Resilience is about addressing vulnerability, not only by surviving a shock to the system, but also thriving in an economic environment of change and uncertainty. A robust conceptual framework is required to navigate through underlining elements of vulnerability. An evolutionary model of regional adaptive cycles around four sequential phases in economic activity – reorganisation, exploitation...

"Abolishing CDEP was a well-intentioned mistake and CDP is our attempt to atone for it.” So said Tony Abbott in a recent exchange with journalist Amos Aikman in the Australian. CDEP was the Community Development Employment Projects scheme, which replaced unemployment benefits in a growing number of Indigenous communities after it was launched by the...

The yearbook reports on how Australian regions are progressing against economic, social, environmental and governance indicators.

Australian cities are orphans. Responsibilities for management of their economy (in terms of taxation, planning, infrastructure provision, regulation and economic development) fall between all tiers of government. Official statistics tend not to recognise the importance of cities, with economic data often not published at that level, or when published given secondary importance. This is despite...

This interim report presents an overview of the steel industry in Australia and the current challenges and pressures, with a particular focus on Arrium steel and the Whyalla region.