New Report a Vital Tool for Long Term Planning

A first ever pulse check on how sustainably Australia is growing is a welcomed planning tool
and highlights the need to address concerning trends emerging in our communities.

The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) says the inaugural Sustainable Australia Report
2013 from the National Sustainability Council established late last year, will provide vital data
required for good long term planning.

PIA Chief Executive Officer, Kirsty Kelly said the report provides a snapshot of the country’s
sustainability through a broad range of indicators.

“This report sees sustainability not simply as a natural resource issue,” Ms Kelly said.

“Through a number of indicators that include population, land use and housing it looks at the
sustainability of the built form in cities and regions as well as economic and employment
systems

“It shows a picture of trends over the past 30 years providing benchmark evidence to start
the discussion about where we want to be as a nation in the next 30 years.

“At a glance we would seem to be doing well in a number of areas but other areas are still
extremely challenging.

“Australians are living longer with improved levels of health and education. We benefit from a
strong economy low unemployment and rising incomes.

“However we need to better plan for our ageing population, the rising cost of health, our
expanding cities and changes in traditional work and family roles.”

Sustainability indicators used to construct the Sustainable Australia Report 2013 were
developed through a series of workshops attended by a range of experts including PIA
representatives.

The report shows not only how we are impacting on our natural resources and biodiversity,
but it also gives us an idea of how the relationship between the built environment and
lifestyle is progressing.

Ms Kelly welcomed the report and said the National Sustainability Council will use it as a
starting point for a national conversation about our future.

“Like the State of Australia Cities report prepared by Minister Albanese’s Major Cities Unit,
this report provides us with a base of knowledge from which we can better understand our
nations sustainability.”

The Australian government established the National Sustainability Council late last year as
an independent advisory body on sustainability issues.

One of the Council’s primary functions is to produce a regular Sustainable Australia Report
against a set of sustainability indicators that were also agreed by government.

Ms Kelly said PIA looks forward to examining the report in more detail.

“Through hard evidence such as contained in this report we can better understanding how
good planning can help create better outcomes for the Australian community.”
PIA Chief Executive Officer, Kirsty Kelly