When systems fail, regions feel it first
31/03/2026
Across the country, this fuel crisis is not theoretical. Diesel bowsers are running dry. Petrol prices are surging. Farming communities are facing real uncertainty about supply.
Policy Pulse: Critical minerals - Regional Australia holds the key
29/03/2026
Australia’s critical minerals future will be built in regional communities. This Policy Pulse looks at why social licence, infrastructure and workforce planning are essential to turning extraction into long‑term regional prosperity.
Newsletter Quarter Four 2025
12/12/2025
Keep up to date with the latest Regional Australia Institute activities in our newsletter. Including our CEO's latest article.
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Policy Pulse: Year in Review
11/12/2025
As 2025 draws to a close, it is time to reflect on whether national policy development has adequately focussed on the needs of growing and changing regional populations.
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Regional Champions: Madeleine Lawler
10/12/2025
Our regional champions ensure the voices of those who live outside of our biggest cities get heard and that’s something we think is worth celebrating, which is why we’d like to introduce you to some of our regional champions.
Building A Legacy Through the Real Deal
30/09/2025
Australia’s energy transition is not just an economic opportunity. It is the defining nation-building project of our generation.
Newsletter Quarter Three 2025
30/09/2025
Keep up to date with the latest Regional Australia Institute activities in our newsletter. Including our CEO's latest article: Building a Legacy Through the Real Deal
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Regional Champions: Anna Finch
26/09/2025
Think Regional’s bespoke, collaborative employment marketing solution has been tested and proven highly impactful for regional communities.
Policy Pulse: It’s Time for a National Reset on Regional Housing
25/09/2025
Australia’s “Great Australian Dream” is alive, but for many in regional Australia, it’s slipping further out of reach. Our latest research makes one thing clear: our regional housing crisis is not just a side effect of urban pressures.
Answering the Call: Griffin Green Affordable Housing
23/09/2025
Completed in May 2024, Griffin Green is a $12 million affordable housing project that showcases what can be achieved when deep collaboration between a local council and a local community housing provider receives substantial support.
Newsletter Quarter Two 2025
27/06/2025
Keep up to date with the latest Regional Australia Institute activities in our newsletter. Including our CEO's latest article: Making My Own Treechange from Canberra to the Bega Valley
RAI Regional Champions Chris Sounness
26/06/2025
From grain stores to game scores, to river life restored: The Wimmera Southern Mallee does things differently.
The regional boss – a glimpse into the future of Australia’s workforce
25/06/2025
The campaign may be over, but the crusade to ‘rebalance the nation’ must continue. Whilst the election result tells our political leaders a lot about the hearts and minds of Australians, it didn’t reveal everything.
Regional living, remote working: The lifestyle Australians are longing for
25/06/2025
New research has uncovered the immense potential of ‘working from home’ to regional Australia, with data capturing the nation’s growing desire to live in a regional setting but work in an urban one.
Policy Pulse: An agenda to lift productivity in the regions
25/06/2025
The Australian government has made national productivity growth a top priority for its second term, and Australia’s regional economies are well positioned to lead the way.
Prosperity, productivity and parity - delivering a legacy for regional Australia
13/05/2025
The campaign may be over, but the crusade to ‘rebalance the nation’ must continue. Whilst the election result tells our political leaders a lot about the hearts and minds of Australians, it didn’t reveal everything.
Empowering Regional Communities Spotlight: Central West, NSW
15/04/2025
There are several large regional cities in the NSW Central West, that provide key services for the district such as health, and act as local transport hubs for a range of key industries, including manufacturing and meat exporters.
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Empowering Regional Communities Spotlight: Wimmera Southern Mallee, Victoria
10/04/2025
Part of the Western Victoria Renewable Energy Zone, the Wimmera Southern Mallee is already home to several wind and solar farms. However, there are challenges ahead with local circuit capacity locally and tepid community support for many projects.
Regional Australia’s Population Nudges 10 Million People
3/04/2025
New data reveals the nation’s regional renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down, with the population of regional, rural and remote Australia now nudging nearly 10 million people.
RAI Newsletter Quarter One 2025
31/03/2025
Keep up to date with the latest Regional Australia Institute activities in our latest newsletter. Including our CEO's latest article: Learning From the Past
Migration helped to shape our nation
28/03/2025
When so much change surrounds us and the future of the country’s political leadership is up for grabs, it’s important to acknowledge the constants – the consistent elements that year after year, have shaped, and continue to shape, regional Australia.
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Empowering Regional Communities Spotlight: Wellington Shire, Victoria
26/03/2025
The net zero transition is well and truly underway in the Wellington Shire, with the region earmarked to host the Star of the South offshore windfarm, which has the potential to supply up to 20% of Victoria’s electricity needs.
Budget 2025-2026
26/03/2025
Growing vibrant and well-connected regions will be essential to Australia’s future development and success, with funding announced in last night’s Federal Budget confirming the regions’ pivotal role in the nation’s future.
Beyond the Belt
19/03/2025
The latest Regional Movers Index (RMI) report reveals the emergence of several new regional hotspots, as communities beyond the traditional ‘commuter belt’ surge in popularity for newcomers.
RAI Regional Champions Craig Sinclair
18/03/2025
Our regional champions ensure the voices of those who live outside of our biggest cities get heard and that’s something we think is worth celebrating, which is why we’d like to introduce you to some of our regional champions.
New Report Highlights Jobs With Regional Income Premiums
4/03/2025
New analysis by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has found you can earn a higher net income across more than 80 occupations by being based in regional, rural and remote Australia, rather than a major city.
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Empowering Regional Communities Spotlight: Banana Shire, Queensland
24/02/2025
There are 13 wind and solar project current planned for the Banana Shire, with the potential for more, and local leaders are interested in building local industry capacity to leverage these proposed developments.
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Implementing circularity in isolated communities
14/02/2025
The Central Desert Regional Council area is a vast arid region north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, covering 283,000,000 hectares across the Tanami Desert.
RAI Newsletter January 2025
6/02/2025
Keep up to date with the latest Regional Australia Institute activities in our latest newsletter. Including our CEO's latest article:
Why regional votes will count this election year.
Why regional votes will count this election year
5/02/2025
The dawn of a New Year brings with it a sense of hope and optimism and moves us one step closer to our collective vision of ‘rebalancing the nation’- ensuring appropriate services and opportunities for all Australians no matter where they reside.
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Rockhampton: Pioneering circularity in Central Queensland
31/01/2025
The Central Queensland city of Rockhampton lies on the Tropic of Capricorn and is located just over 600km north of the state capital, Brisbane.
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Striving for Sustainability in Launceston
21/01/2025
Nestled in Tasmania’s north, Launceston is more than just the state’s second-largest city, it’s a community striving to redefine waste and sustainability.
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Why this corner of South Australia is a circular economy hotspot
13/01/2025
South Australia’s Limestone Coast region is supported by industries such as forestry, agriculture and fishing, with an emerging focus on manufacturing, tourism and retail trade.
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Empowering Regional Communities Spotlight: Mid West, Western Australia
8/01/2025
Spread across more than 40 projects, there is approximately $10 billion of current and proposed net zero industry investments in the region.
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Location, location, location: Albury’s advantage when it comes to circularity
6/01/2025
The city of Albury, on the New South Wales – Victoria border is a regional hub for waste management.
Redefining the place to call home
12/12/2024
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s important to reflect on the year that was, the learnings we have gathered and to take stock of what lies ahead.
Pledge achievements in Year 2
20/11/2024
In this year’s report we are celebrating the work being delivered by our networks and partners from across the country, with more than 70 pledges made to Rebalance the Nation, representing more than one billion dollars investment.
Collaborating across borders
18/11/2024
The cross-border region of the Murray Mallee (including New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria) is taking regionally-led steps to Rebalance the Nation by ensuring the local workforce is optimised and future-ready.
Reshaping skilled workforce attraction in regional Australia
14/11/2024
The Attract Connect Stay (ACS) team led by Dr Cath Cosgrave is dedicated to helping rural communities build and sustain a strong health-industry workforce. Through the training and mentoring of local communities to adopt this empirically based approa
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Circularity in regional Australia
7/11/2024
The transformation to a circular economy is fundamental for sustainable economic growth and enabling the transition to net zero – which regional Australia is playing a crucial key role in.
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The quest to become Australia’s most circular community
6/11/2024
In the face of recent challenges such as the intense Black Summer bushfires and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local tourism, the Bega Valley on the South Coast of New South Wales has embarked on an ambitious circular economy transformation.
The tree, the farm and the recycling plant: How systems thinking, regionality and circularity inters
28/10/2024
Interconnectedness is a concept I often think deeply about. It is the basis of our north star, the Regionalisation Ambition – a 10 year framework for regional Australia.
Regional innovators leading nation’s transition to circular economies
23/10/2024
Regional communities across the country are utilising their unique strengths to spearhead circular economy practices, but a new report by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has found further government support is needed.
Big gardens, breezy verandahs and bang for buck: Welcome to the regional good life
26/09/2024
This month, the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) launched its Good Life Guide, This online tool allows regionally curious users to compare a selection of liveability metrics in Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Australia.
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Empowering regional communities Upper Spencer Gulf
18/09/2024
The transition to net zero is expected to result in a significant economic transformation of the Upper Spencer Gulf, with $20 billion in renewable energy projects in the pipeline for the local area, creating more than 20,000 jobs.
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The New Frontier: A powerful play for the future of our regions
27/08/2024
Power can have many definitions. It can provide an ability for one to direct or influence the behaviour of others, or a course of events. It can supply energy.
The great challenge, the great opportunity
29/07/2024
The clock is ticking. It’s been almost a decade since the United Nations’ (UN) Paris Agreement was adopted, essentially committing the global community to net zero emissions by 2050.
Regional Australia desperately needs more tradespeople – and a lot of them should be women
28/07/2024
Australia needs housing. This isn’t new – we’re a growing nation, and we’re seeing record levels of migration. To keep up with this growth, the Commonwealth, state and territory governments aim to build 1.2 million new homes over the next five years.
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Start me up: powering the engines to drive forward regional Australia
25/06/2024
Change. For some, change is exciting. It unsettles, and that sense of nervous anticipation for what’s ahead can serve as an incredible motivator. For others it’s hard.
Potato power – how a Tasmanian factory is creating a cleaner, greener future
24/06/2024
The fertile lands surrounding Ulverstone in north-west Tasmania have made it a hub for agriculture and food manufacturing.
World-first study to examine regional Australia’s worker need and skilled refugee employment
18/06/2024
A pioneering new research project is set to shape win-win solutions that help address regional Australia’s chronic skill shortages and ensure skilled refugees find employment.
Metro to regional movers multiply, with millennials leading the march
31/05/2024
The number of city-dwellers choosing a life in the regions has hit a 12-month high, with the latest Regional Movers Index (RMI) showing metro to regional relocations have surged in the first quarter of the year.
Regional Australia: the beginning of our nation’s tomorrow
29/05/2024
The Federal Budget is so much more than a carefully scripted speech on one night of the year. It’s the instrument that helps guide Australia over the 12 months, and in some situations, the years to come.
Tackling the transition to net zero in the food manufacturing industry
28/05/2024
Understanding the sustainability challenges and opportunities for small to medium food manufacturing businesses in regional locations across Australia close to farm suppliers is important for the future growth of Australian manufacturing.
The pathway to a low-carbon economy in regional Australia’s key industries
17/05/2024
Some industries will face a more difficult pathway in the transition to net zero, particularly in regional Australia, where there is a heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
Budget 2024-2025: Nation’s Future To Be Made In Regional Australia
15/05/2024
Regional Australia is at the epicentre of the Federal Government’s Future Made in Australia ambitions, with plans to attract global investment in the development of home-grown critical minerals, low emission liquid fuels, and green hydrogen.
The timber town that’s proven efficiency and renewable energy work hand in hand
13/05/2024
Yarram is a small town of around 2000 people, in a prosperous farming district with a history of timber harvesting and milling in the Shire of Wellington, just over 200km east of Melbourne, in Gippsland, Victoria.
The finance broker who can see the potential in modular homes
2/05/2024
Teressa Fisk, a finance broker on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, has spent the past two years with a strong focus on assisting clients to finance modular homes.
Why population shouldn’t be a dirty word
26/04/2024
Transition, transition, transition. It seems to be the word of 2024, positioned alongside big ideas, big investment, and big infrastructure.
How a residential subdivision led to the regeneration of a western Victorian town
22/04/2024
Ten years ago, the Pyrenees Shire Council in regional Victoria took a calculated risk and bought a tranche of land in Beaufort, a town of about 1,700 people on the Western Highway midway between Ararat and Ballarat.
Rates roads rubbish and real estate
18/04/2024
Council Chief Executive Anne Champness recounts a story of a local professional recently being forced to live in a tent during winter due to the lack of rentals in the local government area’s biggest community.
Katanning – the little town that’s carving its own path on the journey to net zero
10/04/2024
Katanning Energy in south-west WA is a community-focussed organisation with a vision to see Katanning living and supported by a reliable, clean and cheap renewable electricity supply.
The regional Australia advantage when it comes to the transition
26/03/2024
Net zero. Whether you love it, are wary of it, or ambivalent to it, it’s here. Both in Australia and across the globe, the transition to low-carbon economies is underway.
Welcome to Dubbo, where the appetite for apartment living is sky high
20/03/2024
When the first residents move into the modernist No. 1 Church Street in the bustling centre of western New South Wales city Dubbo next year, they will be making history. Inland Australia isn’t known for its high-rise properties, but Dubbo-based devel
Seniors and families on the Surf Coast to benefit from Community Bank social enterprise
13/03/2024
Winchelsea, VIC has a shortage of appropriate housing for older people looking to downsize, forcing some residents to move from their hometown into the nearby city of Geelong, or even further afield.
My Bella Casa on a mission to make modular mainstream
6/03/2024
My Bella Casa is an offsite construction business, working to deliver new, quality, long-term homes to regional, rural and remote communities across Australia.
My Bella Casa is the brainchild of Tamika Smith.
Key workers and community betterment at the heart of unique Griffin Green collaboration
28/02/2024
Partnerships between multiple levels of government and the not-for-profit sector are often discussed, but rarely do they experience the success of the Griffin Green project.
On Your Terms - Why regional Australia is at the heart of the net zero conversation
27/02/2024
Throughout the latter part of 2022 and much of 2023 the nation’s job market exploded, even more so in regional Australia where online vacancies were reaching about 90,000 month-on-month.
Spare Rooms Across Central NSW
22/02/2024
The significant shortage of housing in regional NSW is well evidenced. It is also accepted that addressing this shortage will require innovative approaches in the short to medium term.
Cash grants and new builds: Quilpie Shire leads by example when tackling housing challenges
16/02/2024
Quilpie Shire Council made international headlines in 2021 when it launched a scheme offering $12,500 grants for people to buy and build new residential dwellings across its townships.
2024: The year of capturing and cultivating our regional capability
30/01/2024
I like to start each year goal setting and dreaming about what’s possible and to date this manifestation of ideas, innovation and aspiration has stood us in good stead.
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National Alliance for Regionalisation Sets 2024 Agenda
15/11/2023
The CEOs of some of the country’s most influential peak bodies have met with three government ministers in Canberra today, to help set the National Alliance for Regionalisation’s key goals for the coming year.
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Unveiling the Regionalisation Ambition 2032 - Year 1 Progress Report
21/09/2023
Last week in Canberra, the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) unveiled the first-year progress report of the Regionalisation Ambition 2032.
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New grant scheme launched for regional communities
14/09/2023
The Regional Australia Institute’s (RAI) Regionalisation Ambition 2032 and goal to ‘Rebalance the Nation’ is at the heart of a new philanthropic initiative, aimed at promoting sustainable, focused, long-term change in country communities.
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Shifting our Gaze – Inaugural report of Regionalisation Ambition 2032: A Framework to Rebalance the
13/09/2023
We all know the only certainty in life is change. Change is inevitable but transformation is a conscious choice. Transformation requires choice.
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Recap of RAI’s Thrive Together Workshops in 2023
1/09/2023
Reflecting on this year's local workshops, where we talked community wins, opportunities and actions for regional areas to thrive into the future.
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Systems-thinking in local leadership
1/09/2023
The Future Shapers leadership program, delivered by the Committee for Ballarat, highlights how non-government
organisations are creating impact from the Ambition.
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Leveraging the Ambition to guide local strategic planning
7/07/2023
The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) were thrilled to learn that the Western Downs Regional Council were leveraging the Framework to communicate their own refresh of their 5-year Economic Development Strategy.
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Bendigo Bank expands investment in tomorrow’s leaders, delivers on jobs and skills pledge
26/06/2023
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is a founding member of the Regional Australia Council (RAC), a group of forward-thinking and influential Australian businesses committed to elevating and prioritising regional Australia.
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Regions remain popular for tree-changers escaping the cities
5/06/2023
It’s not really breaking news to report that people continue to move from Australia’s major cities to its regions, including Greater Shepparton and the wider Goulburn Valley, but it would seem people have also begun returning to the cities.
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Wave of Launceston migrations subside
5/06/2023
The wave of Australians moving to Launceston has subsided.
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Jobs market driving record internal migration
31/05/2023
Employment and business opportunities are driving record levels of people moving from major cities to regional areas.
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Learnings from the road with Bryce Ives
30/05/2023
There is something truly exhilarating about zooming up and zooming down, diving headfirst into the compelling issues and themes that weave through the tapestry of rural and regional Australia.
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More jobs than people
29/05/2023
Regional job ads are surging, new research from the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has shown, with the number of early childhood education and care (ECEC) roles in the Riverina and Murray area increasing.
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Regional Australia Institute survey insights revealed
26/05/2023
ALEX Holt dropped city life for the vast and sparsely populated outback with no expectations.
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Rural and regional health and workforce discussed this week
25/05/2023
Updates from AMA Council of Rural Doctors and a report on regional skills in the National Press Club this week.
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Housing and childcare squeeze behind bush worker gap
24/05/2023
While the job market booms in country Australia, workers are hard to find amid chronic shortages of housing and childcare.
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New push to fire up the nation’s engine room
21/03/2023
Many of Australia’s peak advocacy organisations are backing a new push to improve life and work in regional Australia
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Regional alliance to foster new wave of tree-changers
21/03/2023
Leaders from the health, education, agriculture and arts sectors have formed a new alliance to help regional Australia become home to 11 million people by the end of the decade.
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Bush poised to accelerate Australia’s productivity ambitions
21/03/2023
Today marks a historic day for hashtag#RegionalAustralia with the launch of the National Alliance for Regionalisation (established by the Regional Australia Institute) at Parliament House in Canberra.
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Powerful new Alliance champions regional Australia
21/03/2023
More than 30 CEOs from the most influential peak bodies in the country have today joined forces in Canberra, for the historic launch of the National Alliance for Regionalisation.
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Regionalisation Ambition Moves West
16/03/2023
The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has unveiled its bold ambition to ‘rebalance the nation’ at the Regions Rising Event in Bunbury today - and what it means for regional Western Australia (WA).
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nbn - Jobs & Skills Pledge
7/03/2023
We will continue to engage and build relationships with regional businesses and communities to help them achieve local solutions and also encourage the right skills and capabilities across our workforce.
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Liz Ritchie - Address to the National Press Club of Australia
3/03/2023
Liz Ritchie, Chief Executive Officer Regional Australia Institute, will make her Address to the National Press Club of Australia on 'Rebalancing the nation – empowering regional Australia for growth'.
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Young families fuel rural renaissance as inland migration boosts regional towns
1/03/2023
Morgan Williams believes he struck gold when he and his young family packed up their beachfront home in Perth and moved 100 kilometres inland to York.
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A rural renaissance is underway but not in the places you'd expect
1/03/2023
Australians are migrating further inland and further away from coastal capital cities, according to the latest snapshot of regional movement, driving a population rebound in towns with historically low growth.
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Australia’s biggest internal migration magnets revealed
1/03/2023
Australia’s top regions for internal migration have been revealed, with five regions recording growth of more than 200 per cent. And it is bad news for Sydney and Melbourne.
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Records tumble in regional job market - outstripping metro figures
23/02/2023
The picture that December's national job vacancies painted was of slowing job growth and a stabilising unemployment figure, which many commentators speculated will rise as Australia faces rising interest rates and economic headwinds.
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Forget Sydney or Melbourne and you’ll be happier
22/02/2023
Regional Australia Institute Liz Ritchie is interviewed about skilled job opportunities in the regions for Australian expats returning from living and working overseas. Addressing job shortages is part of the new ‘rebalancing the nation’ campaign.
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Albury City - Jobs & Skills Pledge
21/02/2023
We pledge to deliver increased capability of the Live Albury Wodonga skills board to make it easier to search for skilled professionals over the next 12 months.