The Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) has highlighted the importance of sustainable and resilient infrastructure following the release of the Australian Government’s Intergenerational Report 2026: Australia’s future to 2066.
The report identifies five major transformations expected to shape Australia over the next 40 years: artificial intelligence, increasing geopolitical fragmentation, the energy transition, an ageing population and the continuing transformation of the nation’s industrial base. It also raises concerns about intergenerational equity.
The ISC said responding to these challenges would require significant infrastructure investment, with decisions made today influencing Australia’s economy, communities and environment for decades.
ISC Acting Chief Executive Officer Deb Spring said the report reinforced the need to consider long-term outcomes when planning and delivering infrastructure.
“The Intergenerational Report reminds us that the infrastructure we plan and build today will be serving Australians well into the future,” Spring said.
“As Australia transforms its energy system, embraces new technologies and responds to a changing climate and population, we need to focus not just on building more infrastructure, but on building better infrastructure.
“That means infrastructure that is resilient, resource-efficient, lower-emissions and delivers enduring economic, environmental and social value.”
The report highlights the scale of change ahead. Energy demand from data centres is projected to account for almost 10 per cent of the National Electricity Market by 2050, while renewable energy-related industrial opportunities, including green aluminium and critical minerals, could increase Australian exports by more than $68 billion by 2050.
Spring said the scale of investment expected over the coming decades made credible measurement of infrastructure sustainability increasingly important.
“IS Ratings provide a practical framework for embedding sustainability into infrastructure planning, design, construction and operation, and for independently measuring the outcomes delivered,” she said.
“Intergenerational equity is ultimately at the heart of infrastructure sustainability. Our task is not simply to leave future Australians more infrastructure, but to leave them better infrastructure.”
The Intergenerational Report 2026: Australia’s future to 2066 is available at treasury.gov.au.
