Advocacy | National Growth Areas Alliance

Investment Solutions for Today’s Infrastructure Needs and Tomorrow’s Housing in Outer-Metropolitan Growth Areas

The Housing Powerhouse

For decades, Australia’s growth areas have been the backbone of national housing delivery, and they will continue to be critical for future housing supply.

However, rapid population growth in these vibrant outer metropolitan cities and suburbs has not been matched with sufficient investment in infrastructure and essential services.

This gap leaves communities without the public transport, jobs, higher education, and recreational facilities they need to thrive.

We need a dedicated, sustained approach to funding that aligns with the pace of population growth in these areas.

NGAA Recommendations

Recognise outer metropolitan growth areas as regions requiring specific attention in Commonwealth funding programs across portfolios
Prioritise funding from existing programs to fix the infrastructure deficits in growth areas
Resource equitably through a national infrastructure investment framework for growth areas

NGAA Report and Supporting Research

Investment Solutions for Today’s Infrastructure Needs and Tomorrow’s Housing in Outer-Metropolitan Growth Areas

People need more than just a house. Essential building blocks of a community include reasonable access to employment, education, public and private transport infrastructure, health and other services, and amenities. It’s the combination of all these that support social, environmental, and economic resilience, and are foundational to creating liveable, thriving communities.

Read our full report here

Capital City Growth Areas Liveability Scorecards

RMIT and the Australian Urban Observatory’s City Liveability Scorecards for Growth Areas (the Scorecards) make it clear that underinvestment has led to significant differences between growth areas and non-growth areas in Australia’ five largest capital cities.

A ‘liveable’ place is defined as somewhere that is: safe, attractive, inclusive, and environmentally sustainable; with affordable and diverse types of housing, public open space, local shops, health and community services, leisure and cultural opportunities; with opportunities for employment and education all accessible by convenient public transport, walking and cycling.

The Scorecards show the distribution of measures of liveability by suburb within each capital city using data for 10 indicators, which include social infrastructure (health, education, arts and cultural facilities and community and sport facilities), walkability, public transport accessibility, access to public open space and housing affordability.

The Scorecards reveal wide variation across capital cities with a trend towards higher access in the inner areas of each city compared to outer metropolitan growth areas of each capital city.

International Best Practices in Infrastructure Funding: Lessons for Australia’s Outer Metropolitan Growth Areas

Learning from international best practices can help Australia’s growth areas overcome persistent infrastructure challenges and deliver better outcomes for rapidly growing communities.

Australia’s current infrastructure funding system is widely recognised as fragmented, inconsistent, and poorly coordinated, driven more by short-term political cycles than by a long-term strategy. This ad hoc approach leads to inefficiencies and service gaps. Furthermore, the over-reliance on competitive grant funding further exacerbates these issues by prioritising projects based on competition rather than equitable or strategic need.

Australia’s growth areas will continue to face congested roads, limited access to healthcare and education, and reduced liveability until policies prioritise funding that addresses infrastructure deficits in these underserved regions.

This report from Western Sydney University’s Urban Transformations Research Centre highlights key strategies used overseas, offering valuable lessons for ensuring sustainable and effective infrastructure investment.

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