Beyond Agriculture: How Regional Australia Is Diversifying
Tourism, Renewable Energy, and Food Manufacturing Driving Future Growth

From Agriculture to Diversification: A Regional Economic Shift

Australia’s regions are ripe with opportunity, enjoying a population bump in the past few years and benefitting from technology and infrastructure advancements that are helping reduce the perceived distance between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. Regional Australia grew by 117,300, or 1.4% in 2022/23[1], which may not seem significant, but is actually a recent high and only a little below the levels of regional relocation – 1.6% - seen during the mining boom period of 2007 to 2009. And there’s no reason to think this current level is going to drop away.

The mining boom was a positive period population-wise for those resource-rich regions, but when it came to really shifting the dial on growth, it was a global pandemic that saw city folk packing their bags in record numbers to find more space and less restrictions around lockdowns. The mandatory ‘working from home’ (WFH) regulations also benefitted regional areas, as people were no longer tied to an office in a city CBD – it became possible for many to literally working from anywhere.

In 2024, improving telecommunications across the nation led to improved mobile and online access, critical for anyone trying to work outside the traditional office environment in a city location. Improving transport infrastructure is also reducing the physical space between our metro and non-metro locations, further enhancing the attractiveness of the regions and making them a viable lifestyle alternative, with many regional, and rural, locations seeing their populations rise and new opportunities for economic growth open up. ‘Tree-changing’ has become a thing and re-locators didn’t need ocean views to be convinced to go ‘regional’.

Tourism: A Growing Economic Powerhouse for Regional Communities

Agriculture has traditionally been the lifeblood of rural and regional Australia, but with the likes of drought, floods and bushfires ravaging this sector in the past few decades – and predicted to become more frequent in the future – the regions are looking to diversify their economies more than ever, to spread the economic risk and encourage a greater suite of skill sets across their populations.

Tourism has certainly become – and is becoming - more of a focus, again helped along by the pandemic when our international borders were closed and people had no alternative but to holiday domestically if they were after a break. In 2023, the economic value of tourism expanded in more than 95% of the nation’s regions, with more than half of regional communities seeing growth of above 50 per cent on the previous year[2]. And recent statistics also illustrate just how important tourism has become in terms of employment for the regions, with the sector directly accounting for 6.7% of jobs, as opposed to the 2.9% in our capital cities[3].

Viticulture was one of the early advocates for regional tourism, encouraging wine enthusiasts from the cities to venture into the regions for a weekend of R&R for the tastebuds, but regional tourism has now expanded to include:

• Cultural tourism, with an emphasis on Indigenous tourist ventures;
• Agri- and food tourism with the rise of the ‘paddock to plate’ philosophy;
• Adventure tourism, with regions using their natural wonders to encourage visitors after a more challenging getaway; and
• Festivals, exhibitions, concerts and sports-related events.

These kinds of stand-alone events exploded through the early to mid-2000s, curbed of course by Covid restrictions, but now coming back as a lucrative means of attracting the tourist dollar. There’s no doubt the environment has become tougher for the likes of music festivals since the pandemic, a number of high-profile events falling off the calendar in recent times, but hit on the right formula for a weekend celebration, and people will come.

Renewable Energy: Unlocking New Opportunities for Regional Australia

The mining boom of the 2000s may have boosted regional populations, but as Australia commits to transitioning from coal-fired power to renewable energy, there’s a new opportunity for our regions. Renewable energy projects in the shape of wind and solar farms are springing up at pace across the nation, and rural and regional areas are playing host, with state-designated Renewable Energy Zones a particular focus.

There’s no doubt it hasn’t all been plain sailing with many of these projects, many communities becoming split down the lines of those seeing the economic benefits of these endeavours, including job creation, and then those who fear for the environment, local amenity, and potential impact on other economic streams such as tourism. Those being asked to host the projects on their land, often local farmers, can also find the process a difficult one, weighing up the benefits of the financial rewards from working with renewable energy companies versus the impact on their business and community sentiment.

Fortunately, the playing field does seem to be levelling out for rural and regional communities where projects are being proposed, with much more awareness now around involving landholders and community members as much as possible, greater transparency around the whole process and ensuring communities benefit as much as possible throughout the phases of the projects. There’s no doubt around the potential for rural and regional communities to gain from the renewable energy transition, and it’s felt there’s further scope to expand these benefits as the technology continues to evolve.

Food Manufacturing: Building on Regional Strengths 

In 2022/23, food and grocery manufacturing sector increased in value by 11.6% to $163 billion, and employment in the industry expanded by 4.1%, representing a total workforce of almost 300,000 Australians, 37% of which are based in regional areas[4].  The Australian Food and Grocery Council sees the prospect for future growth, particularly in the regions, and has called for greater investment right across the sector, from research and development through to new manufacturing ventures, arguing the scope is there to build on what is already an incredibly successful national industry. NSW alone produces almost a fifth of the sector’s exports, and the likes of Asia, the Pacific Rim and Europe are among our fastest growing markets[5].

Shepparton in Victoria has built a manufacturing zone that produces everything from dairy items and canned fruits to laundry products, while Tamworth in NSW is home to four large red and white meat processing facilities that employ hundreds of workers. Famous in the food manufacturing world is the little community of Smithtown, near Kempsey in NSW, where Nestle has run a manufacturing facility for more than 100 years, with plans for future investment in its processing capacity.

In an article in Food and Beverage Industry News earlier this year, a Nestle spokesman said basing their operations in the regions put them closer to the agricultural inputs they needed, offered a stable workforce and provided their employees with a quality lifestyle “where they can be part of strong local communities and have an impact in the communities in which they work and live”[6].

The chance to become the next Smithtown or Shepparton are there, and it’s up to local government and business chambers in the regions to identify where the manufacturing opportunities lie for their areas, build a case, and lobby manufacturers for a share of this lucrative pie.

How Seftons Supports Regional Economic Development

With rural and regional Australia as our focus, we know better than most how much our regions stand to gain from existing and emerging economic opportunities, and we understand the most effective and efficient ways of turning these opportunities into reality.

We work with the policy and decision-making bodies responsible for funding and investment ideas and support for the regions; we collaborate with companies looking to rural and regional Australia for future project investment or expansion; we talk to communities on behalf of regulatory bodies to gauge community sentiment and facilitate consultation; and we work with communities looking to identify their strengths and diversify their economies to secure a successful future for their communities. 

Our range of services include:

• Stakeholder and community engagement;
• Strategy development;
• Consulting;
• Government relations;
• Digital marketing
• Indigenous communications;
• Event management; and
• Issues and change management.

We have collaborated with rural and regional communities for more than 30 years, and regularly work with local councils, energy companies including renewable energy providers, food manufacturers and government regional development departments.

Some examples of projects we've completed that aimed to further regional development include:

The Independent Assessment of Social and Economic Conditions in the Murray-Darling Basin – chaired by Seftons Managing Director Robbie Sefton, the Panel assessed the social and economic conditions affecting Basin communities. It involved face-to-face stakeholder and community engagement, combined with extensive economic and social research and modelling. An issues paper was prepared to accompany the Terms of Reference with input sought from industry and community via a survey and submission process, followed by a final report delivered to the Federal Government. https://seftons.com.au/federal-government

The NSW Government’s Regional Growth Fund - $3.3 billion to help regional communities attract investment, generate jobs, grow local economies and improve resident lifestyles. Over a two-year period, Seftons monitored the progress of community development projects, tracking milestones and opportunities for promotion by regular engagement with representatives from regional Councils and community groups. https://seftons.com.au/department-of-regional-nsw2

Upper Hunter Economic Diversification Action Plan 2021 – Seftons facilitated a workshop with the Upper Hunter Economic Diversification Workshop Group,  established to oversee, drive and report on progress of the Plan, as part of the Department of Regional NSW’s strategic plan for the Upper Hunter Region. We also developed a communication strategy for effective stakeholder engagement. https://seftons.com.au/department-of-regional-nsw-

Edward River Shire Council’s 10-year Community Strategic Plan – Seftons undertook a comprehensive consultation program, including facilitation of community meetings and community engagement via drop-in sessions, surveys and presentations, producing the final plan for Council. https://seftons.com.au/edward-river-council

Transgrid’s Project Energy Connect – Seftons undertook a comprehensive community engagement and strategic plan, designed to assist in improving community outcomes around the project. This included stakeholder engagement along the route, representing  a diverse range of stakeholder views including landholders, First Nations people, local government, tourism and regional development. https://seftons.com.au/transgrid