Getting SAVi about the intangible benefits of infrastructure investment

27 April 2026

How do you measure the total benefits of resilience when it comes to disaster recovery?

We can roughly estimate how much is saved when a previously repaired asset is built back better and stands up to the next disaster event, but what about the intangible flow-on effects that keep impacted communities connected and functioning?

For example, a review of reconstruction costs associated with Betterment projects delivered between 2013 and 2023 revealed that, from an investment of $244 million in projects that were re-impacted by subsequent disasters, approximately $988 million was saved in avoided reconstruction costs.

However, the full benefits of these projects, recognising the positive intangible outcomes they create for communities, had not been captured or valued.

Prior to 2024, no suitable tool existed to complete this important calculation.

A way to capture the social, economic and environmental benefits that flow from investing in resilience.

Addressing that gap inspired a partnership between the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

A pilot project customised IISD’s Sustainable Asset Valuation initiative (SAVi) Tool and retrospectively tested it against a range of Betterment projects throughout Queensland.

Queensland’s Betterment Fund has proven upfront investment in stronger, more disaster resilient infrastructure creates more resilient communities and saves money for all levels of government during future disasters.

The SAVi tool evaluates intangible benefits by using 15 indicators to explore the full benefits of this investment, going far beyond simply calculating avoided reconstruction costs.

This approach provides an evidence base to understand more completely how resilient infrastructure investment benefits communities, especially those regularly affected by disasters.

For example, when SAVi was retrospectively applied to the 2013 Betterment project at North Burnett’s Gayndah Water Supply Intake Station, the cost-benefit analysis demonstrated that avoided costs far exceeded reconstruction and restoration costs due to the station remaining functional throughout all subsequent natural disaster events.

QRA has trialled SAVi when analysing potential future Betterment projects and has conducted user testing with stakeholders to identify further applications and improvements.

Results confirmed the tool has the potential to better quantify all benefits of resilience to help prioritise future infrastructure investments.

Measuring these benefits also ensures the unique needs of communities are being addressed by Betterment resilience works, helping to foster more equitable recovery and resilience outcomes across the state.

QRA is collaborating with Partners for Infrastructure (P4I), an Australian Government initiative, to extend the functionality and applicability of the tool and make it more user-friendly.

Enhancements will look to incorporate more data and information to further quantify additional Betterment project benefits, including for transport, the environment, the economy, and around human and social issues.

By learning more about the transformational community boost provided by disaster-resilient infrastructure, priorities for future upgrades will become clearer, leading to better results for Queenslanders.

In 2024, QRA partnered with the International Institute for Sustainable Development to retrospectively test the Sustainable Asset Valuation initiative (SAVi) tool against a range of infrastructure Betterment projects throughout Queensland.

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When the SAVi Tool was applied to the Gayndah-Mundubbera Road Betterment project in North Burnett, it found avoided restoration costs associated with the project were $47.5 million, but when indirect benefits to the agricultural towns of Gayndah and Mundubbera were added, total avoided costs rose to $53.9 million.

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In 2013, Betterment funding was used to bitumen-seal a 10-kilometre section of Aurukun Access Road particularly vulnerable to flood damage. It has since withstood 10 separate disaster events, and when indirect project benefits to the Aurukun community were taken into account, avoided reconstruction costs increased from $8.6 million to $10.3 million.

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Gayndah Water Intake Station post Betterment

Following major damage to the Gayndah Water Intake Station, Betterment works saw the station rebuilt upstream with a new design to keep it functioning during flood events. In allowing local communities to keep accessing safe, potable water in times of disaster, the indirect benefits of the project have been calculated in the millions.

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QRA will continue to use SAVi when analysing Betterment upgrades to best understand the full project benefits for communities and to inform future investment.

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