3.1
The availability of services can have a significant impact of the attractiveness of a location for both business and individuals and underpins the liveability of the regions. Accordingly, one of the recurrent themes among inquiry participants was the need for better access to services.
3.2
Anglicare Australia submitted that often policy and funding decisions are made from metropolitan perspectives and fail to consider the actual costs of social service delivery in regional areas:
Too often, the real costs of social service delivery in regional areas is not accounted for. This negatively impacts program delivery. Issues include increased transport costs and risks to reaching dispersed communities (such as fuel and time; poor roads, isolation and wild life hazards); increased cost of information technology, repairs and maintenance; and increased costs in providing professional development and training for staff. This can leave people without access to necessary services, or see those with the means to relocating to metropolitan areas.
3.3
Dr Peter Wutchak of the Collie River Valley Medical Centre said that regional towns with a predominant fly in, fly out (FIFO) culture had difficulties in maintaining support for local infrastructure.
A lot of communities well north of Perth are struggling to maintain their localness and their support for various infrastructure – health, hospitals and other things that are essential for a community – because the majority of people are only going there to work, they’re not spending their dollars in the town and they’re not bringing their families. I don’t know that can be turned around. It’s driven by companies that see that as a cost-effective way to approach their employment problem, but it is having an impact on small communities.
3.4
Mr Michael Fels of WAFarmers said that a ‘clear focus on improving the standard of education and health services’ was needed to tackle and reverse the regional population decline.
3.5
Place-based policy development, and the wider rollout of the Regional Deals program, as discussed in the previous chapter, will make a significant contribution to improving regional services. Health, education and housing were the key service issues raised throughout the inquiry.
Health
3.6
One of the fundamental determinants of the liveability of a region is access to adequate health services. This access is correlated with general health outcomes as noted by the Queensland Nurses & Midwives’ Union (QNMU):
The provision of regional health services supports and impacts health and wellbeing. Better health and access to health care enables more people to participate in society and the economy.
3.7
The Department of Health reported on several measures to support the delivery of health services in regional Australia. They include a National Medical Workforce Strategy to guide medical workforce planning, a National Mental Health Service Planning Framework to guide the planning of regional mental health services, and an aged care planning system to ensure aged care places are provided in regional Australia.
Regional health workforce
3.8
At the heart of access to health services for regional Australians is a shortage of practitioners. Dr Gabrielle O’Kane, CEO, Australian Rural Health Alliance, noted that not only was there a shortage of GPs, this shortage also extended to nurses and allied health professionals:
It's just a dearth of people in some of these rural places in terms of GPs, but it can also be people working in hospitals. The distribution of nurses across the country is quite good, but it is an ageing population. The other component of much of this is looking at the allied health professionals as well.
3.9
A similar point was made by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) who linked reasonable access to healthcare to both health and overall population outcomes:
Overcoming these workforce shortage and maldistribution challenges is critical to not only improving the health outcomes of rural and remote populations, but also to ensuring their existence. That is, without the assurance of adequate access to essential services such as healthcare, populations will decline.
3.10
Dr Wutchak of Collie River Valley Medical Centre, added:
We find that the majority of our doctors are not trained in Australia; they’re from overseas. The process to get overseas trained doctors registered and accredited at hospital level is increasingly demanding. It can become quite an obstacle for a number of these doctors trying to seek access to Australia as a home country…..It seems that there is a reluctance, sometimes, for doctors that are trained now to seek out places like Collie, Manjimup or other small rural communities as a place to set up and practise. Often, they do it as part of training, and then, after finishing training, they will head back to city areas.
3.11
In some cases, the RFDS is the only health service available to very remote populations and provides not only emergency medical care, but also ‘… a growing number of specialist, allied health and health promotion activities.’
3.12
Also of importance for health care provision is the recognition that an array of strategies needs to be considered to address workforce shortages in remote and regional Australia, rather than using telehealth as a replacement.
Ensuring ongoing and expanded experience of trainees with technology based services such as telehealth allows the renewing dermatology workforce the tools to augment the services to rural and remote areas. If training in rural settings is to increase, access to this communication infrastructure is vital.
3.13
The Australasian College of Dermatologists (ACD) highlighted the growing concern within its specialist profession about the continuity of its future workforce. ACD set out that there is currently a shortage of dermatologists, with the profession in decline, and over 90 per cent of dermatologists live and practice in major metropolitan areas:
Various strategies have already been employed to address the maldistribution of the dermatology workforce, such as rural origin registrars, regional training placements, and the use of innovative service delivery models such as telehealth. However, there is a continuing need to address this imbalance and promote best practice workforce development within these areas, in a manner which is sustainable and able to meet the needs of people in these communities.
3.14
The Department of Health noted the Australian Government’s $550 million Stronger Rural Health Strategy which, over ten years, is expected to deliver around 3000 additional doctors and 3000 additional nurses to rural Australia.
3.15
In addition to primary health care practitioners, allied health professionals’ work has a positive impact on population physical and mental health. Dr Sebastian Cordoba, Senior Policy Adviser, Australian Association of Social Workers noted the costs associated with regional placements of social work students:
Students need to complete 1,000 hours of unpaid placement, which is usually divided into two 500-hour blocks. We have found that where students have been able to have placements in regional and remote communities they've continued to work in those spaces. The struggle has been that students don't necessarily then receive financial incentive or support to relocate for around a 70-day period.
3.16
Other difficulties faced by individual allied health professionals working in regional Australia include lower average incomes and private health insurance arrangements:
If you then take that into smaller parts of the country, it's actually really difficult to get paid enough because essentially you're relying on people who can afford to see someone, who can pay a co-payment and who also have private health insurance. … but if you go to your allied health professionals, maybe the dietitian as well as the physiotherapist, between them there are only five visits that you can get off a Medicare item.
3.17
In addition to being difficult to afford, Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health also noted the lack of availability of allied health professionals in regional Australia:
The shortage of [allied health professionals] working in rural and remote Australia is more severe than for either the general practice or hospital medical workforces or for nursing. It means many people, especially those without substantial personal means are unable to access allied health services that would enhance their health and well-being.
3.18
This sentiment was supported by the Victorian Oral Health Alliance who expressed concern at ‘… an unacceptably long waiting period to access public dental care in most of regional Victoria.’
Telehealth
3.19
Remote service delivery of health care was consistently raised by inquiry participants as an area in which to develop capacity. The ACD explained that telehealth services are only a mechanism for supporting healthcare closer to home as a support for existing health care services, rather than as a complete replacement for in-person care.
3.20
A recent announcement by the Australian Government highlighted the increased access to telehealth it has provided:
Since COVID-19, there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of telehealth consultations, with 274 items having been added to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, including 28 telehealth items.
3.21
While the use of telehealth has improved since the start of the pandemic, the National Rural Health Alliance argued that this is still scope to further expand this service for the benefit of patients and health providers:
I do think that there are other ways in which we could use that which could actually be even better than what we're doing now. There is an MBS [Medicare Benefits Scheme] item, for example, where a patient is sitting with a GP and they might then be doing telehealth to a psychiatrist that is in the city. They're calling that 'patient-end services' and there are a few MBS items around that. But I'd like to see that actually moved further. I'd like to see it where a patient could be sitting with their physiotherapist, for example, and talking to an orthopaedic surgeon or a more senior physiotherapist who might be elsewhere, because I think you can then make better use of that telehealth operation. At the moment, that sort of thing happens in the acute care sector, but they're not necessarily using that in the primary health sector and I think that would be a considerable improvement.
My rationale for that improvement is that we're giving opportunities for the patient to be able to connect with a specialist but we're also upskilling the local workforce at the same time; so that physiotherapist or the GP is also being upskilled. I think these are some of the ways in which we can actually improve the use of telehealth.
Criticisms of telehealth
3.22
Geographic disadvantage has had ‘some attempts’ at being overcome through the use of telehealth or videoconferencing. However, Anglicare Australia has found that these solutions are ‘ineffective when technology is not available or unreliable’.
3.23
The East Gippsland Shire Council was also equivocal in its acceptance of telehealth as the solution to regional access:
Although tele-health has been mooted as the solution to many ‘tyranny of distance’ health issues, poor telecommunications connectivity has often restricted or prevented take up of tele-health opportunities.
3.24
The Australian Association of Social Workers noted the reluctance of young people to embrace telehealth:
As it's rolling out and as we're getting more experience, we're discovering that just telehealth on its own is not the silver bullet that we all sort of hoped it might be. A lot of people in regional communities would prefer to speak to somebody local.
3.25
The ongoing need for regionally-based health professionals has been supported by the QNMU, who found there is ‘… improved continuity of care’ for patients when assigned to a local health professional.’
Education and regional development
3.26
The Department of Education stated that education ‘… plays an integral role in the social and economic prosperity of regional areas’. It stressed that an improvement in educational outcomes in regional areas ‘… not only benefits those communities, but can also provide flow-on benefits for the nation’s prosperity’.
3.27
Education is Australia’s largest services export industry, contributing
$35.1 billion to the Australian economy in 2018. Despite its contribution, regional Australia receives little benefit from this export with only 3 per cent of international students choosing to study in Australia’s regions, presenting ‘… significant opportunities for growth in regional Australia’.
3.28
As part of the National Strategy for International Education 2025, the Department of Education is working to increase the number of international students who choose to study regionally, through promotion of the unique and engaging education opportunities found at regional universities.
3.29
The City of Greater Bendigo contended that the connection between industries and regional universities represents an untapped growth opportunity in regional Australia that is often overlooked. It suggested that links between industries and universities go beyond the universities located in the region.
3.30
The East Gippsland Shire Council stressed that in developing regional higher education, providers should ensure that education and training meets the needs of key local industries. This particularly acknowledges the role of education as ‘a key enabler and driver of regional development’ as it facilitates investment, encourages young people to stay in the regions and delivers wide-reaching economic benefits for communities.
3.31
As well as benefitting individuals, education also has a positive effect on industries, economies and communities. It can attract students and professionals to regional areas and retain families who are confident that ‘… their children will have equal opportunities to undertake tertiary education. This will ensure that regions remain vibrant and, in turn, contribute to decentralising the economy and easing pressure on metropolitan areas.’
3.32
The benefits of education, such as better physical and mental health, economic prosperity, and social wellbeing are well known. However, attempts to contract the city-country divide in educational outcomes have failed to witness vast improvement:
…it'd be fair to say that we're not seeing the issues in regional Australia leap up in marked ways. There's continual progress to attract students, support them through and make sure that the service offerings that we've got respond to their needs rather than expecting students to adjust to the service offerings.
3.33
Mr Fels of WAFarmers said that this gap forced families to relocate away from regional towns and made it difficult for employers to retain skilled staff.
For anyone who values educating their children, the choice is either to move to the city or to send your children away to boarding school, neither of which are attractive for young families.
3.34
Education among regional Australians has a powerful impact on the longevity of communities as:
RRR [Regional, Rural and Remote] students who successfully complete tertiary education are also more likely to return to RRR areas. Increasing the participation of RRR students will directly and positively contribute to the economic and social development of RRR areas.
3.35
This point was reiterated by the Australian Local Government Association , who also noted the role of education in retaining young people in our regions:
The outflow of young adults from regional Australia is a major issue in regional Australia; many young non-metropolitan adults move to the capitals to pursue higher education or to seek work. Many would stay if there were more higher education opportunities available there. Australia's regions have differing educational requirements.
Regional educational attainment and access
3.36
There is a clear disparity in educational attainment and access between regional and metropolitan Australia; people living in regional, rural and remote Australia are ‘… around 40 per cent less likely to gain a higher-level tertiary education qualification’. They are also less than half as likely, than their metropolitan counterparts, to obtain a bachelor degree or higher by age 35.
3.37
The City of Greater Bendigo also referred to this attainment gap and called for:
…nothing short of a fundamental overhaul of the current system with an imaginative, far sighted plan to rethink how provision of higher education could be provided.
… Its biggest impact would be to reduce the wide gap between the education attainment levels of young people in regional Australia and boost their current low levels of participation in higher education.
3.38
Mr Fels of WAFarmers said that the problem was rooted in ‘the lack of options in terms of academic aspirations in the regional schools’ and a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ and added:
…a federal government program of driving an aspirational culture in regional schools will go a long way to improving this problem. Any increase in resources should be directed at better balancing each school’s ability to support all the terms of the academic and demographic spectrum, with extra support to the disadvantaged but also, importantly, aspirational academic programs for the kids with higher academic potential.
Regional universities
3.39
The benefits of regional universities were noted by the Department of Education, with the likely impact of future policy decisions playing an important role in decision-making:
…the performance funding regime that we've put in place explicitly includes both outcomes for regional students and outcomes on labour market results, to try and give university managers an incentive to respond to where the needs and the opportunities are.
3.40
The complexity surrounding the delivery of education to regional Australia has prompted the Australian Government to consider innovative solutions:
The delivery of services across Australia is a challenging issue, which is why we've gone for what I consider to be one of the areas of real policy creativity in recent years on the regional university centres and looking for different ways to get regional people access to tertiary education that involves going to them a little more rather than them coming to us.
3.41
The City of Greater Bendigo called for a network of regionally-based institutions to prevent students relocating to metropolitan areas and cited international examples where this had been successful noting that in Britain, universities were originally located outside the large cities:
It was the 1800s before a University was established in London. While a network of large Universities has now been established in the major cities across the UK there are numerous prestigious universities found in smaller regional cities.
3.42
The City of Greater Bendigo also cited North America, Canada and New Zealand as additional examples of countries with a network of widely dispersed universities:
Such a pattern is much more pronounced in North America where an ‘anti city’ bias emerged in the location and distribution of Universities. … Even many world-renowned universities are not in the centre of large cities or in their suburbs. Similarly, numerous major prestigious universities in Canada such as Waterloo, Queens and Guelph are in cities of around 100,000 while others are even more dispersed. New Zealand also provides a useful model. It has large world class universities located in relatively small cities such as Dunedin, Hamilton and Palmerston North. In these examples universities are major elements of the regional economy and provide strong cultural and intellectual life in the cities in which the universities are located.
3.43
The Department of Education referred to a number of programs and initiatives to support higher education in the regions. They include attracting more international students to study and work in regional Australia, establishing Regional University Centres where regional students can study courses delivered by any Australian institution and supporting regional students with the costs of studying.
3.44
A number of submissions regarded the physical location of education centres as a particularly important factor in promoting education in the regions. One solution to managing this geographic challenge is through the use of Regional University Centres, which are ‘… facilities that regional students can use to study tertiary courses locally delivered by distance from any Australian institution’. This Commonwealth Government program has received praise from Regional Capitals Australia, which has called for it to receive ongoing funding.
3.45
Regional University Centres operate across all Australian states and territories (excluding the Australian Capital Territory). While these serve an important role in regional communities, the potential to further grow regional education as a decentralisation tool could be further investigated.
3.46
The Department of Education discussed a 2019 review of regional tertiary education, National Regional, Rural and Remote Education Strategy, which concluded that the potential of regional Australia was not being maximised.
It found that boosting the contribution made by regional and remote areas, including the capacity of educational institutions, will help to build the nation, increase productivity, and promote decentralisation.
3.47
The Strategy made a number of recommendations including improving tertiary study options for regional, rural and remote students through providing demand-driven funding for regional university places and improving access to high-quality Vocational Education and Training (VET) places in regional areas.
Education and decentralisation
3.48
In order to better promote decentralisation to Australia’s regions, an inquiry participant advocated that regional universities, and regions more broadly, must promote themselves outside of their regions effectively:
You’ve got to sell it the right way. There have got to be part-time jobs… it’s about selling a regional lifestyle as superior, not inferior, and for a young person as well. Young people love to get away from home. Our young people want to go to the mainland. We'd love some of the mainlanders to come here.
3.49
Regional Universities Network supports this strategy to encourage international students to study regionally, highlighting the decentralisation benefits which reduce ‘… pressure on infrastructure, housing and transport for major cities’.
3.50
As a result of COVID-19, remote learning has taken place across Australia at all schooling levels, with varying success. One in ten students does not have reliable internet access at home, with this figure increasing in lower socio-economic areas to one in three. The tele-education experience has highlighted the disparities that exist across Australia, with disadvantage more likely to impact those living in regional areas.
3.51
The Department of Education spoke of their collaboration with the National Skills Commission, to identify critical employment shortages due to COVID‑19 and the capacity to better meet regional needs. As part of the its pandemic response, the following measures have been taken:
Formation of an education pandemic preparedness committee which meets weekly;
Investigation into ‘effect of remote and digital technology for vulnerable students’, with work near completion;
High Achieving Teachers Program;
Destination Australia Scholarship Program for international students;
Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships; and
Enabling Growth and Innovation program.
Housing
Housing affordability
3.52
Housing prices in regional areas are typically lower than those in metropolitan areas making them more affordable. However, recent analysis undertaken the Core Logic found in 2020, there was a 6.9 per cent increase in the combined regional dwelling market comparted with only 2 per cent in the capital city dwelling market.
3.53
While this increase indicates strong growth in regional areas, it also poses a challenge for existing residents who typically have lower median household incomes.
3.54
In addition to employment and infrastructure, a crucial element of liveability in regional Australia is housing affordability:
…there needs to be clearer commitments from governments to the longer term future of communities in remote regions, and coordinated approaches from both governments and industry to better plan for the future, rather than short-term and lagged responses to industry investments.
3.55
A survey respondent noted the challenge that lack of community infrastructure and affordable housing poses for regional communities:
We have very limited community infrastructure such as public transport, affordable housing which places extra burdens on our communities.
3.56
Mr Alan McFarland of the Regional Business Association in Katanning said that the lack of access to affordable housing affected the ability of regional town to attract and supply a workforce to businesses moving into the area:
Without access to affordable housing, employees can’t move to the region. That is becoming a major impediment to our economic growth and stability. We have enough issues with attracting new businesses here anyway – with water, power and the like. But if we can’t supply a workforce, or at least somewhere for the workforce to live, we get skipped over pretty fast in terms of being an option for those wanting to move out of the metro area.
3.57
Research conducted by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found that housing strategies are an important element of regional development in tourist towns and that planners could assist through:
Local governments seeking to integrate affordable housing strategies as part of its economic development planning.
Building employee and seasonal worker housing to attract workers.
Growing the construction sector, by increasing the supply of goods and services for builders and identifying ways for construction firms to easily access residential development opportunities in these towns.
Plan better for the provision of housing suitable for home-based businesses…
Plan better for housing diversity, including the need to accommodate aging in place and attract new residents as the population ages…
3.58
Some of the planning reforms envisioned by AHURI to address housing affordability include:
Greater flexibilities around government town planning policies to enable greater flexibility regarding development densities and transformation of current housing stock.
Fast-tracking planning approvals for residential developments that contain an element of affordable housing.
3.59
AHURI further argued that planners should consider some of the factors that improve housing affordability including reducing infrastructure costs, addressing the size of traditional housing lots, and providing more economic opportunities for women.
3.60
In this vein, a survey respondent noted that planning was directed at solving metropolitan issues:
Lack of infrastructure and Sydney-centric legislation (e.g. SEPPs [State Environmental Planning Policies] created under NSW Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 are always skewed towards metro problems/solutions rather than state-wide considerations).
3.61
A shortage of affordable housing in regional areas requires a range of solutions. Professor Helen Lochhead from the Australian Institute of Architects reported on one such approach:
I personally have had experience with the Teacher Housing Authority in New South Wales. That is a form of affordable housing for young teachers when they move out to the regions to teach. That was only developed because there was a lack of affordable rental housing in regional communities.
Housing stock
3.62
AHURI reported that a lack of appropriate housing results in some regional business having difficulty in attracting and retaining skilled employees. It suggested that this is a result of market signals failing to increase the supply of housing in regional areas, despite increasing demand. This failure is has been attributed primarily to difficulties in accessing skilled labour and materials.
3.63
Greenfield residential developments are suggested as a possible solution to the lack of affordable housing. Low housing prices and rents in some regional areas can attract some to regional areas. However, concerns about the lack of capital returns in regional areas can also deter others from investing in housing stock there.
3.64
In the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, Mr David Wheaton, Chief Executive Officer, RDA Limestone Coast gave evidence regarding housing shortages and the lengths to which employers will go to identify vacant housing:
…in the upper part of our region such as Naracoorte and Bordertown where we have large meat processors that might employ 400 or 500 people at a time. They're finding it very difficult to house their workers. You can't rent a house for love nor money in Bordertown. I've heard stories of employers literally driving around town at night trying to identify the houses with curtains open and no lights on that they might be able to identify as vacant houses so that they could then approach the owner to see if they could put their workers in there.
Water security
3.65
Ongoing access to a reliable source of water is essential for business to operate and for individuals to live. Work undertaken by the CSIRO on Regional Foresight identified access to water as one of the scenarios to potentially affect regional development.
3.66
The Mildura Rural City Council noted water security as one of the issues that is critical to the future of the Mildura area.
3.67
Similarly, the RDA Limestone Coast noted the critical role played by water in the region’s industries. It further noted that that is one of the few places to include forestry in its water licensing under its Water Allocation Plan.
3.68
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development (Department of Infrastructure) listed a number of initiatives that it is undertaking to secure our water supply and sustain natural resources:
The Government’s commitment to sustainable natural resources includes the establishment in 2019 of the $100 million National Water Grid Authority to identify opportunities to build water infrastructure to secure long-term water supplies; providing assistance for natural disaster response, recovery and reconstruction such as through the North Queensland Livestock Industry Recovery Agency; and the National Landcare Program for natural resource management.
3.69
The Urannah Water Scheme (UWS) is a $2.5 billion project in northern Queensland. The master plan of the UWS is expected to deliver environmental and economic benefits and assist with navigating environmental and other approval frameworks.
3.70
The Country Women’s Association of Australia was critical of Australian Government policy on drought:
The worst drought on record has highlighted a number of failures in government administration and policy in terms of servicing regional Australia, the most significant of which is that there is still no national drought policy.
3.71
The Queensland Government also noted the crucial role played by water in regional communities and its support of water service providers and local governments through the Regional Water Supply Security Assessment. Financial commitments for bulk water supply include $225 million for duplicating the Townsville-Haughton pipeline and $176 million for the Rookwood Weir.
Energy security
3.72
Another crucial element of liveability applicable to individuals, business and communities, is reliable access to energy. The evidence received suggests a significant, but not exclusive, role for renewables in delivering future energy security, particularly within the framework of a national energy policy.
3.73
Inquiry participants raised the role of renewables in contributing to future energy security in regional Australia:
We would argue that the future of regional Australia and the future of renewables are intimately linked. That’s a really good thing. The transition to a clean, decarbonised electricity system is of critical importance to regional Australia.
3.74
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency noted the role of solar farms as a regional economic development opportunity:
Building, owning and operating large-scale solar farms in Australia no longer requires grant funding. Many of these large-scale solar projects are located within regional areas - the construction of these facilities can provide a temporary, but significant, fillip to local economies.
3.75
The East Gippsland Shire Council also wrote of its support for clean energy:
Advances in clean energy production technology present industrial and economic opportunities for new settlement areas. If regional communities can provide for their own needs and produce surplus energy for export, the states’ dependence on fossil fuel-derived energy may be reduced.
3.76
Similarly, the RDA Limestone Coast is funding feasibility studies for bioenergy projects which are compatible with its forestry industry:
Seventy-two per cent of forestry output in South Australia comes out of our region. We have a lot of residue and biostock that's suitable for bioenergy.
3.77
The Hunter Business Chamber raised the importance of renewables for the future of energy. It also noted the lack of a national energy policy and its role in impeding the development of affordable and sustainable energy:
Renewables have an important part to play in the future energy mix of the Hunter and Australia and further investment in supporting infrastructure such as that to be promoted through the Grid Reliability Fund is welcome, but Australia still lacks a national energy policy that addresses future requirement for baseload power, energy affordability and sustainability.
3.78
Mr Wayne Smith, Manager, Government and Stakeholder Relations, Smart Energy Council, also attributed the curtailing investment in renewables to the lack of a national energy policy.
Environmental sustainability
3.79
The Department of Infrastructure noted the importance of fostering sustainability in regional Australia:
Sustainable natural resources are fundamental to regional economies. This includes planning to manage land, waste and environmental risks in a manner that sustains strong regional communities and economies over the long term.
3.80
The City of Greater Bendigo raised Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) as a method it has incorporated into its planning scheme in order to ‘reduce greenhouse gas emissions’ and mitigate the effects of climate change:
This policy drives improved sustainability outcomes by requiring developments to consider ESD at the planning permit stage, where opportunities are the greatest. As a result, the development community has improved their ESD literacy, which in turn has led to significant design improvements regarding energy efficiency and internal amenity.
3.81
A similar point was made by the East Gippsland Shire Council, which advocated for planning to ensure that the economic benefits of mining were realised for the community while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of the natural environment:
Mining is another key opportunity for regional development, provided it is subject to careful planning and control to ensure that the environment, and other values enjoyed by local residents that form part of why they live where they do, are not compromised. This is a key challenge. Another is that mining projects can involve a significant scale up of jobs and requirements for community infrastructure for a relatively short period of time. Again, careful planning is required to ensure such developments leave a positive legacy.
3.82
The role of natural amenity and sustainability was also raised by the City of Greater Bendigo:
Local governments make decisions that span generations and as such need to be assessing and responding to the direct and indirect risks presented by climate change. However, climate change presents risks and challenges not yet seen. Councils are familiar with long term planning that utilises historical data and forecasting. However, there is a need for high resolution climate projections to assist Council in this planning. This will allow for improved planning for infrastructure design, land use planning, economic development, and health outcomes.
Committee comment
3.83
Living, working and investing in regional Australia offers many advantages including lifestyle factors, lack of congestion and natural amenity.
3.84
In order to mobilise these advantages, however, it will be necessary to address a number of interconnected issues which detract from the regions’ desirability including access to health services, education and housing.
3.85
People living in regional, remote and rural parts of Australia by and large have lower access to health care services. There is a critical shortage of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals and a reluctance for practitioners to seek out and stay in regional communities after completing their training.
3.86
Greater access to telehealth does not provide a complete solution to primary and allied health care access in regional Australia. However, with innovative policy settings it may provide significant benefits to regional patients and providers.
3.87
Assisting students to train and stay in our regional areas is a vital important first step in ensuring that these communities have appropriate access to health care.
3.88
Regional universities play an important role in the life of our regions, both in providing local tertiary education options for regional residents and also for their links with industry. We must provide regional universities and training organisations with the resources and facilities to deliver place-based medical and allied health training to prevent young people from leaving for the cities.
3.89
Energy security is an issue of concern for regional Australia. While there is evidence that large-scale (>10MW) solar and other renewable projects no longer need grants and other public finance to support their development, more needs to be done to ensure local regional communities share in the profits of large-scale renewable projects especially those initiated by foreign energy companies. More support is also needed from Government to back in and support small – and medium – scale community energy projects.
3.90
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government provide increased funding for regional universities and greater support for their students.
3.91
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate means of improving access to medical and allied health services for regional Australians including greater investment in regional universities and other health training organisations to ensure interested young people stay in the regions; providing incentives for trainee practitioners to study, practice, and stay in our regional communities; funding for regional clinical placements for students and mid-career professional development; greater investment in the specialist capacities of regional hospitals and medical research facilities in the regions; and increasing the number of Medicare funded visits for regional patients.
3.92
Regional areas have experienced a significant reduction in available properties and rental affordability. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic and an increase in migration from metropolitan to regional areas.
3.93
The housing issues across regional Australia are at a tipping point. In order to ensure the long term viability of our regions it is imperative that all regional Australians have access to appropriate and affordable housing.
3.94
The Committee recommends that the Australian Government encourage its State and Territory counterparts to prioritise the release of government land for housing developments; look at ways to increase new and maintain existing public housing stock; and streamline the process to allow development of Aboriginal Land Council parcels of land.