As Australia’s infrastructure pipeline continues to expand, the industry faces a challenge that remains largely hidden beneath our feet: preventing strikes to underground utilities.
New research from Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) has highlighted the scale of the issue, estimating that more than 15,000 underground utility strikes occur across the country each year. The resulting project delays, service disruptions, emergency repairs and productivity losses are estimated to cost the Australian economy approximately $4.6 billion annually.
For organisations responsible for planning, designing, constructing and maintaining public infrastructure, these findings reinforce a growing reality: effective underground asset management is no longer just a safety requirement—it is a critical component of project delivery, risk management and community resilience.
A System Under Pressure
Australia’s infrastructure networks have become increasingly complex. As cities grow and essential services expand, the density of underground assets continues to increase. Yet many processes used to identify, manage and protect those assets remain fragmented and heavily dependent on static documentation.
BYDA’s research suggests that Australia’s regulatory framework has not kept pace with international best practice. Countries including France, Canada and the United States have implemented stronger legislative requirements, clearer accountability frameworks and more robust enforcement mechanisms to reduce the risk of utility strikes.
The consequences of getting it wrong extend far beyond project costs. Damage to underground services can disrupt electricity, gas, telecommunications, and water networks, affecting businesses, residents, transport systems, and critical community services. In the most serious cases, utility strikes can result in injury or loss of life.
The Opportunity for Reform
The report identifies several areas where government and industry can work together to improve outcomes:
1. Stronger “Before You Dig” Requirements
A nationally consistent approach to excavation notification requirements would help ensure that all projects, regardless of location, follow a minimum standard of due diligence before excavation begins.
2. Better Underground Asset Data
Improving the quality, accessibility, and digital integration of underground asset information would provide contractors, designers, and asset owners with greater confidence in project planning and delivery.
As digital engineering, GIS integration, and asset intelligence platforms continue to evolve, there is an opportunity to move beyond document-based systems towards more connected and reliable underground asset information.
3. Data-Driven Risk Management
National reporting and analysis of utility strike incidents can provide valuable insights for regulators, asset owners and infrastructure organisations. Better data enables targeted education, improved compliance programs and more effective risk mitigation strategies.
Why This Matters for Infrastructure Owners
For councils, utilities and infrastructure operators, preventing underground asset strikes is about more than regulatory compliance.
Every avoided strike helps to:
- Reduce project delays and cost overruns
- Improve worker and public safety
- Protect critical infrastructure services
- Minimise disruption to communities
- Improve asset management outcomes
- Support more efficient infrastructure delivery
As Australia’s infrastructure investment continues to accelerate, the industry’s ability to accurately locate, manage and protect underground assets will become increasingly important.
Building a Safer Future Underground
The findings from BYDA reinforce what many infrastructure professionals already recognise: improving underground utility safety is not solely the responsibility of frontline workers or contractors. It requires collaboration between governments, regulators, asset owners, designers and delivery partners.
The technology, expertise and systems required to improve outcomes already exist. The challenge now is ensuring that policy, regulation and industry practices evolve quickly enough to support safer, more reliable infrastructure delivery.
For organisations involved in asset management, digital engineering, utility coordination and infrastructure planning, the message is clear: investing in better underground asset intelligence today will help avoid costly disruptions tomorrow.
Source: Before You Dig Australia (BYDA), “Australia Lags International Best Practice on Costly Underground Utility Strikes” media release and associated research findings.