This submission is to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee on the lnfrastructure Australia Amendment Bill 2013. The submission discusses some key changes to Infrastructure Australia's structure, functions and deliverables proposed by the Bill.

Key points

The submission addresses Infrastructure's comments, suggestions and concerns on proposals including:

• changes to the way that projects are put forward and included on the infrastructure priority list
• changes to Infrastructure Australia's governance structure to improve independence and transparency
• changes to Infrastructure Australia's reporting arrangements, including the requirement for an annual report to the minister
• changes to Infrastructure Australia's functions, including the requirements to conduct audits of infrastructure assets every five years; to develop a 15-year infrastructure plan for Australia, to be revised every five years; to create a project pipeline that clearly articulates time frames for projects; and to review all projects seeking Commonwealth funding of more than $100 million and publishing the reasons for its decisions.