The goal of the Australian Infrastructure Statistics Yearbook is to provide a comprehensive, coherent summary of major economic infrastructure in Australia and its use. A framework of time series statistics was developed with this end in mind. A range of datasets of varying quality are available. Datasets that meet BITRE requirements for accuracy and reliability are included; however, there are a number of areas of the framework where suitable datasets are not currently compiled. Part I of the Yearbook provides a summary of major economic infrastructure and several statistical measures likely to influence investment in, and use of, major economic infrastructure. The rest of the Yearbook is divided into four sections, focussing on each of the four themes of major economic infrastructure: • Part T, for transport infrastructure; • Part E, for energy infrastructure; • Part C, for communications infrastructure; and • Part W, for water infrastructure. To enable comparison and aggregation across infrastructure types, the Yearbook uses a common statistical framework across each of the main infrastructure parts. Where data are available, statistics are provided using common measures. The statistical framework covers several key areas: • Physical infrastructure. Measures include the value and capacity of infrastructure at a given time (‘stock’ measures); additions to the amount of infrastructure (construction) and reductions (depreciation) that take place during the year (‘flow’ measures); and measures of the quality of the infrastructure. • Inputs. Measures of non-capital inputs to activities that rely on infrastructure. • Activity. Measures of activities associated with infrastructure. These activities may be grouped into themes. For example, for Part T (transport), these themes include freight, passengers, road, rail, aviation and maritime. • Impacts. Measures of the external impact of activities. These impacts include safety and security issues as well as greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution. Part I Infrastructure and the economy. Appropriately prioritised infrastructure projects should enhance economic efficiency and improve productivity. Chapter 1 of Part I provides several key macroeconomic indicators that are likely to influence, or be influenced by, activity associated with infrastructure. Where available, the contribution of detailed infrastructure industries to the key macroeconomic indicator is provided. This chapter provides estimates of production, employment, wages and salaries, prices, international trade, interest rates, the Australian currency exchange rate and the Australian resident population. Chapter 2 of Part I summarises infrastructure construction activity across the four forms of major economic infrastructure covered in the Yearbook. Part T Transport. Chapter 1: Transport infrastructure. This chapter provides a number of measures of the construction of transport infrastructure as well as measures of the length of roads available for public use and road construction price indexes. Chapter 2: Freight. In its broadest sense, freight transport describes the movement of physical items between locations. A summary of freight statistics is provided, classified by mode of transport. Freight is further classified into bulk and non-bulk segments. Two measures of freight transport are currently provided in the framework: the weight of freight moved in Australia (measured in millions of tonnes) and freight by weight and distance moved (measured in tonne kilometres–the transport task performed in moving one tonne of freight one kilometre). Chapter 3: Passengers. In a similar fashion, passenger transport describes the movement of people between locations. This definition of passengers does not include drivers of freight vehicles when they are employed for freight purposes but does include drivers of freight vehicles when they are being used to transport passengers (e.g. private use of light commercial vehicles). The framework provides a summary of passenger statistics, classified by mode of transport (some measures of walking and cycling to work are available in Table T 3.4, but estimates for recreational boating are not currently provided in this publication). Two measures of passenger transport are currently provided in the framework: the number of people transported and the number of passenger kilometres travelled (a measure of the transport task performed in moving one passenger one kilometre). Chapters 4—7: Road, Rail, Aviation, Shipping. These chapters focus on the four main motorised modes of transport: road, rail, aviation and shipping. Where possible, data are classified by location in terms of state or territory (interstate, intrastate, intercapital) or level of urbanisation. Price data are included in the framework to provide an indication of the costs of each mode of transport. Price estimates for shipping and rail are not readily available. The framework also includes estimates for the size and characteristics of the various modal vehicle fleets. Chapters 8 (Safety) and Chapter 9 (Energy and the Environment) complete the statistical framework for transport infrastructure with a summary of some key impacts of transport activity. Chapter 8 presents statistics for transport accidents and casualties with comparisons by mode of transport; state or territory of accident; and severity of injuries. Chapter 9 provides direct energy consumption and emissions data by transport activity. This includes estimates for fuel sales, fuel prices and the production and international trade of transport fuels, classified by petroleum fuel type, as well as estimates of transport emissions, classified by transport mode and emission type. Part E Energy. Chapter 1: Energy infrastructure. This chapter provides a number of measures of energy infrastructure construction as well as measures of the length of electricity networks, capacity of electricity generation plants and reliability of electricity supply. Chapter 2: Energy inputs. Chapter 2 provides a summary of inputs to energy infrastructure; including measures of mineral energy reserves, and energy used in the generation of electricity and natural gas distribution. Chapter 3: Energy production and trade. The first few tables in Chapter 3 provide a summary of energy production in Australia of all main primary fuels and energy imports and exports. The remaining tables provide energy usage details for key specific energy types: • For electricity, detailed usage statistics are provided by state/territory and industry, with further detail provided for the number of customers and electricity prices facing residential consumers in each capital city. • For gas, detailed usage statistics are provided by state/territory and industry, as well as gas prices facing residential consumers in each capital city. • For black coal, detailed usage statistics are provided by state/territory and industry, as well as time series statistics for export prices for black coal. • For brown coal, detailed usage statistics are provided, classified by industry for New South Wales and Victoria. • For petroleum fuels, detailed usage statistics are provided by state/territory and industry, as well as time series statistics for a range of international measures of crude oil prices. Chapter 4: Energy impacts. Measures of the external impacts of energy usage are provided for serious injuries and greenhouse gas emissions. The electricity generation industry plays a unique role in greenhouse gas statistics within the Kyoto framework: Greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity generation industry represent all ‘scope 2’ (‘upstream’ or indirect) emissions for other industries (see Table E 4.2). Part C Communication. The Yearbook focuses on key networks that enable economic activity. Telecommunications networks are a vital part of Australian infrastructure; however, the telecommunications industry is becoming increasingly integrated with the radiocommunications and broadcasting industries. At the same time, rapid advances in technology have enabled a dramatic expansion in the capacity of existing physical infrastructure in the communications industry. To provide a meaningful summary of Australian communications infrastructure, Part C includes measures of both physical infrastructure (see Chapter 1) and technology investments that enhance infrastructure capacity (see Chapter 2). Chapter 3 provides estimates for fixed and mobile telephone and internet subscribers and internet service providers. Chapter 4: Communications usage. This chapter provides estimates of internet usage and internet commerce, as well as telecommunication prices facing residential customers in each capital city, indicative broadband subscription prices and domain name registration statistics. Chapter 5: Communication security provides statistics for the number of telephone numbers registered on the do not call register and the number of emergency calls to 000 and 112. Part W Water. A significant number of tables presented in Part W: Water were compiled by BITRE using data published by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and the National Water Commission (NWC) in two annual National Performance Reports (NPR); one for urban utilities and the other for rural water service providers. The urban and rural NPRs provide comprehensive data on water supply and wastewater treatment activity for major water utilities (above 10,000 properties) in Australia using a common set of measures. Following the closure of National Water Commission in 2014, the Bureau of Meteorology took up the task to produce the 2013—14 national performance report on urban water utilities. The national performance report on rural water service providers is no longer updated, and the rural water data presented in the Yearbook are sourced from the final national performance report published by the NWC in 2014. Chapter 1: Water infrastructure. This chapter provides measures of the construction of water infrastructure that are consistent with construction measures used in earlier parts of the Yearbook. In addition, there are several stock measures (including the current value of water infrastructure assets, the capacity of major water storage dams, the current holdings of major water storage dams, and the length of water distribution networks) and infrastructure quality measures for water supply, wastewater treatment and rural water supply networks. Chapter 2: Inputs to water supply. Table 2.1 provides volume estimates for total Australian rainfall each calendar year. The remaining tables in Chapter 2 provide measures of: • sources of water used in urban and rural water distribution networks and sources of wastewater for wastewater treatment networks • water supply prices facing residential customers in each capital city • power consumed to provide rural water distribution • trading activity in rural water markets. Chapter 3: Water usage. Chapter 3 provides a summary of annual water usage in Australia. Statistics are provided for the services provided by major water utilities (urban water, urban wastewater and rural water) in terms of the population that their networks serve, the number of customer connections to the network and the volume and nature of water supplied. In addition, Chapter 3 provides a summary of water consumed by agriculture, including water sourced from rural water supply networks as well as other sources. Chapter 4: Water health and emissions. Chapter 4 provides measures of water quality for urban water supply, sewer overflows to the environment and greenhouse gas emissions from urban and rural water supply and wastewater treatment. For further development. The preparation of a publication such as this highlights the differences between the conceptual framework and the reality of the infrastructure statistics that are currently available. There are several areas of the framework where current statistical coverage is sparse and further compilation work is required to present a complete statistical picture of Australian infrastructure activity. Publication layout. Diagrams are provided at the commencement of each Part which summarise statistics presented in the tables that follow. These diagrams highlight the areas of the conceptual framework where statistics are unknown or not available. Throughout this publication, End Notes are numbered consecutively within each Part. References provided at the bottom of tables relate to the most recent issue of the statistical publication. Where a complete time series is not available from the most recent issue, earlier issues were used. (Author/publisher)
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