National Sewerage Program

Type of project| Public works
Country| Australia
Prime Minister(s)|

* Hon. Gough Whitlam AC QC
* Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC QC GCL

Ministry|

* Department of Urban and Regional Development (1972-75)
* Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development (1975-77)[1]

Key people| Tom Uren
Launched| 1972; 53 years ago (1972)
Closed| 30 August 1977; 47 years ago (1977-08-30)
Budget| AUD$330 million
Status| Closed

The National Sewerage Program was an Australian federal program under the Whitlam and Fraser governments[2] established to provide funding for the expansion of municipal sewerage systems.[3] At the time Australia was lagging behind other developed nations[4] and it was later estimated that, as of the commencement of the program in 1972, 17.2% of the Australian population were not connected to sewerage.[5] Even in major population centers like Sydney and Melbourne, there was a backlog of over 318,000 homes waiting to be connected to municipal sewerage systems.[6] The program was administered by the newly formed Department of Urban and Regional Development, and over AUD$330 million of funding was allocated to be distributed to individual states and territories over ten years.[7][5] Over the life of the program the sewerage connection backlog was reduced by 30% to 40%.[6] The program was abolished in 1977 by the incumbent Fraser government.[8][9] Consequently, many communities struggled to connect to sewerage for decades afterwards.[10]

## References

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1. ^ NATIONAL SETTLEMENT DIVISION (Report). Department of Environment, Housing and Community Development. 1976-06-30. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
2. ^ "sunday TIMESTYLE The Whitlam legacy — unburied by seven years of Fraserism". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 1985-11-03. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
3. ^ Drum, The (2014-10-21). "Things you didn't know Gough Whitlam did". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
4. ^ Davidson, Helen (2014-10-21). "Gough Whitlam – in his own words". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
5. ^ a b DEPARTMENT OF URBAN AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT SECOND ANNUAL REPORT 1973-74 (Annual Report) (Report). Department of Urban and Regional Development. 1974-06-30. pp. 39–40. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
6. ^ a b Murphy, Damien (2014-10-21). "Gough Whitlam left a long list of achievements". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
7. ^ "Gough Whitlam — Prime Ministers". Australian Prime Ministers. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
8. ^ "Budget hits job chances". Broadcaster (Fairfield, NSW : 1935 - 1978). 1977-08-30. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
9. ^ "ELECTIONS 1980 FRASER GOVT: lies, lies, lies, lies and more lies". Woroni (Canberra, ACT : 1950 - 2007). 1980-10-02. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
10. ^ "Local governments 'need more funds'". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 1985-02-27. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-01-18.