Timelines for swath of Victorian construction projects blow out

Regional rail upgrades, road projects and public housing builds are among a string of Victorian projects that have been hit by delays, as the construction sector continues to struggle with increasing costs and labour shortages.

Although final timelines for some projects are not made public, an audit by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office confirms multiple projects have been reported by state departments as behind schedule.

V/Line track upgrades are among those projects hit by delays.Credit: Justin McManus

This was done using a traffic light system under which red projects are forecast to be more than six months delayed and amber denotes a four- to six-month delay.

The audit shows a long-awaited upgrade of the Gippsland train line, first forecast to be completed by 2022 and then by June 2024, is now forecast to be finished later this year.

The total cost of upgrading the line has swelled from $531 million to $878 million.

A third stage of upgrades on the Shepparton train line, which would allow twice the number of daily services, was meant to be finished by the end of the last financial year but is still under way. The government says the new rail signalling system needed for the project is “incredibly complex work”.

An upgrade of the Warrnambool line is also listed as “red” and has an unspecified completion date despite forecasts at one point indicating it would be finished by 2024.

However, one of its key benefits – allowing new V/Line VLocity trains to run on the line – has started and is expected to increase, along with promised additional services, once the project is fully completed.

On the road network, the duplication of the Western Highway between Ballarat and Stawell still has no firm completion date despite being slated for 2021. The government’s Big Build website says planning for the final section is still under way.

Another project renewing sections of the Great Ocean Road, forecast to be completed this year, is expected to be four to six months behind schedule after already being pushed back from as far back as 2020.

A project renewing sections of the Great Ocean Road is set to be four to six months behind schedule.Credit: iStock

The Big Housing Build, a 2020 state government commitment to build 12,000 social and affordable homes over four years, is now forecast to be completed in 2028.

The government says the $6.3 billion project will now deliver 13,300 social and affordable homes, with work on 10,100 complete or under way.

A government spokesperson said the auditor-general’s report was a “snapshot in time” and information was provided 12 months ago. Other delays outlined in the report are no longer accurate and have not been included in this article.

“Since then, works have progressed, with Victorians reaping the benefits from these vital major projects across the state,” the spokesperson said.

Opposition major projects spokesman Evan Mulholland said the government’s management of projects had become a “slow-motion disaster”.

“Victorians pay the price with added costs and delayed projects because we have a government that rewards union thuggery instead of demanding accountability,” Mulholland said.

Improvements to Victoria’s male prison system capacity, first forecast for 2023, are also delayed and unlikely to stay within budget because of black mould infestations affecting hundreds of new beds at Barwon Prison in Lara and the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall.

The Department of Justice and Community Safety is currently negotiating with the contractors of the prison project and argues the works were not completed to standard.

Infrastructure Australia chief Adam Copp.Credit: Peter Rae

Infrastructure Australia’s market capacity report, published in December 2024, said investment in transport projects was falling as billions of dollars more in funding flowed to energy and housing projects.

Chief executive Adam Copp said at the time that the nation’s infrastructure ambitions were being challenged by skills shortages, stagnant productivity growth and the rising costs of materials.

“Construction materials on average cost around 30 per cent more than they did three years ago, and with ongoing skills shortages we simply don’t have the people power we need to get the job done on time – our analysis shows 7 per cent of the pipeline, or $15 billion of planned construction work, has been hampered by project delays,” Copp said in the report.

Copp said projects would also shift into regional areas and northern Australia, which would bring other challenges in attracting workers and supplying materials.

Roads Australia chief executive Ehssan Veiszadeh has previously warned of the impact of delays, particularly those linked to union action.

The peak body’s members reported that repeated construction delays and poorer working environments added 30 per cent to the total costs of projects.

“On major public infrastructure worksites, workplace safety has not only been undermined – it has been weaponised,” Veiszadeh said.

“Worksites have been shut down for spurious reasons, sometimes costing up to $5 million a day. Often industrial action has targeted critical works such as concrete pours, which can have a cost impact of tens of millions of dollars.”

This masthead’s Building Bad investigation has detailed allegations of serious misconduct across government sites over the past year, including allegations gangland-linked figures were receiving large payments from companies on publicly funded projects looking to gain favour with figures within the CFMEU.

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