Transport and Logistics - snapshot

Transport and Logistics is often referred to as the ‘backbone' of the Australian economy. It directly affects every part of the economy and everyone's standard of living - from what we buy, to the price we pay for goods, to how we get from place to place.

The Transport and Logistics network comprises ports, roads, railways, freight terminals, airports, and distribution and materials handling centres. Because of its integration within the economy and the embedded nature of its functions, the relative ‘health' of the Transport and Logistics Industry is often considered a barometer for the overall strength of the economy.

The industry is characterised by diversity of mode, size, freight type, ownership, location, employees' skills and infrastructure requirements. A major challenge in addressing workforce issues is to recognise the interrelationship between these layers of diversity and to develop policy and planning processes that are effective regardless of circumstance.

Transport and Logistics involves almost every type of occupation, from crews of vehicles, trains, vessels and aircraft to staff involved in engineering, infrastructure, tourism, hospitality, security, retailing, warehousing, administration and IT.

Facts and Statistics

Generates about 14.% GDP.
Employs over 461,000 people nationally.
Encompass 165,000 businesses.
Employs 167,000 truck drivers nationally.
Small business is a dominant factor in the sector accounting for over 90% of all businesses and the employment of 35% of the industry workforce.
The amount of freight moved will double over the next 10 years.
Australia has the largest and heaviest road-legal vehicles in the world.
Freight carried by Australian rail freight services grew by 12.2 million tonnes or 1.8% to 684.9 million tonnes in 2005-06.
There are about 512,000 trucks in Australia (Source: ATA communiqué)

Shipping in Australia accounts for 26% of domestic freight task.
There has been a decline in the Australian registered trading fleet from 75 vessels in 1996 to 46 vessels in 2005 - 06.
Over the last ten years the proportion of the total freight task undertaken by shipping has declined due to an increase in freight moved by road and rail.
In 2006-07, 850.2 million tonnes of cargo moved across Australian wharves. This represented a 5.5 per cent increase over 2005-06.
Total ship visits increased by 2.0 per cent in calendar year 2007 compared with the preceding year, with ship visits peaking at 2207 for the six months to December 2007.
Each year 3,700 ships transport goods to and from Australia
(Source: Speeches - NATSHIP June 2009 by Anthony Albanese MP)
Australian shipping activity represents 10 percent of the global shipping task by mass - the 5^th largest shipping task in the world (Source: Speeches - NATSHIP June 2009 by Anthony Albanese MP)
Australia is the largest island nation in the world, with its population in coastal cities and resources accessed at ports dispersed right around our thirty-six thousand kilometer coastline (Source: Speeches - NATSHIP June 2009 by Anthony Albanese MP)
Over 99 percent of Australia's international exports and imports are carried by sea (Source: Speeches - NATSHIP June 2009 by Anthony Albanese MP)
Our number of Australian registered large trading vessels has declined from 55 to 38 in a little over ten years (Source: Speeches - NATSHIP June 2009 by Anthony Albanese MP)

Australia's Aviation Industry has responsibility for 11 per cent of the world's airspace.
112.8 million passengers passed through Australia's airports in 2006-07.
The aviation industry directly supports nearly 50,000 jobs and contributes $6.8 billion to Australia's GDP.
Since the mid-1980s, there has been an almost three fold increase in air travel with predictions that this will double again within the next 20 years.
Global demand for aviation is growing at about 5 per cent per year.
There are approximately 40 per cent more Australians flying domestically than before the collapse of Ansett in 2001.
Aviation is responsible for only 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions (Source)

Sources include: Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, Australia Logistics Council, The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia: Rebuilding Australia's Coastal Shipping Industry, Apelbaum Consulting Group: Aust Rail Transport Facts 2008, The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, ANTA Industry Skills Report - TLISC February 2005 and a speech from Hon Brendan O'Connor ATA Convention April 2009.