Health infrastructure pipeline poorly planned: report

Australia’s health infrastructure pipeline has seen rapid expansion but has not yet been met with commensurate growth in specialist skills, resources or labour, suggests latest research from Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

The report, titled A Healthy Pipeline: Delivering Australia’s Hospital Infrastructure, details how an expanding, tightly-sequenced pipeline compounds the pressures faced by an already constrained health infrastructure market.

“We have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, not only due to our high-quality infrastructure, but also our ability to attract top clinicians and allied services. However, continuing to deliver this level of excellence is a sizeable task. Even now in its relatively stable state, projects are facing scarcities across all delivery phases,” said Infrastructure Partnerships Australia Chief Executive Adrian Dwyer.

The pipeline of major health infrastructure projects in Australia currently stands at 54 projects, valued at $42 billion, compared to 33 projects, valued at $21.5 billion, a mere 24 months ago, according to the report.

“At its peak in late-2026, the projected volume of labour required to deliver the hospital pipeline will be two and a half times today’s level. To meet this peak, compound annual growth would need to increase eightfold from the growth achieved in the last decade,” said Dwyer.

“Capacity constraints will only worsen with a growing and increasingly complex pipeline, particularly one with such tight sequencing. The timelines will undoubtedly blow out, the question is whether that happens in a controlled way or a shambolic way.

“Labour mobility and the shortage of skilled workers only adds to the complexity. Hospitals are a different infrastructure beast. Some skills are transferable but the idea that this could be solved with unbridled enthusiasm is high farce. Worse still, there will be the flow on effects for building costs in all other sectors — particularly housing.

“The sobering picture of the current pipeline requires urgent action from governments and delivery bodies to course correct to an achievable pipeline.”

A rescoped pipeline, said the report, will address the immediate challenge of ensuring projects can be delivered without significant cost or time blowouts at the expense of taxpayers.

“In the longer term, reform measures should be undertaken to minimise the reoccurrence of future supply-demand pressure points. This can be achieved through addressing demand side pressures by improving pipeline planning and capital allocation models. Investment in the workforce that supports skills training and development for domestic and overseas workers should be implemented to address supply-side factors,” the report said.

While all jurisdictions will require additional resources to deliver their pipelines, each will face their own unique challenges — this will be especially pertinent in Queensland with the announcement of the Capacity Expansion Program, which aims to deliver 15 projects, including three new hospital megaprojects, by 2028, according to Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

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