The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. The diverse population is made up of 50% Aboriginal people representing over 30 traditional language groups. Over 91% of the land in the region has been determined under Native Title and comes under the control or influence of those indigenous people.
The Kimberley region is one of the most remote and untouched ancient landscapes on earth, which features remarkable coastal and inland environment, and is home to many unique birds, mammals, reptiles and marine life. The major regional industries are mining, tourism and agriculture.

Broome is situated along the coastline, in the semi-arid margin of the canning Basin. With a population of 17,000 people, Broome is a recognised pearling and tourist port town, and a hub servicing the pastoral and resources industries.

Derby is located 200km north of Broome. Derby is on Salt-Water country and boasts the second largest tidal movements in the world and is the gateway to the thousand islands of the Dampier Peninsula.

Fitzroy Crossing is located on the banks of the Fitzroy River. With a range of fertile soil types, the area is used extensively for livestock and horticulture production.

Halls Creek comprises of desert country and pastoral grazing land with a number of unique natural attractions such as the World heritage Listed Purnululu National Park and Wolf Creek Crater forming the basis of a tourism industry.

Kununurra sits just 37km west of the Northern Territory border and is a hub for tourism, mining and agriculture including the world heritage listed Purnululu National Park – Bungle Bungle Ranges, the Ord River Irrigation Project and the massive man-made Lake Argyle.

Wyndham is located at the point at which five rivers flow into the Cambridge Gulf and was established in 1886 as a port town which was the principal point of entry during the gold rush. Today, its port services the growing pastoral and agriculture industries of the region.

The largest industries in Logan in terms of contribution to Gross Regional Product (value added) are health care and social assistance, construction, manufacturing, retail trade, education and training, and wholesale trade. Some of these, particularly health and retail trade, are strongly linked to the growth and profile of the region's population. Construction is related to population growth, but Logan’s construction firms also service the wider region.

Manufacturing is the traditional strength of the city. Emerging industries in Logan include the care economy, advanced manufacturing, the circular and low-carbon economy, tourism, and creative and entertainment industries. Logan has emerging expertise in circular economy and low-carbon thinking.

Local attractions include Mutawintji National Park which is home to 30,000-year-old Indigenous rock carvings, unique White Cliffs underground opal mines, the historical ghost town of Silverton and an eclectic collection of galleries and current and past artists including ‘Brushmen of the Bush’, Pro Hart, Eric Minchin, Jack Absalom, John Pickup and Hugh Shulz.

The arid landscape of the NSW Far West supports a brilliant array of native species and contains 30,000-year-old Indigenous rock carvings.

The Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum, also known as the GeoCentre, represents the extensive mineral history of Broken Hill. This geological science museum boasts a 42kg silver nugget as well as a large mineral collection, and it is home to the Silver Tree.

Visit the Living Desert Sculptures, a stunning collection of 12 giant sandstone sculptures 9km north of Broken Hill in the Living Desert State Park. Created by 12 international artists as homage to the magnificent desert landscape, the sandstone changes colour with the light, glowing vividly at sunset.

Drop in to The Original Silverton Hotel – the filming location for a number of popular movies including Razorback, Mission Impossible II and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Movie buffs can also explore the Mad Max Museum, Australia's first and only museum dedicated to Mad Max 2.

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.

Perth is the second most isolated capital city in the world and the most isolated capital with a population in excess of one million people.

Mining, construction and professional, scientific and technical services are the dominant industry sectors in the region. Technology advancement has contributed to growth in recent years and is changing the way people live and do business.

A number of emerging technologies will continue to transform the economy moving forward including mobile and remote internet access and computing, cloud technology, advanced robotics and virtual intelligence, renewable energies and energy storage, advanced materials design and manufacture, and next generation genomics.

Drought hubs empower stakeholders to co-design drought preparedness activities and apply innovation to ensure a thriving future for the region. Hub members, partners and stakeholders apply proven drought-resilience research on the ground to make this happen.

The hub will improve innovation and its adoption across agriculture, industry, and the community.

The 8 hubs support farmers and communities to get ready for drought. They connect farmers with regional agricultural experts, innovation and new practices.

A Knowledge Broker is available at each hub. Their role is to translate science into practice for their region. They use their network to encourage collaboration and learning across the hubs. They also help build connections with other Future Drought Fund programs.

Over time processes and technologies available for mineral processing, dewatering, ore sorting has advanced to manage lower grade ores and reprocessing of tailings and waste rock.

There are a range of new innovative technologies that can be used to liberate and separate critical metals from mining and processing waste. Extraction of any metal value from tailings is contingent on detailed mineralogical characterisation.

The re-commercialisation of Mt Carbine was enabled by new technology, the x-ray ore sorters. They are now able to reprocess what was waste rock efficiently to recover tungsten. The resultant waste rock is valuable as construction aggregate.

We will pursue, facilitate and promote collaborative projects that enable re-commercialisation. In-so-doing the participants will be able to improve the long-term residual impact of mining.

The Hunter features coastal and valley landscapes, internationally renowned wine production, important natural areas, both urban and rural lifestyles and extensive mining resources. Together with its global companies, these features make the Hunter an attractive place to work, live and play.

The region is also home to a multi-million dollar thoroughbred horse breeding industry, world-class wineries and national parks, and its river estuaries are the largest oyster producers in the state.

The Pilbara is Western Australia's second most northern region, defined by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Northern Territory border to the east. The Kimberley Region lies to its north across the Great Sandy Desert and the Pilbara's southern reaches border the Gascoyne, Mid-West and Goldfields-Esperance regions. The region covers a total area of 507,896km (including offshore islands).

Most of the inhabitants of the Pilbara are located in the western third of the region, whereas the eastern third is largely desert with few inhabitants. The Pilbara has four local government areas - the City of Karratha, Shires of Ashburton and East Pilbara and the Town of Port Hedland. Other towns are Roebourne, Dampier, Onslow, Pannawonica, Paraburdoo, Tom Price, Wickham, Newman, Marble Bar and Nullagine.

The Pilbara is economically significant, both nationally and internationally, as the region is responsible for a major portion of the production, value, exports and investments of extraction industries commodities, particularly iron ore and liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition to the immense reserves of natural resources, tourism, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture all feature prominently in the strengths and opportunities in the Region.

The NSW Minerals Council’s latest annual Member Expenditure Survey has found that in the last financial year 28 participating NSW mining companies supported thousands of mining jobs and maintained high levels of direct spending in the Hunter during the Covid-19 pandemic, boosting the region’s economy at a time when it was most needed.

Far North Queensland is our largest region covering 20 per cent of the state. It boasts World Heritage areas including the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics – one of the world’s oldest rainforests – as well as many authentic Indigenous experiences from the world’s oldest living culture.

This region is home to memorable tourism experiences and filled with innovators with ground-breaking ideas that are putting us on the world map.

Cairns is a popular travel destination for tourists from all around the world, the region attracts more than 2 million domestic and international visitors each year. Cairns is a unique town for being around so much beautiful natural wonders such as the largest coral reef in the world and one of the oldest rainforests in the world. Cairns is also the perfect place for the adrenaline seeker with many wonderful adventure activities available daily.

The Pilbara is Western Australia's second most northern region, defined by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Northern Territory border to the east. The Kimberley Region lies to its north across the Great Sandy Desert and the Pilbara's southern reaches border the Gascoyne, Mid-West and Goldfields-Esperance regions. The region covers a total area of 507,896km (including offshore islands).

Most of the inhabitants of the Pilbara are located in the western third of the region, whereas the eastern third is largely desert with few inhabitants. The Pilbara has four local government areas - the City of Karratha, Shires of Ashburton and East Pilbara and the Town of Port Hedland. Other towns are Roebourne, Dampier, Onslow, Pannawonica, Paraburdoo, Tom Price, Wickham, Newman, Marble Bar and Nullagine.

The Pilbara is economically significant, both nationally and internationally, as the region is responsible for a major portion of the production, value, exports and investments of extraction industries commodities, particularly iron ore and liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition to the immense reserves of natural resources, tourism, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture all feature prominently in the strengths and opportunities in the Region.

The Illawarra is overlooked from the spectacular lookouts at the top of the Eastern Escarpment as you approach Wollongong, driving south from Sydney. It is this juxtaposition of mountain and beach that gives the whole south coast region its special character and nowhere is this environment better illustrated than here in the Illawarra, where the escarpment actually meets the sea.

General purpose artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT, are quickly transforming the way AI systems are built and deployed.

While these technologies are expected to brin benefits in the coming year, their disruptive nature raises questions around privacy and intellectual property rights, liability and accountability, and concerns about the potential to spread disinformation and misinformation.

Ipswich has a long and proud manufacturing history. Today, it has a thriving modern manufacturing industry that provides a significant contribution to the Queensland economy.
Manufacturing alone generated more than half (51%) of the total exports, $3.6 billion, an increase of more than 2,400 full time jobs from 2019/20. This global reach is a recognised strength for the region.

Historically, Ipswich has been famously known as a rail manufacturer. Today however, it is a world-class aerospace and defence centre with a booming food manufacturing hub. Collectively, manufacturing added $1.6 billion in value, an increase of over 14% since the previous year (2019/20).

As the largest industry across the manufacturing sector, food product manufacturing accounts for $2.1 billion in exports, $612 million value added to the economy and 6% of full time jobs. Ipswich is home to JBS Australia's Northern Division headquarters, alongside JBS Australia's Dinmore processing facility, the largest beef processing plant in the southern hemisphere. Its connectivity to major highways and rail ensures access to an extensive network of quality cattle.

Ipswich has established itself as a major production and distribution centre to both national and international food markets. Significant industry opportunities continue to emerge in the region including food packaging and new agritourism developments.

Gippsland is renowned for its natural attributes, including Gippsland Lakes and coastlines, Wilsons Promontory National Park and one of Victoria’s largest visitor attractions, the Phillip Island Penguin Parade.

Roughly the same size as Switzerland, Gippsland covers over 41,500 square kilometres and is the largest region in Victoria. The community works and lives in a resource-rich landscape (one of the most diverse in regional Australia) from the Latrobe Valley’s industrial heartland to rich agricultural lands, coastal and lakes regions, highlands, and the forested north and east.

Each year, nearly eight million tourists visit Gippsland, attracted to the unspoilt lakes, beaches, snowfields, bushlands, and rainforests, as well as the beautiful towns and villages. Its major towns are Traralgon, Warragul, Drouin, Morwell, Bairnsdale, Moe, Leongatha, Sale and Wonthaggi.

Gippsland has a reputation for producing quality products and services across various industries such as food and fibre, energy, forestry, fisheries, manufacturing, and tourism.

Canberra is Australia’s defence capital with the largest concentration of defence and national security agencies, assets, organisations, diplomatic networks and industry bodies in the nation.

NSW’s Defence and Industry Strategy, the ACT’s Defence Industry Strategy and the Canberra Region Defence Industry Capability Directory provide a platform for continued collaboration in the Canberra region.

Graphene – a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice – is renowned for being up to 200 times stronger than steel and being a highly efficient conductor of both heat and electricity.

Graphene is particularly useful in man-made products such as polymers, composites and plastics.

Major users of graphene include automotive giant Ford, which is already using the material in certain car parts, and China’s Huawei uses graphene to help manage heat in its smartphones.

Despite the accelerating growth in demand for graphene, there are only a handful of companies on the ASX that are actively involved in the graphene sector.

First Graphene produces the product at its factory in Henderson, south west of Perth from where it exports to a global market.

High-quality graphene requires very pure graphite, and it turns out that South Australia has many high-grade deposits.

The South West is one of Western Australia’s nine recognised regions located outside the Perth metropolitan area. Fronting the Indian and Southern oceans, covering 24,000 square kilometres and including 12 local government areas, the South West is the most populous and economically diverse of WA’s regions.

Of the landmass that comprises the region, about two-thirds is made up of State Forest, National Parks and regional parks, with the southern forests being the largest component. About 25% is occupied by agricultural and rural uses, with about 8% used for industrial and urban development.

The economy benefits from the combination of the commodity rich hinterland (agriculture and mineral resources) in close proximity to a working port. Alumina refining and associated construction play a major role in economic output and employment. Agriculture, forestry and associated processing are significant sectors supplying dairy, beef, vegetables and wood/timber products for domestic consumption and increasingly for export markets.

Historically, timber production and agriculture have been the predominant land uses within the Margaret River region, which has some of the most productive agricultural land in the State. The agriculture sector is diverse and includes a variety of cropping, viticulture and wine, fruit, flower and vegetable production, olives and olive oil, pasture production and livestock - beef and dairy cattle, sheep and deer, timber and artisan cheese production.