RAI CEO Liz Ritchie, who grew up in Deniliquin, was master of ceremonies at the event where Deputy Premier Paul Toole outlined the plan.
Investment in housing, upskilling and growing the health workforce, ensuring equitable access to quality learning, improving regional transport networks and digital connectivity are the focus of the vision.
“This is a wide-reaching document, touching almost every aspect of life in regional Australia,” Ms Ritchie said.
The RAI’s Regionalisation Ambition 2032 – A Framework to Rebalance the Nation is complementary to the NSW Government’s action plan, Ms Ritchie said.
The ambition is a holistic, integrated plan to progress and empower our regions to thrive – a vision to rebalance the nation – with 20 goals over five pillars (population; jobs and skills; liveability; productivity and innovation; and sustainability and resilience).
Regional demand for labour continues to break records, with more than 94,000 vacancies posted in October.
Regional unemployment is the lowest it has been in more than 30 years – at 3.2 per cent.
“We have seen record job ads, underscored by enduring business confidence, regional population growth and the ongoing expansion of the services sector,” Ms Ritchie said.
“Supply of labour continues to be constrained by the pool of available workers having dried up, high labour mobility, and local skills not matching roles advertised.”
The RAI places the goal of reducing recruitment difficulty in regional Australia as a key objective to rebalancing the nation.
This ambitious goal will need action from all levels of government, industry and community.
“Our eleven years of research has told us that we need to rebalance the nation. The New South Wales Government has taken a positive step in investing in the future of regional NSW,” Ms Ritchie concluded.
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