This booklet provides an accessible introduction to social, economic and environmental statistics for Australia's regions. Information is presented under the following broad themes: population; society; regional economies; housing; transport and communications; education and health; and environmental issues.

This paper briefly reviews recent demographic, social and economic trends in rural, regional and remote Australia in order to provide the contextual background to service delivery in the region.

The Potential Leaders in Local Communities initiative of the Australian Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy focused leadership development initiatives on four largely disadvantaged social groups – youth, Indigenous communities, women, and rural and regional communities – to address various social issues. This paper evaluates the outcomes of the initiative. A number of different strategies...

An evaluative case study undertaken as part of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy. The report assesses the achievements in the implementation and effectiveness of the Strategy in addressing the local issues of social isolation, youth at risk, families with young children and disempowerment of the Indigenous population around Mandurah in Western Australia.

After a decade of rapid change, the sea change phenomenon is now well established on the eastern Australian coast where its impacts have been an ongoing focus for all tiers of government. However, in January 2006, a report to the National Sea Change Taskforce called for ‘more detailed research within specific communities’ in recognition of...