Rates of pipeline failure in Australia seem to be substantially lower than in the Americas and Europe, at only 10-20 per cent of the international mean for failures in onshore transmission pipelines. This paper examines the validity of the Australian data and explores reasons for the difference. Some reasons are obvious, such as the relative youth of Australian pipelines, which results in a negligible rate of corrosion failures. However, there is no obvious explanation for the markedly lower rate of failures due to third party damage. It is hypothesised that Australian practices for managing third party damage may differ in some way. Given the high social and economic cost of pipeline failures, there should be a comparative study to identify any beneficial differences between third party damage protection practices in Australia and elsewhere.
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