New Thinking for a Resilient Regional Australia
A prosperous and thriving future for regional Australians will depend on how imaginatively we exploit opportunity and manage the risks that come with change. It will depend on the choices communities make.
Queensland should rethink its big projects for a big country approach. Regional jobs that depend on project investment without generating local income are not sustainable. Small business and community must be restored to centre stage in development strategy.
Improved continuity of care (communication, care pathways, care coordination, integrated care and collaboration) to prevent patients ‘falling through the gaps’ in the service delivery system are essential if regional health is to improve.
Can we improve the health care system for regional Australians to be more patient-centric and personalised, so that it delivers great health care inclusively, appropriately and efficiently? What can be done to make regional health care in reality more regional?
What should be the priorities for research seeking to reduce the health disparities between city and country? If there was a clear message to come out of Resilient Regions Week this year, it was the complex regional health and well-being issues of Australia will not be solved simply by throwing more money at them.
Forced decentralisation of government agencies out of Canberra is unlikely to be a viable strategy for regional development. Stronger long term partnerships between the Commonwealth and the regions is a better alternative.
A study by the Productivity Commission into “the geographic impacts of the transition of the Australian economy following the resources investment boom” is highly relevant to a raft of policy agenda shaping the future of our regions.
The setting of accelerated mandatory renewable energy targets is killing off the possibility of a gas fuelled lower emissions transition and locking in longer lives for coal fired power stations.
