Australia's consistently high economic growth, increased export trade and the growth in population in major urban regions are the key drivers of new investment in the transport sector. New investment in the transport sector is actively supported by the Australian Government's AusLink Program. The program involves developing Australia's national network of important road and rail infrastructure links and their inter-modal connections. In the 2007-08 Budget, the Australian Government announced that it will invest $22.3 billion on Australia's land transport system from 2009-10 to 2013-14.

Roads: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the share of investment in the road sector undertaken by the private sector increased from 28.4% in 1991 to 49.8% in 2006. The rise in private sector funding partly reflects the increased use of private public partnerships projects (PPPs) in areas such as toll roads and tunnels. Typically, these projects are undertaken on a "Build Own Operate and Transfer" (BOOT) model. State Governments establish BOOT guidelines and call for expressions of interest from private consortiums in a competitive tendering process. The private consortium is then responsible for the finance, design, construction and ongoing maintenance of the project for a specified period. A number of new PPPs are currently under consideration in the road sector.

Ports: In Australia, new investment required in port infrastructure is very much driven by increased exports in the minerals and petroleum sectors. A number of new port projects or expansion of existing port facilities are under consideration or have been recently commenced construction to cater for the rise in mineral and petroleum exports to markets such as Japan, Korea, China and India. Additionally, new facilities are being planned in a number of Australia's major urban ports to cater for increased container trade.

Rail: Like ports, much of the investment in the rail sector has driven by the export of commodities. Coal and ores account for approximately 80% of bulk freight most of which is transported by rail to ports for export. The relatively prominent role of the rail sector in the Australia's minerals industry means that many future opportunities may be in remote areas and involve project specific infrastructure. The number of service providers in the rail sector has grown due to the restructuring of Government owned railways into passenger, freight and infrastructure providers. Ownership and investment by the private sector has been largely directed at the freight and infrastructure areas. However, there appear to be emerging opportunities for private investment in passenger services. For example, the Australian company Pacific National operates interstate passenger services and a subsidiary of the French based Veolia operates Victoria's main passenger service.