Queensland

Download the Full Report Here

Queensland's 2010 Infrastructure Report has been released. To download the full report please click on the links below:

A Ratings Summary is available below.

Media Release

Queensland infrastructure report card confirms major improvements required

The release today of the Engineers Australia 2010 Queensland Infrastructure Report Card found that the State’s overall infrastructure requires major improvements, with under-investment in maintenance and renewals, the quality of rural and regional infrastructure, and the effective use of recycled water included in the issues of urgent concern.

What is the Infrastructure Report Card Project?

The 2010 Infrastructure Report Cards Project is a major initiative of Engineers Australia which aims to advance the quality and provision of infrastructure across the nation, with subsequent benefits to Australia’s economy, communities and the environment. The project’s output consists of Report Cards for all Australian States and Territories.

For more information about how the Report Cards are developed, please view our Frequently Asked Questions 

Report cards for all States and Territories are scheduled to be progressively released through to to the end of the year. For the full release schedule please click here.

Previous Reports
 		  
 

Ratings Summary

The table below show the ratings summary. To download this summary in PDF format please click here

Infrastructure Type Grade Comment
Roads overall
National Roads
Territory Roads
Local Roads
 

C-
C-
C-
C-

 These ratings recognise that while there has been significant investment in Queensland’s road infrastructure, the overall quality of the road network has deteriorated due to the increase in traffic volumes exceeding infrastructure improvements, and under-investment in maintenance and renewals. Regional roads in particular have worsened significantly, resulting in an ever increasing backlog of road work.
Rail C- This rating recognises that coal networks have improved substantially. However, rail infrastructure improvements in SEQ have not kept pace with demand, and the quality of regional freight rail lines has remained static. In SEQ, the major problems include capacity constraints, including cross river rail traffic congestion and other key locations within the network, consequences of shared freight and passenger lines, and the failure to provide new rail lines to rapidly growing residential and employment areas. Whilst announcements and planning indicates that preliminary steps are in place as at the date of this report, this infrastructure has yet to be realised.
Ports B This rating recognises the current capacity of most Queensland’s ports is adequate and capacity will increase in line with customer demand. However, it is recognised that the expansions may lag due to demand outpacing the speed of infrastructure construction. Road and rail connections to several ports are becoming stressed, and concerns about port-related traffic appear to be are rising.
Airports B- This rating recognises that Queensland’s major airports are of a good quality, although the expansion of connecting road infrastructure has generally lagged airport growth. Many regional and remote airports are owned by local government and the number requiring substantial infrastructure upgrades is increasing due to demands from the resources sector. Local governments do not necessarily have the funds to meet these needs and require additional support from the Australian and State government.
Potable Water B- This rating reflects the positive reforms to the institutional arrangements of the SEQ water sector, the significant improvements in reliability of bulk water supply in SEQ, albeit at a very high cost due to the lack of pre-drought planning, and ongoing improvements in SEQ’s distribution infrastructure. The condition of most of the potable water infrastructure outside the SEQ is not of this quality and significant expenditure is required to address the existing backlog of work and expand systems to cope with a growing population.
Wastewater B- This rating reflects the improvements that have occurred in the SEQ in terms of wastewater treatment plant upgrades, quality of discharge effluent, system upgrades and maintenance and recycled water capacity through the Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme. However, the failure to fully utilise recycled water is a waste of a valuable resource. While across the State there has been an improvement in wastewater systems, in many areas major expansions and upgrades are required to accommodate growth and new environmental requirements.
Stormwater C This rating reflects the increased effort given to developing stormwater policy and plans designed to improve its quality, to reduce its environmental impact on receiving waters, and to increase its reuse. However the actual impact of these activities have been limited to date, although there have been a small number of projects in SEQ that illustrate improved stormwater outcomes. Generally, stormwater management is slowly improving across the State, but the actual asset condition continues to deteriorate due to a lack of maintenance and renewals.
Irrigation C+ This rating recognises there have been some improvements in irrigation infrastructure and water resource planning relevant to irrigation. However, there are major problems with irrigation including the uncertainty over future water allocations, the under-pricing of irrigation water, which inhibits the ability of the bulk water suppliers to upgrade its infrastructure, and the poor quality of irrigation infrastructure in many areas.
Electricity C This rating recognises that there have been improvements in transmission assets, and new generation plant commissioned. There has been a general improvement in the performance of SEQ distribution networks, but the non-SEQ networks are not improving as fast due to the rapidly rising demand and the significant cost to modify the existing electricity infrastructure to provide more power quality. The ageing of the transmission and distribution infrastructure network has not been arrested, and the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources has declined.
Gas C+ This rating recognises that there has been a growth in conventional and CSG natural gas production and transmission infrastructure servicing the domestic market, and it is highly likely that a massive increase in new infrastructure will occur so as to serve the export LNG sector. However, the current uncertainty about the future price of gas and its availability for the domestic market following the development of an export LNG industry has discouraged investment in pipelines by large customers that use gas.
Telecommunications B This rating recognises that the vast majority of Queensland’s population has access to good quality mobile and broadband, and that the backhaul network along the State’s east coast is robust. However, there is a large disparity between the State’s east coast and rural and regional Queensland and for the population spread over a large area of the State, telecommunication infrastructure provides limited and expensive services.
Queensland's Results

 

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