Austroads stocktake builds picture of sustainability, biodiversity and heritage practice in transport across Australia and New Zealand

Friday, 27 February 2026

Austroads has released the Environment and Sustainability Initiatives Stocktake 2025–2027: Year 1, continuing and building on earlier work to provide deeper insight into how transport agencies across Australia and New Zealand are embedding sustainability practices across their operations and strategic frameworks.

Transport agencies face growing expectations to deliver infrastructure that is safe, reliable and resilient, while also responding to environmental pressures such as biodiversity loss and the need to protect and manage cultural heritage.

Building on reporting from 2022 to 2024, this Stocktake marks a step change in the depth and breadth of coverage across sustainability, biodiversity and heritage. It forms part of a broader three‑year program that examines seven sustainability themes over time.

The Stocktake deepens its scope by examining how agencies are establishing sustainability governance arrangements, the actions being taken to protect and enhance ecological outcomes, and the ways in which both First Nations and non‑First Nations heritage values are being recognised and managed through transport planning, delivery and operations.

Joanne Vanselow, Austroads’ Environment & Sustainability Program Manager, said the Stocktake plays an important role in helping agencies understand how their work is evolving over time. “This update shows how the policy and strategic landscape is shaping sustainability practice across the transport sector, helping agencies reflect on their own maturity, and encouraging innovation and progress towards a more sustainable transport future.”

Information for the Stocktake was gathered through an online survey, desktop research of publicly available material, and interviews with Austroads member agencies. Case studies included in the report illustrate the diversity of approaches taken by agencies and reflect the information available at the time of publication.

Joanne said that collaboration and shared learning are central to the value of the Stocktake. “By bringing together experience from across jurisdictions, this work helps build a common understanding of what good practice looks like,” she said. “That shared knowledge supports agencies to continue refining their approaches and to identify opportunities for new initiatives and nationally consistent guidance.”

Insights from this update will inform future Austroads work as subsequent reporting years explore additional focus areas.

Download Environment and Sustainability Initiatives Stocktake 2025–2027: Year 1