Inquiry into the National Freight and Supply Chain Priorities
The Commonwealth Government’s response to Infrastructure Australia’s 2016 Australian Infrastructure Plan announced it would undertake an Inquiry into National Freight and Supply Chain Priorities. The Inquiry was initiated in March 2017 to identify priorities for Australia for the next 20 years to improve freight and supply chain efficiency and capacity, and manage the costs of transporting goods through our major national container ports, airports and intermodal terminals. Following the release of the final report of the Inquiry in May 2018, governments committed to developing a National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy.
The Inquiry was conducted by a four member expert panel to inform the development of a National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy through the COAG Transport and Infrastructure Council.
The Expert Panel recommended 54 priorities for action across five critical action areas and concluded that strong support exists within industry for an overarching national strategy.
The Inquiry examined import-export supply chains, inter/intra state supply chains, urban supply chains and supply chain integration, which included resource and agricultural freight and regional and remote freight.
The Inquiry report highlights that freight is essential to Australia's continued well-being and national prosperity and urges a national approach by all tiers of government and industry to address the proposed priorities.