Find Freight, Shipping and Logistics expertise in Australia

As a substantial land mass situated at great distance from its international markets, Australia relies heavily on its ability to efficiently pass goods through its supply chains, to and from these markets. The country boasts all major types of multimodal transport (water, land and air) for container and bulk goods shipping and freight.

There are around 25 major ports in the country, with 13 providing container liner services (2012). Major container and bulk goods ports are found in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Portland, Newcastle, Fremantle and Hay Point. Most ports are bulk goods ports, primarily for the export of minerals.

Additionally, the country possesses a total of 467 airports, 38,445 km of railway and 818,356 km of roadways. According to the Australian government the volume of freight flown into and out of the country is expected to increase by almost 110% from 5.5 to 11.4 billion tonne kilometres by 2030. In the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) Australia was ranked 18^th out of 155 countries in terms of infrastructure, with a value of 3.83 out of 5, above the average of 3.68 for high income OECD countries.

Australia is a net importer by a relatively small margin, with imports valued at €157.6 billion in 2010, while exports were valued at €154.4 billion. The greatest share of imports came from China, with 19.1%, closely followed by the European Union with 18.6%, and then the United States with 11.3% (2010). The major export partners were China, Japan and South Korea respectively. There are hundreds of companies operating in the country in the terms of air, sea, road and rail freight. The statutory body Infrastructure Australia advises government and investors on a range of issues and has recommended a number of freight related projects, including road links in the ACT and New South Wales and encouraging investment in Australia’s rail freight network. It has released a national land freight network strategy discussion paper to promote debate around infrastructure for freight in the future (2012).

Many of the established providers in freight forwarding and custom brokerage in operation in the country are integrated operations also dealing in freight provision. The major international consultancy services all have a presence in the country, operating in the field of transportation and logistics.

In the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) Australia was ranked 18^th overall out of 155 countries, with a value of 3.73, 87.2% of the highest performer, Singapore. Each country is scored from one to five, with one being the worst performance in terms of logistics, infrastructure and customs amongst other categories. Australia’s score placed it above the average for OECD countries, valued at 3.63. It was similarly above the OECD average in relation to customs (16^th place), logistics quality and competence (16^th), tracking and tracing (19^th) and timeliness (17^th). The only category in which Australia was scored below the OECD average was in terms of international shipments, in which it was valued at 3.40 compared to the OECD score of 3.44, putting it in 28^th position.

National freight is regulated by the Australian Transport Council. Each state of the country has its own Freight Council, jointly funded by Australian and State governments with support from the Australian Logistics Industry, which are collectively known as the Australian Freight Councils Network.