A review of the National Freight & Supply Chain Strategy is underway, following agreement between State & Territory Infrastructure Ministers, according to a new statement from the Hon Catherine King MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
“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.
Noting the importance of Australian supply chains, the Minister added that the review will ensure that the strategy remains fit-for-purpose and that it is a critical opportunity to take stock of what has changed and what has been achieved since the first strategy was finalised in 2019.
The review will also assess if there are gaps in the strategy’s goals and will identify priorities for the next five-year National Action Plan.
According to the Terms of Reference, the review will:
- Assess if there are gaps in the strategy’s goals such as decarbonisation, supply chain resilience, and drawing on lessons learned following significant disruptions such as floods, bushfires, pandemics
- Consider the performance of the strategy to date and priorities for the next five-year National Action Plan
- Propose a small number of national, data-drive and high impact national key performance indicators to monitor implementation of the strategy over the next five years.
The review will consider the outcomes, findings, or principles underpinning related work, including but not limited to:
- the reviews of Infrastructure Australia, Inland Rail and the Road and Rail Supply Chain Resilience Review
- work already underway to establish a Strategic Fleet and develop an Aviation White Paper and Infrastructure Policy Statement.
The Terms of Reference paper states that the Review will be conducted by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts in collaboration with state and territory governments and will include a partnership approach with industry to draw on expert knowledge. The Review will undertake public consultations and consider submissions in the second half of 2023. The Review will provide a report to Infrastructure and Transport Ministers by the end of 2023. The updated Strategy and National Action Plan for the next five years are anticipated to be completed by mid-2024.
Public input is sought. Have your say by clicking here! . Submissions close 29 September 2023.
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