Fund open to states and territories which will ensure people who want to walk and cycle in their local community can do so safely, funding new and upgraded bicycle and walking paths across the country.
The increased road safety funding from the Australia Government follows a concerning increase in the road toll across the nation in 2023, with 1,266 people tragically losing their lives on Australian roads.
Workforce
This year’s Budget includes significant investment in building Australia’s future workforce, including $1.1 billion to implement reforms for the tertiary education sector recommended in the Universities Accord. The reforms aim to drive higher levels of attainment, broaden access and support a tertiary education system that is responsive and adaptable to skills needs.
Acknowledging that workforce capacity and constraints remain a major challenge in construction, the Government will invest $88.8 million to deliver 20,000 new fee-free TAFE places including pre-apprenticeships in courses relevant to the sector.
As an interim measure while the Strategic Review of the Apprenticeship Incentive System is underway, the Government has committed to maintaining $5,000 support payments to apprentices in priority occupations for another 12 months to 1 July 2025, up from $3,000. Employers of these apprentices will also receive a $5,000 hiring incentive.
In a bid to attract more women to male-dominated sectors, the Budget includes $55.6 million for the Building Women’s Careers program. This will fund large-scale projects to help women to access training in construction, clean energy and manufacturing and support flexible, safe and inclusive workplace cultures.
In response to the Government’s recent Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review, the Budget also includes $38.2 million over eight years to support a skilled and sustainable STEM workforce.
Decarbonisation
The 2024-25 Budget includes funding for a range of initiatives relevant to decarbonising the nation’s infrastructure sector.
To implement the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, the Australian Government will provide $154.5 million over six years from 2023–24 (and $12.6 million per year ongoing).
This funding is broken down into the following streams:
- $84.5 million over five years from 2024–25 (and $12.6 million per year ongoing) to establish a regulator to administer the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, including to capture emissions data, establish a credit trading platform and undertake monitoring and compliance activities, and to undertake further work to bring Australian vehicle standards into line with international jurisdictions
- $60.0 million over four years from 2024–25 to support the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at automotive businesses to support the transition to selling and servicing electric vehicles
- $10.0 million in 2023–24 for a national communications campaign to raise awareness of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard
The introduction of a New Vehicle Efficiency Standard is also estimated to decrease fuel excise receipts by $470.0 million over four years from 2024–25, owing to lower motoring costs resulting from greater availability of more fuel efficient vehicles.
The Future Made in Australia agenda is at the core of these investments, with funding targeted to address the major structural and strategic challenges that the Australian economy faces.
Priority industries under the Future Made in Australia agenda will fall into one of two streams:
- the Net Zero Transformation Stream, which includes industries where Australia will have a comparative advantage as the global economy transitions to net zero
- the Economic Resilience and Security Stream, which includes industries where some level of domestic capability is necessary to deliver economic resilience and security.
Investments made by the Australian Government in support of its Future Made in Australia initiative include:
- $5.1 billion for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency:
- $1.7 billion for the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to unlock private capital across new industries like green metals and low carbon liquid fuels.
- $1.5 billion to build capability in solar and battery manufacturing to support supply chain resilience
- $1.9 billion to support ARENA’s work in developing, commercialising, manufacturing and deploying new renewable energy technologies
- Supporting renewable hydrogen with:
- $6.7 billion over the decade for a new production tax incentive of $2 per kilogram starting from 2027-28; and
- $2 billion for a new round of the successful Hydrogen Headstart program to give long-term certainty to the large-scale renewable hydrogen industry, important for future green iron and steel opportunities.
- $91 million to strengthen the clean energy workforce for the jobs of the future, including boosts to training, to apprenticeships and to facility and equipment upgrades across occupations like wind, solar, pumped hydro, large-scale battery, electricity networks, hydrogen and more.
This work is supported by a further $209.3 million to expand the Net Zero Economic Authority and $178.6m in worker transition support.