Asset Management Policy


Click here for a mobile friendly version of this page.


An Asset Management Policy is a high level document that describes how an organisation intends to approach asset management within the organisation.

An asset management policy, along with asset management plans & an asset management strategy, is a key part of an organisation's asset management framework.

Asset Management Policy Development

Most if not all Australian Councils have an Asset Management Policy in place, so there are plenty of good existing policies that can be used as a template and/or starting point when developing or updating an Asset Management Policy.

Many Councils have there own internal rules about how policies should be formatted, and what information they should contain, so this also needs to be taken into account when developing an AM policy.

A number of publications, including; the Local Government and Planning Ministers' Council's Asset Planning and Management Framework, the National Asset Management Assessment Framework (NAMAF), the Local Government Asset Management Better Practice Guide and the International Infrastructure Management Manual have information relating to the development of Asset Management Policies.

The NAMAF in particular can act as a comprehensive and freely available checklist for information that should be included in an Asset Management Policy.

National Asset Management Assessment Framework

The National Asset Management Assessment Framework makes the following statements with regard to Asset Management Policy

  • The Asset Management Policy requires the adoption of Asset Management Plans informed by community consultation and local government financial reporting frameworks.
  • The Asset Management Policy defines asset management roles, responsibilities and reporting framework.
  • The Asset Management Policy identifies a process for meeting training needs in financial and asset management practices for councillors and staff.
  • The Asset Management Policy provides a reasonable basis for long-term integrated decision making by the Council and for participative decision making by the community and subsequent accountability to the community about the activities of the Council
  • The Asset Management Policy clearly articulates the principles and financial implications upon which decisions relating to assets and their performance will be based. Such as:-
    • Whole of Life costs
    • Renew before New
    • Forms part of Long Term Financial Plan
    • Capital contributions
  • The Asset Management Policy has organisational context and acknowledges the importance of asset management in supporting services provided by Council.
  • The Asset Management Policy identifies the need for Council reporting to be categorised in terms of operational, maintenance, renewal, upgrade and new expenditure classifications.
  • The Asset Management Policy includes audit and review procedures, specifies review dates and has a sunset clause.

Local Government Asset Management Better Practice Guide

The Local Government Asset Management Better Practice Guide includes the following list of Asset Management Policy functions:

  • Establishes the goals and objectives for asset management providing a platform for service delivery.
  • Integrates long term asset and financial management with council’s strategic objectives.
  • Maximises value for money by adoption of life cycle costing, combined with disciplined performance measurement.
  • Assigns accountability and responsibility for service delivery together with asset management.
  • Promotes sustainability to protect the needs of future generations.

Asset Planning and Management Framework

The Local Government and Planning Ministers' Council's Asset Planning and Management Framework suggests that an Asset Management Policy should:

  • establish the objectives for asset management providing a platform for service delivery;
  • integrate asset management with corporate and financial planning;
  • assign accountability and responsibility for service delivery together with asset management;
  • broadly takes account of whole of life costing, service levels and financing options; and
  • requires the adoption of an asset management plan informed by community consultation and local government financial reporting, and which is supported by training in financial and asset management.

International Infrastructure Management Manual

Section 2.1.2 of the International Infrastructure Management Manual deals with "Developing the Asset Management Policy".
It contains a checklist similar to those above and two very brief Asset Management Policy case studies

Related Pages

External Links & References

The links below were valid at the time they were added, if you find any dead or faulty links, please report or fix them.

  1. Asset Management Policy - Bundaberg City Council
  2. Asset Management Policy - Frankston City Council
  3. Asset Management Policy - Moira Shire Council
  4. Asset Management Policy - Greater Shepparton City Council
  5. Asset Management Policy - Surf Coast Shire Council
  6. Asset Management Policy - Adelaide City Council
  7. Asset Management Policy - Wentworth Shire Council
  8. Draft Wide Bay Burnett Regional Asset Management Policy
  9. IPWEA Discussion
  10. Guidelines for Developing an Asset Management Policy, Strategy and Plan - Department of Victorian Communities (August 2004)
  11. Google Search
  12. One Page Asset Management Policy - David Hope
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License