SOR 2017-18 – Pillars of Regional Growth

This report examines local government’s role in regional economic planning and provides a detailed regional assessment of the opportunities and barriers to regional economic growth and productivity gains. If regional economic planning is to be authoritative and effective, it requires government auspices, not only to ensure that different voices are heard and balanced in a democratic way, but to provide the impetus to ensure implementation. In Australia authority is shared between federal, state and local government, and there is a strong case that the authority of each should be shared in the preparation and implementation of regional plans.

The levels of government are able to bring complementary strengths to the process of planning:

• The Commonwealth, primarily because it has charge of Australia’s overall economic strategy as a nation which trades internationally;
• The states and territories, primarily because they are responsible for strategy at the mega-regional level; and
• Local governments, primarily because of their local knowledge and ability to see the regional scene as a whole, but also because of their local administrative capacity and planning powers.