National Sewerage Program | |
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Type of project | Public works |
Country | Australia |
Prime Minister(s) | |
Ministry | |
Key people | Tom Uren |
Launched | 1972 |
Closed | 30 August 1977 |
Budget | AUD$330 million |
Status | Closed |
The National Sewerage Program was an Australian federal program under the Whitlam and Fraser governments[2] established to provide funding for the expansion of municipal sewerage systems.[3] At the time Australia was lagging behind other developed nations[4][5] and, as of the commencement of the program in 1972, 17.2% of the Australian population were not connected to sewerage.[6] Even in major population centers like Sydney and Melbourne, there was a backlog of over 318,000 homes waiting to be connected to municipal sewerage systems.[7] The program was administered by the newly formed Department of Urban and Regional Development, and over AUD$330 million of funding was allocated to be distributed to individual states and territories over ten years.[8][6] Over the life of the program the sewerage connection backlog was reduced by 30% to 40%.[7] The program was abolished in 1977 by the incumbent Fraser government.[9][10] Consequently, many communities struggled to connect to sewerage for decades afterwards.[11]