Bid to draw skilled migrants to regions

C O MMUNI T Y - L E D d e c i - sions on attracting migrants to regional centres and towns could be ramped up to provide skills and growth, according to an organisation focused on regional development.

The Regional Australia Institute has announced a new policy research program which is being supported by state and territory governments including Queensland.

Institute CEO Jack Archer said governments were joining the organisation to share ideas and invest in better knowledge to develop new policy options.

“This new collaboration is a really smart way to make progress on the common regional development issues we face around Australia,” Mr Archer said.

The idea of ramping up community- led decisions on migrants will feature in some of the first policy work to be released next month.

Mr Archer said some small regional centres and towns, had already had some success in identifying skill shortages and then having migrants matched to those skills to locate to the centre.

He said Dalwallinu, a town in the wheat belt region of Western Australia, had a recorded growth rate of 15 per cent after focusing on community- led migration.

“There’s simple things state governments can do to make it easier for communities to do this and fill gaps in services,” Mr Archer said.

Regional profile information released by the Queensland Government this month showed that of the 15 councils and shires in the Townsville and North West Queensland region only three – Townsville, Palm Island and Doomadgee – recorded average annual population growth over the past five years with Doomadgee the highest at 1.4 per cent.

The biggest decline was Burke Shire at minus 9.3 per cent.

Among other projects, The Future of Regional Jobs, will look at changing skills needs, mapping job vulnerabilities and growth areas with a focus on automation.

It will identify education and employment options.

A regional towns and cities project will look at the potential benefits of reducing urban sprawl in our largest cities and focus growth on regional centres.

“These issues – handling economic change, making sure jobs are there for regional people and balancing urban and regional population growth – are the biggest issues facing our regions,” Mr Archer said.

Mr Archer said they looked forward to engaging with regional leaders around Australia.