Australia launches Digital Utility Portal; NSW rolls out Project Swift

Transport Australia has turned a $4.6 billion underground utility strike problem into a national digital solution. The new Before You Dig Australia Digital Utility Portal aggregates underground utility data, allowing planners and contractors to locate buried infrastructure quickly. Pilots are underway on Brisbane’s Olympic projects as well as major works in Western Sydney and Perth. With more than 15,000 utility strikes reported annually, the portal is projected to save the industry about $22 million and 180,000 working hours each year. Clarissa Ahlberg noted that a design engineer previously needed up to a week to interpret hundreds of map pages, a task the portal now completes in roughly an hour. CEO Ehssan Veiszadeh said the tool demonstrates the value of emerging leaders solving real‑world transport challenges.

In New South Wales, Transport for NSW is embedding Project Swift across its road programme to cut planning, procurement and construction timelines. The approach streamlines duplicated processes, brings contractors into development earlier and fast‑tracks business cases, enabling projects to reach procurement in under 12 months instead of several years. Early trials have accelerated the Bandon Road upgrade by 12 months, the Avoca Drive upgrade by nine months, and the Windsor Road upgrade by six months. Ongoing works such as the M1 extension to Raymond Terrace and the Jervis Bay Flyover are also ahead of schedule. Deputy Secretary Raquel Rubalcaba highlighted the model’s flexibility to match each project's size, complexity and risk.