Regional Development Victoria
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RDA Loddon Mallee

Bendigo in Autumn

Committee members

The Loddon Mallee Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee comprises members with expertise across our region’s industries and a deep understanding or how our communities’ function. The high calibre team has global, national and local experience in horticulture, agriculture research, mineral sands and rare earth mining, renewable energy, defence and machinery manufacturing, housing policy and planning.

The Chair, Leonie Burrows was Local Government CEO at Mildura Rural City Council and CEO of Citrus Australia, Australian Table Grape Growers, Alliance of Councils for Rail Freight Development and Sunraysia Institute of TAFE. Currently Leonie is Chair of the Murray Primary Health Network, Chair of the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre Strategic Advisory Panel, and Chair of the Regional Advisory Committees of the One Basin CRC.

  • Chair: Leonie Burrows OAM
  • Deputy Chair: Margaret O'Rourke
  • Members:
    • Wayne O'Toole
    • Anne Mansell
    • Andrew Cooney
    • Steve Tinker
    • Andrea Tomkinson
    • Amanda (Mandy) Hutchinson
    • James Sorahan
    • Brett Millington
    • Steven Abbott.

Sunbathed Vineyard

What we do

The committee coordinates the alignment of regional investment. It engages across agencies, industry bodies and the private sector to leverage and coordinate regional effort and influence state and Australian Government policy. It supports economic growth by facilitating access to data and knowledge, and creates regional alliances, partnerships and networks to support public and private investment.

The Loddon Mallee region is positioned to capitalise on energy, advanced manufacturing and intensified agriculture production. The committee is working with the region to drive and leverage investment for:

  • Improved Digital connectivity - including business-grade broadband to support the uptake of the Internet of Things to automate farming and food processing.
  • Renewable energy projects - through the expansion of solar farms and emerging hydrogen industries.
  • Agriculture, beverage and food production supply chain opportunities.
  • The development of an international tourist brand to capitalise on Bendigo becoming a UNESCO Creative City of gastronomy and seeking World Heritage listing for the Central Victorian Goldfields and the Grampians region.
  • Local TAFE and universities to align training with industry needs to address a lack of skilled labour in the region.

Who we work with

The RDA Loddon Mallee committee collaborates with businesses, not-for-profits, industry bodies and agencies to build sector strengths, promote regional capabilities and leverage regional advantages. We work with:

  • Local Federal Members of Parliament
  • Loddon Mallee local government areas of Buloke Shire, Gannawarra Shire, Central Goldfields Shire, City of Swan Hill, Campaspe Shire, City of Greater Mildura, City of Greater Bendigo, Loddon Shire, Macedon Ranges Shire and Mount Alexander Shire.
  • Regional organisations including Mildura Regional Development, Be.Bendigo, Committee for Maryborough and Committee for Echuca-Moama.
  • Like-minded Regional Committees including the Loddon Campaspe and Mallee Regional Partnerships
  • RDA Committees across Victoria and RDA South Australia and NSW border committees.

Citrus orchard in Mildura

Our region

Fast facts

  • 342,164 population in Loddon Mallee Region.
  • $17.013 billion Gross Regional Product for the Loddon Mallee Region
  • 129,417 jobs in the Loddon Mallee region.
  • Healthcare and social assistance, retail and manufacturing are Loddon Mallee’s three largest employment sectors.

Loddon Mallee has two diverse regional economies.  Anchored by the City of Mildura the northern region has horticulture, dairying, broad acre cropping, mineral sand and rare earth mining and renewable energy sectors.  The Murray River is a tourism drawcard and the north west corner is an entry point to Australia’s outback.  Emerging northern tourist attractions include the Silo Art Trail and Lake Tyrrell.

The City of Bendigo is in the more densely populated southern part of the region which has a strong defence, machinery and food manufacturing base. Advances in technology are shaping the future of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in both regions with the Internet of Things and greater cohesion within supply chains delivering efficiencies. Major growth is expected along the Regional Employment and Innovation Corridor which runs between Gisborne through Bendigo to Echuca.

Other significant employers across the region are healthcare and social assistance and financial and insurance services. The Calder and Sunraysia Highway are major freight routes providing access across the region to markets and ports.

Significant State and Australian Government investment in the region include the Bendigo GovHub and new Law Courts.  In the north Mildura, Swan Hill, Koondrook and Echuca have received funding to enhance their frontages to the Murray River..

Case studies

Seizing economic opportunities

Photographic opportunities created by the reflective shallow saltwater of Lake Tyrrell in Victoria’s north west made it a social media hit in 2015.

The Loddon Mallee RDA capitalised on the unexpected Asian tourist interest in Lake Tyrrell located north of Sea Lake and a four-hour drive from Melbourne. It worked with Buloke Shire Council and Advance Sea Lake Inc. to engage the community, indigenous groups, businesses and local and state government departments to develop a strategy to protect the lake’s environment and deliver a tourist experience that encouraged overnight stays and spending within the Sea Lake community.

The committee provided funding for the Lake Tyrrell Tourism Strategy which identified the economic potential of the unique attraction with its 42,000 annual visitors projected to grow to 192,000 over 10 years. This analysis drove the development of the $3.575 million Lake Tyrrell Infrastructure Project.  Regional Development Victoria’s Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund provided $2.805 million for project which includes a viewing platform, board walk, walking paths, toilet facilities, landscaping, car and bus parking facilities with a bus turning circle and a new turning lane to Lake Tyrrell from the Calder Highway.

International interest in the lake has underpinned Sea Lake’s development as an emerging tourist destination being part of the northern Victoria Silo Art Trail. Over the past five years the town has transformed with an art gallery and the local pub, the Royal Hotel being brought by 30 locals and fully refurbished.

Influencing policy decisions - Hydrogen and renewable energy

Identifying the economic potential of hydrogen and renewable energy in the Loddon Mallee is the focus of research commissioned by the Loddon Mallee RDA and the Mallee Regional Partnership.

Energy and carbon advisory service provider Energetics Pty Ltd will analyse local, national and international hydrogen markets to advise on the opportunities and constraints in developing a green hydrogen energy sector in the Mallee.

The work will inform the development of a Mallee Hydrogen Roadmap which aims to capitalise on the region’s fast-growing solar energy sector with 19 large-scale solar projects underway. With a combined energy capacity of 2380 MW these projects exceed the capacity of Victoria’s largest coal fired power station Loy Yang. In addition, a further 13 solar farms producing 2,950 MW are being planned for the region.

A steering group comprising academic, business and regional representatives are overseeing the development of the green hydrogen produced through the electrolysis of water using a renewable energy source.