| Bring on 2021 Liz Ritchie CEO, Regional Australia Institute (RAI)
| | | Welcome back friends and colleagues! Here at the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) we have hit the ground running as we enter our 10th Anniversary year. It’s timely at this juncture to reflect on the past decade. It is equally important, however, to consider our learnings, our contribution and our impact which will be reflected in our 10th Anniversary Report to be launched at our Regions Rising Summit Gala Dinner in March. I’m delighted to report that we are expanding our team and building new capability to continue the RAI’s transition. Our next two years will unveil new momentum in our research and policy, consulting, activation and events across Regional Australia. The RAI’s Regionalisation strategy is at the forefront and evidence for the societal shift we’ve been highlighting for some years is strengthening. Our Big Movers Report showcased a 10-year trend of population mobility towards the regions and, as predicted, COVID has most certainly increased the rethink of regional for city dwellers. The latest ABS figures confirm the largest quarterly net loss of people of capital cities. The RAI is working with our corporate partners to develop a more real-time measure of these flows to regions. The regions continue to outstrip cities in terms of job vacancy growth as highlighted in our Chief Economist report, with 54,000 jobs currently advertised. This is a 30% uplift on the same time in 2019 and only adds weight for further investment to support regional movers to take the opportunities that await them in Regional Australia. Logically, this will be a large focus for the Institute this year and beyond. Last year ended strongly for the Regional Australia Council 2031 (RAC2031), which welcomed new members Elders and Optus at its December meeting. The first results from the RAC2031 Regionalisation Employee Survey were provided to members and will be launched publicly next month. The findings will help regional leaders better understand what professionals want in relation to liveability, and how best to attract and retain the potential movers. This survey will also provide outstanding intelligence to corporate leaders as they consider the “new normal” of best practice flexibility. The countdown is on for our Regions Rising National Summit on 17 and 18 March, where we will officially unveil the much-anticipated National Awareness Campaign. The Summit is the hallmark regional conference for industry, government and community leaders, with this year’s theme, Growing Regional Australia – Shaping the Good Life. We are delighted to have NBN Co as a National Series Sponsor once again in 2021-22 and we value their wide ranging support of the Institute’s work. The two-day Summit is action packed with sensational speakers, including the Hon. Michael McCormack; Saul Eslake; Ita Buttrose; Alison Watkins, and we are delighted to announce our Gala Dinner keynote speaker is Grace Brennan, Founder of Buy From The Bush.
|
|
Early bird pricing is still available until the end of January - check out the website for all confirmed speakers and to register. It’s going to be an exciting, thought-provoking, and informative two days! We are committed to supporting the regional businesses that are critical to regional communities, so we are looking for regional suppliers to help shape the Regions Rising Summit experience. If you are – or know – a photographer, florist, event stylist, or perhaps a creative who could bring the wow factor to our event, then we want to hear from you! Get in touch via events@regionalaustralia.org.au As part of the campaign, we’ll be promoting regional Australia through the stories of those who’ve #madethemove, showcasing case studies on our website and using them as part of our social media campaign. Thanks to those Regional Activators Alliance members who’ve provided some excellent examples already. There’s such a wonderful array of reasons why people have decided to leave the Big Smoke for their own regional paradise: everything from the opportunity for a job, an affordable house, and a sense of community to the more unusual drawcards of a town’s Celtic festival or the ability to own a backyard aircraft hangar with direct access to a runway. So many reasons to #rethinkregional Lastly, our first free webinar this year is in collaboration with NBN Co on 9 February. If you’re interested in connectivity, innovation and entrepreneurship, or perhaps you dream of starting your own side hustle, register now to hear from successful regional innovators. We will also announce the winners of the Innovate with nbn Grants Program, and Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government, the Hon. Mark Coulton will give an address. Until next month, stay safe and stay connected.
Liz Ritchie CEO, Regional Australia Institute (RAI)
|
| |