A Prosperous Regional Victoria

Capitalising on business and investment potential

Regional businesses often face barriers in identifying investment and expansion potential, accessing new markets, adopting new practices and acquiring skills and knowledge.

Some businesses may require specific, tailored support, others may need assistance to form or join supply chains across regions and sectors.

Larger, more mature firms can also experience difficulties in stepping up to the next phase of growth. A relatively small number of medium to large businesses accounts for more than one third of regional employment, so the ability of these businesses to realise their potential is pivotal to the economic prosperity of regional Victoria.

The Government recognises that regional businesses with the potential for growth and expansion may need additional assistance to realise their potential and make a greater contribution to the regional economy. The Government is continuing to support a business-friendly environment in regional Victoria, including providing more flexible and specialised business development services to regional firms that show strong growth, investment or export potential.

Improving the competitiveness of the business environment in regional Victoria.

The Government understands that the burden of business regulation compliance can be more challenging and costly in regional Victoria than in major cities.

The Reducing the Regulatory Burden (RRB) initiative aims to reduce the administrative burden of state regulation and the costs of compliance and delay associated with regulation, by $500 million by July 2012.

Initiatives being implemented in regional Victoria include modernising and streamlining regulatory frameworks for livestock management, agricultural and veterinary chemicals, the extractive industry and planning applications.

The Government is continuing to focus on creating a competitive, business-friendly environment across regional Victoria, including undertaking ongoing reforms to reduce the regulatory burden on regional businesses.

For more information about Reducing the Regulatory Burden (RRB) please visit the Department of Treasury & Finance

Getting the skills mix right

Regional Victoria's future success will depend on having a workforce with skills in the right areas and at the right levels to meet changing industry needs.

The Victorian Government's reform of training in Victoria, Securing Jobs for Your Future - Skills for Victoria, is increasing the number of people undertaking training in areas where skills are needed, as well as developing a training system that is more responsive to the changing needs of regional businesses.

The Government will take action to ensure that regional Victoria has the right mix and level of skills to support future business productivity, expansion and innovation. This will include a strong focus on improving educational opportunities for young people.

Download the Skills Victoria pdf document on Securing Jobs for Your Future

Regional settlements of the future

The Government has developed a long-term Regional Settlement Framework to manage sustainable growth and create 'a state of many choices', with thriving regional centres and towns offering people more choices about where to live and work.

The settlement framework will be incorporated formally into the State Planning Policy Framework that is part of all planning schemes, to guide planners, local councils and other decision-makers about the future direction of growth and development across regional Victoria.

The framework has five key features:

• Recognising and facilitating sustainable development in Victoria’s large regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and the cluster of towns in the Latrobe Valley
• Recognising and encouraging sustainable development in the regional cities / centres of Swan Hill, Hamilton, Bairnsdale, Sale, Shepparton, Warrnambool, Mildura, Horsham, Wangaratta and Wodonga
• Strengthening thriving district centres like Ararat and Colac and smaller towns, helping them to retain their character and important economic and social roles
• Supporting small towns undergoing transition to adapt to their changing circumstances
• Managing growth in Melbourne's hinterland settlements such as Bacchus Marsh, Wallan, Gisborne, Warragul-Drouin and Torquay and encouraging growth only in places that are able to cope with development.

The Framework will ensure that growth is focused in places that have the capacity to accommodate and sustain higher populations, provide infrastructure, and become better integrated into the broader Victorian and Australian economy.

More investment is needed to continue to improve links between these regional centres and Melbourne. Good connections between regional centres, and with towns in their hinterlands, are also important as centres develop their own spheres of influence and generate new inter-city relationships and dynamics.

The policy of continuing to support growth in regional centres complements major Victorian Government statements, including Melbourne @ 5 million, the Victorian Transport Plan and policies directed at planning and promoting growth in the central activities districts of large regional centres.

Future regional planning will focus on identifying the initiatives and investment needed to support and manage growth in regional centres, maintain their high quality lifestyles and attract new businesses, investors and residents.

Thriving small towns and small towns in transition

Many towns have prospered over the last decade and are capable of absorbing higher populations, are amenable to new investment and able to continue growing as part of well-connected settlement networks and corridors. As Victoria's regional centres grow, the role of these towns is likely to change, with residents increasingly being employed in larger centres. The capacity to provide infrastructure and access to services in these communities will be a critical factor in their ability to manage larger populations.

Investment in transport and broadband connections, consistent land use planning and a better balance between urban development and the natural environment are essential to managing growth in these towns responsibly and sustainably.

By contrast, some small towns face reduced economic and business activity, and decreasing populations. Transition is largely driven by changes in agricultural practices and technologies, farm amalgamation, industry restructuring in the forestry sector and an ongoing decline in agriculture’s terms of trade.

Some small towns are also facing environmental challenges, dealing with problems such as salinity, poor quality soils, low water allocations and below-average rainfall, risks of bushfires and flooding.

The Government is focusing on supporting local approaches and projects that will help small towns to connect with larger regional centres and the broader Victorian economy, generate new opportunities and retain character and country lifestyles.

Melbourne's hinterlands

Areas within about 100km from central Melbourne offer high natural amenity and recreational options close to the city, and attractive locations from which many people commute to Melbourne or regional centres for work.

Metropolitan Melbourne generates demand for housing, recreation activities and tourism in these areas, creating significant pressures that can threaten the values that make these areas attractive.

Development needs to be managed sustsainably on land with high biodiversity and landscape values, water catchments, food and energy production and resource extraction capacity.

The Government acknowledges that a special planning and investment is needed to address the challenges facing Melbourne's hinterland areas, including working with local councils and communities to plan, manage and protect hinterland towns and rural areas.

The growth of dispersed settlement in these areas is not supported. Growth in established towns is being carefully managed and limited to growth that is linked to the delivery of services and infrastructure.

For more information about the Melbourne @ 5 million plan please visit the Department of Planning and Community Development

For more information about the Victorian Transport Plan please visit the Department of Transport

Investment in regional infrastructure

As towns and regional centres grow, and smaller and more remote communities face decreasing and ageing populations, households and businesses across regional Victoria require bus, train and road connections for accessing services and jobs. Fast telecommunications links are also needed for businesses competitiveness and household connectivity.

The Government's emphasis on renewable and low emissions energy sources, and on more distributed energy options implies that communities will get power from these sources and from smaller, local power plants.

All regions are expected to share benefits of the NBN rollout. At times of peak demand for energy, water or transport services, information and price mechanisms can be used and communicated quickly to users via broadband applications - contributing to the more efficient use of these resources, reducing overload and lowering costs for businesses, households and service providers.

As high speed broadband becomes more readily available, people who deliver health care, education and a wide range of other services will have access to applications that help them to diagnose, treat, teach, refer, undertake research and provide specialist advice and services.

Larger regional centres will need to offer more arts, cultural, sporting and recreational facilities. Young people in regional areas will benefit from expanded higher education opportunities backed by new infrastructure or the better use of existing infrastructure.

Getting the maximum value and benefits from infrastructure - through sharing facilities, modernising assets or using new technologies to manage the use of infrastructure more efficiently - will further improve services to regional businesses, households and communities

The Government is continuing its high levels of investment in infrastructure across regional Victoria, including delivering major transport, energy and water projects. The Government is also aiming to enable broadband access through fibre coverage to 94 per cent of households in the state, exceeding the national minimum commitment of 90 per cent.