Revised version following consultation on draft release in March 2022.

Infrastructure Australia has long acknowledged the importance of Australia’s regions to the national economy. From our food bowls and resource regions to our tourism and service centres, each of Australia's regions are unique, and so too are their infrastructure needs. 

The Regional Strengths and Infrastructure Gaps report provides a national view of the diverse strengths and infrastructure gaps facing Australia’s regions in order to enable the identification of priority areas for future planning and analysis. By identifying infrastructure challenges and opportunities, Infrastructure Australia hopes to encourage governments, industry and the community to come forward with solutions to address these challenges. We have used the Regional Development Australia boundaries in this analysis in order to support a comprehensive view of the nation. The report was developed through engagement with more than 1,000 stakeholders, including focused engagement in each region. 

Building on the methodology used in Regional Strengths and Infrastructure Gaps, the supporting Strengthening Communities paper provides a Rubric to guide a place-based analysis and collecting an evidence base that will help determine how to achieve better outcomes for a community.