Regional Australia Institute says ‘new era’ is coming for regional Australia as new report released

A new report has identified six factors that are important when assessing a town’s liveability to help regional areas capitalise on national interest in Australia outside the city limits. Here’s what our cities and towns need to focus on.

REGIONAL APPEAL: Regional Australia Institute chief executive Dr Kim Houghton has authored a report to help regional towns attract and keep people looking to make a move.

With the coronavirus pandemic proving not everyone needs to work from an office, the Regional Australia Institute has released a new report to help them capitalise on the burgeoning national interest in Australia outside its capital city limits.

The Liveability Toolkit is a step-by-step practical guide for regional leaders looking to build their community populations.

“Australia is on the cusp of a new era, one in which regional Australian towns have the opportunity to grow and thrive like never before,” report author Dr Kim Houghton said.

“We have a highly mobile population in Australia and regional ‘liveability’ has a strong role to play in influencing people’s decisions about where to live. Our work in this area identifies what people are looking for when choosing a new place to call home, and why they move to one location and not another.

“Every regional area has its unique strengths, challenges and vision. The Liveability Toolkit helps communities identify the population flows, job trends and liveability factors in their region, so they can target the type of people they need to prosper.

“As a general rule, people won’t move to a place unless they have access to a job and critical infrastructure, such as telecommunications, electricity supply and water. After that, however, more subjective liveability factors come into play.”

Through its research, the RAI has identified six key factors that are important to different demographic groups when assessing a town’s liveability. These include:

• Health services

• Education services

• Cost of Living

• Amenity

• Connection to community

• Lifestyle and opportunity.

“There has never been a better time for regional communities to take stock, focus their efforts and create a viable, actionable plan to improve the factors that make people want to live in their town,” Dr Houghton said.

The RAI’s Liveability Toolkit was launched Canberra by Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government Minister Mark Coulton.

Mr Coulton said the Liveability Toolkit was a valuable and timely resource that would help regional leaders build upon and complement action plans to help attract more people to the regions.

“This toolkit provides helpful strategies to help promote and position our regions to benefit from the increasing interest in regional Australia,” Mr Coulton said.

Dr Houghton said the toolkit helped regional towns and cities identify their greatest liveability assets, and how to shape these to target the kinds of new residents most needed.

“It helps regional towns and cities move beyond the general and obvious benefits of regional living, to craft their liveability offer around the assets that really make them stand out,” he said.