Australia’s minister for infrastructure, transport, regional development Catherine King has laid out the terms of reference for the next supply chain five-plan.
A review of the current plan is under way with the government assessing if there are any gaps in the plan, which ends in 2024, including whether the plan remains relevant as a modern strategy, including decarbonisation goals, supply chain resilience, and drawing on lessons learned following significant disruptions such as floods, bushfires and pandemics.
“The Strategy is a holistic, coordinated and multi-modal approach to increase the safety, productivity and resilience of freight and supply chains, agreed by all jurisdictions. It sets an agenda for government and industry action across all freight modes to 2040 and beyond,” Minister King said.
According to the Terms of Reference, published this week the review will: “Consider the performance of [the] Strategy to date and priorities for the next five-year National Action Plan focusing on nationally significant actions for coordinated implementation across jurisdictions.”
Government expects to “propose a small number of national, data-driven and high impact national key performance indicators to monitor implementation of the Strategy over the next five years.”
In addition, the review will consider the effectiveness of road and rail infrastructure and its resilience. A discussion paper for the industry has been published with the main priorities set out, including smarter and targeted infrastructure investment, improved supply chain efficiency, better planning, coordination and regulation and better freight location and performance data.
A public consultation process has been launched for industry stakeholders to offer feedback and views at Have Your Say with responses expected by 29 September 2023.
A report to government ministers will be produced by the end of this year and the next five-year strategy is expected to be in place by 2024.
Mary Ann Evans
Correspondent at Large
