State of the Regions Report 2019-20: Population, Productivity and Purchasing Power

The State of the Regions (SOR) reports by National Economics (NIEIR) are published annually by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). The reports are launched at the Regional Cooperation and Development Forum, held in Canberra, in June of each year.

The objectives of the SOR reports – of which this is the 22nd – are to:

  1. present the latest statistical indicators (for this report to 2017-18) describing how Australian regions are performing;
  2. analyse trends in equality and inequality between Australian regions;
  3. make suggestions regarding the policy implications of current Australian regional performance;
  4. steadily expand the indicators used to measure regional performance;
  5. describe the reality of regional economics;
  6. assist local governments to understand their own region and compare performance with other regions; and
  7. to provide local government with useful planning and policy tools.

The 2019-20 SOR builds on the accumulated knowledge of previous SORs to provide a coherent framework for analysing regional development. The reports also provide a base of accumulated knowledge and insights that can assist with planning and policy development.

SOR reports identify each region’s economic development issues as well as assessing the effectiveness of policies for removing roadblocks to regional economic development.

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