Friday, August 22, 2025
Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) would like to inform members that the Albanese Government has released the refreshed National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy (the Strategy), a new National Action Plan (2025–29) and Implementation Plan 2025.
The Strategy was first introduced in 2019 to position Australia to meet its growing freight needs. Since then, supply chains have endured considerable disruption, including the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events, geopolitical instability, and persistent skills shortages. With Australia's freight task projected to increase by 26 per cent between 2020 and 2050, the government has seen the need to refresh the Strategy and National Action Plan.
A review of the Strategy was brought forward in 2023–24 and concluded that the foundations remained strong, but recommended the Strategy be refreshed with fewer, nationally significant actions and the development of updated goals and priorities.
Key Priorities
The refreshed Strategy highlights four National Priority Action Areas:
Productivity – improving efficiency and international competitiveness.
Resilience – building supply chains able to withstand shocks and disruptions.
Decarbonisation – reducing freight sector emissions in line with national targets.
Data – strengthening evidence, performance monitoring and the National Freight Data Hub.
Safety is embedded across all four areas as a critical cross-cutting priority.
National Action Plan 2025–29
The accompanying National Action Plan sets out 14 key actions for delivery over the next five years, including:
Development of a National Freight Resilience Plan to coordinate responses to major supply chain disruptions.
Creation of a Freight Infrastructure Investment Framework to guide national investment decisions.
Modelling the current and future freight networks, to ensure capacity for projected growth.
Conducting safety research on batteries and zero-emission freight technologies.
Quantifying the economic significance of freight and logistics to the national economy.
These initiatives will be delivered collaboratively by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, and industry stakeholders.Federal Minister for Infrastructure Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King stated: "Without a viable and reliable freight networks, Australia stops. The journey of goods from farm-gate, factory or port to the shopping aisle or building largely goes unnoticed, except in those rare instances where something in the supply chain goes wrong.As industry and consumer demands grows, it's vital our roads, rails and ports can accommodate increasing freight movements with resilience, efficiency and emissions-reduction front of mind." What's Next? – Implementation Plan
The accompanying Implementation Plan 2025 sets out how and when these commitments will be delivered.
FTA / APSA will continue to engage with government on behalf of members to ensure industry's voice is heard in the Strategy's implementation and reporting processes.