Develop network-scale vulnerability assessment and planning guideline

Overview Austroads Ltd is seeking responses from appropriately experienced service providers to undertake research and develop guidance identifying where and why transport networks are vulnerable to Climate Change and Natural Hazards (CCNH), and to understand the potential consequences and criticality of impacts to the network. Purpose This project aims to help agencies identify areas of greatest relative risk and prioritise where further assessment, adaptation and investment are needed. It will help Austroads members make earlier, better targeted resilience investment decisions by establishing an upstream vulnerability assessment framework that informs and strengthens subsequent operational, planning and asset management decisions across the transport system. Objectives This project will contribute to: Reduced vulnerability and enhanced resilience for transport systems Improved practitioner capability to identify network vulnerability, assess the consequences and criticality of disruption, establish relative significance or risk, and use that evidence to inform where further assessment, adaptation and investment should be prioritised Greater consistency and comparability in network-scale vulnerability assessments, including use of climate projection data More targeted, systematic adaptation of transport networks to CCNH, supporting improved community and economic outcomes About The primary audience for this work is the national transport agencies of New Zealand, the national, state and territory transport agencies of Australia, and the local governments of Australia and New Zealand, including regional groupings or coalitions of councils. The intended users of the research report and guidance include: Strategic transport planners in government and transport agencies who develop network strategies and investment priorities Asset managers in transport agencies and local councils who are responsible for embedding climate resilience into asset portfolios and who are seeking internal buy-in for resilience investments Project managers working with their teams and consultants to assess the feasibility of incorporating climate adaptation initiatives into projects and to justify adoption Investment program managers in transport agencies who evaluate business cases for climate resilience projects and advise their organisations on appraisal approaches Government, transport agencies and other evaluation bodies that evaluate climate resilience initiatives Consultants supporting organisations and agencies in making informed decisions on adaptation investments Scope This project will deliver nationally consistent, practical guidance to support network-scale vulnerability assessment and planning across Australian and New Zealand transport agencies. It directly implements the Austroads CCNH Resilience Guidance Development Roadmap (see Austroads (2025) Climate Change and Natural Hazards Needs and Guidance Approaches, AP-R744-25) by addressing the identified gap in network-scale vulnerability assessment and planning. The scope includes: Developing a practical methodology for agencies to identify where the network is most vulnerable to CCNH Enabling understanding of the relative significance of those vulnerabilities based on potential consequences and criticality Using this information to support prioritisation of further assessment, adaptation and resilience investment Producing a guideline that enables agencies to understand how CCNH affect transport systems at the network scale, rather than at individual asset or project level Producing a guideline that enables agencies to identify network corridors, connections and functions where disruption would result in disproportionate community or economic impacts Producing a guideline that enables agencies to use insights on vulnerability and potential consequences or criticality to inform strategy, planning, investment prioritisation and operations, including flood and wet weather management The project scope does not extend to developing methodologies for determining the most appropriate actions to mitigate identified vulnerabilities, which is the focus of other Austroads guidance, including Austroads (2026) Identifying and Prioritising Climate Adaptation Actions for Transport Assets, AP-R775-26. Tenderers are requested to submit a proposal for the following deliverables: Developing Network-Scale Vulnerability Assessment and Planning Guidance Research Report Network-Scale Vulnerability Assessment and Planning Guideline Interim deliverables are proposed in the Preliminary project schedule on pages 9 to 11 of the tender documentation. Information Requested Tenderers may also propose a combined single deliverable in place of the separate Research Report and Guideline. Where a tenderer elects to do this, the tenderer must advise how this approach delivers project budget savings and schedule efficiencies, and describe any subsequent trade-off in the usability of the single document by end users.