The Outback Way - Infrastructure That Connects: Unlocking Northern Australia Through Strategic Corridor Development
Tracks
Concurrent Room 1
| Friday, August 7, 2026 |
| 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM |
| Concurrent Room 1 |
Overview
Mel Forbes, Outback Highway Development Council
Details
1. Transport Corridors Are Strategic Capability
The Outback Way demonstrates that infrastructure corridors underpin national resilience and strengthens freight security.
> Corridors support defence mobility and disaster response.
>Transport investment multiplies economic, social and security outcomes.
2. The Experience of the Outback Highway Development Council shows that corridor development succeeds when leadership is coordinated across jurisdictions.
> How cross-border alliances build political certainty.
3. Infrastructure Only Performs When It Enables Industry and Liveability. Sealing a corridor is not the finish line — it’s the foundation. Strategic corridors unlock Northern Australia when they are treated as integrated social and economic platforms.
Speaker
Ms Mel Forbes
General Manager
Outback Highway Development Council Inc
THE OUTBACK WAY - INFRASTRUCTURE THAT CONNECTS: UNLOCKING NORTHERN AUSTRALIA THROUGH STRATEGIC CORRIDOR DEVELOPMENT
Presentation Overview
Northern Australia’s future will be shaped by how effectively we connect regions, industries and communities through strategic infrastructure investment. This presentation will explore how integrated transport corridors can drive economic resilience, national productivity and regional liveability — using the experience of the Outback Highway Development Council and the development of the Outback Way as a practical case study.
Framed within the 2026 Developing Northern Australia Conference theme of infrastructure and connectivity, the session will examine how east–west corridors complement traditional north–south supply chains, strengthen freight efficiency, improve disaster resilience, and enhance defence and biosecurity capability across northern regions.
Key themes will include:
1. Strategic Connectivity Beyond Roads – Infrastructure as an enabler of digital access, energy transition, tourism dispersal, emergency response and Indigenous economic participation.
2. Leveraging Public Investment for Private Sector Growth – How coordinated advocacy secured significant federal and state investment, and how infrastructure certainty unlocks mining, agriculture, logistics and visitor economy expansion.
3. Community-Centred Development – Ensuring infrastructure investment delivers measurable outcomes through inclusion of the communities and Land Councils in stakeholder engagement, enabling skills and economic development for remote and First Nations communities, including employment pathways and service access.
4. National Significance of Northern Corridors – The role of cross-jurisdictional collaboration in delivering long-term, nation-building projects aligned with Australia’s economic diversification and security priorities.
This presentation will provide practical insights for policymakers and regional leaders seeking to accelerate infrastructure delivery in Northern Australia. It will offer a replicable framework for corridor development that integrates economic strategy, stakeholder alignment and sustained advocacy.
The session will equip delegates with insights and lessons on how to move from vision to funded, deliverable infrastructure that strengthens connectivity across Northern Australia for decades to come.
Framed within the 2026 Developing Northern Australia Conference theme of infrastructure and connectivity, the session will examine how east–west corridors complement traditional north–south supply chains, strengthen freight efficiency, improve disaster resilience, and enhance defence and biosecurity capability across northern regions.
Key themes will include:
1. Strategic Connectivity Beyond Roads – Infrastructure as an enabler of digital access, energy transition, tourism dispersal, emergency response and Indigenous economic participation.
2. Leveraging Public Investment for Private Sector Growth – How coordinated advocacy secured significant federal and state investment, and how infrastructure certainty unlocks mining, agriculture, logistics and visitor economy expansion.
3. Community-Centred Development – Ensuring infrastructure investment delivers measurable outcomes through inclusion of the communities and Land Councils in stakeholder engagement, enabling skills and economic development for remote and First Nations communities, including employment pathways and service access.
4. National Significance of Northern Corridors – The role of cross-jurisdictional collaboration in delivering long-term, nation-building projects aligned with Australia’s economic diversification and security priorities.
This presentation will provide practical insights for policymakers and regional leaders seeking to accelerate infrastructure delivery in Northern Australia. It will offer a replicable framework for corridor development that integrates economic strategy, stakeholder alignment and sustained advocacy.
The session will equip delegates with insights and lessons on how to move from vision to funded, deliverable infrastructure that strengthens connectivity across Northern Australia for decades to come.
Biography
Mel Forbes is a senior executive with more than 20 years’ experience delivering complex, place-based initiatives across remote and regional Australia. As General Manager of the Outback Highway Development Council, she leads national advocacy and cross-jurisdictional coordination for the Outback Way—a 2,800-kilometre route connecting Winton to Laverton. Mel works at the intersection of government, industry and First Nations stakeholders, advancing infrastructure that unlocks economic development, supply chain resilience and regional opportunity across northern Australia. Her leadership spans strategy, governance, investment facilitation and stakeholder engagement at local, state and federal levels.
