In March 2015 the Australian Government responded to the Productivity Commission's (2014) Tasmanian Shipping and Freight Report by announcing the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES) would be expanded from 1 January 2016 to provide assistance to goods going to markets not previously covered by the Scheme. The announcement included a new monitoring process, with the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) to conduct an initial review of the expanded component in 2017 (this review). Thereafter, monitoring of the expanded component will become part of the BITRE's general TFES monitoring reviews commencing in 2019.