The Orana region covers the central and north western sectors of New South Wales – an area of over 199,000 square kilometres, and has an estimated population of 122, 897. It extends from the hilly western slopes of the Warrumbungle Ranges in the east, to the flat plains of Cobar and Bourke in the west, and north to the Queensland border.

One of the region’s main assets is our people. The people within the region make up relaxed, friendly communities and welcome new residents. You’ll be able to create new connections while still being close to friends and family, enjoy a relaxed, time-rich lifestyle, be rewarded with great job opportunities and take advantage of affordable living. Whether you seek to make a difference in the business community, cheer for your children on the soccer field, or enjoy social days out at the races, the region can provide all of these opportunities and more.

The region also has a diverse industry base, rich history and geographical uniqueness, as well as many beautiful natural assets. It is rich in resources, with a highly productive agricultural sector providing food, wine and fibre to global markets. From black opals to fine red wines, renewable energy and tourism opportunities, the possibilities for you are endless.

Our communities provide the perfect combination of relaxed country living, coupled with exciting new opportunities and attractions. Set amongst some of Australia’s most beautiful landscapes, the Orana region comprises quaint townships full of history and beauty.

NSW’s North Coast region is one of the most ecologically diverse areas of NSW. It contains world heritage rainforests, 9 major river catchments, and vast beaches. The North Coast’s environments support iconic towns and thriving tourism and agricultural industries.

Climate change is already affecting the North Coast, particularly through increased temperatures. Projections show temperatures are expected to keep rising, rainfall patterns will change, and fire weather will increase.

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 Murray region is home to the winding Murray River and its waterways, Lake Hume - six times larger than Sydney Harbour, an array of food, cultural icons, contemporary museums, linkages to our migrant history, our indigenous people and with secret resting spots around every corner.

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.

Mining has been present in Orana and Central West NSW for more than a century, with some workers’ families having been in the sector for generations. The region has a well-established culture of mining, and many workers live and work locally.

The resources sector is the leading contributor to the region’s economy, accounting for $4.3 billion (or nearly 25%) of the area’s total economic value.

Orana and Central West NSW host a number of commodities including coal, copper, silver, lead, zinc, gold and critical minerals. There are 16 established mines in the region, with another handful being developed or going through feasibility studies.

Notable mines include Northparkes Mines, Cadia near Orange, and Springvale and Clarence Colliery.
Other projects in the region under development include Sunrise Energy Metals Sunrise Battery Materials Complex and McPhillamys Gold Project.

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.

This exciting new community venue is dedicated to the presentation of experiences that nurture creativity, connection and curiosity in an accessible and inspiring environment. It is a place where the community of Wodonga, together with visitors to the city, can encounter, discover and connect with ideas, skills and knowledge.

Hyphen features several galleries – Artspace Gallery, Playspace Gallery and Community Gallery – as well as a full library service.

It also features three meeting rooms - the Community Studio overlooking the courtyard suitable for workshops, meetings and presentations, Creative Studio for resident artists, Tech Studio and Sound Studio, and, a Sculpture Terrace.

Murray Art Museum Albury hides one of Albury’s best kept retail secrets! MAMA Store is a showcase of independent Australian designers, local makers and artists, with a spotlight on the Murray region.

With a thriving arts and cultural scene and more artists per capita than any other city in Australia, Newcastle’s makers, traders, creators, artists, designers and producers contribute to a billion-dollar industry in the Hunter Region alone – the significance of which is not lost on the City of Newcastle’s COVID-19 City Taskforce.

Opened in 1904 Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery is the oldest regional gallery in New South Wales. The beautifully restored emporium displays a selection of works from the City of Broken Hill's art collection and a quality program of temporary exhibitions by local, state and national artists along with touring exhibitions. The exhibition program also includes the Gallery's annual acquisitive award, the 'Pro Hart Outback Art Prize'.

The Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery provides an annual program of locally curated exhibitions along with touring exhibitions from major cultural institutions. A selection of works from the collection is on permanent display in the upstairs gallery. The annual program endeavours to include work by established and emerging Aboriginal artists from around the Far West region of New South Wales.

Known for its 100 beautiful beaches, abundant wildlife, and boutique food and wine scene, the Shoalhaven is one of the top-visited destinations in Australia, but cultural tourists are in for a treat with the re-imagining of Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon.

Arthur Boyd chose the Shoalhaven as his place to live and make work, and his legacy lives on with the new fantastic Bundanon, his gift to the people.

Australia’s only regional art museum accompanied by seven delightful art and culture trails, all within 2 hours from Sydney and Canberra.

The Armidale Region’s largest employers include the education and training sector, health care, retail trade, agriculture and the accommodation and food services sector.

The industry sectors which drive the region’s economy in terms of regional exports, employment and industry value-added include Agri-business, Tourism and Education. These are the three ‘pillars’ of the Armidale regional economy.

An emerging area of entrepreneurship in Wollongong is the growing start-up community, which often involves tech-based businesses. One way this has been encouraged is through programs such as iAccelerate. There has also been a less structured formation of new tech-based businesses that are choosing to locate in Wollongong, develop their ideas and solutions and then export them to the world.

Wollongong is already home to several successful ICT based companies that have an established presence in national and international markets and UOW is obviously a recognised producer of IT talent. ICT companies located in Wollongong include NEC, Accelo, iTree, Easy Agile and Internetrix.

The talent pool of graduates represents an ongoing source of future employees for the tech sector. For example, in 2016 more than half (57%) of young graduates in this field who were living in Wollongong in 2011 were working elsewhere by 2016 as they left Wollongong to gain employment elsewhere.

A circular economy is one that exchanges the typical cycle of make, use, dispose in favour of maximising re-use and recycling. The longer materials and resources are in use, the more value is extracted from them. The circular economy concept is best, and most often, applied in relation to resource consumption and regeneration.

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.

New South Wales is transitioning to a circular economy over the next 20 years. This means we will minimise what we throw away and use and reuse our resources efficiently, making them as productive as possible. We will end up with less waste, less emissions, less harm to our environment and more jobs. The move will boost innovation and help drive our economy.

Southern Cross University is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland.

The university is a key attractor of activity to the Region and advocates its merits and potential to outsiders.

The Regenerative Agriculture Alliance (RAA) is a collaboration of Australia’s leading researchers and practitioners in regenerative agriculture, whose aim is to improve the holistic health and wellbeing of Australian landscapes, farmers and communities through regenerative agricultural research, education and practice.

Founded by Southern Cross University and led by Lorraine Gordon, Director of Strategic Projects, the Alliance includes leading researchers and agricultural practitioners in environmental science, soil and plant science, marine and forestry science worldwide.

The NSW coastline might stretch for 2,000 kilometres, but with an area of 800,000 square kilometres, the state is more red dirt than sand. Country NSW offers ancient Aboriginal culture, extraordinary produce made by passionate producers and rural towns where the welcome mat is always out

Wagga Wagga is a vibrant regional centre on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in the heart of the Riverina. With four distinct seasons, there’s always something new to explore. Discover the delicious food and wine scene, wonderful galleries, tranquil riverbank walks, gorgeous gardens and parks, and fascinating heritage. And Wagga Wagga is the entry point to exploring the region.

One of the major changes in purposes for visiting the Riverina has been the number of people coming to ‘Sightsee’. This number increased 44% from 2016 to 2017, however the most popular reason given for travelling into the Riverina is to ‘Eat out/dine at a restaurant and/or café’.

Sectors such as tourism, agriculture, defence, health, education, aged care, retail and hospitality will remain important employers in the Far South Coast and Shoalhaven, and continue to make a critical contribution to the economy.

There is a variety of private and public education facilities and providers across the Orana region. These range from early childhood centres through to university campuses as well as government and private institutions, giving people of all ages an opportunity for educational advancement.

TAFE Western is the region’s largest Vocational and Education Training provider. Its mission is to create education and training opportunities and outcomes for individuals, communities and industry, with approximately 35,000 student enrolments each year.
Charles Sturt University has a campus in Dubbo a regional network spanning much of NSW. Dubbo is also home to Sydney University’s School of Rural Health.

Providers include:
• TAFE Western
• Charles Sturt University
• University of Sydney School of Rural Health
• University of the Third Age (U3A)
• Central West Leadership Academy
• Macquarie Conservatorium of Music