[In]Sight Theme Paper – Natural Resources

Today we also release our ninth [In]Sight Theme Paper titled Natural Resources.

The Theme Paper measures and ranks natural resources for regions and LGAs taking into consideration primary production, lifestyle and tourism assets.

Click the links to review the summary or the full report.

Key statistics include:

• Only three per cent of regional Australians are employed directly in Agriculture;
• 190 LGAs are dominated by only one highly productive industry;
• 142 LGAs hold top 100 rankings in two or more natural resource indicators; and
• 248 of the top 250 areas in the natural resources theme are regional.

Natural resources underpin the economies of many regions and provide a unique source of competitive advantage.

Regional Australia’s natural resources advantage is not straightforward. A majority of regional areas rely on a single natural resource as a core source of economic opportunity, leaving these economies vulnerable to changes in the economic environment and individual source markets.

The value of natural resources can vary dramatically, but in ways that can be mitigated by LGAs. It is vital that our resource rich areas engage with markets using complementary sources of competitiveness, such as increasing business sophistication and innovation to differentiate natural resource products and ensure ongoing market share.