The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has announced Toowoomba as the next location in its national event series – Regions Rising – to held on Thursday, 3 November.
RAI CEO Liz Ritchie will deliver a keynote address, presenting RAI’s latest data on jobs, housing and population movement in regional Queensland.
“As millions of Australians either choose to stay in the regions, or make the move, this surge in popularity brings with it opportunity and challenges for the Sunshine State,” Ms Ritchie said.
Regional job vacancies have continued their overall trend run of growth, reaching a new record of more than 91,000 advertised jobs in August 2022.
“Queensland accounts for almost one third of all jobs advertised in regional Australia, with more than 26,900 available right now,” Ms Ritchie said.
“This event will provide government, industry and regional leaders with the RAI’s insights into the unique settings facing Queenslanders.
Queensland Minister for Regional Development, Glenn Butcher, will also deliver a keynote address.
At the RAI National Summit in Canberra last month, the RAI launched the Regionalisation Ambition 2032 – A Framework to Rebalance the Nation.
It places 20 key targets to strengthen the regions and close the divide between life in the city and the country.
“This Ambition sets a target of 11 million people living prosperously outside the capital cities by 2032, that (is) 500,000 more than current estimates,” Ms Ritchie said.
“Regionalisation is about delivering on the potential of regional Australia and rebalancing our nation – and we look forward to highlighting what this means for Queensland.
“People are voting with their feet and looking for a different life beyond our capitals.
“Move to More is now more apparent than ever before.
“But we can’t shift the population dial further if the critical issues facing regions aren’t addressed.
“I look forward to addressing these issues in Toowoomba as we know they are all interlinked, complex and equally important,” Ms Ritchie said.
This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 20 October 2022.
