AUSTRALIAN living standards will fall unless much more is spent on infrastructure, says a federal government-commissioned report from Infrastructure Australia, according to Bloomberg. "Changing and growing demand, and a mounting maintenance backlog, mean a new wave of reform and investment is necessary to ensure quality of life and economic productivity are enhanced over the next 15 years," said the report. The call for more investment echoes pleas from central bank Governor Philip Lowe, who has repeatedly called on the government to lift infrastructure spending to boost economic capacity and hiring, particularly when finance is cheap. The report said energy affordability has deteriorated, with a steep rise in network costs driving energy bills 35 per cent higher over the past decade, and up by 56 per cent per unit of electricity consumed in real terms. The National Broadband Network services haven't met the expectations of many users. In the water sector, while many metropolitan utilities are increasing the sustainability and quality of their services through innovation, some regional areas are suffering from growing water security fears as large parts of the country are in drought, said Bloomberg.