Investing in Growth: Funding Essential Infrastructure
Melbourne’s inner metropolitan region is at the centre of Victoria’s future growth.
M9’s latest research report, Investing in Growth: Funding Essential Infrastructure, prepared by SGS Economics & Planning examines the infrastructure required to support the significant housing, population and employment growth planned across Melbourne’s inner metropolitan region and assesses whether current funding arrangements are sufficient to maintain the liveability of our communities.
Key Findings
- The M9 region will accommodate 980,000 additional residents, 525,000 additional dwellings and 618,000 additional jobs by 2051, placing significant pressure on existing infrastructure.
- M9 councils will require $923 million in capital investment each year to provide the local infrastructure needed to support growth but will only have a funding capacity of $763 million per year.
- This leaves an average annual funding shortfall of approximately $161 million, or around $803 million every five years.
- The region will require substantial additional community infrastructure, including 71 kindergarten facilities, 62 maternal and child health rooms, 49 community centres, 12 libraries and 16 aquatic facilities, alongside major investment in transport, health and education infrastructure.
Without changes to existing funding arrangements, infrastructure delivery risks falling behind population growth, placing increasing pressure on community facilities, transport networks, open space and local services.
Strategic Directions
The report identifies three key priorities to better support growth in established urban areas:
- Modernise funding arrangements for established metropolitan growth.
- Better align infrastructure delivery with population and employment growth.
- Develop a coordinated regional framework that integrates housing, infrastructure and employment planning across the M9 region.
Download a copy of the report here to explore the findings and recommendations in full.