AusLink is a former

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national Executive (government), executive government of Australia, a federalism, federal Parliamentary system, parliamentary con ...

land transport funding program, that operated between June 2004 and 2009. The former program was administered by the former Department of Transport & Regional Services. In 2009, the program was replaced with the Nation Building Program under the ''Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Act 2009''. The Nation Building Program was administered by the Department of Infrastructure & Transport and that program was replaced by The National Land Transport Network, as determined by the Minister for Infrastructure & Regional Development under the ''National Land Transport Act 2014''.

Legislative Framework

AusLink was administered under the ''AusLink (National Land Transport) Act 2005'', until the 2005 legislation was superseded by the ''Infrastructure Australia Act 2008'', the ''Nation Building and Jobs Plan (State Infrastructure Delivery) Act 2009'', the ''Nation-building Funds Act 2008'' and the ''Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Act 2009''.

Road funding

Major projects completed as part of the AusLink program and information on the funding projects in the states and territories

Sydney to Melbourne

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

Holbrook bypass ($320m: $110m contribution by

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

) - completed in August 2013. *

Hume Freeway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city National Highway (Australia), national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in ...

Craigieburn bypass ($320m: $110m contribution by

Vic Vic, vic or VIC may refer to: People and fictional characters * Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name * V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper Places * Vic, Spain, a town and ...

) - completed in December 2005.

Brisbane to Sydney

* Pacific Highway

Bulahdelah Bulahdelah () is a town and locality in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia in the Mid-Coast Council local government area. Geography The town is situated north of Sydney along the eastern and northern banks of the Myall ...

bypass ($315m: $11m contribution by NSW) - construction completed in 2013. *Pacific Highway Kempsey bypass ($618m) - Construction completed in 2014. *Pacific Highway Sapphire to

Woolgoolga Woolgoolga is a town on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Highway, approximately 550 km north of Sydney and 365 km south of Brisbane. The closest city to Woolgoolga is Coffs Harbour, which lies 24 ...

upgrade ($700m: $88m contribution by NSW) - 25 km upgrade north of

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

, construction completed in 2014. *Pacific Highway Ballina bypass ($640m: $114 contribution by NSW) - Construction completed in 2012. *Pacific Highway

Banora Point Banora Point is a suburb located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia in Tweed Shire. Together with Tweed Heads South and Terranora it had a combined population of 27,368 in 2001, including 21,457 (78.4%) Australian-bo ...

upgrade ($360m: $60m contribution by NSW) - Construction completed in 2012. *

Hunter Expressway The Hunter Expressway is a long controlled-access highway in New South Wales, Australia. It was previously known as the F3 to Branxton link or Kurri Kurri Corridor during the planning stage. It has two lanes in each direction, running generally ...

($1.7bn: $200m contribution by NSW). Construction completed 2013.

Melbourne to Adelaide

* Western Highway Melton to

Bacchus Marsh Bacchus Marsh ( Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is a town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately north-west of the state capital Melbourne, at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong. As of the ...

Freeway ($450m) - Construction completed in 2012.

Brisbane to Darwin

Toowoomba Bypass The Toowoomba Bypass, known as Toowoomba Second Range Crossing during planning and construction, is a grade separated, dual carriageway bypass and partial ring road constructed to the north and west of Toowoomba, Queensland. Construction com ...

($43m) - Planning commenced in 2008.

Dubbo to Sydney

Great Western Highway Great Western Highway is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, on the state's Central Tablelands. The highway also has local road names between the ...

Woodford to

Wentworth Falls Wentworth Falls (Postcodes in Australia, postcode: 2782) is a town in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately west of the Sydney central business district, and about east of Katoo ...

duplication - due for completion in 2014

Canberra connectors

Barton Highway Barton Highway is a highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It connects Canberra to Hume Highway at Yass, and it is part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra. It is named in honour of Sir Edmund Barton, the first Pr ...

duplication - construction start date not announced (as of June 2014) *

Murrumbateman Murrumbateman is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Barton Highway, approximately 30 kilometres north-west of Canberra, and is part of the Yass Valley Shire. At the , Murrumbateman had a population o ...

Bypass ($20m) - project funding not yet approved.

Rail funding

Rail funding has been announced for the following projects (Auslink project search) * $550 million from AusLink and additional

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation, spanning across five states and 39 worksites. ARTC continues to expand the networ ...

funds for an upgrade the 684 km of AusLink Network track and signalling along the North Coast railway line from Maitland to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

to reduce transit times substantially and to permit more trains to operate safely on the largely single track line. * $192 million through the

for a new access route for freight trains through the south-western

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

metropolitan area from

Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

Chullora Chullora, a suburb in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown local government area, is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Th ...

, the

Southern Sydney Freight Line The Southern Sydney Freight Line (SSFL) is a freight-only railway line in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The line was built to segregate freight trains from the Sydney Trains network. It forms part of a dedicated freight only c ...

project. * $110 million on the

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales, Australia, established in 2004 pursuant to the ''Transport Administration Act 1988''. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW, foll ...

metropolitan track system towards improving rail access for freight trains on the

Main Northern railway line The Main North Line (also known as the Great Northern Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia, running from Strathfield railway station, Strathfield in Sydney to Armidale railway station, Armidale. The 1980s saw the line clo ...

between

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

and Hornsby as part of the

Northern Sydney Freight Corridor The Northern Sydney Freight Corridor (NSFC) was a project to improve access between Sydney and Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle for freight trains. Frequent passenger services operate on the Main Northern railway line, Main Northern line be ...

project. Some of these funds will be available during the later part of the current five-year AusLink investment programme, for the development of the

Port Botany Port Botany is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Port Botany is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Port ...

rail link. * $110 million to the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

for a new rail link and grade separation from Footscray Road between the Dynon intermodal freight precinct and the

Port of Melbourne The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at th ...

. * $45 million to convert the broad gauge line between

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

and

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

and the

North East railway line The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne Melbourne City Centre, central business district to Albury rail ...

between

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

to standard gauge. * $42 million to the

to extend the

Code Division Multiple Access Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of channel access method, multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over ...

mobile phone system to cover the interstate rail network. This will achieve a single national media for voice and data communications for the non-metropolitan interstate rail system. This is being provided through

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

and will later need to be converted to 3GSM when Telstra replaces its CDMA network with 3GSM. * $40 million to the

towards the cost of the line upgrading and signalling system between

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

and West Footscray. * $20.3 million to the

to develop Australia's next generation of train control technology, including the capacity for computerised on-board signalling to replace the current track-side system, satellite-based location technology to track trains to within 3 metres, and a computerised warning system that alerts drivers to impending dangers. * $20 million towards a

Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...

rail bypass to remove the

running through the centre of Wodonga. * $8 million for crossing loop extensions at Jamestown and Mingary on the

Crystal Brook-Broken Hill railway line A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosco ...

at Yarrabandia and

Matakana Matakana is a small town in the Rodney Ward of Auckland Council of New Zealand. Warkworth lies about 9 km (5½ miles) to the south-west, Snells Beach the same distance to the south, Ōmaha is about 7 km (4¼ miles) to the east, and ...

on the

Broken Hill railway line The Broken Hill railway line, extending from Orange, New South Wales to Broken Hill, is now part of the transcontinental rail corridor from Sydney to Perth. The first railway line in New South Wales opened from Sydney to Parramatta Junction ...

. * Up to $5 million from for a major study of the Inland Rail corridor between

and

. The study will examine future freight demand, capacity and options for development of the north–south rail corridor. It will form part of the broader AusLink corridor study of transport links between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. * $4 million for new passing loops at Mungala and Haig on the

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta railway station, Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie railway station, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. Built to standa ...

. * $3.5 million for the upgrade and strengthening of the Albury-Wodonga Railway Bridge. * $2.6 million for the installation of an In-Cab Activated Points System to avoid the need for train crew to manually change switches (

railroad switch A railroad switch (American English, AE), turnout, or (set of) points (Commonwealth English, CE) is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one Rail tracks, track to another, such as at a Junction (rail), ...

es). * $2.5 million for the upgrading and strengthening of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

Bridge at

Murray Bridge, South Australia Murray Bridge (formerly Mobilong and Edwards Crossing; ) is a city in the Australian state of South Australia, located east-southeast of the state's capital city, Adelaide, and north of the town of Meningie. The city is called ''Pomberuk'' b ...

Criticism

The program was criticised as being a pork barrelling exercise.

References

External links

AusLink

NSW Bilateral funding schedule (road)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auslink Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Transport in Australia 2004 establishments in Australia 2009 disestablishments in Australia