PURPOSE:

The purpose of this project is to provide guidance on uplifting and harmonising the data collection and exchange capabilities of Australian and New Zealand (NZ) road agencies to maximise the benefits of emerging road technologies.

SCOPE:

This project will build on previous Austroads’ projects (listed in the “inputs” sub-section below) by providing practical advice on the steps needed to help Australian and New Zealand road agencies support harmonised systems for the interoperable delivery of road transport technologies (including co operative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) and third-party services) across jurisdictions. It will do this by improving their data capabilities for the priority datasets identified in Austroads project Road Authority Data for Connected and Automated Vehicles (listed in Appendix A). A key focus for this project is preparing road agencies for a nationally consistent data sharing environment to support common use cases, including for C-ITS, which will require mature and harmonised data collection and exchange capabilities across agencies.

This project contributes to Action 2.2 in the 2024-27 National Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Action Plan and is intended to provide Australian governments with baseline reference reports to help inform future decisions. The research report should be easily understood by general audiences who may not have relevant domain or technical knowledge. It should be professionally laid out to support readability and engagement and not be presented as a lengthy academic or detailed technical report.

The project will synthesise relevant information in previous Austroads projects, address relevant gaps, and develop guidance. The project must consider technology neutrality; suitability for deployment in an Australian and NZ context; future upgrade requirements and alignment with relevant privacy and cyber security legislation and guidance.

DELIVERABLES:

This project will produce the following deliverables:

• Deliverable 1: Inception meeting, meeting minutes, stakeholder engagement plan with stakeholder list, and project plan with detailed scope and timeline

• Deliverable 2: Draft report chapters on parts 1 (Road authority data collection and exchange overview) and 2 (International benchmarking)

• Deliverable 3: Draft report chapters on parts 3 (Summary of the current environment in Australia and New Zealand) and 4 (Future data collection and exchange environment for Australia)

• Deliverable 4: Draft report chapters on parts 5 (Uplift pathways for Australia) and 6 (Summary of findings)

• Deliverable 5: Complete draft report and executive summary for PCG review

• Deliverable 6: Final report and executive summary for VaT Task Force review

• Deliverable 7: Final report and executive summary for Austroads Board endorsement and publication

• Deliverable 8: Webinar presenting project outcomes to Austroads members

Also included as part of this tender are the following documents:

• Master Services Agreement outlining our Terms and Conditions. Please note that our Terms and Conditions are not negotiable.

All submissions that are research project based must adhere to the Austroads style requirements and the Australian Government Style Manual.

Summary of Austroads Publication Requirements for Research Reports:

Consultants engaged to deliver research reports for Austroads are required to use a standard report template designed to ensure clarity, consistency, and accessibility across all published outputs. While the full template will be provided upon contract commencement, the following outlines the key requirements tenderers should be aware of:

General Formatting and Style

• Reports must follow the Australian Government Style Manual, particularly in relation to:

o Inclusive and accessible language

o Grammar, punctuation, and capitalisation (e.g. sentence case for most headings)

o Referencing and attribution

• Use pre-defined Austroads styles for all headings, body text, tables, figures, and captions. Manual formatting (e.g. changing fonts or colours directly) is not permitted.

• The Table of Contents must be auto-generated and kept updated.

• The report should be:

o Logically structured: Each section must contribute to the report's purpose.

o Consistent: No conflicting information or contradictions.

o Thorough: All aspects of the agreed scope must be fully addressed and justified.

Content Development Guidelines

• The Summary and Section 1 (Introduction) are mandatory for all reports.

• Reports must include appropriate referencing for external sources, data, and studies.

• Any copyrighted material used must have documented permission and be properly acknowledged.

• A qualified editor must review the report before submission to ensure correct grammar, spelling, and readability.

Figures and Tables

• All figures and tables must:

o Be sequentially numbered

o Include a clear caption inserted using the Microsoft Word Insert Caption tool

• Images and diagrams must be clear, relevant, and referred to in the text.

Technical Details

• Specific instructions are included for each section within the template (e.g. expected content, structure, and formatting).

• Reports must avoid "style corruption" often caused by copying and pasting formatted text—authors must verify styles remain consistent with Austroads' format.

• Reports should be reviewed to ensure there is no duplication, ambiguity, or omission of scope elements.