National Highway (Australia)

The National Highway (part of the National Land Transport Network) is a system of roads connecting all mainland states and territories of Australia, and is the major network of highways and motorways connecting Australia's capital cities and major regional centres.

National funding for roads began in the 1920s, with the federal government contributing to major roads managed by the state and territory governments. However, the Federal Government did not completely fund any roads until 1974, when the Whitlam Government introduced the National Roads Act 1974. Under the act, the states were still responsible for road construction and maintenance, but were fully compensated for money spent on approved projects.

In 1977, the 1974 Act was replaced by the State Grants (Roads) Act 1977, which contained similar provisions for the definition of "National Highways".

In 1988, the National Highway became redefined under the Australian Land Transport Development (ALTD) Act 1988, which had various amendments up to 2003. The 1988 Act was largely concerned with funding road development in cooperation with the state governments. the federal transport minister defined the components of the National Highway, and also a category of "Road of National Importance" (RONI), with federal funding implications. Section 10.5 of the Act required the state road authorities to place frequent, prominent, signs on the National Highways and RONI projects funded by the federal government.

In 2005, the National Highway became the National Land Transport Network, under the AusLink (National Land Transport) Act 2005. The criteria for inclusion in the network was similar to the previous legislation, but expanded to include connections to major commercial centres, and inter-modal facilities. All of the roads included in National Land Transport Network as of 2005 were formally defined by regulation in October 2005. The Minister for Transport may alter the list of roads included in the network. Three amendments to the scheduled list of roads have been made, in February 2007, September 2008 and February 2009. The third variation, published in February 2009, is current as of September 2012.

Under AusLink a program that operated between July 2004 and 2009, the AusLink National Network had additional links, both road and rail. The Federal Government encouraged funding from state, territory and local governments and public–private partnerships to upgrade the network and requires state government funding contributions on parts of the network, especially for new links. For example, the Pacific Highway and the Calder Highway are part of the National Network, yet new projects are being funded 50/50 by federal and state governments. State contributions (generally 20%) are required on some sections of the old network near major cities.

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