Allocating Risk in Public Private Partnerships

Australia has a long history of private sector participation in the provision of public infrastructure facilities, including roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, ports, water treatment facilities, sports facilities, hospitals and prisons. Since 1989, private spending on infrastructure in NSW alone has exceeded $5.5 billion. Recent years have seen an explosion of Government policy and guidance documents on which are now termed "Public Private Partnerships" (PPPs), as Governments at all levels in Australia seek to harness the benefits which private sector investment and/or participation in the provision of public infrastructure can bring. Indeed, the Federal Government and all State and Territory Governments have in recent years issued PPP policy documents (of