Infrastructure pipeline by state: where the work is in 2026

Infrastructure Australia puts the national Major Public Infrastructure Pipeline at $242 billion over the five years to 2028-29 — up 14 per cent in a year and the highest since it began tracking. For an individual contractor, though, the national total matters less than where the work sits, and that is moving.

Queensland and the Northern Territory have grown for two reports running: their combined pipeline rose $16 billion in Infrastructure Australia's 2024 report and another $4 billion, to $51 billion, in the 2025 report. New South Wales and South Australia added $26 billion between them in the 2025 report, led by water and transmission in New South Wales and by housing and the River Torrens to Darlington project in South Australia. Industry surveyed for the report expects capacity to open up in New South Wales and Victoria as large civil projects move through delivery, and to tighten in Queensland and South Australia.

Queensland: the growth market

Queensland has the largest federal commitment of any state: $26.5 billion over 10 years under the Australian Government's Infrastructure Investment Program as at the 2026-27 Budget. The state's own capital program is a record $119.2 billion over four years, with $29.6 billion in 2026-27.

Three drivers:

Brisbane 2032. Games venues sit within a total funding provision of $7.1 billion. Brisbane Stadium at Victoria Park is the largest single item, with a budget of $3.785 billion and capacity for 63,000 spectators; early works began in 2026. The athlete villages sit within a separate $3.5 billion envelope, delivered in partnership with the private sector.

Energy. In 2026-27, Queensland's state-owned energy businesses are investing more than $5 billion across transmission, distribution and generation under the Queensland Energy Roadmap, including $420 million to progress CopperString.

Health. The Hospital Rescue Plan will add more than 2,600 beds, with $2.206 billion in 2026-27 for new hospitals in Bundaberg, Coomera and Toowoomba, the Queensland Cancer Plan and major hospital expansions.

The constraint is people, not money. Construction Skills Queensland projects an eight-year average shortfall of 18,200 construction workers in the state. Olympic venues compete for the same labour as transport, hospitals, housing and renewables. A contractor entering this market is entering a bidding war for trades, not an open field.

New South Wales: large, and concentrated

The New South Wales 2026-27 Budget carries a $116.7 billion infrastructure program over four years, and the federal commitment to the state under the Infrastructure Investment Program is $17.3 billion over 10 years. Its pipeline remains among the largest in the country — but it is heavily concentrated in a small number of very large programs.

Sydney Metro West alone is estimated at $27–29 billion, targeting a 2032 opening. All 24 kilometres of twin tunnels were complete by March 2026, and the project is moving into tunnel fit-out, with track laying due to start by the end of the year.

The state also carries a large private pipeline in data centres: more than 60 data centres operating or under construction, and a further 19 projects valued at $50.3 billion in the state significant development pipeline, according to Infrastructure NSW (August 2026). That is private capital rather than public pipeline, and it does not appear in the Major Public Infrastructure Pipeline at all — which is precisely why contractors reading only the public numbers underestimate the New South Wales market.

Victoria: past the peak

Victoria is stepping down from a record peak to a steadier long-run level.

Government infrastructure investment peaked at $24.2 billion in 2023-24. The 2026-27 Victorian Budget projects $21.4 billion in 2025-26, moderating to $15.3 billion by 2029-30, with the Metro Tunnel now open (it carried its first passengers on 30 November 2025). That is still a big program: investment averages $16.5 billion a year over the budget and forward estimates, around the 2015-16 to 2029-30 average of $16.1 billion. The federal commitment to Victoria is $21.5 billion over 10 years.

The Suburban Rail Loop is the major exception to the moderation. SRL East is under construction and targeting 2035, and tunnelling began in September 2026. On 25 August 2026 the Victorian Government announced around $1 billion in immediate savings through scope changes — including surface transfers in place of underground interchanges at Box Hill and Glen Waverley — and commissioned an independent technical review to target a further $1 billion. No further SRL contracts will be awarded until that review is complete; current works continue.

For Victorian contractors this is the sharpest strategic question in the market: a lot of capability was resourced for a peak that has passed.

Western Australia: a record state program

Western Australia's 2026-27 Budget carries a $44.3 billion four-year infrastructure pipeline, with a record $4.7 billion for housing and a $9.1 billion health boost that includes new hospitals and beds. The federal commitment to the state is $6.3 billion over 10 years. Much of WA's private construction activity is tied to resources projects, which sit outside these public figures.

The smaller jurisdictions

South Australia has $29.1 billion of total public sector infrastructure spending over four years in its 2026-27 Budget. The largest items are the North-South Corridor's River Torrens to Darlington project ($11.2 billion between 2025-26 and 2029-30) and the new Women's and Children's Hospital ($2.9 billion over the same period). The federal commitment is $8.1 billion over 10 years.

Tasmania's 2026-27 Budget puts $1.7 billion into roads and bridges over four years — almost half the state's infrastructure investment — while its government businesses will invest nearly $6 billion over the budget and forward estimates, including TasNetworks' North West Transmission Developments, Hydro Tasmania upgrades and TasPorts. The federal commitment is $2.2 billion over 10 years.

The ACT's Infrastructure Investment Program forecasts $1.1 billion in 2026-27 and $7.5 billion over the five years to 2030-31, centred on health, education and transport. The federal commitment is $646 million over 10 years.

The Northern Territory's 2026-27 infrastructure program totals $4.25 billion, with transport — around $2 billion for roads, aerodromes and jetties — making up nearly half, and more than $782 million for remote and urban housing. Around 59 per cent of the program is in remote and regional communities. The federal commitment is $2.8 billion over 10 years.

Where the states stand

State programs are measured differently in each budget, so compare directions rather than totals.

What this means if you are deciding where to bid

Following the work north is harder than it looks. Three things do not travel between states:

1. Prequalification. State schemes are separate and assessment is not quick. Prequalified in Victoria does not mean prequalified in Queensland.
2. Licensing. QBCC requirements differ from Victorian registration in scope and process.
3. Workforce. You are entering a market where industry expects capacity to tighten as the pipeline firms ahead of Brisbane 2032, competing against contractors who are already there and already resourced.

Do not read the public pipeline as the whole market. New South Wales illustrates why: $50.3 billion of data centre projects in the state's planning pipeline does not appear in the public infrastructure pipeline, and it is drawing on the same civil, electrical and mechanical trades.

A moderating pipeline is not the same as no work. Victoria's program, averaging $16.5 billion a year over the forward estimates, is still a substantial market. But it is a market where capability was built for a larger one, and where industry expects capacity to open up as large civil projects move through delivery — a different business to the one Victorian contractors have run for the past five years.

Published 31 August 2026 · Updated 4 October 2026