The City of Ballarat is a rapidly expanding regional Victorian municipality with over 116,000 residents, managing an infrastructure portfolio valued at approximately AUD 2 billion. The council partnered with Modelve to modernise its Asset Plan using lifecycle modelling technology to align asset investments with long-term community service outcomes.
Modelve’s scenario planning engine enabled the Council to incorporate community values into budgeting discussions. The platform’s storyboard functionality helped visualise critical trade-offs including rate capping impacts, capital debt implications, and funding prioritisation decisions.
The city integrated climate, gender, health, and demographic datasets to create a comprehensive infrastructure strategy. This approach ensured asset decisions reflected evolving community needs while meeting contemporary standards for equity and sustainability.
According to Vaughn Notting, Executive Manager Infrastructure: “It was nice to say that this is the first year we have really had the ability to assess our infrastructure and make good use of the data collected to inform our Capex Programs.” He emphasised that councillors’ confidence increased through improved visibility and modelling capabilities.
The engagement delivered a transparent connection between infrastructure data, service delivery, and budgeting — with enhanced stakeholder confidence through evidence-based investment decisions, improved transparency tools supporting budget discussions, and multi-dimensional scenario analysis incorporating demographic and environmental factors.
