Lead agency: Department for Housing and Urban Development

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years (ongoing)

The case for change - In brief:

• Applying trigger measures for future infrastructure requirements is the first step in planning at a network level, in support of our future growth.
• Trigger measures can help identify the type of infrastructure required, when it is required and indicative costs. Trigger measures should be used to inform more detailed investigations to determine optimal network system solutions, prior to decisions on infrastructure investment.
• Understanding the trigger measures for additional infrastructure capacity can inform the sequencing of future land releases.
• Sequencing land releases in urban development helps to ensure that growth occurs in a managed, efficient, and sustainable manner, leveraging existing infrastructure to its full potential while minimising costs and environmental impact.

Lead agency:  Department for Housing and Urban Development

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years (ongoing)

The case for change - In brief:

• Historically, the reservation of land and corridors for future infrastructure provision has been ad-hoc, leading to a lack of value for money for government and sub-optimal outcomes.
• Reserving strategic infrastructure growth corridors and land at an early stage in the planning process supports an integrated, transparent approach to providing core infrastructure aligned to new developments and community needs.
• The implementation of a digital planning system, and the formation of the Department for Housing and Urban Development, provides an opportunity to drive all infrastructure providers to identify strategic land needs early.

Lead agency: Department for Environment and Water

Timeframe: Policy 0 to 5 years

The case for change - In brief:

• Across South Australia, much of our water is sourced from climate-dependent resources, such as the River Murray, surface water catchments, reservoirs, or groundwater.
• Climate change, ageing infrastructure and increasing expectations for greening our communities all compound the pressure that population growth places on our infrastructure.
• A more integrated, circular approach to water is needed to maximise all sources of water and ensure investment in new infrastructure is efficient.
• Governance and responsibilities across the water cycle is disjointed and is a barrier to truly integrated water management.

Lead agency: SA Water

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years

The case for change - In brief:

• Access to a secure and reliable water supply supports the health and resilience of our communities and ecosystems and is central to urban amenity and liveability.
• Projections for Greater Adelaide have shown that in the absence of further investment in new water supplies, under a scenario with high population growth, high impact climate change and full use of the Adelaide Desalination Plant, localised water shortfalls could occur by 2032.
• Population growth in the Northern metropolitan Adelaide region of Adelaide, and its location on the edge  of the existing network presents a key challenge, with a need to undertake planning now to ensure sufficient water availability, given new water supplies take many years to plan and deliver.

Lead agency: SA Water

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years

The case for change - In brief:

• Access to reliable wastewater services and infrastructure is essential to supporting growing communities.
• Unprecedented residential growth in Greater Adelaide and in particular, greenfield developments in the Northern  metropolitan Adelaide region are challenging the provision of wastewater services. These  new developments are occurring beyond the extent of existing networks and increasing overall network demand, which is forecast to exceed available capacity.
• There is a need to undertake long-term planning to identify optimal infrastructure investments that meet future wastewater treatment capacity needs across the network.

Lead agency: Department for Education

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years

The case for change - In brief:

• South Australia’s population is growing, and the number of school-aged children will increase by over 18,000 over the next 20 years. The capacity for existing primary and secondary schools to cater for this demand varies across Greater Adelaide.
• While land needs to be identified and provisioned for new schools in greenfield growth areas, addressing demand is more challenging in existing metropolitan areas where sites are limited, and land is more expensive.
• Maximising capacity in existing schools will be required to absorb and support future growth, to attract additional students and smooth capacity enrolments across the public-school network.

Lead agency: Department for Health and Wellbeing

Timeframe: Policy 0 to 5 years

The case for change - In brief:

• Increasing demand, high utilisation of hospital services, and growing health care costs are placing pressure on our health system. Our growing and ageing population are key contributors to this challenge.
• Demand on hospitals is exacerbated by patients who are unable to be discharged due to a lack of suitable alternative options, particularly for National Disability Insurance Scheme and aged care patients.
• Approaches are needed that better address and provide options for the outflow of patients and avoid hospital admissions. Measures include increasing access to home and community care, preventive actions to improve health and using emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to detect and monitor disease, as well as tech-enabled delivery to expand access and capture advances in knowledge.

Lead agency: Department for Infrastructure and Transport

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years, delivery 5 to 20 years

The case for change - In brief:

• Current and future growth in Greater Adelaide’s population will continue to place pressure on the transport network, particularly considering our reliance on private vehicle travel.
• Congestion negatively impacts our productivity and liveability and is forecast to get worse.
• With limited space, budget constraints and the need to meet net zero targets, we cannot continue to build our way out of congestion.
• We need to improve uptake of public transport to maintain liveability, improve access to jobs, reduce congestion and meet net zero targets, through an improved network integration.
• To address these challenges, a strategic network redesign is required, with consideration to public and active transport and preservation of future mass transit corridors.

Lead agency: Department for Infrastructure and Transport

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years (ongoing)

The case for change - In brief:

• Current and future growth in Greater Adelaide’s population will continue to place pressure on the transport network, particularly considering our reliance on private vehicle travel.
• Congestion negatively impacts our productivity and liveability and is forecast to get worse.
• With limited space, budget constraints and the need to meet net zero targets, we cannot continue to build our way out of congestion.
• We need to improve uptake of public transport to maintain liveability, improve access to jobs, reduce congestion and meet net zero targets, through an improved network integration.
• To address these challenges, a strategic network redesign is required, with consideration to public and active transport and preservation of future mass transit corridors.

Lead agency: Department for Infrastructure and Transport

Timeframe: Planning 0 to 5 years, delivery 5 to 10 years

The case for change - In brief:

• The Adelaide Railway Station is the central terminus of the metropolitan railway system.
• With the new Port Dock service commencing in 2024, the Adelaide Railway Station is now at capacity. The lack of thoroughfare limits the ability of the passenger rail network to expand services on existing or new lines.
• The significant growth forecast for the north and south of Greater Adelaide will create a need to provide mass transit options that move large numbers of people. However, Adelaide Railway Station presents a constraint.
• Creating an underground link could release significant capacity within the network and connect all lines seamlessly.

Lead agency: Department for Housing and Urban Development

Timeframe: Policy 0 to 5 years

The case for change - In brief:

• Providing enabling infrastructure is capital intensive, with high up-front costs that must be funded and ultimately paid for by the beneficiaries.
• Existing cost recovery mechanisms are applied inconsistently and are potentially unsustainable.
• A holistic approach needs to be adopted that considers all the infrastructure required to support growth areas. It should identify the funding mechanisms that can be applied in a consistent and optimal manner to the benefit of all users.