The district contains regionally significant construction, mineral and energy resources such as sand, gravel, hard rock, sandstone (dimension stone), clay and coal deposits. Extraction of these resources supports major infrastructure projects, industries and agricultural businesses.

Chain Valley – Lake Macquarie - Lake Coal
Mandalong – Lake Macquarie – Centennial Coal
Myuna – Lake Macquarie – Centennial Coal

The Central Coast of New South Wales is a vibrant place to live, work and play, with a new story around every corner. Steeped in natural beauty, we've got sustainability at heart as one of Australia's first certified ECO Destinations. Fringed by over 40 beaches, shaped by valuable waterways, and hemmed with lush wilderness, we're just 90 minutes north of Sydney or south of Newcastle.

Our slice of paradise is home to a nationally awarded gourmet foodie scene, array of coastal, hinterland and aquatic treasures, diverse art trails, creative communities, and immersive cultural experiences.

The National Waste Policy 2018 also noted that just over 9 jobs are created for each 10,000 tonnes of waste recycled. If we apply that to the additional 3 million tonnes that could be recovered by all councils achieving the same as the best performers, we have the potential to create almost 3,000 new jobs in the recycling industry and even more if we utilised those recycled materials by developing the circular economy within Australia instead of export. That’s at least 1 new job for each 3,000 households that could be created locally.

Recognition of the need for a less linear approach to materials flowing through the economy has led to development of the circular economy model, which aligns with the hierarchy but seeks to present a more active indication of pathways and priorities (Figure 3).

To establish a more self-sustaining circular economy, all aspects of the economy need to be considered, from the extraction of resources, to design and manufacturing all the way through to the consumers who use these products and end of life management.

Advanced manufacturers in Greater Sydney provide the most valuable and skill-intensive parts of the production process, including high-tech design and development, innovative research, product customisation, client-focused support and repair services.

Greater Sydney has strengths in advanced manufacturing in the aerospace and food and beverage sectors. To build on Western Sydney’s thriving manufacturing industry, the NSW Government, in partnership with the Commonwealth Government, are developing a high-tech, state-of-the-art Aerospace and Defence Industries Precinct, adjacent to the new Western Sydney Airport.

The UTS Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM) supports Australian manufacturers on this journey, helping them to embrace digital transformation and drive increased self-sufficiency/on-shoring of manufacturing in a post-Covid-19 world.

Located in the Engineering precinct of the University of Sydney's Darlington campus, the Sydney Manufacturing Hub is a manufacturing-focused research facility that works with industry to deliver cutting-edge R&D in additive manufacturing and materials processing.

The Hub provides capabilities for design, topological optimisation, the 3-D printing of metals, ceramics and polymers, as well as post-processing heat treatment, advanced characterisation and more, paving the way for new technology in industries like aerospace, autonomous vehicles, biomedical, defence, maritime, and robotics.

The UNSW Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory covers teaching, research and consulting in various manufacturing processes. This includes advanced laser and laser-hybrid processing of materials, high pressure water jet and air jet processing of materials, mechanical machining, additive manufacturing, and friction and wear.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face. It impacts our natural environment and ecosystems, our economy, our infrastructure, and our way of life. As we plan for the future, we must ensure that we achieve sustainability for the long term, transforming to meet the challenge of realising net zero emissions, while ensuring our cities are resilient and adaptable in the face of the escalating climate change impacts we are already experiencing.

Reaching net zero emissions by 2050 will require a major shift towards private, public and heavy electric vehicles and more trips by public transport, walking and cycling.

The 2019–2020 bushfires across eastern Australia caused loss of life, property, infrastructure and devastating impact on communities, vegetation, wildlife and ecosystems across our region. There were additional health and economic impacts from the thick smoke blanketing the region for months.

Recycled water, including recycled stormwater, can help mitigate urban heat in a way that is less reliant on rainfall and drinking water supplies. Currently, only seven per cent of wastewater in Greater Sydney is recycled. Making greater use of recycled water, and water conservation measures will be critical to keeping our communities cool and green.

Creative businesses choose NSW due to its cluster of filmmakers, artists, designers, writers, musicians, dancers and advertising agencies. The state also has a thriving museum and art gallery culture.

Sydney has twice been voted the world's top festival and events city by the International Festivals and Events Association. It offers an exciting fusion of leading performance companies, venues and facilities including:

• Sydney Festival
• Chinese New Year Festival
• Vivid Sydney light and music extravaganza
• Sydney Biennale
• Writers' Festival
• Comedy Festival
• Film Festival

Sydney is also home to world-renowned performance companies such as:

• Australian Chamber Orchestra
• Bangarra Dance Theatre
• Opera Australia
• Sydney Dance Company
• Sydney Theatre Company

Sydney is recognised as Australia’s only global city and the leading knowledge-based economy in the nation.

Innovation districts, including health and education hubs, remain priority areas for building knowledge intensive jobs growth across the six cities. A number of current projects will set the scene for improved economic dynamism and future knowledge intensive jobs growth across the Central River and Western Parkland Cities. This includes the recently announced Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility at Bradfield, as well as investment in the Viral Vector Manufacturing Facility at the Westmead Health and Innovation District.

Focus industries will include agriculture, tourism, technology, health industries, defence and aerospace, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and materials, smart freight and logistics, agriculture and tourism.

Innovation districts will complement the Aerotropolis, centred on semiconductors, defence, aerospace and modern manufacturing. Tech Central, which has a focus on deep tech, software as a service, quantum cyber and information and communication technology,
and Westmead, which drives health innovation, building on Westmead’s strengths in advanced therapeutics, translation cancer, immunology, vaccinology clinical trials and digital health.

Sydney hosts six world-class universities offering a wide range of courses for international students across undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree levels.

The University of Sydney is one of the top universities in Sydney, Australia, and is consistently ranked in the top 50 universities in the world.

UNSW is ranked 2nd in Australia and 27th in the world for Graduate Employability. Browse our range of study options and find the perfect one for you.

Western Sydney University is one of Australia's leading institutions, ranked in the top 250 universities globally.

University of Technology Sydney is Australia's no 1 young university, focused on making a difference through leading research, and inspiring education.

Macquarie University is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park.

The Australian Catholic University is a publicly funded university with several campuses around Australia.

The City of Sydney is now powered using 100 per cent renewable electricity generated from wind and solar farms in regional NSW. All our operations – including street lights, pools, sports fields, depots, buildings and the historic Sydney Town Hall – now use 100% renewable electricity from locally-sourced clean energy. Roughly three-quarters of the City’s power is wind-generated, and the rest will come from solar power.

As the bushfires from the summer of 2019-20 remain fresh in people’s minds, proactive steps are needed to improve the city’s climate resilience. By decarbonising metropolitan systems and embracing renewable energy sources, Greater Sydney has the opportunity to lead a green post-pandemic recovery. Some cities, Sydney included, have made moves to decarbonise public transport fleets.

NSW is home to 11 universities, with 2 ranked in the top 50 for medicine and health. Australia is ranked 8th in the world for life sciences research.

Significant capital investment in health precincts dispersed across Greater Sydney in Westmead, Camperdown, Randwick and Liverpool, offers economic and productivity advantages to businesses.

Precincts are where research institutions and companies can cluster and connect with startups, business incubators and accelerators. This creates a culture that supports the commercialisation of products and services and grows the future skills pipeline.

The NSW Government is targeting priority sectors including:
• medical devices
• biotechnology
• clinical trials
• gene and cell therapies
• digital health.

The Greater Cities Commission is leading the delivery and coordination of four innovation districts with the greatest opportunity to accelerate economic recovery for the Six Cities Region.

These innovation districts will complement and reinforce each other, incorporating social, economic and sustainability benefits into their strategic development. The innovation districts the Commission are focussing on are:

• Tech Central
• Westmead Health and Innovation District (including Parramatta North)
• Macquarie Park

Tech Central is a place where universities, startups, scaleups, tech giants and local communities collaborate to solve problems, socialise and spark ideas that change our world.

Westmead Health and Innovation District will continue building on its status as a globally recognised destination for innovation, health, education and research, capitalising on existing major health and research facilities and ongoing government investment in health and transport infrastructure.

The Macquarie Park Innovation District situated to the north west of Sydney CBD includes a world class university, a major shopping centre, a hospital, a high-tech employment hub.

NSW is home to the largest number of defence bases and capabilities of any state or territory and is home to one quarter of Australia’s military and defence civilian personnel. All three services have significant bases throughout the state, including major sustainment hubs for the Australian Army at Holsworthy Barracks, the Royal Australian Navy at Garden Island and the Royal Australian Air Force at Williamtown.

Each service has operational level headquarters and significant training units located across the state.

Greater Sydney provides a harbour for the Royal Australian Navy base, Victoria Barracks, Randwick Barracks, Liverpool Military Area, and RAAF bases Richmond and Glenbrook.

Research and Development related to defence is conducted at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at University of Sydney, the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (CQC2T) at the University of NSW and the Centre for Autonomous Systems at the University of Technology Sydney.

Greater Sydney has advanced manufacturing capacity in technologies identified as critical to the success of the Defence Force in the coming years.

These include:
• acoustic technologies and systems
• complex system integration
• cybersecurity
• advanced materials and optics
• helicopter and jet engine maintenance and simulation
• intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
• electronic warfare
• space technologies
• small arms manufacturing.

Sydney is best known for its harbourfront Sydney Opera House, with a distinctive sail-like design. The Darling Harbour and the smaller Circular Quay port are hubs of waterside life, with the arched Harbour Bridge and Royal Botanic Garden nearby.

Tour the Sydney Opera House, climb the Harbour Bridge, swim at Bondi Beach, visit the zoos and aquariums, explore aboriginal culture and watch whales frolic off the coast.

Waste is a significant and increasing contributor to emissions. Moving to a circular economy will reduce emissions and improve sustainability of our cities and infrastructure. This will require major changes to waste management, recycling, and reuse across the six cities.

Increasing the separation of household food and organic waste can generate renewable energy and reduce emissions. This may require innovative solutions in higher-density areas where fewer households have access to their own garden, including through the development of community-led ‘maker spaces’ or ‘circular economy hubs’.

Australian and international research organisations agree that the world's climate is changing. Some of these changes have been linked to human influences due to the use of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels is causing an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases and consequent warming of the atmosphere.

Observed changes in climate include an increase in average temperatures, a decrease in cold temperature extremes, an increase in warm temperature extremes, an increase in extreme high sea levels and an increase in the number of intense rainfall events in some area.

The impacts of climate change highlight the need to protect land for its future productive capacity particularly where there is a combination of biophysical assets such as water, topography and soils.

The Central West supports high value agriculture now and will be important to sustain production of more specialised agricultural and horticultural enterprises into the future.

Farm adaptation options are already being developed with the Grains Research and Development work on farming systems, and the cotton industry. A critical concern to irrigated agriculture is securing water for production in terms of quality, quantity and delivery.

Bathurst has a rich history of supporting creative arts and creative industries. Charles Sturt University's School of Communication and Creative Industries has been a significant contributor to national and international talent pools for decades, with well-known alumni reaching the top of their field in journalism, communication, PR, and media management.

Outside Charles Sturt University, Bathurst has a strong field of creative professionals in architecture, design, graphic design, film and sound production, advertising and marketing, illustration, 3D animated design and more. Bathurst’s proximity to Sydney enables our creative professionals to not only serve the Central West and Orana Regions but also the nearby Sydney and Canberra metropolitan markets.

The Central West region of New South Wales is renowned for its food and wine and excellent agricultural produce. It covers an area of 63,000 square kilometres starting at the temperate, elevated Central Tablelands on the western side of the Blue Mountains and extends almost 500km to the semi-arid Central West plains.

The region is home to over 181,000 people within the 11 council areas of Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne, Cowra, Forbes, Lachlan, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange, Parkes and Weddin.

Unique in its diversity of economy, the Central West Region of NSW is rich in natural resources with agriculture, mining and tourism significant drivers of jobs and opportunities. Increasingly, health and education have taken on a significant role in the region’s economy.

The agriculture and mining industry output is underpinned by abundant natural resources within rich soil and mineral deposits. Additionally, varied topography and climatic conditions across the region provide various opportunities ranging from forestry, cool climate produce, dairy, sheep and beef livestock, as well as a variety of irrigation and broad acre crops.

Charles Sturt University in the Central West has campuses in Bathurst and Orange, focused on agriculture, health, business, creative industries, engineering, ICT and arrange of science subjects.

Orange
Set in the foothills of Mount Canobolas, Orange has a relaxed country atmosphere combined with boutique shops, sporting facilities, and quality educational and health services.

Charles Sturt in Orange has a farm and a range of state-of-the-art facilities, including an award-winning health building. Small class sizes at Orange Campus ensure you get the best out of your study experience and quickly settle in to life at Charles Sturt, while outside the classroom, you can catch up with friends at the Templer’s Mill bar on campus.

Bathurst
A rich heritage of bushrangers and gold rush days combines with the excitement of the V8 Supercars and numerous local sporting competitions to make Bathurst a great place to live and study. There are also plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants to catch up with friends and a busy shopping scene.

About 2,500 students are completing their degrees at Charles Sturt’s Bathurst Campus, where a range of facilities offer the latest technology in fields like communication, exercise science and nursing. A range of on campus accommodation options is available, and you can relax in the student bar or food outlets, or enjoy the open spaces around campus.

Mt Canobolas, near Orange, is the highest peak at 1398m. The remaining land in the central tablelands of the study area comprises steep and undulating terrain. Mt Canobolas provides sloping basaltic soils, a cool climate, and consistent rainfall which are highly suitable for cool climate grape and fruit production. The production of fruit, cherries, grapes, nuts, cut flowers, some vegetables and eggs have contributed to the ‘food Basket’ image of the area which has promoted the agritourism industry.

The western slopes and plains consist of rolling hills which flow onto open plains. The combination of good rainfall, reliable water supply from the Belubula and Lachlan River as well as high temperatures create an optimal environment for crop production. Wheat, barley, oats and canola are important crops in this area.