Infrastructure Victoria committed to build a deeper understanding of infrastructure needs and impacts in regional and rural Victoria as part of Victoria’s first 30-year infrastructure strategy in 2016. Over the last three years, we have built our knowledge of regional communities, examining the unique opportunities and challenges facing each of Victoria’s regions and exploring recommendations which seek to address them. This resource is one of several work programs that has helped to inform Victoria’s draft 30-year infrastructure strategy update.

A clear message emerging from our research has been the need for a dual focus when considering regional infrastructure. Victoria’s regions have economic and industry strengths that can help deliver regional economic growth into the future. But within the regions, people living in some areas have access to fewer resources and services, which influences individual, family and community opportunities and outcomes.

While some of our draft recommendations propose building new infrastructure, more focus on making better use of existing facilities and resources. We explored ways of maintaining, upgrading, retrofitting and repurposing existing assets to ensure they are fit for purpose to meet changing regional needs, whether it be sharing community facilities to deliver a range of social services or leveraging the existing rural library network to improve digital inclusion in the regions.