Infrastructure Australia published its Australian Infrastructure Plan in February 2016 as part of its plan to address the nation’s infrastructure gaps and challenges.

Seventy-eight recommendations were put forward in the plan.

On Monday, Infrastructure Australia released its Prioritising Reform report, which assessed how the 2016 recommended reforms progressed in the past two years.

The 2016 report said the current approach to charging for road use and investing in road infrastructure was “unfair, unsustainable and inefficient”.

“The system is unfair because the link between usage and charging is weak. The system sees taxpayers subsidise all users, while those who use the network less are in effect paying a subsidy to support those who use it most,” the Australian Infrastructure Plan said.

“The system is also unsustainable because fuel excise revenue will continue to decline in real terms as fuel efficiency continues to rise and the uptake of alternatively fuelled vehicles gathers pace.

“The system is inefficient because road users do not receive signals to use the network in the most cost-effective way.

“Australia needs a road market that reflects the true costs of providing, maintaining and using the network. Pricing our roads to reflect these costs is not just about creating a system of sustainable funding.”

Monday’s Prioritising Reform report revealed there had been improvements across the infrastructure sector but said there was still a lot to do.

Infrastructure Australia chief executive Philip Davies said it had been pleasing to see progress in heavy vehicle road charging, business case development, integration of land-use and transport planning and corridor protection.

“However, our progress report Prioritising Reform finds there are also clear instances where more action is needed,” he said.

The report recommended the Australian government initiate an inquiry into the potential benefits and impacts of road market reform, with a view to transition to a user-pays approach.

The Australian government showed support for this after it was first proposed in 2016 but no inquiry occurred.

Mr Davies said road market reform had the potential to deliver significant improvements in network performance and address fairness issues, while also establishing a secure and sustainable source of funding for roads.

“Given the significance of this change and the scale of community consultation and consensus-building involved, it’s vital that governments move forward on this important opportunity for reform,” he said.

The report said road market reform had progressed slowly.

“Currently, user funding for the construction and maintenance of our roads is sourced from a mix of fuel excise and vehicle registration charges,” the report said.

“However, Australian taxpayers incur a significant ongoing cost burden to maintain and develop our road system, regardless of whether they own or drive a car.

“Given the significance of the reform and the scale of the work involved, Infrastructure Australia strongly encourages the governments to move forward.”

Mr Davis said Australia never lacked vision but needed to keep up the momentum on reform if it was to meet the upcoming infrastructure challenges.

The next Australian Infrastructure Plan will be released in 2021.